MichiganCardinal

Clark Hunt really seems like a C. Hunt.

Who was it here that said Campbell was going to be a media darling on all the late night shows if he kept up the success? Looking more and more likely to be the case.

Couple Bold Ass Predictions 1. Parker Hesse scores 2+ touchdowns, as a fullback. 2. Jahmyr Gibbs records 1200+ rushing yards, 800+ receiving yards, and enters 2025 as a consensus #1 fantasy pick. 3. Aidan Hutchinson, Alim McNeill, and (Marcus Davenport + James Houston) all record 10+ sacks. NFL-wise 1. Aaron Rodgers is ultimately booed by Jets fans, misses the playoffs, and goes to Minnesota on a one-year deal in the offseason, completing the Favre trajectory. 2. Caleb Williams shows potential but ultimately throws more interceptions than touchdowns before getting knocked out for the season in the Thanksgiving Day game. Eberflus is fired on Black Monday. 3. Travis Kelce takes a large step back and is no longer among the top ten performing Tight Ends in the league.

It's fair to say I painted with a broad brush. I am sure there are communities, including black and brown communities, where schools love their SROs. Speaking from my own personal experience, I used to be a foster parent and used to work in child welfare, and I had several children both as fosters and clients who were ostracized and isolated by their experiences with SROs. If a kid comes in with a neutral or positive mindset about cops, then they are likely to have a better experience than the ones I knew. Their past experience with cops were as they arrested mom or dad, or removed them from their home, or arrested them themselves. They would often express feeling followed and singled out by their SRO in a school environment, where kids should be able to make mistakes (obviously not to the magnitude we talk about in this thread) surrounded by supports, without the nagging concern that their mistakes will cause them to join their parents in the criminal justice system. From a more legal standpoint too, SROs are infamous for interviewing, interrogating, and getting statements from students without their parents present or ever having been informed. They want to have their cake and eat it too, with the school saying "we don't need a parent here to investigate school discipline", but the SRO sitting right next to the Assistant Principal during interviews, and all of a sudden that whole report your child gave for "school discipline" reasons finds its way into a police report on the desk of a Prosecutor. I would tell my foster children do not under any circumstance speak to the SRO or make any written statement without me present. It is in no way in their interests. The studies across a large sample size don't support the use of SROs and the media stories speak to that on a case study basis too. There are far more instances of SROs assaulting children for mere insubordination, arresting children for nonsensical things, and handcuffing autistic children as young as five than there are of hero SROs stopping or preventing a school shooting. That money would be far better spent on additional mental health professionals who can create authentic relationships with students, without the need to holster a gun in the process. I encourage you (and anyone really) to watch that John Oliver piece.

I don't think my thought process is even that deep. There's no calculus for me. Ford Field boos two groups of people indiscriminately: the opposing team when they come out the tunnel (particularly when Fritzsching says "the Los Angeles Rams"), and officials when they make a bad call (i.e., any call that goes against Detroit). So, I will boo those two groups of people indiscriminately on Sunday Night. (Apologies in advance to Adrian Hill and his officiating crew, I'm sure they will do a great job.) It's not like hockey, where an intelligent and aware fan base can boo anytime a particular player like Sidney Crosby touches the puck. There are just two noises: loud on defense (including but not limited to booing) and quiet on offense.

"did his job" - after four people were dead and dozens more injured? SROs are a terrible addition to any school environment. They make black and brown kids feel isolated in a place they should feel safe, they place more children into the never-ending cycle of criminal justice, and ultimately they just insert more distrust and unease into a place where children should feel safe. News flash, it's not like police departments are putting their best and brightest into the schools. John Oliver did a really good piece on this a few years back. But they sometimes... plausibly... maybe... mitigate the death toll of the inevitable school shootings, and since we as a society don't want to actually address the plainly obvious root cause of school shootings (i.e., the apparatus involved in every single one of them), we just say all of those consequences are okay for our children to suffer through.

I didn't read into this answer when it was given and I don't read anything into it now. He was almost certainly concussed in that wildcard game, but was coherent enough to fake it for the NFL doc. Then after a one-point loss where his coach punted from the Lions 44 with 4:15 left, he had cameras shoved in his face. I really don't think he was thinking "let me send a subliminal message about my thoughts on Detroit fans." He was contractually required to be there, but was pissed and sore and wanted to get the interview over with as quickly as possible. That being said.... I'm still going to boo him. Just like I will boo Baker Mayfield, Geno Smith, Trevor Lawrence, and Josh Allen. And I'm probably going to chant Goff's name. Just like I will if the chant starts against the Bucs, Seahawks, Jags, and Bills. Stafford was here 12 seasons and went 75-90 without winning a playoff game. I loved him while he was here and was never one of those morans who called for Shaun Hill or Dan Orlovsky to replace him. I appreciate him for having put his body on the line for the Lions, just like I appreciate any number of other Lions players who played for the Lions. But he's not some living legend. He's not Brady returning to Foxborough. The time for flowers will come after he retires. Maybe when all is said and done he will be worthy of consideration for the Pride of the Lions. Maybe when all is said and done he will be worthy of consideration for the Hall of Fame. When those discussions come up, or when he comes back to Ford Field for a Lions playoff game with a Lions cap on, in a seat between Calvin and Eminem, then I'll cheer him. I don't know why everyone feels like we have to cheer him now, or we will never get the chance again. If he wants a ticket to a Lions game after he retires, I'll bet he probably has a connection who can hook him up (leave the wife and kids at home though, sorry).

I can find the comments, but Campbell has effectively said he’s a starter. Not sure if that will still be the case if Reader is a go.

Justin Rogers reported that he spoke with Christian Mahogany today and got the low down on his illness. Turns out it was mono. That's got to have been a tough month for him.

If my incessant posting in the last week hasn't told you that I am beyond ready for this season to start, this post absolutely will. I have compiled an officially official ranking of the 54 games in the Campbell era. My scientific process involved looking at the 23 schedule, then 22, then 21, and ranking each game as I went. Hindsight was permitted for this exercise, as otherwise, every single loss would have been tied for the worst game ever. Disagree if you dare, but science doesn't lie. Putting it in a quote so it doesn't take up so much screen space. Black is year three, blue is year two, and red is year one. Lo and behold:

I may have picked up a pair before plugging them here, but that's just a rumor.

The Lions Nike Pegasus 41s dropped this morning. They tend to sell out absurdly quickly in any normal person size, so thought I would plug it in case anyone here is interested. Available at Nike and NFL Shop.

Are we a coach on commercials team now? Okay, nobody panic, we have prepared for this...

I think if you asked a handful of people today to make a prediction for what the 2030 AP preseason poll would look like, answers would turn out to be pretty largely on the nose.

I wasn't yet born in 1992, so I can't compare sentiments with any certainty. But, putting my historian hat on, I think the writing was on the wall with the 92 team that isn't here today. They lost two guards (one tragically) and got worse at both positions, which was certainly a contributing factor to Barry having one of his worst seasons (yet still making the Pro Bowl). The line was the stalwart of the 1991 team (like the 2023 team) and not enough was done to maintain that (as opposed to extending Sewell & Decker, drafting multiple, and replacing Jackson with a 2023 Pro Bowler). There was also a quarterback controversy between Rodney Peete and Erick Kramer. It's hard to say that the 2024 Lions aren't better, at least on paper, than the 2023 Lions. It would have been hard to argue that the 1992 Lions were better on paper than the 1991 Lions. It's also a bit semantical, but the fan base has grown in a general sense for the NFL product in the last 33 years, so even if they were roughly equal I would say this season is more anticipated.

I won't be booing Stafford this time around. His kids though, fair game.

I'm curious to see where they go with it this year. Last year, some of the stuff they unveiled was obviously planned (e.g., the throwback helmet being debuted on Monday Night and then brought back in the Week 18 game against Minnesota that turned out to be meaningless), but other stuff seemed to come up as they went (e.g., introducing streamers and fireworks into the rafters for week 18 and the playoffs). Likewise, they brought in some new aspects like the electronic wristbands (featured in the video) that were really, really cool. Introduced on Monday Night, and then again for the playoffs. And then rally towels for the Divisional Round. I'm a much bigger fan of rally towels than I am the 3rd down signs, because the signs just obstruct everyone's view. They've come a long way from the days of 2021, where every game was a 1pm start and half the upper bowl was empty by the time they won a game. Lots of opportunities this season: Sunday Night against the Rams, Monday Night against the Seahawks, Thanksgiving against the Bears, Thursday Night against the Packers............ An NFC Conference Championship Game? I hope they continue to get creative and introduce new pieces to keep fans screaming.

There's a certain irony to the Modelo Kickoff Classic being played by a bunch of 19 and 20-somethings who cannot legally purchase Modelo. At least they're giving us a good game to watch though. Brian Kelly killed a kid.

Still crazy to me that the Rams are looking to make Jonah Jackson a week one center after he missed pretty much all of camp. He's only played 24 career snaps at center, and they all came in emergency fashion in 2021, when both Ragnow and Evan Brown were hurt. It also makes him the second highest paid center in NFL history.