Snow Leopards and Friends

Hidy Ho to all of my fellow Detroit Lions fans,

Yes can you believe it that I am posting my blog when I said I would? Yes miracles happen every day. This blog will be a short one because it has to do with my dreams of the UFL becoming the developmental league for the NFL. The other night I came up with a "farm team" for each of the NFL teams. The problem I had wasn't coming up with cities of where to place the teams but giving them really cool names. That was the most painful. I went through many revisions and some earlier typos of giving a couple of cities two teams which was not my attention. It is a lot of hard work coming up with an entire league.

By the way a big thank you to all of you who take the time to read my blogs and check out the links I collect from MLive. They have the best sports coverage when it comes to the Lions because unlike other media outlets they are not embarrassed to publish stuff on the Lions. When one of you comment that you checked it out and took the time to look it over it gives my heart such a warm fuzzy feeling that a nuclear reactor seems frigid in comparison.

You all are wondering what does my blog title mean this time? Well the Snow Leopards are the Detroit Lions farm team that will play in Grand Rapids if I ruled the football world. The reason I say Snow Leopard and Friends it is in homage to Saturday morning cartoons when they were the highlight of your week when you were a kid. Anyone remember the days of Bugs Bunny and Pals? Awesome cartoons.

Well you know that one of the biggest improvements the NFL needs is a developmental league like what Major League Baseball has with their AAA teams. I am hopeful like many other football fans that the UFL (United Football League) will be that answer. By the way here is the web site for the UFL. http://www.ufl-football.com/ I would like to see the UFL partner with the NFL and become its right arm. A league that gives us fans our fix of football and molds players to play at the NFL level. Time will tell. Well here is the list of NFL teams with their affiliate. I hope you all get a kick out of the team names. Some might seem lame but I was tring to be originial and come up with names you don't hear that often.

NFC NORTH

Detroit Lions Grand Rapids Snow Leopards

Green Bay Packers Lincoln Black Knights

Minnesota Vikings Bismarck Goblins

Chicago Bears Columbus Fire Ants

NFC SOUTH

Atlanta Falcons Nashville Vipers

Carolina Panthers Jackson Tigers

New Orleans Saints Tallahassee Sting Rays

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Huntsville Spiders

NFC EAST

New York Giants Annapolis Harpoons

Philadelphia Eagles Albany Sidewinders

Dallas Cowboys Oklahoma City Gun Slingers

Washington Redskins Orlando Conquistadors

NFC WEST

St. Louis Rams Las Vegas Red Knights

Arizona Cardinals Albuquerque Cobras

San Francisco 49s Los Angeles Hammerheads

Seattle Seahawks Sacramento Pythons

AFC NORTH

Baltimore Ravens Dover Rattlers

Cincinnati Bengals Richmond Cougars

Cleveland Browns Portland (Maine) Bull Sharks

Pittsburgh Steelers Norfolk Torpedoes

AFC SOUTH

Tennessee Titans Little Rock Cannons

Houston Texans Austin Scorpions

Indianapolis Colts Louisville Juggernauts

Jacksonville Jaguars Baton Rouge Cheetahs

AFC EAST

Buffalo Bills Harrisburg Bombers

Miami Dolphins Raleigh Scythes

New England Patriots Charleston Makos

New York Jets Hartford Condors

AFC WEST

Denver Broncos Salt Lake City Dragons

Kansas City Chiefs Des Moines Tomahawks

Oakland Raiders Boise Rebels

San Diego Chargers Anchorage Comets

Yes some of them might seem silly but this list was very hard to come up with. I really hope you enjoy this list an please let me know what you think of my list and what names you would like to see for different cities. Well it has been a really long day. Take care everyone and remember you are special God has ordained us to be the best fans in all of football and it begins with us. I should have another post this weekend hopefully Killer has some great insites as to what is happening down in Allen Park. Until then GO LIONS and a very special GO WINGS!

The Shark is Working!

A very awesome morning/afternoon/evening to the ever faithful Detroit Lions fans! Let me start off my saying how sorry I am for not posting these past few weeks. Lots and lots going on but I should not have ignored my loyal readers. You’re probably wondering what the title of this blog has to do with the Detroit Lions. Well I am going to educate you.

Back in 1974 when the movie Jaws was being filmed, a mechanical shark was used for the shark effects. There was no CGI available like in the movie Deep Blue Sea. Anyways the movie was being filmed in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts which was the setting for the fictional town of Amity Island. During production there were so many problems with the mechanical shark that everywhere on the island you heard the film crews say on their radios “the shark isn’t working” or “the shark still isn’t working”.

It was a God ordained miracle that this movie was not cancelled because of the financial toll it was taking. Then all of a sudden the mechanical shark starts working and you heard the crews say “the shark is working” and were able to get production finished in time for it to be released in theatres and drive-ins. So my analogy is this. We have seen the production of the Detroit Lions falter time in and time out. The Lions franchise was not working under Matt Millen but now we have new directors and producers that will get this team headed in the right direction.

There is legitimate hope and I am not just drowning myself in kool-aid. There have been so many changes with personnel, coaches, staff and the general attitude that we are a beater team. I believe great things are coming. By the way that was your five cent trivia. Next time I am going to charge you. Just kidding! Well let me hand out some links from MLive like handing out candy at Halloween.

Here is an audio interview with Ernie Sims on the new defensive schemes. I am a huge Ernie Sims fan and I believe his production will be much better under the 4-3 defense that the Tampa 2.

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/05/ernie_sims_on_wdfn_new_defensi.html

Here is an audio interview with Middle Linebacker Larry Foote. He is so awesome I am so ecstatic that he signed with us. He is the quarterback for the defense. The thing I like about him is his ability to look on the bright side. He said the Lions and the Patriots were in the exact same spot at the end of the season last year, neither made the playoffs and I feel that is a good point of view to have. You either go on to the playoffs or you go home and start the off-season.

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/05/larry_foote_on_wdfn_lions_otas.html

Here are photo slide shows from the Lions OTA practices.

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/05/photos_detroit_lions_ota_pract.html

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/05/photos_detroit_lions_ota_pract_1.html

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/05/photos_detroit_lions_ota_rooki.html

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/05/photos_detroit_lions_ota_pract_2.html

Here are some comments from Coach Schwartz about addressing multiple personnel needs in the off-season and what he sees from some of the players. I am so super stoked about your coach. I was indifferent to Coach Steve Mariucci and Coach Marinelli being hired and they were disasters although I think Coach Mariucci could have had success if Millen had gotten him the right players. I hope Coach Schwartz is our last new coach for an extremely long time as long as he is winning.

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/05/jim_schwartz_lions_had_too_man.html

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/05/jim_schwartz_discusses_what_he.html

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/05/jim_schwartz_lions_will_explor.html

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/05/additional_quotes_from_head_co.html

Rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford seems to be winning over the locker room and so far he is night and day difference from Joey Harrington. The huge question for the Lions in the upcoming season is if Stafford or Culpepper starts? I just hope it is Coach Schwartz’s and Coach Linehan’s decision and no one else's. I would strongly suspect that it will be so that the mistakes of the past are not repeated.

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/05/quarterback_matthew_stafford_m.html

Here are some scouting reports on the OTAs from Lions beat writer Tom ‘Killer’ Kowalski.

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/05/scouting_report_daunte_culpepp.html

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/05/scouting_report_calvin_johnson_2.html

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/05/scouting_report_ikaika_alamafr_1.html

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/05/scouting_report_maurice_morris.html

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/05/scouting_report_deandre_levy.html

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/05/scouting_report_dominic_raiola_1.html

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/05/scouting_report_jordon_dizon.html

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/05/scouting_report_aaron_brown.html

The latest on Quarterback Drew Stanton is he is the third string guy on the depth chart but so far he is showing enough in practice that he will end up squeaking by into the season and still remain on the team. So far the Lions have not brought in any other veteran quarterbacks into camp. However, once training camp opens that can change. If they do bring in another veteran QB, a possibility worth taking a look at could be Rex Grossman. I feel he is a serviceable back-up and would connect well with the other players.

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/05/drew_stanton_fighting_for_rost.html

One of the better free-agent singings has been OT Jon Jansen the former Clawson, Michigan native and Wolverine stand-out. He was released from the Washington Redskins and like Middle Linebacker Larry Foote was excited to sign with the Lions and help build this team into something we can call be proud of. I suspect he plays back-up RT behind Gosder Cherilus or possibly play RG on the offensive line. Which ever position he plays it is a huge upgrade from George ‘False Start’ Foster who the Lions released once Jansen was signed.

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/05/report_lions_agree_to_oneyear.html

Well that’s about it for now I will have another posting at the end of the week for sure this time because I want to be caught up with MLive’s Lions articles. Sweet dreams in Lions Land everyone and until next time kiddos, GO LIONS!