The Lions Den: August 2009

Monday, August 10, 2009

Training Camp Links Round Up

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Lions Uncaged!

A VERY SUPER AWESOME DAY TO MY FELLOW LIONS FANS!

YES I AM SUPER PUMPED!

I have been drinking kool-aid this morning! Lions Uncaged was so awesome! Kudos to the Lions front-office for putting this event on! 15,000 fans came out in the rain waiting to see a Lions practice. If that is not the definition of a true fan then I have no idea what is. Unfortunately I was unable to get any autographs since they cut off the lines. Next time I will have to get there at 5:00 am! LOL I did get a few photos on my cell phone and hopefully will have them uploaded sometime soon.

I snagged some photos of various players. I got a couple of LB Ernie Sims. He looked up and saw that I was taking a couple of photos and I said to him "I'm wearing your jersey!" He smiled at me and seemed very encouraged that a fan was wearing his jersey. I am sure that makes them feel really encouraged that the fans support them. I believe he is going to have a Pro-Bowl year! That is a prediction I am NOT afraid to make.

I also got a few photos of Coach Jim Schwartz. He is so cool and down to earth! While I was taking a few photos there were younger children getting autographs, giving fist bumps to the kids and I thought man how special is that? You just fist bumped Jim Schwartz! Lucky kids. He was genuinely glad that the fans showed up enmasse.

Maybe we are all buying into it but I believe this Lions team is not setting us up for another heartbreak. I believe this team and coaching staff is for real and definitely headed in the right direction! It just wasn't the diehards that showed up but a lot of folks who wanted to see this new Lions team. It was such a great thing not only for Ford Field but the community. Football can really bring people together.

You all are probably wondering what I thought of the practice. I really liked how the defense looked and broke up some passes. The running plays were solid with FB Jerome Felton looking awesome and Kicker Jason Hanson was knocking them through the uprights. LOL He was even passing the ball between Nick Harris. Hanson has quite an arm! Look out Matt Stafford you might have some competition. It was such a great time for the younger fans to interact with the players. All of the QB's looked pretty good in their drills. Stafford, Culpepper, and Stanton got the ball going but there is still a lot of work to do. And this was just a practice. I am sure the Spartan basketball team has countless missed free throws and bad passes in practice.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was in attendance watching practice. I assumed it was partially because the NFL Hall of Fame Ceremony and Game is this weekend in Canton, Ohio not that far away. Coach Schwartz made some opening comments to all of us fans thanking us and was appreciative of the fact that many folks were out there standing in the rain waiting to enter. A sign of true fans. Coach Schwartz also said about how the front office would fight tooth and nail to keep our Thanksgiving game with the Commissioner being in attendance and witnessing us fans supporting the Thanksgiving game and not having it taken away from us.

I wish they would remove the blackout rules which I am very much against. It is punishing the fans and in this economy it is a true slap in the face. One of the few things people have going for them in their lives is a chance to watch football. People who are out of work and would like to watch a game can't because of these BS rules. If they are going to keep the rules then they can at least broadcast another game which they don't. I remember last year during one of the blackouts for the Lions they aired the movie Clueless in instead! Are you kidding me? Us fans are being subjected to that PETA nutcase's awful movie? That angers me to no end! These rules need to go. The advertisers will do much better when they advertise things like beer and potato chips. This is not fair or right! Hopefully those rules will come to a screeching halt.

After heading back to Lansing I called into 97.1 FM the Ticket and got on the air to Dennis Fithian and I mentioned about what a great idea the Lions Uncaged event was and how much fun it was. I also mentioned that the weakness I do see on the DLine is the DT position and hopefully it will be addressed pretty soon.

As some of you have learned I have bought a new car. A Black Chevy Cobalt! While at Ford Field I went to the Roar and More and got a few things. I got a Lions licence plate cover and a Lions window cling. I was going to get the car flag but I had to watch my nickels and dimes. I also picked up a couple more wall decorations. Well I think that's about all for now. I hope to be caught up with the stories from MLive on training camp really soon. If any of you are interested My Land O Links posts are collections of stories on the Lions from MLive. LOTS and LOTS of articles but they are all pretty short with great information from Tom Kowalski, Philip Zaroo, and others like Pat Caputo from the Oakland Press. Well enjoy the Bills vs. Titans game tonight and all of you have a safe and enjoyable Sunday :) See you all really soon! GO LIONS

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Land O Links III

An article from Tom Kowalski on Matthew Stafford.

http://www.mlive.com/lions/index.ssf/2009/07/matthew_stafford_on_fast_track.html

Monday, August 3, 2009

Bigger and Stronger

A very good evening to all of my fellow Lions fans! Your wondering why I am in such a happy-go-lucky mood and well as most of you know I am a pretty happy person anyways but the reason I am particularly happy is from the time the Super Bowl ended and just this past Saturday my withdrawal symptoms are over! Training Camp has finally arrived! High 5 to all of my fellow Lions fans.

We are witnesssing the dawn of a new era. The losing culture of the Matt Millen and Rod Marinelli era is over! General Manager Martin Mayhew and Coach Jim Schwartz have poured a solid foundation for a solid team. With all of the changes they have made it is hard to say which area we will be better in. We had a great receiving corp and with Offensive Coordinator Scott Linehan's vertical pass system Wide Receivers Calvin Johnson and Bryant Johnson will but up awesome numbers. We hit pay dirt with our Running Back Kevin Smith who I am predicting will have at least a 1,200 yard rushing season.

Now the area of concern to me going into training camp is our DL situation we do not have much depth in the DT area and we have to stop the run and that is one area that Coach Schwartz has said any good team worth the effort has to be able to run the ball and stop the run. Now with DT Grady Jackson could be suspended for the first four games of the regular season due to him taking a banned diet supplement which is total garbage. So DT Sammie Hill who we drafted in the 4th Round in this years draft was supposed to be a developmental, project player but he may be forced to playing right away as a starter. For our defense sake I hope he is a quick study.

A quick note, the Lions are holding a team kick-off luncheon at Ford Field. I have attended the last two kick-off luncheons at Cobo Hall. They are a great time. Last year I had WR Brandon Middleton at my table. Didn't talk to him much but he signed my Lions yearbook which you get for free for attending by the way. Here is the link from the Detroit Lions web site with the press release on it. Tickets are like $60.00 FYI. It is a lot of fun and I hope you can all attend. I am looking forward to this event. One of the highlights before the season kicks-off.

http://www.detroitlions.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=486470

Here is a link from the Lions web site which has a schedule for the Lions open practices with a really cool event this coming Saturday at Ford Field called 'Lions Uncaged'. It is free to attend but you need to get these voucher sort of tickets from SVS Vision Centers. There contact information is in the press release. I will be going there. Pretty stoked about it! Should be a great time for all that attend there will be an autograph signing session also.

http://www.detroitlions.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=486307#Uncaged

Coach Schwartz wants bigger, stronger lineman. The lineman's strength has increased about 16% which is substantial. One big difference in this season's training camp is that they are running a 4-3 defense. Everyone will be on a bit of a learning curve since the last three years the Lions ran a useless Tampa 2 defense. I believe we can force the opposing team's offense to run to the middle instead of the outside where before they were gobbling up huge amounts of real estate. I feel that is one of the first things that we need to focus on.

The Offense will click with all three of the QBs getting reps. I fell pretty confident with our QB depth but it will be interesting if they sign a 4th QB for possibly the practice squad.

You know another reason I think Coach Schwartz will be better on Sundays? It is because of his intelligence. He won't get out coached he will know when to challenge a play, when to use time-outs and know how to make adjustments and substitutions. We are in safe hands with Coach Schwartz.

Before I forget my Lionettes I re-did my UFL List and I like the changes I made. The Detroit Lions new UFL farm team is called the Grand Rapids Lynx. It was changed from the Grand Rapids Snow Leopards. I thought that sounded too cute and cuddly and Lions and Lynx's are not cute and cuddly but creatures that will look at you and say "Hello Lunch!" I was really toying with the idea of calling the Lions farm team the Michigan Massasaugas. The one native poisonous snake here in Michigan. Anyways I think this list is much better. Enjoy!

NFL UFL (NFL Affiliate)

NFC NORTH
Detroit Lions Grand Rapids Lynx
Green Bay Packers Lincoln Black Knights
Minnesota Vikings Bismarck Archers
Chicago Bears Columbus Fire Ants

NFC SOUTH
Atlanta Falcons Nashville Vipers
Carolina Panthers Jackson Leopards
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 San Jose Hammerheads
Seattle Seahawks Portland (Oregon) Pythons

AFC NORTH
Baltimore Ravens Manhattan Rattlers
Cincinnati Bengals Richmond Cougars
Cleveland Browns Portland (Maine) Bull Sharks
Pittsburgh Steelers Norfolk Torpedoes

AFC SOUTH
Tennessee Titans Little Rock Bombers
Houston Texans Austin Scorpions
Indianapolis Colts Louisville Juggernauts
Jacksonville Jaguars Baton Rouge Cheetahs

AFC EAST
Buffalo Bills Harrisburg Jackals
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 Renegades

San Diego Chargers Los Angeles Rebels

Well as Porky Pig would say "That's All Folks!" Well not really but it is late and I have an awesome day of writing Happy Letters planned tomorrow! Everyone take care and remember when things turn around for our team, it will be well worth all of the heartaches and sorrows of our past failures. I will have news round up links posted by the end of the week well then again I should not promise that I will do that because as of late I have been coming up short in that regard. But anyways GO LIONS!

The Lions Den