Author Archive

The Red Wings need to stick with the man who got them to the party. There is talk around the Red Wings media and fan community that Chris Osgood should start game four on Tuesday night for the Red Wings. This is not the right move. Osgood is a cold goaltender who has not won a game since December 12. He has only started one game since January, a ...
Shane Doan was a beast out there in Game One for the Phoenix Coyotes. He may not have shown up on the scoresheet at all, but his physical presence was more than enough to derail the Red Wings in the first game of the Western Conference Quarterfinal series. Red Wings fans are going to learn to dislike the Coyote enforcer much the same way they learned to ...

The State of Competitve Balance in the NFL

Posted: 6th January 2010 by Joe Hojnacki in NFL
Pete Rozelle once envisioned a league that would have every team finish 8-8. We know that kind of level playing ground is a pipe dream. But how is competitive balance done in the NFL? How close have we come to that parity? There are numerical ways that we can go about measuring this. Rozelle was concerned with wins and losses, so why don't we concern ourselves with the same? ...

Lions 2009 Season Review Part Two: Defense

Posted: 6th January 2010 by Joe Hojnacki in NFL
The Lions' defense has been the source of much criticism for several years. They made little improvement this year. At least there was some. They were known for inconsistency, much like the entire team. They would make a brilliant play on of down then give up something big the next. They would tackle like pros one minute and then were seen falling off ball carriers like eggs from a Teflon ...

Bert Blyleven Is Still Waiting for the Hall Call, But Why?

Posted: 6th January 2010 by Joe Hojnacki in MLB
Congratulations to Andre Dawson, but the voting for the Baseball Hall of Fame is a joke. Every year baseball fans make a big deal about the Hall of Fame elections. Every year before the votes are cast, writers everywhere make their cases for who deserves to be in and who doesn't. Every year when all is said and done the fans complain about who got in and who didn't get in. Bert ...

The Winter Classic Gives Hockey a Holiday

Posted: 2nd January 2010 by Joe Hojnacki in NHL
What did sports fans think on New Year's Day five years ago? The answer, major college football bowl games. The Rose Bowl has been the spotlight for sporting events on the first day of the year for nearly a century. Many other high-profile college programs play in major games every year. The Cotton Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, and even the Champs Sports Bowl feature high profile college programs. Fast forward to ...

Drew Stanton to Start Sunday For Lions

Posted: 23rd December 2009 by Joe Hojnacki in NFL
Tom Kowalski of MLive.com makes it official. Drew Stanton will start on Sunday for the Lions as they take on the San Francisco 49ers. The move was only half expected after the near comeback on Sunday afternoon. The team and the fans seemed to rally more around the former Spartan than they did around the aging Culpepper. Stanton is not a better quarterback than Culpepper is, but if the team wants to ...

Lions-Cardinals: Detroit Comeback Falls Short in 31-24 Loss

Posted: 20th December 2009 by Joe Hojnacki in NFL
The Lions showed a little bit of heart in this one. For once, the defense sparked the team, and the crowd, and gave them the momentum to make a game out of this one. The Delmas interception came at a time when the Lions looked down and out. They had just given up a big interception and Arizona was knocking on the door ready to score another touchdown that ...