Personally, I always think this is the best time of the NFL season to look back at the silly picks we all make at the start of the season, and, because I'm a Detroit native and Lions fan, I always put the 2 together in one blog.
Anyway, on to the review of my picks...
The picks.
Lets see, at the start of the year I picked the Patriots, Colts, Chargers, Arizona and the entire NFC East to take some steps back this year and, given the number of teams on this list, I didn't too bad I think.
I'm not surprised at all about the Colts, Arizona or the NFC East-especially Dallas and the Redskins. How did I know? If you read my picks post way back in September I stated why: these teams are on the old side on both sides of their interior line positions. The Chargers are a total surprise. I know, I know, they do this just about every year-a late season charge into the playoffs; but, how many times can the same core group of players do this?
The Patriots really aren't a surprise to me. No team lead by Bill Bellichick or Tom Brady will ever surprise me. Truth be told, I wasn't expecting them to have a losing record, just to not have those double digit wins this year. I picked them to be on the slide for 2 primary reasons: youth on defense and the same age issue in their interior line play on both sides of the ball. Well, I was wrong about the Pats, and, since they are my "2nd" team, I have no problem being wrong about them this year.
Teams on the rise: Packers, Lions, Falcons, 49ers, Houston, Tennessee and Miami.
OK, so I was wrong about all here except for the Falcons and Lions.
Of all of these, the only team at the start of the year I had issues with picking to be on the rise was the 49ers-I simply bought into their hype. The rest, except the Lions, I legitimately believed would be playoff teams this year-particularly Houston and Tennessee. So much for that idea eh?
That all said, I did believe the Falcons would win their division this year, but I didn't (and still don't) see them as a possible Superbowl contender. They are living up to my expectations and, within in a couple of years, I expect them to actually be as good as their record is this year.
My Superbowl pick was the Ravens vs. the Packers. Since the Pack aren't going to make the playoffs-thanks to my Lions :)-this idea is waaaaaay out the window, but that is OK because this is why we love football-any given Sunday anything can happen, and, more often than not, the best laid plans are useless when it's all said and done.
The Lions.
How close was this team to 8-8 this year? They were close-very close. Perhaps as close as that blown call at the Bears opening week. Think what might have been had that call gone the other way? The Lions road and division loss streaks would have ended, and that monkey they wouldn't have had to carry on their back most of the season.
The Lions had 5 or 6 games (off the top of my head) that were decided by less than 5 points-2 or 3 of which I believe they would have won had they just gotten that call opening week. Up to this week, they led 10 of their games at the half. Over the last 2 weeks us Lions fans have, I believe, watched our Defense grow up a lot and learn how to close out football games-at the very least they have learned to not let them get away by giving up big plays or crucial scores late. At the same time, for the first time in over a decade, we are seeing a team that, even with nothing to play for, is still playing hard for their coach and not quitting. This is an important sign as it tells me that a) we finally have a good core of quality, hard working talent that actually cares about their job and b) we have a coach and staff worth keeping for more than 3 years...
A few words about Suh
Suh is a beast, lets just be straight up honest about that. The guy is the first top 5 pick since Manning that I can remember actually living up to the hype of his draft status. The guy is a rookie, gets double and triple teamed every play and still wreaks havoc on offensive schemes. He leads all D tackles, much less rookies, in sacks and is-did I say-a freaking rookie! I can't believe that, as a Lions fan, we actually can say we have a "dominant defensive line"! Wait, let me pinch myself...OW!...Yup, not dreaming-the Lions have a dominant defensive line and all they need is a true lock down corner or an above average outside linebacker and they could have one of the top 5 defenses in the league within 2 years.
The most impressive thing about their D-line play is that the guys around Suh are good enough to take advantage of their one on one match ups. It's amazing really-my whole life the only truly great thing about the Lions was their running backs. Both Billy Sims and Barry Sanders fell within my Lions lifetime of viewing, but the team never could do jack shit on Defense-which is where you build winning programs from...
I'll leave the rest of the Lions chatter for my regular season wrap up, for now all I can say is that, for the first time in almost 2 decades, I am truly excited about the Lions and their future...Better go pinch myself again...OW!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Everblades week in review
Facing Greenville
If you had the chance to see the Everblades last week during their 3 game set against Greenville, you got to see some pretty good hockey despite the Blades dropping 2 of those 3 games. If you remember, when they left on that road trip right after Thanksgiving, the team had pretty much just turned in the first performance of the year where they put in a full 60 minutes of effort. That performance carried them to a 7 game winning streak that was stopped Friday at the hands of the Road Warriors...
As a whole, I don't think that the Blades played all that bad Friday and Saturday against Greenville and it was the opinion of the coaching staff that what it boiled down to was "bounces of the puck". Unfortunately, that really doesn't bode well for the Blades, who are a disappointing 2-6 (as of today) against Greenville this year, and will probably have to go through them at some point in the playoffs.
To be fair, the Blades lost Lemieux and Pistilli to an AHL call up after Wednesday game-the one they won. Both were hot-Lemieux had just won player of the week honors for the league and Pistilli turned in one of his best overall performances of the year Wednesday night. But losing guys to call ups in the ECHL is part of being in the league, so it's no excuse-every team has to go through it and the Blades are no exception, except in the fact they have 2 affiliates to the NHL.
That aside, as a fan I hate to say it, but I think that Greenville just has their number.
Greenville plays a style of neutral zone trap that Florida is unable to counter unless they have their full compliment of speedy players-which includes Lemieux and Pistilli. This doesn't mean that I think the Blades have no chance of doing anything in the playoffs, it just means that I think they have to have all their best players available to them and playing at the top of their game to beat Greenville. Those 2 things, or Greenville needs to feel the pain of call ups and injuries the way the Blades always seem to at crucial points of the season. Knowing the ECHL and the Blades the former isn't very likely to happen, but we-as Everblades fans-can always hope that Greenville gets their share of call ups and injuries as the season wears on...
Can I get a penalty shot?
Twice against the Road Warriors, last week, Coach Poss questioned "what does it take to get a penalty shot in this league?"
On Wednesday and Saturday nights, an Everblade player had a breakaway chance on their goalie; on both occasions the Blades' player was seemingly hooked or tripped to the ice. To myself, and the officials within ear shot of me, Saturday night's missed call was the more obvious of the 2 that should have resulted in a penalty shot for the Blades. Wednesday's missed call wasn't so blatant, but not even a penalty was called on that occasion (if my memory serves me right), where as on Saturday night, the Blades at least got a PP out of the missed shot.
I can't say that I'm wholly surprised no penalty shot was called on either occasion. In the almost 6 total years that I have covered the team in some way, I have seen only 2 penalty shots called, and on both occasions it was called because the offending player pretty much tackled the would be shooter to the ice, leaving little room for doubt as to the call. What I have learned is that, just because it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, its not necessary a duck in the ECHL. In other words, to get a penalty shot in the ECHL it has to be flagrant, otherwise the refs just let it go...
Radio woes
In case you don't know, you can catch the Everblades on The Avenue-AM 1410 in Lee County or AM 1660 in Collier county. I am under a verbal contract to start soon at those stations and one of the things that is being kicked around for me to do once started there, is to produce Blades games when they are on the road.
This week, it got back to me that some fans were having issues listening to the Everblades on the radio when they couldn't make it to the games...
I have been told by management at The Avenue that most of the problems in hearing the games have been resolved. However, 2 issues remain that can't be helped/fixed.
The first is a roughly 10 mile "dead zone" that exists between the 2 stations starting at Alico Road in Lee county and stretching down to Bonita Beach Road. It is a problem The Avenue has had since it's creation and, I am told, it is trying to work with the FCC to correct the issue. The 2nd is in broadcasting the games itself.
For the games to make the airwaves, Kevin Reiter has to dial up a Comrex, which then connects his equipment to equipment at The Avenue's studio's. Sometimes things go wrong and, so long as no one is in the studio to make sure that Kevin is "dialed in" (as we in radio would say), you can't always guarantee that they will be on the air. Of course, to solve the issue, all you need is someone to be in studio to make sure it happens. Of course I can't be there for home games, but in the future this should no longer be an issue when the team is on the road-hopefully; but only time will tell. In the mean time, I hope everyone stays patient with the teams new radio partners...
Someone also asked me this week why the Blades always seem to be changing radio partners every year or 2...Although I have been fortunate to be privy to most (not all) of the reasons why this has been the case over the years, I do not feel that it would be proper for me to go into those details on my blog without the permission of all those companies. I will say this, however, about their former radio partner, Fox 1240-had that station stayed on the air, the Blades would have most likely stayed with them as I hear they were, for the most part, happy with that partnership...
As always, you can catch me during intermissions on the outside of the smoking section by the suite level entrance. Come say hi and talk some sports with me,
RR
If you had the chance to see the Everblades last week during their 3 game set against Greenville, you got to see some pretty good hockey despite the Blades dropping 2 of those 3 games. If you remember, when they left on that road trip right after Thanksgiving, the team had pretty much just turned in the first performance of the year where they put in a full 60 minutes of effort. That performance carried them to a 7 game winning streak that was stopped Friday at the hands of the Road Warriors...
As a whole, I don't think that the Blades played all that bad Friday and Saturday against Greenville and it was the opinion of the coaching staff that what it boiled down to was "bounces of the puck". Unfortunately, that really doesn't bode well for the Blades, who are a disappointing 2-6 (as of today) against Greenville this year, and will probably have to go through them at some point in the playoffs.
To be fair, the Blades lost Lemieux and Pistilli to an AHL call up after Wednesday game-the one they won. Both were hot-Lemieux had just won player of the week honors for the league and Pistilli turned in one of his best overall performances of the year Wednesday night. But losing guys to call ups in the ECHL is part of being in the league, so it's no excuse-every team has to go through it and the Blades are no exception, except in the fact they have 2 affiliates to the NHL.
That aside, as a fan I hate to say it, but I think that Greenville just has their number.
Greenville plays a style of neutral zone trap that Florida is unable to counter unless they have their full compliment of speedy players-which includes Lemieux and Pistilli. This doesn't mean that I think the Blades have no chance of doing anything in the playoffs, it just means that I think they have to have all their best players available to them and playing at the top of their game to beat Greenville. Those 2 things, or Greenville needs to feel the pain of call ups and injuries the way the Blades always seem to at crucial points of the season. Knowing the ECHL and the Blades the former isn't very likely to happen, but we-as Everblades fans-can always hope that Greenville gets their share of call ups and injuries as the season wears on...
Can I get a penalty shot?
Twice against the Road Warriors, last week, Coach Poss questioned "what does it take to get a penalty shot in this league?"
On Wednesday and Saturday nights, an Everblade player had a breakaway chance on their goalie; on both occasions the Blades' player was seemingly hooked or tripped to the ice. To myself, and the officials within ear shot of me, Saturday night's missed call was the more obvious of the 2 that should have resulted in a penalty shot for the Blades. Wednesday's missed call wasn't so blatant, but not even a penalty was called on that occasion (if my memory serves me right), where as on Saturday night, the Blades at least got a PP out of the missed shot.
I can't say that I'm wholly surprised no penalty shot was called on either occasion. In the almost 6 total years that I have covered the team in some way, I have seen only 2 penalty shots called, and on both occasions it was called because the offending player pretty much tackled the would be shooter to the ice, leaving little room for doubt as to the call. What I have learned is that, just because it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, its not necessary a duck in the ECHL. In other words, to get a penalty shot in the ECHL it has to be flagrant, otherwise the refs just let it go...
Radio woes
In case you don't know, you can catch the Everblades on The Avenue-AM 1410 in Lee County or AM 1660 in Collier county. I am under a verbal contract to start soon at those stations and one of the things that is being kicked around for me to do once started there, is to produce Blades games when they are on the road.
This week, it got back to me that some fans were having issues listening to the Everblades on the radio when they couldn't make it to the games...
I have been told by management at The Avenue that most of the problems in hearing the games have been resolved. However, 2 issues remain that can't be helped/fixed.
The first is a roughly 10 mile "dead zone" that exists between the 2 stations starting at Alico Road in Lee county and stretching down to Bonita Beach Road. It is a problem The Avenue has had since it's creation and, I am told, it is trying to work with the FCC to correct the issue. The 2nd is in broadcasting the games itself.
For the games to make the airwaves, Kevin Reiter has to dial up a Comrex, which then connects his equipment to equipment at The Avenue's studio's. Sometimes things go wrong and, so long as no one is in the studio to make sure that Kevin is "dialed in" (as we in radio would say), you can't always guarantee that they will be on the air. Of course, to solve the issue, all you need is someone to be in studio to make sure it happens. Of course I can't be there for home games, but in the future this should no longer be an issue when the team is on the road-hopefully; but only time will tell. In the mean time, I hope everyone stays patient with the teams new radio partners...
Someone also asked me this week why the Blades always seem to be changing radio partners every year or 2...Although I have been fortunate to be privy to most (not all) of the reasons why this has been the case over the years, I do not feel that it would be proper for me to go into those details on my blog without the permission of all those companies. I will say this, however, about their former radio partner, Fox 1240-had that station stayed on the air, the Blades would have most likely stayed with them as I hear they were, for the most part, happy with that partnership...
As always, you can catch me during intermissions on the outside of the smoking section by the suite level entrance. Come say hi and talk some sports with me,
RR
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