It's amazing the kind of tripe that is produced in the football ifseason. Yet -- the biggest piles of sh...aving cream are produced now -- when the news times are slow. Teams are closely guarding their OTA's, and no one can really tell anything concrete about the players until camp opens and the pads go on. That doesn't stop people from speculating like no tomorrow, and taking the smallest things to blow into the biggest stories. Apparently, every missed day by every players of Voluntary OTA's is now a major headline. They are also accompanied by more analysis than an Emily Dickensen Haiku would be (had she written one) into what the "meaning" is. How about, they have lives outside of football too? I read on a Denver site Bell missed OTA's because he got married. Now what kind of excuse is that? The nerve of a football player to schedule his wedding for June during the only time he isn't required by the team to be somewhere? I think a lot of writers should A. Lighten Up and B. Research and write the in-depth general analysis pieces that they seem to hint they would write during the season, but claim not to have the time to. How about now gentlemen??
Then there is Roy Williams and his inability to get a flight back into Detroit. I'm sure that the fact that thousands of flights in the last few months have been cancelled unexpectedly, happening again last week as airline companies ground planes to actually check them for safety issues instead of pretending to. Anyone looking for immediate flights last week had lots of competition from other travelers already pinched by reduced flights from all carriers that started earlier this year.
While it was a weak excuse, especially compounded by then scheduling his flight for the 2nd versus the 1st (which I have done before, sad to say.) However, it is obvious he doesn't want to make a big deal out of it, and neither do the coaches. He even indicated he called them to let them know what was up, and spoke with them about it. What did it end up doing in the grand scheme of things? With McDonald and Roy not there, it gave the coaching staff a chance to look at a couple of the young guys fighting for roster spots with the first team. Not quite sold on how it happened, but chances to evaluate talent are not a bad thing either.
Everyone else I can get a reasonable list of that missed OTA's seemed to have a reasonable excuse. Also, I've read that Bell showed up in shape and ready to compete (Would ask what his work-out regimen has been, but considering he just got married - I'll leave that one alone.) -- so that wide-open backfield competition just got even wilder; Especially after I'm catching hints that Cason is worried about his spot, and that Calhoun is going balls-out as well -- and is healthy for virtually the first time since he was drafted -- Ought to be interesting.
I was going to write about Jim Trotter's inane article about how the salaries of top rookies don't really hurt teams...but I'll save that for tomorrow. Bet you all know I'm looking forward to ripping apart that moronic article, and want to do it right.
After all, this is the slowest part of the ifseason -- the best time, in my opinion, to relax and contemplate. Unless of course you're competing for a Detriot Lions roster spot...then it is off to the races - gladiator style.
7 comments:
WOW - This is deep.
Here are the rules for Lions HAIKU
Next, following this process of first understanding Japanese Haiku, please follow the standard rules of HAIKU. Write three short lines. Edit all superfluous words. Pare the lines down to their verb and noun roots. Question whether the adjectives and adverbs are necessary. Do you need every article? Insert one season word into the poem to direct the reader to a certain time. The word can be simply "autumn" as in:
Looking for the moon
In a lonely autumn sky
- mountain castle lights,
or the "green" in Santoka's green Mountains above.
A cutting word is the break in a line such as the hyphen before the word mountain that occurred when the poet saw a mountain castle rather than the moon in the sky. other English poems use `behold` or `stop` to convey this moment. Keep the poem simple; try not to distract the reader with simile, metaphor or rhyme, unless it is necessary to convey the image you see. The 5-7-5 syllable rules of Haiku written in Japanese are not as widely accepted by writers of HAIKU in other languages.
STEP 3) Rules:
3-short lines
1-season word
1-cutting word
no rhyme or metaphor
(17 syllables, 5-7-5)
-nubsnobber
Using the 5-7-5 principal, I've recited a few Lion haikus. Let's get a few more:
Marine teaching men
Lessons he holds in his heart
They all play better.
Williams misses flight.
Plane flies without him aboard.
Roy holding baggage.
Bell recites his vows
Honeymoon not in Detroit.
Sheds his heavy load.
Chief-I figured you'd love the double meaning in the Bell haiku.
-nubsnobber
Pung creates good site
DetFan Nineteen Seventy-nine
We all love to chat.
Rookies earn their stripes
Now as green as summer leaves
Hope to age by fall.
Great article and insight. However, playing devil's advocate, we as rabid fans probably contribute somewhat to this with our constant clamor for more and more info on the Lions during this dreaded lull...
does anyone have the full list of who showed and who didnt?? i think not,tough to critise without that. I think roy and bell have nothing to worry about-there both locks.
Ol Wize One! (Cheif)
I don't know if Bell is truly a lock. I think he has the best chance out of the majority of the backs, less Smith, to make the team. If he is fumbling during the IFseason, he could be released for someone who doesn't and plays special teams. If he doesn't fumble and does well, he will be a wonderful complement to Smith. We would have Fast, and faster in the backfield...I like that. I just hope Smith does not end up like Sedrick Irvin from a few years back. Plenty of talent and promise...but lack of productivity. I really don't see that happening but stranger things have happened to Our LIONS.
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