Lions make more good moves!

DETROIT -- Jon Jansen's search for a new team lasted less than a day.

Jansen said Friday, the same day the offensive tackle was cut by the Washington Redskins, he will sign a one-year contract with the Detroit Lions if he passes a physical.

"After taking care of things Monday, I'm very excited to show I've got more than one year left in my career," Jansen said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "The Lions were the No. 1 team I wanted to sign with because it brings me back home, and it gives me a chance to be one of the guys to turn things around."

Jansen, who is from Clawson, Mich., is set to join the NFL's first team coming off an 0-16 season.

"I've been a right tackle my whole life, but I just want to compete for a job anywhere from right to left tackle," he said. "I've even played center, so wherever they need help, I'll be ready to do my part."

Jansen insisted he can still contribute after injuries took a toll on his career.

He started all but one game over seven seasons after being drafted from Michigan a decade ago, but didn't play in 2004 or in 2007 and was limited to 11 starts last season.

Jansen had two years remaining on a five-year, $23 million contract extension he signed two years ago.

He was released after a morning meeting with owner Dan Snyder, front office chief Vinny Cerrato and coach Jim Zorn. Jansen and his wife were flown in Snyder's plane from their offseason home in Michigan to Redskins Park in Ashburn, Va.

"He means a lot to me, truly," Zorn said. "He's been a tremendous part of this program. I didn't want to just call him up and go `Hey, I'm cutting you today."

When Jansen said he wanted to keep playing, the Redskins granted him his release.

Jansen started 122 games for the Redskins, validating his nickname "Rock" by missing only one snap in his first five seasons while playing close to Pro Bowl level.

A ruptured Achilles' tendon in 2004, two broken thumbs in 2005, a torn calf muscle in 2006, a broken ankle in 2007 and a sprained knee in 2008 kept him off the field and hindered his skills.

Jansen temporarily lost his starting job to Stephon Heyer last year, but returned for this year's offseason workouts and organized team activities determined to show he could still play at a high level.

"He was going to prove to everybody that he could make the Pro Bowl and be an All-Pro player, and that's what we were hoping for as well," Zorn said. "At the minicamp and the OTAs, I didn't see that."

Jansen, however, questioned the timing of the Redskins' decision.

"My response was I would have hoped for a better chance at the OTAs and the minicamp and maybe some more reps," Jansen said in a telephone interview as he headed to the airport for the flight home. "I think that their mind was made up prior to that, and that's OK. I just wish it would have happened a little sooner."

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

Duane Below Solid

Memorial day is a weekend to remember our Veterans for what they have done for us. Some people have a barbecue, other people go camping and some people enjoy the races. But then there are those few who really get to enjoy an American pastime - Baseball. Some of us got to listen to the game on the Internet and some of us lucky ones got to watch the game in person.

-The following article is courtesy of MILB.com
Click on the title to go to the original article.

Below Strong as 'Wolves Beat Akron 8-1

The SeaWolves jumped ahead early on Sunday afternoon and were backed by stellar pitching as they took down the Akron Aeros, 8-1, at Canal Park.

The SeaWolves struck first for the second straight game in the top of the first inning against Akron starter Josh Tomlin. Tomlin, who was 5-0 with a no-decision in his last six starts, struggled early. With one out in the inning, Max Leon reached on an error by second baseman Cristo Arnal. Brennan Boesch followed and blasted his eight home run of the season over the wall in right. The two-run jack put the SeaWolves ahead 2-0 and they would never trail in the game. Later in the inning with two outs, Ryan Strieby slammed his league leading 12th home run to dead center, giving the 'Wolves a 3-0 lead.

Erie added to its lead in the top of the second. Shawn Roof led off and extended his season-long hitting streak to six straight games with a triple, his first. Roof was doubled home by Scott Sizemore for a 4-0 Erie lead. Leon followed with his fourth triple to bring home Sizemore for a 5-0 advantage. Leon is now tied for the league lead with four three-baggers. Leon would come in to score on a groundout by Boesch, giving the 'Wolves a six-run lead.

Akron got on the board in the bottom of the second with its lone run of the game. Carlos Santana led off and doubled off of Erie starter Duane Below. Santana advance to third on a passed ball and scored on a sacrifice fly by Matt McBride to make it a 6-1 game in favor of the Howlers.

In the top of the fifth, Erie would add a run against reliever Scott Roehl. Alex Avila led off with a walk and moved to third on a double by Strieby. Deik Scram, who earlier in the game extended his season-long hitting streak to 11 consecutive games, hit a sacrifice fly to left, bringing home Avila for a 7-1 lead. The 11-game hitting streak is the longest of the season for the 'Wolves.

Erie would go ahead 8-1 in the top of the eighth inning when Cale Iorg snapped an 0-for-14 skid at the plate when he led off with a solo home run to left off of reliever Neil Wagner. The home run for Iorg was his forth of the season, the third of the game for Erie and the 50th on the season for the club.

The large lead was more than enough for Below who was sharp in his second Double-A start. He allowed just two hits, one after the second, in 6.1 innings of work. Below faced just three over the minimum in the first six innings and left the game with one out in the seventh with an injury. His final line was a run on two hits with a walk and three strikeouts. He lowered his ERA to 1.59 as he picked up his first win.

Tomlin (5-2) took the loss for Akron going four innings, allowing six runs, four earned, on seven hits with a walk and five strikeouts.

Josh Rainwater and Josh Kite finished the game for Erie combining to throw 2.2 scoreless innings.

The 'Wolves will go for the series win against Akron on Monday afternoon at Canal Park...1:35 First Pitch.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.

The Tigers Dilemna!

The Tigers have an interesting dilemna. What do you do with a 6th starter when he returns from the DL? Most years there would be no question as of what to do but this year they have to figure it out. Let's start with what we do know for sure. Justin Verlander and Edwin Jackson are definitely not going anywhere. Then we are left with Dontrelle Willis, Rick Porcello and Armando Gallarraga. This definately makes for interesting conversation when going to events like graduation parties since it is that time of year and everyone has an opinion.

The first thought is the not so popular one: the 6 man rotation. I spent a lot of time looking through lineups when I played fantasy baseball and I know I never wanted a pitcher from a team with a 6 man rotation. It seems like with it still being May no team from 2009 has moved to this approach. So that leaves us back to getting rid of one of the pitchers.

So what now, trade or demote. The choice of all over the last year has been to get rid of Dontrelle. After his last start he is officially out of that position now. I have heard a lot of people say that Porcello needs to be the one to go back to the Minors. "He is just too young", some say "I just do not like him", say others. I am sorry to say "stop talking about stuff you do not know about and start liking the kid". With the most wins for any of our pitchers, a record of 5 - 3 and an ERA of 3.55 he has given us no reason to demote him. The kid is staying! A lot of people want to let Armando go back to the minors too. It is just funny how things change so quickly. After his first 3 starts some had him pegged as a Cy young runner. Kind of reminds me of one of our minor league pitchers who pitched lights out the first 3 games. The pitching rotation is like a living breathing organism. Each one of the pitchers relies on the others. You cannot just keep pulling people out and throwing them in and have it produce at the best of it's ability. These 5 guys need to stay together.

Now for the most interesting choice. A friend of mine has been talking about this one all year and it reminds me of what happened with Kerry Wood. Bonderman could very well write the same story. With the past year of arm problems I say, why not? It is no doubt that Bonderman has had a long time getting back to form but look at the other night in Toledo, he just ran out of gas. Either way you put it Jim Leyland has a very tough decision to make. Especially since Fernando has not given us any reason to demote him either. 8 for 8 in save situations with an ERA of 3.50.

So please tell me what you think!

Michigan Native

The SeaWolves edged out the Harrisburg Senators on Monday night in 10 innings in what was the longest game for Erie in 2009.

Courtesy of MiLB.com

The Senators got on the board first in the top of the first inning against Erie starter Duane Below. Edgardo Baez led off the game with a walk but was retired at second when Freddie Bynum reached on a fielder's choice. Joel Guzman singled to put Bynum at second and Bynum would score on a double by Matt Whitney for a 1-0 lead.

Erie tied up the game in the bottom of the second. Alex Avila led off with a walk and was doubled over to third by Cale Iorg. Andy Dirks sent a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Avila, tying the game at 1-1.

Harrisburg regained the lead in the top of the third. Baez led off with his second walk of the game. On a sacrifice bunt by Bynum, an errant throw by Below allowed the runners to get to second and third. Joel Guzman grounded home Baez for a 2-1 lead.

In the bottom of the third, Erie would tie the game once again. With one out, Brennan Boesch stepped to the plate and crushed his seventh home run of the season over the wall in right, tying the game at 2-2. The 'Wolves have now hit 43 home runs as a club to lead the league.

The Sens would once again go ahead in the top of the fifth when Guzman connected on his third home run of the season over the wall in left-center for a 3-2 advantage.

The Harrisburg lead would be short lived because in the bottom of the sixth, the 'Wolves connected on three straight singles to tie the game once again, this time at 3-3. Iorg led off, was moved over by Dirks and scored on De Leon's second hit of the game.

The game would remain tied until the bottom of the 10th. Iorg led off with his third hit of the game, a single through the right side. With one out, De Leon singled to left, putting the winning run in scoring position. Shawn Roof grounded into a fielder's choice, De Leon was retired at second but Iorg moved over to third. With the winning run 90-feet away, Scott Sizemore, who was 0-for-4 in the game, connected on a ground ball deep in the hole at short. The result was an infield single and Iorg came home to score the game-winning run.

The win improved Erie to 3-0 in extra innings games. The game also took three hours and 42 minutes, the longest game of the season.

Below, in his Double-A debut, took a no-decision going five innings, allowing three runs, two earned on five hits with five walks and four strikeouts.

Cody Satterwhite (1-2) got the win tossing two scoreless innings in the ninth and 10th.

The win also helped Erie avoid a four-game losing streak, which would have been the longest such streak of the season.

Good Bye to a Legend!

Chuck Daly was the ideal coach to lead the headstrong Bad Boys

Perfect Marriage

by George Blaha

As we head to Florida for Chuck Daly’s funeral, I know I’m going to lose it when we walk into that church. Just like I did when I learned he had passed away. And it would be impossible to count how many people probably will have that same feeling. That’s how many people Chuck touched and that’s how many lives he enriched. We’ll all carry some Daddy Rich with us for the rest of our lives. I’m really going to miss him.

I’ve dealt with 15 different Pistons head coaches in my 33 seasons as the voice of the Pistons and, believe me, Chuck was special. It’s been 17 years since he coached the Pistons, as hard as that is for me to believe, and it’s true that there’s a whole new generation of Pistons fans who probably don’t have any memory, or very little memory, of Chuck and the great Bad Boys who won back-to-back NBA titles in 1989 and ’90.

If I were talking to somebody who hadn’t seen the Bad Boys play, I’d tell them that the Detroit Pistons in the late ’80s became the Bad Boys because nobody wanted to play them. They were so good, they were so physically tough and they were so tough-minded – and the man who orchestrated all of that was truly one of the most likeable guys anywhere.

If you knew the Bad Boys, you’d know how likeable they all were. Some of them didn’t want you to know how likeable they really were, but we all knew Chuck. So many fans did know him and they all knew what a truly great human being he was. All you have to do is look at the record and you’d know what a remarkable coach he was.

When Chuck came to Detroit, he was – as any other coach who wanted to make sure he did a good job so he could stick around for a while – nervous about what kind of a season he was going to have. As soon as he won his first game, he said, “Wow, now we won’t go 0-82.” For the next nine years, he said the same thing and he had the same attitude.

He never forgot where he came from and he always felt, as a coach, that he could end up going back. He was born in Kane, Pa., his dad was a traveling salesman, he was a basketball star who became a coach and his first job was in Punxsutawney – maybe that’s where he thought he might end up if things didn’t go well. But in reality, he’d been a brilliant head coach at Penn and Boston College and an NBA assistant in Philadelphia before he had one bad season of his career, in Cleveland, with a really tough job with the Cavaliers of that era.

If you never have a season that blows up in your face, you never realize maybe how hard you have to work to avoid it. Chuck really was a tireless worker. He knew that they keep score in these games and when it’s all over, you’re going to win or lose. He wanted to make sure he won his share and kept his spot in the first chair in the NBA. With that attitude and a real understanding of people and with a real respect for the other guy, he was nearly impossible to beat. Because he took the games and the personal relationships seriously. He respected the game, he respected the players, he respected the other coaches and, believe me, he respected the fans. He showed our fans his love and they always showed him love in return.

That was especially true, of course, in the heyday of the Bad Boys – and to say they were a headstrong group would be putting it mildly. They had six or seven guys who could have been the captain of another team. Isiah Thomas was the captain, as well he should have been, but there were a lot of other opinions on that team and not one of the Bad Boys was shy about expressing his opinion. I think Chuck Daly was fine with that. He just knew that at some point, somebody had to be in charge and he wasn’t afraid to be the one with his hands on the reins.

Because of that, Chuck was the perfect coach for the Dream Team. That Dream Team had names, games and egos like no other. And there was only one guy who was a master at controlling a situation like that and who would treat each and every one of those guys with respect and could command respect in return and let them know exactly what the rules were. He really was the perfect choice. The Pistons and Chuck Daly were a perfect marriage, but the Dream Team and Chuck Daly made for the perfect night on the town.

We’re all going to feel a tremendous void with Chuck Daly in our lives.

Larry foot is coming home!

Coming Home
LB Larry Foote Signs with the Lions, Getting the Opportunity to Play in his Hometown
By Chrissie Wywrot
Detroitlions.com
May 6, 2009

Foote has spent all of his seven NFL seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. (Photo: Detroitlions.com)

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- There is something to be said for playing for your home team in the town you grew up in.

That is what drove veteran linebacker Larry Foote, who has spent his first seven NFL seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, to sign with the Detroit Lions. Foote is a Detroit native who went to Pershing High School and played college ball at the University of Michigan.

He has played at Ford Field – hoisting the Lombardi Trophy on its surface when he was part of ‘winning one for the thumb’ in 2006 – but he has never worn the Honolulu Blue and silver.

“It’s my home,” he said. “So that was always going to be in the back of my mind – what it would be like playing at home. With the way things were going in Pittsburgh, I saw the Lions get a new coaching staff and thought, ‘What a great opportunity to come home.’”

Foote joins a defense that has continued to evolve since general manager Martin Mayhew and team president Tom Lewand permanently took over in late December.

The Lions have brought in new veteran players at every defensive position; Grady Jackson on the defensive line, Julian Peterson at linebacker and Phillip Buchanon, Anthony Henry and Eric King in the secondary.

Detroit’s defense is also evolving from a scheme standpoint. Head Coach Jim Schwartz and Defensive Coordinator Gunther Cunningham have changed the philosophy on that side of the ball; wanting to bulk up on the line and become a physical team when it comes to stopping the run.

Foote sees himself playing an integral role in that objective.

“You want to be big on the lines, you don’t want to be small – I understand that,” he said. “But linebackers and DBs – it’s a mentality. Size is a little overrated in those positions. You want to tackle or you don’t want to tackle. You can be 250 or 220. If you want to bring a guy down, you’ll bring him down.”

Foote actually sees more of an opportunity to play that kind of physical football in the Lions’ 4-3 defense compared with Pittsburgh’s 3-4.

The role of the middle linebacker changes from one system to the other; in a 3-4, the scheme is geared toward the outside linebackers. In a 4-3, however, the middle linebacker has a more prominent role.

“You can run a little more and make more plays,” said Foote. “I played it in college, so being in the middle is natural. I’m looking forward to the change.”

Foote says his favorite aspect of being a middle linebacker is the fact that he has to be the toughest.

“They’ve got to be able to run with the small guys and hit with the big guys,” he said.

The Lions will add Foote to their growing linebacker group; Detroit currently has 13 linebackers on their roster, but eight of those players have experience of two years or less. Prior to Foote’s arrival, Peterson, Cody Spencer, Alex Lewis and Ernie Sims made up the group of vets.

Foote brings an added dimension as a veteran but, at the same time, will experience a first when it comes to getting to know his new teammates. Having spent all of his seven NFL seasons in Pittsburgh, he has never started over.

“I just want to get better mentally,” said Foote of tomorrow’s organized team activity (OTA). “I’m just trying to learn the terminology. You’ve got to break the ice with guys – that’s a process, but you’ve got to start somewhere. I’m a little nervous. Going back to putting my name on my helmet – ‘Foote’ on there – I want to prove myself and show what I’m worth.”

So far, Foote has felt at home with the Detroit Lions.

He met with Schwartz and other coaches on the staff yesterday and sat in on his first position meeting Wednesday afternoon.

“Schwartz is a fun guy – I like him,” said Foote. “He’s a down-to-earth guy. He knows his football. I talked to him yesterday for about an hour and he’s just sharing his thoughts and personality – I felt comfortable here yesterday.

“Last night I was telling my agent, ‘Just get it done.’ The whole place made me feel comfortable and I can smell the fresh start and I’m honored to be a part of it.”

Granderson comes through!

Granderson hit a 2 run Homer to put us on top in the eighth inning on Saturday! The Tigers have come out swinging this year with an improved Bullpen and a Starting lineup that is out to prove a point. The Tigers are currently only 1 half of a game out of first place. Definitely an improvement from last year at this time. The rough start last year was probably the hardest thing to overcome besides so many injuries.

The Captain

The Captain comes through again. Nicklas Lidstrom has always been my favorite player. He is one of those players who leads by example just like Yzerman was. He is what makes us the best team in the NHL year in and year out. Every team needs a good leader and the red wings are very lucky to have him.