Matt Stafford Wins The Team
During the second half of the Lions-Browns game, the press-box PA announcer informed us that "Joey Stafford" had just set a Lions rookie passing record.
I think it is fair to say that will be the last time that anyone connected with the Lions confuses Matt Stafford with Joey Harrington.
Joey had physical skills, but he struggled to earn the faith of his teammates. Stafford, though, won't ever have that problem. If any of the Lions still doubted his courage and his leadership, he took care of it at the end of a crazy 38-37 victory.
The Lions were losing 37-31 and only had time for a Hail Mary from the Cleveland 32. Stafford took the snap and started scrambling. As time expired, he was was running for his life, heading toward the sideline with linebacker Marcus Bernard in pursuit. He ducked Bernard's tackle attempt, and reversed direction. Now he was going toward the center of the field, with Bernard still close on his heels.
Kevin Smith got a piece of Bernard, giving Daniel Loper a chance to knock him down with a solid block. That allowed Stafford to keep scrambling for another second or two while his receivers frantically tried to get open in the end zone. Stafford finally ran out of time, but hung in long enough to get a pass off before getting crushed by defensive end C.J. Mosley.
In the next couple moments, several things happened. Mosley drove into Stafford's left armpit and ripped his left shoulder out of place. Cleveland cornerback Hank Poteat shoved Lions receiver Bryant Johnson out of the back of the end zone. Two more Browns defensive backs committed assault and battery on Calvin Johnson, while Brodney Pool intercepted Stafford's pass.
Pool sank to the ground in the end zone, the Browns began to celebrate and the Lions realized their rookie quarterback was lying in an agonized fetal position. At that point, the Detroit players are thinking that they've just lost to the horrific Browns at home to fall to 1-9 and they've lost Stafford to an injury. The Browns are excited about their second win of the season, especially one coming on the road after they blew a 24-3 lead.
That stage lasted about two seconds and abruptly ended when people realized that the officials had thrown a pair of flags. Only one penalty was announced - pass interference on Poteat - but there appeared to have also been a call made against the pair of defenders that mugged Calvin Johnson.
So, even though the clock had expired, the Lions would get an untimed play from the Cleveland 1. Score a touchdown, and they win. Anything else, and they lose. They also have to do it with Daunte Culpepper, since Stafford had been helped off the field, left arm dangling uselessly at his side, and was now lying on the sidelines, surrounded by trainers and doctors.
The teams line up, but the Browns are still confused by the rapidly changing events and call timeout. That decision by Eric Mangini might turn out to be the best favor an opposing coach has ever done the Lions.
During the short break, Stafford gets to his feet and puts himself back into the game. It wasn't clear if the doctors actually approved that - I suspect they did not - but he wasn't going to stay on the sidelines. So, even though his left arm still wasn't working very well, he managed to take the snap and throw a game-winning touchdown pass to Brandon Pettigrew.
(That was his fifth touchdown pass of the game - the first time a rookie had done that in the NFL since the immortal Ray Buivin threw five for the Bears against the Chicago Cardinals on Dec. 5, 1937. Those all-Chicago games were crazy.)
Stafford's coaches and teammates were lining up to sing his praises after the game. Kevin Smith said that he almost cried seeing Stafford coming back on the field for the final play. Jeff Backus raved about the courage shown by a 21-year-old kid. Jim Schwartz said that Detroit's comeback from 24-3 down was because they had a quarterback that was getting them touchdowns instead of field goals.
Don't get me wrong - this is still a terrible football team. The Browns hadn't scored more than 20 points in a game all season, and had only scored five offensive touchdowns, but they were up 24-3 after 13 minutes. Detroit's pass defense allowed previously hapless Brady Quinn to throw for 304 yards and four touchdowns. Keep in mind that Brady had only thrown three touchdown passes in his career before Sunday. Jamal Lewis rushed for 75 yards about 10 minutes before his retirement. Players named Mohamed and Chansi scored touchdowns. Former Lions Legend (FLL) Michael Gaines scored a touchdown.
The offense looked fantastic, but great googly moogly, the Browns pass defense stinks. Smith and Aaron Brown averaged over 25 yards on five screen passes, Calvin Johnson had 161 yards receiving and Dennis Northcutt - about to be declared legally dead - caught three passes. Even on the last play of the game, when they just needed to defend a Hail Mary, the Browns managed to commit multiple pass interference penalties.
Stafford threw two interceptions - one that gave the Browns a first-quarter touchdown and one that should have cost the Lions the game. The second one was a throw into triple coverage that was a guaranteed interception from the moment it left his hand.
And if the Lions know how badly he's hurt, they aren't saying. There's a very good chance that Daunte Culpepper will be starting Thursday against Green Bay, and he might have to go without Calvin Johnson, who also got hurt on the Hail Mary attempt.
In the long run, though, that's not important. Matt Stafford earned the unquestioned respect of his teammates Sunday, and that's something that will be crucial in 2010 and 2011, when the Lions might actually be playing important games.
Wow – 11/19/2004
This is a blog post I wrote five years ago tonight, shortly after getting home from the Palace after watching Ron Artest turn the NBA upside down.
I don't know what to say.
First, the important thing. I'm basically OK. I got knocked over a table, which set off a minor bout of back spasms. My laptop got knocked onto the concrete floor at the same time, but seems to have survived intact. We'll have to see about that.
Here's what happened. The Pacers were wiping out the Pistons. With less than a minute left, Ron Artest shoved Ben Wallace in the back as Ben was going for a shot. Wallace turned around and shoved Artest in the face, and Artest staggered back. He eventually ended up on the scorer's table, lying on his back like he was relaxing.
Both benches emptied, there was a lot of pushing and shoving and general mayhem. The refs, incredibly, didn't have Wallace and Artest removed from the court, and eventually Artest, being a hot dog, grabbed a radio headset and started giving an interview while still lying on the scorers table.
That set Wallace off again, and he threw a towel at Artest, hitting him in the head. Things got tenser again, and Ben threw his headband toward the stands. I remember watching the headband fly through the air. At that point, this was probably the nastiest basketball fight I had ever seen in person, but that was it. It happened on the other end of the court and I was just trying to keep track of things for Larry.
Oh, yeah. Since it was a big game, both Larry and I were there. So he was in our front-row seat next to Mahorn, and I was sitting behind him in the second row of media seats. That got very important.
As I watched the headband fly, I saw motion out of the corner of my eye. I turned that way, and to my horror, Artest had charged into the stands and was trying to kill some guy. Seconds later, he was joined by Stephen Jackson, who laid out a guy with one punch. Instead of being at the other end of the floor, this was now happening a few feet away from me.
The second row of the media is back against the old hockey boards, so we were basically trapped. We couldn't go forward and we couldn't go back. It is a hard process even getting in from the sides, and that's not with massive NBA players going over you and around you and things flying through the air.
I was trying to duck and help protect Dana, who was right next to me. At some point, I got pushed into the table, which tipped over, sending laptops, phones and TV monitors crashing to the ground. Dana was begging Chauncey Billups not to go into the crowd, telling him it would only make things worse.
By this point, the arena was in utter chaos. We didn't see a lot of the stuff live, being worried with the insanity in our immediate area, but Jermaine O'Neal sucker-punched one fan, and could have easily killed him. Morons dumped beer and threw ice at the Pacers players and coaches, and one fucktard threw a chair.
Eventually, the floor was cleared and the game was officially ended. Dana and I went to the back, and then I headed for the Pacers lockerroom, where I listened to one of their assistant coaches try to talk the police out of arresting O'Neal. Within a few minutes, the media was removed from the area, except for Jim Gray of ESPN, which pissed me off no end.
Eventually, a decision was made to get the Pacers out of there. No players were arrested, but there is a good chance that warrants may be issued in the next few days after the TV tapes are reviewed by the police and by the Oakland County Prosecutor's office. I also expect that there will be charges filed against some of the fans that were involved, if they can be identified on tape.
There was also an incident in the tunnel, off-camera, where O'Neal allegedly injured a fan with a punch. That happened right in front of at least one police officer, and was what they were going to arrest him for, not for the incident caught on camera.
Obviously, we were never allowed to talk to the Pacers players, and the Pistons were told not to talk to us. They all left the arena staring straight ahead, not even acknowledging our questions. The only person that we talked to was Larry Brown, who called it the worst thing he has seen in his 40+ years in basketball.
I finally left the arena about 1:20, but Dana and I spent another 15-20 minutes talking in the parking lot. We were basically in shock. The last time I can remember something like this, other than a couple minor-league hockey games, is the time in the 1970s that several of the Boston Bruins went into the stands at Madison Square Garden in New York.
There's a lot of blame to go around. Artest started the incident with a chickenshit flagrant foul at the end of a blowout. The refs should have gotten him and Wallace off the floor immediately. Wallace should have not thrown the towel. Obviously, the fan shouldn't thrown the glass of beer at Artest, which is what sent him into the crowd in the first place. And after the Pacers went into the crowd, the behavior of many fans were utterly inexcusable. People talk about the "mob mentality", and how people do things they would normally never do, but it's terrifying to be in the middle of it.
Still, given all that, there's just no excuse for Artest and Jackson going into the crowd and attacking fans. They had no way of knowing if the fans they were engaged with had anything to do with the stuff that was being thrown.
I have no idea what happens next. There are going to be long suspensions - the Pacers' three best players are looking at possibly missing 15-20 games or more. They could also be facing criminal charges, as well as probable (definite?) lawsuits.
For the Pistons, I suspect that Ben Wallace will get 3-5 games, and Rasheed Wallace might get suspended for going into the crowd, even as a peacemaker. Six Pistons - Chauncey Billups, Darvin Ham, Darko Milicic, Derrick Coleman, Antonio McDyess and Elden Campbell - are also facing automatic one-game suspensions for leaving the bench during the original altercation. Tayshaun Prince was the only Piston smart enough to stay on the bench, so he should avoid any punishment at all. Smush Parker, Rip Hamilton and Lindsey Hunter were in the game, and shouldn't get suspended, unless Rip gets a game for shoving various Pacers during the first fracas.
(and no, they won't suspend everyone at once - they will stagger things so that the team can put a reasonable squad on the floor for every game. Usually, it is 2-3 people per game, done in alphabetical order.)
It's 3:24. I've been home for a little more than 90 minutes, and the adrenalin is just starting to wear off. I was supposed to go to the Science Center tomorrow with Angie and Britt, but that's off now. I'll be at Pistons practice at 11 am, and quite possibly at AHPD HQ at some point for a press conference. I'm hoping that I'll be able to go see a movie with them tomorrow night.
I'm just glad I got through it healthy - it could have easily been a lot worse. And, for all my doubts about myself at times, I did my job very well tonight.
What an unbelievable night.
First, the important thing. I'm basically OK. I got knocked over a table, which set off a minor bout of back spasms. My laptop got knocked onto the concrete floor at the same time, but seems to have survived intact. We'll have to see about that.
Here's what happened. The Pacers were wiping out the Pistons. With less than a minute left, Ron Artest shoved Ben Wallace in the back as Ben was going for a shot. Wallace turned around and shoved Artest in the face, and Artest staggered back. He eventually ended up on the scorer's table, lying on his back like he was relaxing.
Both benches emptied, there was a lot of pushing and shoving and general mayhem. The refs, incredibly, didn't have Wallace and Artest removed from the court, and eventually Artest, being a hot dog, grabbed a radio headset and started giving an interview while still lying on the scorers table.
That set Wallace off again, and he threw a towel at Artest, hitting him in the head. Things got tenser again, and Ben threw his headband toward the stands. I remember watching the headband fly through the air. At that point, this was probably the nastiest basketball fight I had ever seen in person, but that was it. It happened on the other end of the court and I was just trying to keep track of things for Larry.
Oh, yeah. Since it was a big game, both Larry and I were there. So he was in our front-row seat next to Mahorn, and I was sitting behind him in the second row of media seats. That got very important.
As I watched the headband fly, I saw motion out of the corner of my eye. I turned that way, and to my horror, Artest had charged into the stands and was trying to kill some guy. Seconds later, he was joined by Stephen Jackson, who laid out a guy with one punch. Instead of being at the other end of the floor, this was now happening a few feet away from me.
The second row of the media is back against the old hockey boards, so we were basically trapped. We couldn't go forward and we couldn't go back. It is a hard process even getting in from the sides, and that's not with massive NBA players going over you and around you and things flying through the air.
I was trying to duck and help protect Dana, who was right next to me. At some point, I got pushed into the table, which tipped over, sending laptops, phones and TV monitors crashing to the ground. Dana was begging Chauncey Billups not to go into the crowd, telling him it would only make things worse.
By this point, the arena was in utter chaos. We didn't see a lot of the stuff live, being worried with the insanity in our immediate area, but Jermaine O'Neal sucker-punched one fan, and could have easily killed him. Morons dumped beer and threw ice at the Pacers players and coaches, and one fucktard threw a chair.
Eventually, the floor was cleared and the game was officially ended. Dana and I went to the back, and then I headed for the Pacers lockerroom, where I listened to one of their assistant coaches try to talk the police out of arresting O'Neal. Within a few minutes, the media was removed from the area, except for Jim Gray of ESPN, which pissed me off no end.
Eventually, a decision was made to get the Pacers out of there. No players were arrested, but there is a good chance that warrants may be issued in the next few days after the TV tapes are reviewed by the police and by the Oakland County Prosecutor's office. I also expect that there will be charges filed against some of the fans that were involved, if they can be identified on tape.
There was also an incident in the tunnel, off-camera, where O'Neal allegedly injured a fan with a punch. That happened right in front of at least one police officer, and was what they were going to arrest him for, not for the incident caught on camera.
Obviously, we were never allowed to talk to the Pacers players, and the Pistons were told not to talk to us. They all left the arena staring straight ahead, not even acknowledging our questions. The only person that we talked to was Larry Brown, who called it the worst thing he has seen in his 40+ years in basketball.
I finally left the arena about 1:20, but Dana and I spent another 15-20 minutes talking in the parking lot. We were basically in shock. The last time I can remember something like this, other than a couple minor-league hockey games, is the time in the 1970s that several of the Boston Bruins went into the stands at Madison Square Garden in New York.
There's a lot of blame to go around. Artest started the incident with a chickenshit flagrant foul at the end of a blowout. The refs should have gotten him and Wallace off the floor immediately. Wallace should have not thrown the towel. Obviously, the fan shouldn't thrown the glass of pop at Artest, which is what sent him into the crowd in the first place. And after the Pacers went into the crowd, the behavior of many fans were utterly inexcusable. People talk about the "mob mentality", and how people do things they would normally never do, but it's terrifying to be in the middle of it.
Still, given all that, there's just no excuse for Artest and Jackson going into the crowd and attacking fans. They had no way of knowing if the fans they were engaged with had anything to do with the stuff that was being thrown.
I have no idea what happens next. There are going to be long suspensions - the Pacers' three best players are looking at possibly missing 15-20 games or more. They could also be facing criminal charges, as well as probable (definite?) lawsuits.
For the Pistons, I suspect that Ben Wallace will get 3-5 games, and Rasheed Wallace might get suspended for going into the crowd, even as a peacemaker. Six Pistons - Chauncey Billups, Darvin Ham, Darko Milicic, Derrick Coleman, Antonio McDyess and Elden Campbell - are also facing automatic one-game suspensions for leaving the bench during the original altercation. Tayshaun Prince was the only Piston smart enough to stay on the bench, so he should avoid any punishment at all. Smush Parker, Rip Hamilton and Lindsey Hunter were in the game, and shouldn't get suspended, unless Rip gets a game for shoving various Pacers during the first fracas.
(and no, they won't suspend everyone at once - they will stagger things so that the team can put a reasonable squad on the floor for every game. Usually, it is 2-3 people per game, done in alphabetical order.)
It's 3:24. I've been home for a little more than 90 minutes, and the adrenalin is just starting to wear off. I was supposed to go to the Science Center tomorrow with Angie and Britt, but that's off now. I'll be at Pistons practice at 11 am, and quite possibly at AHPD HQ at some point for a press conference. I'm hoping that I'll be able to go see a movie with them tomorrow night.
I'm just glad I got through it healthy - it could have easily been a lot worse. And, for all my doubts about myself at times, I did my job very well tonight.
What an unbelievable night.I don't know what to say.
First, the important thing. I'm basically OK. I got knocked over a table, which set off a minor bout of back spasms. My laptop got knocked onto the concrete floor at the same time, but seems to have survived intact. We'll have to see about that.
Here's what happened. The Pacers were wiping out the Pistons. With less than a minute left, Ron Artest shoved Ben Wallace in the back as Ben was going for a shot. Wallace turned around and shoved Artest in the face, and Artest staggered back. He eventually ended up on the scorer's table, lying on his back like he was relaxing.
Both benches emptied, there was a lot of pushing and shoving and general mayhem. The refs, incredibly, didn't have Wallace and Artest removed from the court, and eventually Artest, being a hot dog, grabbed a radio headset and started giving an interview while still lying on the scorers table.
That set Wallace off again, and he threw a towel at Artest, hitting him in the head. Things got tenser again, and Ben threw his headband toward the stands. I remember watching the headband fly through the air. At that point, this was probably the nastiest basketball fight I had ever seen in person, but that was it. It happened on the other end of the court and I was just trying to keep track of things for Larry.
Oh, yeah. Since it was a big game, both Larry and I were there. So he was in our front-row seat next to Mahorn, and I was sitting behind him in the second row of media seats. That got very important.
As I watched the headband fly, I saw motion out of the corner of my eye. I turned that way, and to my horror, Artest had charged into the stands and was trying to kill some guy. Seconds later, he was joined by Stephen Jackson, who laid out a guy with one punch. Instead of being at the other end of the floor, this was now happening a few feet away from me.
The second row of the media is back against the old hockey boards, so we were basically trapped. We couldn't go forward and we couldn't go back. It is a hard process even getting in from the sides, and that's not with massive NBA players going over you and around you and things flying through the air.
I was trying to duck and help protect Dana, who was right next to me. At some point, I got pushed into the table, which tipped over, sending laptops, phones and TV monitors crashing to the ground. Dana was begging Chauncey Billups not to go into the crowd, telling him it would only make things worse.
By this point, the arena was in utter chaos. We didn't see a lot of the stuff live, being worried with the insanity in our immediate area, but Jermaine O'Neal sucker-punched one fan, and could have easily killed him. Morons dumped beer and threw ice at the Pacers players and coaches, and one fucktard threw a chair.
Eventually, the floor was cleared and the game was officially ended. Dana and I went to the back, and then I headed for the Pacers lockerroom, where I listened to one of their assistant coaches try to talk the police out of arresting O'Neal. Within a few minutes, the media was removed from the area, except for Jim Gray of ESPN, which pissed me off no end.
Eventually, a decision was made to get the Pacers out of there. No players were arrested, but there is a good chance that warrants may be issued in the next few days after the TV tapes are reviewed by the police and by the Oakland County Prosecutor's office. I also expect that there will be charges filed against some of the fans that were involved, if they can be identified on tape.
There was also an incident in the tunnel, off-camera, where O'Neal allegedly injured a fan with a punch. That happened right in front of at least one police officer, and was what they were going to arrest him for, not for the incident caught on camera.
Obviously, we were never allowed to talk to the Pacers players, and the Pistons were told not to talk to us. They all left the arena staring straight ahead, not even acknowledging our questions. The only person that we talked to was Larry Brown, who called it the worst thing he has seen in his 40+ years in basketball.
I finally left the arena about 1:20, but Dana and I spent another 15-20 minutes talking in the parking lot. We were basically in shock. The last time I can remember something like this, other than a couple minor-league hockey games, is the time in the 1970s that several of the Boston Bruins went into the stands at Madison Square Garden in New York.
There's a lot of blame to go around. Artest started the incident with a chickenshit flagrant foul at the end of a blowout. The refs should have gotten him and Wallace off the floor immediately. Wallace should have not thrown the towel. Obviously, the fan shouldn't thrown the glass of pop at Artest, which is what sent him into the crowd in the first place. And after the Pacers went into the crowd, the behavior of many fans were utterly inexcusable. People talk about the "mob mentality", and how people do things they would normally never do, but it's terrifying to be in the middle of it.
Still, given all that, there's just no excuse for Artest and Jackson going into the crowd and attacking fans. They had no way of knowing if the fans they were engaged with had anything to do with the stuff that was being thrown.
I have no idea what happens next. There are going to be long suspensions - the Pacers' three best players are looking at possibly missing 15-20 games or more. They could also be facing criminal charges, as well as probable (definite?) lawsuits.
For the Pistons, I suspect that Ben Wallace will get 3-5 games, and Rasheed Wallace might get suspended for going into the crowd, even as a peacemaker. Six Pistons - Chauncey Billups, Darvin Ham, Darko Milicic, Derrick Coleman, Antonio McDyess and Elden Campbell - are also facing automatic one-game suspensions for leaving the bench during the original altercation. Tayshaun Prince was the only Piston smart enough to stay on the bench, so he should avoid any punishment at all. Smush Parker, Rip Hamilton and Lindsey Hunter were in the game, and shouldn't get suspended, unless Rip gets a game for shoving various Pacers during the first fracas.
(and no, they won't suspend everyone at once - they will stagger things so that the team can put a reasonable squad on the floor for every game. Usually, it is 2-3 people per game, done in alphabetical order.)
It's 3:24. I've been home for a little more than 90 minutes, and the adrenalin is just starting to wear off. I was supposed to go to the Science Center tomorrow with Angie and Britt, but that's off now. I'll be at Pistons practice at 11 am, and quite possibly at AHPD HQ at some point for a press conference. I'm hoping that I'll be able to go see a movie with them tomorrow night.
I'm just glad I got through it healthy - it could have easily been a lot worse. And, for all my doubts about myself at times, I did my job very well tonight.
What an unbelievable night.I don't know what to say.
First, the important thing. I'm basically OK. I got knocked over a table, which set off a minor bout of back spasms. My laptop got knocked onto the concrete floor at the same time, but seems to have survived intact. We'll have to see about that.
Here's what happened. The Pacers were wiping out the Pistons. With less than a minute left, Ron Artest shoved Ben Wallace in the back as Ben was going for a shot. Wallace turned around and shoved Artest in the face, and Artest staggered back. He eventually ended up on the scorer's table, lying on his back like he was relaxing.
Both benches emptied, there was a lot of pushing and shoving and general mayhem. The refs, incredibly, didn't have Wallace and Artest removed from the court, and eventually Artest, being a hot dog, grabbed a radio headset and started giving an interview while still lying on the scorers table.
That set Wallace off again, and he threw a towel at Artest, hitting him in the head. Things got tenser again, and Ben threw his headband toward the stands. I remember watching the headband fly through the air. At that point, this was probably the nastiest basketball fight I had ever seen in person, but that was it. It happened on the other end of the court and I was just trying to keep track of things for Larry.
Oh, yeah. Since it was a big game, both Larry and I were there. So he was in our front-row seat next to Mahorn, and I was sitting behind him in the second row of media seats. That got very important.
As I watched the headband fly, I saw motion out of the corner of my eye. I turned that way, and to my horror, Artest had charged into the stands and was trying to kill some guy. Seconds later, he was joined by Stephen Jackson, who laid out a guy with one punch. Instead of being at the other end of the floor, this was now happening a few feet away from me.
The second row of the media is back against the old hockey boards, so we were basically trapped. We couldn't go forward and we couldn't go back. It is a hard process even getting in from the sides, and that's not with massive NBA players going over you and around you and things flying through the air.
I was trying to duck and help protect Dana, who was right next to me. At some point, I got pushed into the table, which tipped over, sending laptops, phones and TV monitors crashing to the ground. Dana was begging Chauncey Billups not to go into the crowd, telling him it would only make things worse.
By this point, the arena was in utter chaos. We didn't see a lot of the stuff live, being worried with the insanity in our immediate area, but Jermaine O'Neal sucker-punched one fan, and could have easily killed him. Morons dumped beer and threw ice at the Pacers players and coaches, and one fucktard threw a chair.
Eventually, the floor was cleared and the game was officially ended. Dana and I went to the back, and then I headed for the Pacers lockerroom, where I listened to one of their assistant coaches try to talk the police out of arresting O'Neal. Within a few minutes, the media was removed from the area, except for Jim Gray of ESPN, which pissed me off no end.
Eventually, a decision was made to get the Pacers out of there. No players were arrested, but there is a good chance that warrants may be issued in the next few days after the TV tapes are reviewed by the police and by the Oakland County Prosecutor's office. I also expect that there will be charges filed against some of the fans that were involved, if they can be identified on tape.
There was also an incident in the tunnel, off-camera, where O'Neal allegedly injured a fan with a punch. That happened right in front of at least one police officer, and was what they were going to arrest him for, not for the incident caught on camera.
Obviously, we were never allowed to talk to the Pacers players, and the Pistons were told not to talk to us. They all left the arena staring straight ahead, not even acknowledging our questions. The only person that we talked to was Larry Brown, who called it the worst thing he has seen in his 40+ years in basketball.
I finally left the arena about 1:20, but Dana and I spent another 15-20 minutes talking in the parking lot. We were basically in shock. The last time I can remember something like this, other than a couple minor-league hockey games, is the time in the 1970s that several of the Boston Bruins went into the stands at Madison Square Garden in New York.
There's a lot of blame to go around. Artest started the incident with a chickenshit flagrant foul at the end of a blowout. The refs should have gotten him and Wallace off the floor immediately. Wallace should have not thrown the towel. Obviously, the fan shouldn't thrown the glass of pop at Artest, which is what sent him into the crowd in the first place. And after the Pacers went into the crowd, the behavior of many fans were utterly inexcusable. People talk about the "mob mentality", and how people do things they would normally never do, but it's terrifying to be in the middle of it.
Still, given all that, there's just no excuse for Artest and Jackson going into the crowd and attacking fans. They had no way of knowing if the fans they were engaged with had anything to do with the stuff that was being thrown.
I have no idea what happens next. There are going to be long suspensions - the Pacers' three best players are looking at possibly missing 15-20 games or more. They could also be facing criminal charges, as well as probable (definite?) lawsuits.
For the Pistons, I suspect that Ben Wallace will get 3-5 games, and Rasheed Wallace might get suspended for going into the crowd, even as a peacemaker. Six Pistons - Chauncey Billups, Darvin Ham, Darko Milicic, Derrick Coleman, Antonio McDyess and Elden Campbell - are also facing automatic one-game suspensions for leaving the bench during the original altercation. Tayshaun Prince was the only Piston smart enough to stay on the bench, so he should avoid any punishment at all. Smush Parker, Rip Hamilton and Lindsey Hunter were in the game, and shouldn't get suspended, unless Rip gets a game for shoving various Pacers during the first fracas.
(and no, they won't suspend everyone at once - they will stagger things so that the team can put a reasonable squad on the floor for every game. Usually, it is 2-3 people per game, done in alphabetical order.)
It's 3:24. I've been home for a little more than 90 minutes, and the adrenalin is just starting to wear off. I was supposed to go to the Science Center tomorrow with Angie and Britt, but that's off now. I'll be at Pistons practice at 11 am, and quite possibly at AHPD HQ at some point for a press conference. I'm hoping that I'll be able to go see a movie with them tomorrow night.
I'm just glad I got through it healthy - it could have easily been a lot worse. And, for all my doubts about myself at times, I did my job very well tonight.
What an unbelievable night.
Trading Curtis Granderson
Remember when the Red Wings almost traded Steve Yzerman? It was just before the 1995-96 season, and Scotty Bowman was ready to pull the trigger on a deal that would have sent The Captain to Ottawa for a package built around Alexei Yashin. Obviously, the trade never happened, but on Opening Night, the rumors were still swirling. That night, as the team was being introduced, Bowman got one of the most negative reactions I've ever heard from a Detroit crowd. This was a man who is arguably the greatest coach in NHL history and who had just gotten the Red Wings to their first Stanley Cup final in 40 years. But because he wanted to trade Steve Yzerman, he was Public Enemy #1.
I'm seeing the same kind of anger from Tigers fans about stories that Curtis Granderson is on the trading block.
Granderson isn't close to Yzerman in terms of accomplishments in his sport. Yzerman was a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and probably the fourth-best player in franchise history behind Gordie Howe, Terry Sawchuk and Nick Lidstrom. Granderson's not getting anywhere near Cooperstown, and he's lucky if he's the fourth-best player on the current Tigers roster. He's definitely behind Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera, and you can make arguments for Magglio Ordonez, Edwin Jackson and Rick Porcello.
That comparison completely misses the point. In his six years with the Tigers, Granderson has become one of the most popular athletes in town. Not only does he look like a great player with his speed and his spectacular plays in centerfield - he's one of the best people in sports and he does huge amounts of charitable work. That's the reason that people are upset about this.
I understand the reasons that Dave Dombrowski is shopping Granderson. It's no secret that Jim Leyland was frustrated with Granderson's offensive performance last year, especially his increasing inability to hit left-handed pitching, and he's going to be 29 on Opening Day. For most major leaguers, skills start declining around 30, so what the Tigers see now is probably as good as it will get.
So his trade value today is higher than it will be a year from now or two years from now. Even though he had a bad year at the plate, he was still an All-Star, he's still considered a top defensive centerfielder and he doesn't have a huge contract. There will be a lot of teams that are willing to assume that last year was a fluke, and he's still the player he was in 2007 and 2008.
There's also the money issue. The Tigers lost fans this year, even while leading the division for most of the season, and the economy isn't going to be any better by April. The payroll is out of control, thanks to some terrible contracts given out by Dombrowski, and there's no simple way to fix it. They aren't going to trade Miguel Cabrera, and no other team is going to take on the eight-digit salaries of Ordonez, Dontrelle Willis, Jeremy Bonderman and Nate Robertson. That means, to save any money, you have to get young, cheap players in exchange for the guys a little lower on the salary ladder - Granderson, Jackson and maybe Brandon Inge.
On the other hand, when do you start cutting off your nose to spite your face? Sure, the Tigers could get a ton of prospects for those three players, and that might be a good idea in the long run, but how much damage does it do in 2010? The Tigers still drew 30,000 fans a game last season, but they can't count on that. Remember what the crowds looked like in 2002 and 2003? How long do you think it will take to get back to that level if they decide to rebuild next season, and do it without two of their most popular players in Granderson and Inge?
I'm not saying the Tigers shouldn't listen if a team makes an offer for Granderson. After all, maybe the Cardinals have gotten bored of watching Albert Pujols crush baseballs. The Royals might have decided that they are destroying Zack Greinke's soul by making him play for the worst organization in the sport. If Detroit gets offered one of those two players, I suspect the fans would understand if they made the trade.
(By the way, one of the persistent rumors has the Tigers talking to the Yankees about a trade that would feature Joba Chamberlain. Joba is going to end up as a reliever. With his stuff, he'll probably be very good at it, but do you really want to make a major deal for a pitcher that the Yankees only trusted in middle relief in the postseason? They were desperate for a fourth starter and refused to use him, even though he made 31 starts in the regular season. That's a massive red flag. It's not at all hard to see Joba Chamberlain turning into Fernando Rodney, and I suspect no Tigers fan would trade Curtis Granderson for Fernando Rodney.)
If they are going to do this, they need to do it for the right reason. Trading Curtis Granderson because it makes a lot of sense on the baseball field might be acceptable to the fans. Getting rid of him in a fire sale would be a very bad idea.
Game Thoughts: Pistons vs. Bobcats, 11/11/09
Well, I was right about the Bobcats scoring 75 points. I just didn't expect the Pistons to get 98.
The game was just played just as slowly as expected, but Charlotte's defense collapsed. The Pistons got the ball to Charlie Villanueva early and often - he scored 30 points without playing in the fourth quarter - and the three guards combined for 54 points and 19 assists.
Villanueva was the star of the night, outscoring Charlotte 18-12 as the Pistons blew the game open in the third period, but they got big efforts from a lot of guys. Ben Gordon had 22 points and eight assists, and Rodney Stuckey had 16 points and seven assists on 10 shots.
Will Bynum, though, will be the one that people remember. He had a ferocious dunk over Tyson Chandler in the first half, and then an equally spectacular open-court slam in the second half. For a guy that is generously listed at 6-foot-0, he's got some hops. He even blocked a shot.
Ben Wallace played the ultimate Ben Wallace game. He didn't try a shot and he didn't score a point, but he had nine rebounds, three steals, three assists and three blocks without a turnover or a foul. He was the one player that Larry Brown praised by name after the game.
Charlotte's best player? Nazr Mohammed, I guess. He had 13 points and eight rebounds in 15 minutes. Other than that, the Bobcats did what the Bobcats do - they had a bad shooting night and they turned the ball over 20 times in an 82-possession game. If it hadn't been for Detroit's continued problems with fouling too much, they wouldn't have scored 70 points.
The Pistons have a good chance to get over .500 when they play at Washington on Saturday, but that's followed by a stretch against Dallas, Portland, Utah, Phoenix and Cleveland. They could play fairly well and still lose five straight.
Preview: Pistons vs. Bobcats
The NBA has seen a large number of high-scoring games this year, with three games on one night going over 250 combined points.
Tonight's Pistons-Bobcats matchup promises to not be one of those. As a matter of fact, with the league's two slowest teams playing, this game probably won't break 150 until the final few moments. I'm expecting a final score of about 78-75.
Both teams have been below-average offensively - the Bobcats have been horrendous - and both teams have been above-average defensively, with the Bobcats being outstanding. Hard to believe of a Larry Brown team, isn't it?
So far this season, Charlotte's Gerald Wallace has been playing like a more-extreme version of Ben Wallace. He's been the league's best defensive player, and an absolute disaster on offense. Ben basically stays out of the way on offense, limiting most of his shots to put-back attempts on offensive rebounds, and he's a decent passer. Gerald Wallace is much more involved, but not in a good way. He's shooting 33.3% from the floor and turning the ball over more than three times a game.
Despite that, he's actually leading the team in shot attempts. Raymond Felton, who is second, has almost as bad at actually making shots, and hasn't been great as a point guard, either. LB would be much better served getting more shots for Boris Diaw and Raja Bell, the only two players on the team that are actually hitting shots above the league average. Bell has just come back from injury, so getting him more time will help.
On defense, they are getting a really nice performances from Tyson Chandler and, off the bench, from ex-Piston Nazr Mohammed. Diaw is also an above-average defender, while Bell and Felton are about average.
The Pistons are in much the same situation. With Richard Hamilton still sidelined, their only solid offensive weapon has been Ben Gordon. Rodney Stuckey has scored 16 points a game, but has needed more shots to do that than Gordon has needed to score 24 points a night. Will Bynum is also struggling with his shot.
Detroit's biggest offensive problem, though, is the amazing lack of ball movement. During Flip Saunders and Chauncey Billups' final year, the Pistons had assists on 61% of their field goals, well above the league average. This year, they are at 44%, by far the worst total in the NBA. That's the reason that Charlie Villanueva hasn't had much of an offensive impact - he's never getting the ball.
To demonstrate the fact of how bad Detroit is at passing the ball, and how much they need a real point guard, Bynum passes the ball on approximately 60% of his offensive touches, and he's the only Piston over 50%.In contrast, the Celtics have Rajon Rondo at 82%, Paul Pierce at 54% and Ray Allen at 51%. The Lakers have four players - Odom, Artest, Walton and Fisher - over 60%.
On defense, the Pistons are among the best teams in the league at defending shots, and they have gotten their fouling under control. However, they are still giving up a huge number of offensive rebounds. Ben Wallace, while still a great defender and one of the best in the league at getting offensive boards, is not exceptional on the defensive glass, and, with Tayshaun Prince still sidelined, no one else is picking up the slack.
That could be a problem tonight, as the Bobcats are good at getting second-shot opportunities on offense, especially when Nazr is on the floor. The Pistons will also have to keep Wallace, Diaw and Chandler from getting to the glass after Charlotte's many missed shots. If Detroit does that, they should win the game.
One other storyline for the night - new Pistons coach John Kuester was, of course, an assistant under LB when the Pistons won the 2004 championship.
Game Thoughts – Pistons vs. 76ers, 11/8/09
Ben Gordon had another good game Sunday afternoon - scoring 23 points to help the Pistons beat the 76ers 88-81.
Once again, though, he wasn't even Detroit's Most Valuable Ben.
It's harder to detect Ben Wallace's contributions from a quick look at the scoreboard. While there was a "23" next to Gordon's #7, there was a "2" next to Wallace's #6. Looking at the box score, you start to figure it out. Wallace had 16 rebounds, including seven offensive rebounds. He blocked three shots and added three steals.
It goes deeper than that. This was supposed to be a terrible defensive team, and it isn't. Even with Tayshaun Prince out with a bad back, Detroit has done a good job of stopping teams from putting the ball in the basket, and a lot of that is because of Ben. He keeps players from getting to the rim, meaning they are ending up with low-percentage jumpers.
Even better, his hard work seems to be rubbing off on Kwame Brown, who has turned into a valuable post presence off the bench. He's never going to provide Wallace's defensive impact, but he's also a much better offensive player, so he can provide the Pistons with a more offensive look without sacrificing too much defense.
It's not a perfect team. They still don't get enough offense from the frontcourt, and they don't pass the ball. Worse, they are still prone to the lapses of concentration that have seen them get blown out of several first and third quarters.
Still, they are 3-4 even though Prince and Rip Hamilton have been out of the lineup and aren't expected back any time soon. No one has seen the high-scoring offense they were supposed to have, so they have had to win with defense.
And that's where Ben Wallace does things that no one else can.
Zenyatta Beats The Boys
She didn't like getting into the starting gate, and she had to do it twice. She got off to a terrible start, even by her own slow standards.
And going through the final turn, she was in 11th place.
Zenyatta has a lot ... a lot of ground to make up. Zenyatta, if she wins this, she'll be a super horse. She's starting to pick them off though. Zenyatta going to hook to the outside. Meanwhile, it's Colonel John and Summer Bird in the red cap ... and Zenyatta's come to the outside! Zenyatta coming flying on the grandstand side! Gio Ponti on the inside, Summer Bird is right there ... this is UN-BEE-LEE-VABLE! ZENYATTA! What a performance! This is one we'll never forget! It looked impossible, but it is Zenyatta! Still unbeaten!
Rachel Alexandra has probably had the greatest year ever by a filly - the accomplishments are just incredible. When she ran against other females, she set track records. She set records for biggest margins of victory in two of the biggest 3-year-old filly races of the year. Then she beat the boys in the Preakness, and again in the Haskell. And then she went against older males in the Woodward Stakes, and became the first filly to win ever that race. Heck, she was only the second 3-year-old of any gender to win it since 1990.
But she didn't come to the Breeders' Cup. It was 5-year-old Zenyatta as the token mare in the Classic. She was 13-for-13 against other females, but she'd never raced against male horses. On paper, she wasn't as fast as many of the males. If anything, it looked like she had missed her best chance last year, when her owners chose to race in her the Ladies' Classic. Apparently, no one told her any of that.
Is Zenyatta the greatest female horse ever? Probably not. But you know what? She's beaten every horse they've ever put in a gate beside her, and when it comes to females that have won the Breeders' Cup Classic, the list begins and ends with her.
Breeders’ Cup – Turf & Classic
Well, the system didn't do too well with the Fake Dirt Mile. It did have Furthest Land as its fourth highest-ranked horse, but it really thought it was a two-horse race. Mastercraftsman looked sure to win with 200 yards to go - he was flying up along the rail - but he just stopped and finished third. Bullsbay got stuck in traffic and was never a factor.
Now comes the two biggest races of the weekend - the Breeders' Cup Turf and the Breeders' Cup Classic.
Unfortunately, this isn't a great year for the Turf. The best European horse, Sea The Stars, has already been retired to stud. The second-best, Rip Van Winkle, is in the Classic.
So that leaves Conduit. He won this race on the same track last year, and he appears to be much better than anyone else in this field. Monzante is probably the best long-shot pick in a seven-horse field.
Then comes the Classic. This could have been the most-anticipated race in decades - European superstar Sea The Stars vs. filly megastar Rachel Alexandra vs. undefeated mare Zenyatta vs. Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird vs. Belmont winner Summer Bird.
As I mentioned, Sea The Stars is already at stud, and Jess Jackson is giving Rachel Alexandra the rest of the year off after what is probably the best year a 3-year-old filly has ever had. So now we've got the Birds vs. Zenyatta, with an added bonus of the horse that's been chasing Sea The Stars home all year, Rip Van Winkle.
Mine That Bird won the Derby, finished second to Rachel in a thrilling Preakness and third in the Belmont, but hasn't looked good since. Zenyatta's record is easy to read: 13 races, 13 wins. But she's never faced a male horse in her career, and she's never run the speed figures that Rachel put up in her magical summer. I suspect she's in way over her head here.
Rip Van Winkle is very good, and European horses do better on the California synthetic dirt than they do on the real stuff, but there's a reason he's been chasing Sea The Stars all year. He's a step below the Euro superstars, and he's supposedly got a sore foot.
Einstein is my favorite horse - he's been great for a couple years and he can win on every surface. If I were betting, I'd have $2 on him, partially out of sentiment, and partially because he's still a very good horse.
Gio Ponti is probably America's best turf horse. This race isn't on turf.
Quality Road and Twice Over are very intriguing long shots. Quality Road has been close behind Summer Bird in his last two races, and Twice Over has looked very good in Europe since a 7th-place finish in May in a field that included Sea The Stars, Rip Van Winkle *and* Conduit.
But there's an outstanding horse in this race, and thanks to all the money being dumped on Zenyatta, he's also a good bet. Summer Bird won the Belmont, but that was just the first act of his summer. Since then, he's run in three big races - the Haskell, the Travers and the Jockey Club Gold Cup. He came out with two wins and a second, and the second was to Rachel Alexandra.
Rachel's back east in her barn today, so I think Summer Bird is the best bet.
Breeders’ Cup – Dirt Mile
Yeah. Goldikova got pushed back early, had to go way wide in the final stretch, got bumped by Courageous Cat and still won going away.
Now comes the (fake) Dirt Mile. My system has this as a two-horse race - Midshipman and Bullsbay are miles ahead of the field. Between them, they've probably got at least an 80% chance of winning this race. For $8, I can bet each of them to win, and bet them in a $2 exacta box. I'll take that.
Breeders’ Cup – Turf Mile
So far, my system has identified California Flag, Dancing in Silks and Vale of York has good value bets. A $2 bet on each of them would have returned a total of over $120 for a $6 investment. That's pretty impressive.
So now the Turf Mile. Golidkova is the defending champ and she (yes, she) is the defending champ. She's won 3-of-5 in Europe this year, with the most recent loss by just a half-length. Unfortunately, while she's the most obvious winner, she's not much of a bet because everyone else knows what she did last year and how good she's been this year.
So you could take the easy money on Goldikova or go for a little value with Ferneley, another Irish horse that has been racing very well in North America this year.