Mixed Weekend For Detroit Sports Fans

It seemed to be a mixed weekend for wins here in Detroit. The Pistons split their weekend, as did MSU hoops. MSU football lost, while the Lions won. Michigan hoops won by one point over Notre Dame to sum up their weekend. Overall, I think it was a satisfying weekend.

Let's start with the Lions...

Detroit 26
Arizona 12

On friday I predicted that John Navarre would get his first NFL win against the Lions. I hate to admit it, but I was wrong. Navarre looked pretty good in the first half. You could tell he was on a short play list, with mostly short passes. In the second half he had a complete meltdown. By the end of the game, the Lions picked off four of his passes. All things considering, I still think Navarre did a good job, and should continue to improve.

The major story of the game was Detroit RB Kevin Jones. Jones racked up 196 yards on 26 carries, including a 74 yard rush and one touchdown. Jones 196 yards was one yard short of Mel Farr's 1967 single game Lions' record. If it weren't for Jones, the Lions wouldn't have had the opportunity to get into the red zone and make way for four Hanson field goals.

Harrington continued to not produce touchdowns. He threw an early pass for a touchdown to WR Tai Streets. After that, he was again unable to get the ball out of the red zone, and into the end zone. Harrington's performance was mediocre at best, and the Lions must go out and find a veteran QB during the off-season.

The Pistons played two...

Friday:

Pistons 77
Spurs 80

The Pistons looked awful in this game until the final quarter. The pistons shot just 35% from the field, and 66% from the free throw line. There was also little defensive effort in the first half, and only 11 points scored in the third quarter. The Pistons have had trouble beating the Spurs in San Antonio for years. I was thinking this would be the year they finally went down there and won. Maybe they would have if they had not been without Ben Wallace for six games.

Saturday:

Pistons 92
Hornets 69

This was the best offensive game I've seen the Pistons play this season. Ben Wallace scored a career high 22 points, and Horace Jenkins came off the bench with 8 points for the Pistons. They started strong, and never looked back. Even Darko got to play a few minutes.

Speaking of Darko, he's looking better each time he steps on the floor. Maybe it's possible he won't be a bust?

Should we recap steroids for the weekend...?

Of course we should. I wrote last night about steroids in baseball. They are tarnishing the game. There has to be something done, and there has to be players held accountable. Not just in MLB, but in all sports. It came out this weekend that David Boston tested positive for steroids, and will likely sit out 4 games. If this becomes more of trend in the NFL, like it is in MLB, the steroids policies will have to stiffen up a bit. We simply cannot continue to tarnish the image of our professional sports. This has a bad effect on the leagues, and all players in those leagues.

-Dan Joseph