Monday, April 30, 2012

Lions Lose The Mock Draft, Chaos And Stupidity Ensues


 The Lions Fan Ghetto on Friday Night

I’ve been letting stray thoughts sort of coalesce into something useful before I wrote this but everything is still sort of a seething mass of inanity and so if this just comes across like a formless rant, the wild eyed gibbering of some deranged street preacher with a head full of acid and a heart full of hate, well, then forgive me.  But goddamn, man, just . . . goddamn.

Anyway, I suppose I should start at the beginning.  Yes.  The beginning.  That’s always a good idea in situations like these.  Christ, I feel like I’m either giving a statement to the cops or addressing a support group for the criminally insane.  But that’s sort of how I feel at the moment, so I guess it’s okay.

Okay, right, the beginning.  Everything started fairly innocently enough.  I mean, I have a weird love/hate relationship with the draft.  Well, maybe it’s not so weird when you consider that there are a lot of people out there like me who understand where I’m coming from.  At least I hope so or we are doomed as a species.  I love the draft because it gives me a chance to see my team acquire fresh talent, new names, new faces, new stories, new . . . everything.  It is a time of great hope, of possibility and the grandeur of dreams in their innocent youth.  I also hate the draft because people are annoying and I hate them and I want to go stick my head in an oven.

Perhaps I should elaborate.  The thing is, is when the draft rolls around everyone and their drunk uncle thinks that he’s an expert.  Everyone has their little mock drafts, everyone thinks they know – note I said KNOW, not HAS A VAGUE IDEA – what their team HAS to do.  It’s become a terrible thing, rotten and stupid.  I know because I used to be sort of a mock draft junky myself – note I didn’t say a draft junky, I said a mock draft junky.  Big difference.  I used to pore through all the lists, see who was projected where and when and form Ideas and Thoughts and Beliefs and then Ideas and Thoughts and Beliefs turned into Convictions and Convictions turned into They Have To Do This And This And This Or Else Everyone Is An Idiot and then that turned into senseless hair pulling and wild gibbering because my team didn’t win the mock draft and goddammit, this shit is important you guys.

Except not really.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.  Let’s back up a little bit.  Okay, so prior to the draft this year, I did a senseless thing and decided to livetweet the draft – yes, that’s actually a thing now, stupid as it sounds.  Naturally, this led to me getting completely out of control and getting thrown in Twitter jail – also, actually a thing (well, sort of anyway.)  Basically, I was given the equivalent of a live microphone – always a dangerous thing – and I went fucking wild, saying every goddamn thing that came to mind until Twitter sent some dudes in with white coats to take my mic away, slap a straitjacket on me and escort me from the building.  Somehow, this ended up with me doing the Twitter equivalent of riding around in a jeep a la Hard Harry in Pump up the Volume so the authoritahs couldn’t triangulate my position.  I continued covering the draft this way through most of the rest of the night, surrounded by only a few dedicated friends and followers.  Honestly, it was probably the most Armchair Linebacker way the whole night could have gone down.

So, anyway, the only reason I relate all that nonsense is to explain that things were already chaotic and entirely too stupid and the Lions hadn’t even made one goddamn pick yet.  In retrospect, it was a powerful omen for the rest of the weekend.

When the Lions did finally pick, miraculously everyone seemed pretty happy with it.  Building consensus amongst a fanbase is fucking impossible – as the rest of the weekend showed – and so we should all take the relatively sanguine way we collectively handled the Riley Reiff pick as a good sign.  Or maybe it’s a bad sign given that by the time the weekend was over we proved that we were incapable of the basic thought patterns which allowed our ancestors to move, knuckles scraping, from the trees to the savannas many moons ago.

But that is what my high school English teachers would call “foreshadowing” before they sank into their chairs at the end of the day and drowned the stark, naked horror of their reality in a flask of powerful spirits.  Anyway, the pick happened and we behaved like gentledudes and lady-gentledudes (gentleladydudes?  I’m getting confused by my own lexicon here.  Help me out.)  all shaking hands, smiling, patting each other on the back and saying shit like “Good show, old bean,” and “Let’s play cricket on the morrow before retiring to an evening of brandy, poetry and sexual repression.”  It was a civilized night – my shameful jailing notwithstanding – and it led to some high hopes for the rest of the weekend.  Of course there was some minor grumbling, some harrumphs about David DeCastro and some slight nail biting and flop-sweat about the Lions not taking a defensive player, but all in all Lions fans were remarkably well-behaved, almost like they – gasp! – dared to trust Martin Mayhew and the gang.

And then Ryan Broyles was picked on Friday night and all hell broke loose.  The gentlemen from the night before were suddenly beating each other to death with their croquet mallets, the ladies were wielding shotguns filled with hate and anarchy, dogs began howling and packs of raving lunatics began loping through the courtyard, hooting like feral apes, knuckles scraping, throwing their feces at anything and everything, the gentlemen dropped their now bloody croquet mallets and began dabbling in cannibalism, effigies of Martin Mayhew were hastily constructed and then burned by the naked and the damned and the whole world burned while the savages worshipped the fire and spoke in primitive grunts about the end times.


Somehow, I got caught up in all of this and much to everyone’s shock, tried to keep the peace.  It was a futile effort that left me battered and embittered and I spent much of the rest of the night naked, hiding in a cave, prepared to beat the savages to death with their own leg bones.  I think my role as The Voice of Reason actually shocked some people back into civility and rational thought.  I mean, if I was the one telling people to chill out and take a few deep breaths before getting wild then maybe, just maybe, shit had gotten a tad too out of hand.

It wasn’t even the disagreement or trepidation with the pick, it was the instant reversion to LOL JUST LIKE MILLEN THE LIONS WILL NEVER CHANGE AMIRITE shit that was so awe-inspiringly stupid and mind-meltingly maddening.  Let’s get that out of the way right fucking now, okay?  This is not about people not liking the pick.  I can talk to you guys.  Hell, I did talk to you guys.  There was disagreement and there was some sarcastic poop flinging done by both sides but in the end, we all remained relatively rational and sane people, all hiding in the same cave while the savages tore the rest of the world apart.

It’s those goddamn savages who ruined everything and to them I say this – fuck you.  Fuck you, fuck you, annnnnd fuck you.  These are the idiots who just wallow in their own misery and complain just to complain.  It was insane.  After the Lions picked Broyles, they went from criticizing the pick to inane vitriol about how the Lions draft strategy is terrible and about how Mayhew and the gang are worthless shitheads with no understanding of anything beyond the mechanics of spooning applesauce into their mongoloid heads.  Suddenly, Mayhew and Schwartz were drooling idiots who had to wear special helmets every time they tried to brave the outside world.  It was stupid and deranged and it left me wanting to roam the halls of MLIve with a shotgun and an ether rag.

I am not a man easily stunned.  I pride myself on my ability to see this shit coming and prepare accordingly.  But even I was shocked by the sheer level of hyperreactive insanity which took hold of Lions fans.  All facts were ignored.  All positive momentum obliterated.  To these ingrates, we were suddenly back in the dark days of 2008 and we were all wailing like idiots on the cracked floor of hell.  I guess I knew that these people existed – hell, I have made a habit of browbeating them and mocking them here so I definitely knew about them – but they existed as sort of a mutant subculture, easily ignored because they were just too stupid to worry about.  They could sit in their tiny little cells and bleat like idiots, gibbering about THE SAME OL’ LIONS HUR HUR HUR because I assumed most of us had gotten past that.  I mean, after all, 0-16 to 2-14 to 6-10 to 10-6 kinda speaks for itself, doesn’t it?

That’s the thing – the argument against these jackasses is so self-evident that there is almost no need to even make it.  Anyone insisting that the Lions are still the same ol’ Lions, no different than the Millen-era Lions, are clearly living in some bizarre fantasy land in which they get off on their own masochistic ravings, jerking off like lunatics to their own pain, whipping themselves because they have become so twisted and perverted by the years of pain and chaos that to them their own misery has become its own kind of twisted joy.  They live to bitch because, to them, that’s what being a fan means.  It is an outlet for their own stupid rage.  Rather than beating their wives and shotgunning their children to death in their own cribs, they sit at a keyboard and bitch about the Lions because that’s the only outlet for their misery.

Fuck them.  I’ve had enough of their bullshit, with their self-indulgent tripe.  These worshippers of The Fear are a fucking barnacle on our ship and we need to start scraping them off.  Again, this has nothing to do with being critical or wondering if the Lions should have done something else.  This has to do with the assholes who refuse to take one goddamn honest look at the situation and spend their time doing nothing but bitching and moaning and shitting all over anything and everything because they are stuck in a perpetual misery machine powered by their own bile, a picture of Matt Millen plastered in front of their eyes, eyes held open like in Clockwork Orange, while their brains turn to mush and their hearts to ash.  They will never be happy because happiness is antithetical to what they get out of their fandom.  Fuck them.

Every single one of those assholes will read this and gibber on about me being a Kool-Aid drinker or some other horseshit like that, conveniently forgetting that I am not exactly known as Mr. Sunshine myself.  Hell, prior to 0-16, I was the only dude sitting here telling everyone that we were headed for chaos and disaster while everyone else was gibbering on about the playoffs and about Rod Marinelli finally being the right man for the job.  I am not afraid to criticize.  Hell, I am not afraid to outright abuse.  I am the most vicious asshole this entire fanbase has so spare me the bullshit about me being some sort of hippie pacifist who thinks Love is the answer.

The funniest – and most ridiculous – part of it all is that after these assholes spent all of that second fateful day bitching and moaning and overturning cars and setting shit on fire because the Lions were ignoring defense in favor of –gasp! – another wide receiver, the Lions spent the rest of the draft picking nothing but defense, and  - surprise! – this then led to those same people turning around and bitching because the Lions were taking too many cornerbacks.  It was the most damning evidence possible of their fractured and idiotic view of the situation.  It proved inarguably that all they care about is their God-given right to bitch and moan.

You can’t argue with them.  There’s no point.  They will just twist and backtrack and split logic in half with their axes of lies and argue inane points that have no bearing on the original issue.  Arguing with them is a fool’s pursuit, a madman’s game and I’m fucking done with it.  I’m fucking done with them, the sub-mutant ingrates.  This is why I am not like the others, because the others are dumb and heinous and their mouth-breathing insipidity is an affront to all that is good and noble and decent.  They are the idiot peasants banging at the gate with torches and pitchforks, demanding blood, fed only with stupid rage and the fire of their own self-contempt, in need of a target, any target, to distract them from the fact that they are, in fact, utterly worthless and that their lives are meaningless slogs.  They are the cannon-fodder of the gods and I would pity them if they weren’t so goddamn contemptible.  Instead, I piss on them and I drink their milkshakes and . . . I have gotten entirely too out of hand here, haven’t I?

I would apologize but that is what this whole stupid lost weekend has driven us to.  It has made madmen and animals of us all.  The night is dark and full of terrors and so is being a fan of the Detroit Lions, and it’s not because of the actual Detroit Lions anymore but because of that idiot sect of their fanbase who worship hatred and despair and lick the wounds of a crippled god because happiness and hope are so beyond them that embracing madness is their only twisted road to salvation.  Sure, it’s a false salvation but people will cling to whatever bullshit gets them through the night.

As for the actual draft itself, well . . . I’m going to have to write an entirely separate post about that.  I’m sorry it has come to that, but, well, there were things a man needed to say and this man has said them.

I will elaborate on one thing, though, and it’s something I touched on at the beginning of this rambling manifesto.  The Mock Draft culture has finally reached the point where it is detrimental and just a goddamn headache to deal with.  I mentioned that I used to dabble in this bullshit myself before I got clean and started going to meetings for other mock draft junkies where we all detailed our embarrassing experiences and comforted each other over coffee and cigarettes.  You see, it’s all a bunch of bullshit.  Nobody knows a goddamn thing, including all the idiot “experts.”  Every year – every goddamn year – dudes who were supposed to be surefire second round picks fall to the seventh or don’t get picked at all.  My own personal epiphany came the year when Michigan safety Ernest Shazor was supposed to be a borderline first round pick.  Instead he wasn’t even drafted.  BUT . . . BUT THE MOCK DRAFTS SAID HE WAS A SECOND ROUNDER.  Yeah, and the mock drafts don’t know shit.

Again, this happens every fucking year and every year people bray like donkeys because their team doesn’t pick that year’s version of Ernest Shazor.  If a “surefire” second-round pick is still there in the 7th, doesn’t it make more sense that the Mock Draft creators and connoisseurs fucked up rather than every single NFL team has suddenly developed an incurable case of space-madness? (Why space-madness?  Well, doesn’t it just seem worse than regular madness?)  I mean, it’s not just your team that’s passing him up.  It’s every other team too and I’m guessing not all of them are run by drooling idiots.  Sure, a few are but trust me, you don’t know better than the dudes who run the Patriots or the Steelers, even though you read paragraph long scouting reports on all the players and spent every night watching Youtube highlight videos (they’re called HIGHlight videos for a reason, you know?) instead of actually spending time with your wife and kids.  I’m sorry to tell you this, but just because you spend hours poring over highlights with shitty dubstep soundtracks while your wife sighs and pleasures herself with a vibrator because you are staring slackjawed at your computer screen for the 168th night in a row, it doesn’t make you an expert on anything other than being a goddamn fool.

And that’s the biggest problem with draft day.  Leaving aside all the roving packs of idiots I discussed earlier, even rational people get tripped up by the draft because they fall in love with their mock drafts.  They judge everything based on what their mock draft says, not on what their team – and the dudes who run it – do.  It comes down to this – do you trust Martin Mayhew and Jim Schwartz?  If you do then everything else should be irrelevant.  I know that is overly simplistic, but the point is this:  if they determine that a specific player fits their system and, more importantly, their plan, and you trust them and their plan, and they go out and make it a point to grab that player, like they did with Broyles or with Tahir Whitehead later in the draft, then don’t you sorta have to give that precedence over your own fascination with your mock draft?  I mean, it’s not like they just shrugged and picked a guy.  They targeted these dudes and then went after them.  At that point, you have to ask yourself why you’re upset and if you still have a problem, then it’s with their philosophy and not with their decision making within that philosophy.

And that brings up the issue of trust.  If you do find yourself questioning their philosophy – and that’s okay, within reason anyway – just remind yourself that they took an 0-16 team, which I’ll remind you is basically worse than an expansion team – and took them to 10-6 and the playoffs within 3 years.  That’s fucking amazing and to me, that’s something that has earned my trust.  To me, questioning these dudes’ philosophy after what they have accomplished is fucking crazy.  What they have accomplished is damn near miraculous and it hasn’t been done with smoke and mirrors either.  This hasn’t been some random turn-around, the sort of phantom playoff run that, say, the Jacksonville Jaguars make every once in a while.  No, this has been a result of a sustained adherence to a larger plan, and that plan has been pretty self-evident – pass the ball on offense, and rush the passer on defense.  They have drafted to those strengths, consistently and with success over the last few years.  Anyone arguing that they haven’t is either a liar or completely insane. 

Their philosophy is forward thinking.  It understands the new reality of the NFL.  It’s all about who can throw the ball.  Anyone who doesn’t understand that just hasn’t been paying attention.  It’s an arms race and the Lions have made it a point to stockpile as many weapons as they can on both sides of the ball.  On offense, they are loading up on receivers, much like the Packers and Saints.  You don’t need two or three top receivers anymore.  You need four or five.  People arguing that Ryan Broyles is redundant and that he has nowhere to play are missing the point – the numbers have changed, the position breakdowns have changed.  You need a deep well, filled with receivers, if you’re going to keep up now.  Defensively, the Lions have put a premium on rushing the passer.  Their philosophy is that in order to stop a passing game – and create turnovers – you need to take away the quarterback’s ability to throw the ball.  If you can do this effectively, your secondary doesn’t necessarily need to be stocked with All-Pros.  Do the Lions need better cornerbacks?  Yeah, they do.  And they know that.  Hence, their drafting of three straight corners in the draft on day three.  I know that’s not good enough for some people since they want someone who can step in and start right now at cornerback but that dude wasn’t there.  I don’t care who you point to, when the Lions had their opportunity to draft, that dude wasn’t there. 

Everyone wants immediate starters when it comes to the draft, and that’s another issue that has just gotten in the way here.  When your team is a piece of shit, yes, that is what you want.  When you have a playoff team, no, you don’t want that because if you’re drafting dudes to start it means that you have to rely upon a rookie as a starter at a key position and let me tell you something, most rookies aren’t very good.  This is why the Lions never drafted anyone to replace Jeff Backus right away until this year.  It’s because whoever they drafted wasn’t going to be any better than what they already had.  Sure, they could have drafted a cornerback just to draft one, and that would have made some people happy, but that philosophy ends up with you reaching for players all the time and that shit never works out.  If you don’t believe me ask Jordan Dizon.  That’s the sort of shit that Matt Millen did – drafting and signing guys because they filled a perceived need, regardless of fit – and it’s fucking insane to see people arguing that’s what the Lions should do today.  Everyone hates Matt Millen for the shitshow he subjected us all to, but it’s become increasingly clear that a lot – and I do mean a lot – of Lions fans have no clue why he was so bad.  It’s maddening and comical to see them bitching at Mayhew and Schwartz and demanding that they do the exact same sort of shit that Millen did.  It’s fucking insane and I don’t even know what else to say.

This has been a lot longer than I anticipated.  That’s because this weekend from hell created a lot of shit to talk about.  The crazy thing is I haven’t even really talked about the dudes the Lions actually drafted.  In fact, I meant to roll the whole draft philosophy thing into another post in which I talked about the actual particulars of the Lions draft but I got carried away.  One thing led to another and now here I sit, almost 4,000 words later, my eyes feel like they’re fried, my fingertips are starting to get sore and I’m making typos all over the goddamn place.  So, I guess I’ll just leave you with this final thought – it’s time to grow up.  The self-indulgent wallowing in the misery of the past has to end.  Fuck Matt Millen and fuck your clinging to him like a life-raft, to your keeping of him in some sort of glass case that you can break open whenever you need an excuse for your own worship of The Fear.  This is not the same ol’ Lions and if you think a single second round draft pick is indicative of anything, you probably need to chill the fuck out.  I love you dudes and lady dudes, but goddamn.  Just . . . goddamn.

38 comments:

AZBadger03 said...

Classic, Neil, just classic. One of your best posts ever, just because it's the absolute truth.
This was the 1st year since the mid-'90s that I didn't read a single mock draft, because for the Lions, it just didn't matter! I told myself (or read it somewhere, perhaps) That except for picking a QB or TE in the first 2 rounds, all positions or rounds were fair game to the Lions brain trust. No amount of research or guessing on my part was going to give me insight to whom the team would pick.

Neil said...

Yeah, I separated myself more than ever from the Mock Draft culture this year - partly because I'm just sick of it and partly because of the exact same reasons you just talked about - and it really changed my perceptions about the draft. I felt much more open-minded going in and everyone else looked even crazier than usual.

Also, thanks, man :)

Anonymous said...

If you are going to live in the past you are going to be forced to relive it. Pretty fucking shocked to see a mock on here, rather see these guys on the field and judge them by the play, not the expectation. Nice post guy

Neil said...

Yeah, the mock was . . . not my idea.

AZBadger03 said...

You're welcome. In addition, a co-worker asked me to grade the Lions' draft. I gave him the look of a person asked a stupid question and said: Incomplete

Anonymous said...

Autographed Andre Ware Rookie cards for sale pls email

Neil said...

Yeah, the grading of the drafts thing is kinda bizarre when you really think about it. Grade what? These dudes haven't done anything yet.

Neil said...

"Autographed Andre Ware Rookie cards for sale pls email"

lol this is awesome

CJ said...

I didn't check on anything but who we drafted until someone mentioned the 'Ryan Broyles' controversy to me today. I then went and checked out some of it....

I don't watch a lot of college football, admittedly, but I do watch the Sooners and U-M...and what many people seem to be missing, or even more bizarrely don't actually care about, is that Ryan Broyles is fucking amazing. He catches EVERYTHING. I honestly think that he is the best college player I have ever seen.

While I freely admit that I am not an expert talent evaluator and do not grasp all the nuances of the game, I do believe that my eyes work. For him to be a huge and controversial disappointment in the second round, I would have had to hallucinated most of a football season.

I can't even believe that people are turning on Schwartz and Mayhew because of this. Last time they were this enraged...oh, wait, they drafted Stafford.

I know that Schwartz always said that they wanted to start Stafford with a more vanilla offense and let him grow into more complex things, and people say that Linehan is a sneaky offensive genius...I was kind of thinking this pick maybe presaged some weird and fun playcalling this season and not just plugging Broyles into the Burleson role. Maybe there really is a need for all of them?

Anyways, sorry we're such a trying fanbase and dying to hear what you think of the actual picks. They seem both mostly great and kind of hilarious to me.

Neil said...

CJ,

I wish everyone could read that. Especially this:

"I don't watch a lot of college football, admittedly, but I do watch the Sooners and U-M...and what many people seem to be missing, or even more bizarrely don't actually care about, is that Ryan Broyles is fucking amazing. He catches EVERYTHING. I honestly think that he is the best college player I have ever seen.

While I freely admit that I am not an expert talent evaluator and do not grasp all the nuances of the game, I do believe that my eyes work. For him to be a huge and controversial disappointment in the second round, I would have had to hallucinated most of a football season."

This is what everyone who has watched him play a lot at Oklahoma has to say and yeah, I'll be hitting a lot of these same points when I talk about the actual picks. Sorry I let all the bile get in the way of getting to that stuff today but I promise I'll get to it. Just stick with me.

Anonymous said...

Neil, you're entirely right about people's overreaction to this draft. The Broyles pick concerns me because of the guy's injury history, but that one pick--the true value of which is unknowable as of yet--doesn't negate the rest of the Mayhew regime's successes. If people want to relive 2008, fine: read old articles, look at old tape, whatever. But willfully pretending that the Lions' culture and record haven't changed since those dark days...madness.

Neil said...

Exactly. I mean, if you want to be worried about the Broyles pick, that's fine. Personally, I would've loved to have seen the Lions take Konz there but I get what they're trying to do and I'm on board with it. It's that whole negation that you talked about, that willful rewriting of the last few years, that is completely fucking ridiculous. And I think that's what drives me nuts the most - it's hard to even discuss the Broyles pick without those people showing up and firebombing the whole thing with their miserable bullshit about the Same Ol' Lions and all that. It just gets in the way of everything and I'm sick of it.

Joe Willy said...

I have a hard time understanding people who dislike the Broyles pick because of his injury and wanted Konz over Broyles when Konz was injured very year, wasn't he? Broyles was healed in time to go to the combine and perform pretty well. I can see him tweaking something and missing part of the year but like Fairly & Leshoure and Titus Young and even Pettigrew, it might take some time to get him on the field and really see what he can do but it's not like he has some long history of constant injuries.

Neil said...

Yeah, really it's just the one ACL injury which is a big one so I understand why everyone's nervous but you're right, the key is that he doesn't have a history of constantly getting hurt or anything. It's not like he's necessarily injury prone. I'd be more worried if he had a history of missing games here or there all the time because of minor injuries, a la Percy Harvin. One big injury isn't something to get overly worked up about. I mean, the Lions had to have looked at it pretty closely and then signed off on it so . . . yeah, as long as they think he can get back to 100% - and it seems like he should - I don't see the problem there.

Ryden said...

Thank god I can come to this blog for some sanity. I wasn't a big fan of the Broyles pick, but once I calmed the fuck down and looked at it from an objective stand point it is brilliant. Nate isn't going to be around forever, and now we can plug a guy right in when that time comes.

You mentioned it in of your draft blogs last year when you mentioned that our FO draft guys with high ceilngs. Has Doug Houge done anything useful yet? No? But the guy had raw skills and it is their job to coach them up and make him into a NFL player. I'm glad we drafted 3 cbs in the later rounds, if you look at their raw skills I believe our coaching staff will get at least one to become a starting caliber cb in the next 2-3 years. That is what you want from 4-7 round picks.

I saw too many people saying this was Millen all over again, makes our whole fan base looking like raving idiots.

Neil said...

Yes. I'm glad someone remembered that I wrote that last year about drafting high ceiling players. I kept thinking about that the entire draft. And yeah, if a couple of these players hit, in a few years everyone will be talking about how smart Mayhew and Schwartz are, conveniently forgetting how they dogged them when they actually made the picks. They're confident in their abilities to mold these dudes into something decent and that's a good thing. I mean, look at Sammie Hill, look at The Great Willie Young. There is a track record already for this.

Marc said...

Its easy to see what The Lions braintrust is up to if only logic is employed....just think about a few years from now and not just right now.

I think that may be the underlyin' issue with most of the disgruntled fanbase, every1 is thinkin' right now.

This new found success is actually a double edged sword in that regard for some....no more pitiful losin', The Lions went to the playoffs and now every1 tastes The Superbowl, so the simply wantin' them to win games, which they have proven they can do, these same crazed Lions fans want them to go to The Superbowl with that 1 or 2 magical draft picks.

Swapped 1 end of insanity for the other. The Lions are buildin' somethin' good....and we will continue seein' the results of it....

Anonymous said...

Remember when we thought we were close and traded for PAT SWILLING and Joe let him have his retired number and how that worked out ??

Neil said...

Marc,

You're exactly right. They're trying to build something for the future, not just patch holes right now. They're drafting for sustained greatness not for maintenance of mediocrity and I commend them for it.

Neil said...

Jesus, I had just about forgotten about Pat Swilling: Detroit Lion.

Anonymous said...

If you buy 5 signed Andre Ware rookie cards I'll throw in a Pat Swilling and a piece of the barb wire fence that Joe Don Looney rolled that motorcycle into.

Mike said...

It always makes me laugh when people argue who the Lions should draft because we're "just X position away from a Super Bowl!!"

1) The "best" team with the best roster very rarely wins the Super Bowl. It's usually that lucky team that gets hot at just the right time. (2011 Giants, 2010 Packers, etc, etc)

2) Ignoring first round talent to reach for a need just to fill a hole for a Super Bowl win is exactly how the Vikings got to where they're at. I told a friend of mine who's a Vikings fan as they were going to the NFC Championship that he should enjoy it while it lasts because this is the last year they're going to be relevant. How did I know? Because I've seen such a thing with the Lions.

3) No. Just no. Anyone that says "But we're a X away from a championship!" needs to be dragged into the street and mauled by while badgers.

Anonymous said...

while badgers or honey badgers ?

Neil said...

Exactly, Mike. Exactly.

You build your team through the draft but that doesn't mean you approach it like Free Agency, like you can just draft a few dudes, plug them in and off you go. No, you have to draft for the future, for 2014 instead of 2012. If you do this every year - and do it fairly competently - you should have a constant roster of young, developing talent ready to fill the ranks when holes do open up.

Neil said...

"If you buy 5 signed Andre Ware rookie cards I'll throw in a Pat Swilling and a piece of the barb wire fence that Joe Don Looney rolled that motorcycle into."

Best commenters around.

TuffLynx said...

Hi Neil,

I am going to have to read you more often. I have stumbled across your blog a time or two, but I am now officially adding it to my "must read" list for Lions info. Any man that can be so "on target" about the mock draft idiocy deserves serious attention.

I have to admit that when Ryan Broyles was picked I had a WTF moment; but it was only a moment. I was not surprised based on his talent. He is arguably the most accomplished receiver in college football history. I just was not in tune with the Lions taking a receiver that high in the draft. Once I took a breath and thought it through it made sense to me.

It just goes to show that the Lions really do draft the best player on their draft board. We should have gotten a clue from the Nick Fairley pick last year. I really can't fault the Lions for not picking who was highest on my draft board. Last I checked, I wasn't in their war room and giving them any advice.

Like you, I spent several days arguing with the self-appointed experts about the draft picks. I have never been a mock draft junkie and I view them as a big fan circle jerk. They are never right and people take them way too far. They become some kind of annual ritual for obsessed fans to validate themselves as NFL caliber armchair GMs. The whining that happens when the Lions pass on one of the armchair GMs favorites is shrill and senseless. I see this as a side effect of Madden Football junkies that cannot separate the fantasy from reality.

I do a mock every year as duty commands, then I immediately toss it away. Amazingly, Ryan Broyles was one of the players on my Lions watch list, but not until the third round. My borther and I do a Two Bros Talk podcast and we spent an hour on one episode to explain to Lions fans how great Ryan Broyles really is. I believe that it helped turn the tide at Pride of Detroit, where I usually blog. Broyles is a reasonably popular pick there now.

Mock drafts should be illegal in any month that is not called April. Violators should be made to write on the chalk board that they will not let their fantasy overtake their good sense. They can stop when their fingers start bleeding. I am almost serious about this. It is a sickness and it needs to stop. I am going to do my best to start making fun of the mock draft mania and trying to drag it back into perspective.

Anonymous said...

Hello. And Bye.

Anonymous said...

Hello. And Bye.

Anonymous said...

锘緼 ton of men and women state which simply Tall-heeled Boots and boots is basically naughty, Tall-heeled , claimed horse tend to be confuses, frosty wintertime Lengnuanzizhi to be in a position to Ugg Bailey Button Triplet Boots is essentially symbolized as a result of cozy marker. To learn about "the Beckhams" ordinarily do not set on Taller pumps Victorian non-Zhu Im, all the time your woman utilised a established of smooth Boots and boots you will discover fellas and girls declared, in addition to she'll put on ugg bailey Button triplet Boots 1873, for this reason which states that curly hair Boots typically are not style, whilst employing important relies upon on just how. Out there in the direction of streets connected with Victoria Beckham (Victoria Beckham) tend to be Hentian Taller escape, even so to check out your girlfriend perform show up to be, seated to the facet [url=http://www.uggsbootsuksalecheap.co.uk]cheap ugg boots[/url] related with tuning versions catwalk rehearsals, a set of Taller 1873 Discout Grey announced. Execute, your [url=http://www.uggsbootsuksalecheap.co.uk]ugg boots uk[/url] woman made use of uncomplicated grey cardigan by working with skinny jeans, perform inside the most fantastic girl. Tailemosen (TaylorMomsen) in addition buckle snowfall Boots, bluish grey genuinely smaller J is basically wonderful spicy good sense related [url=http://www.uggbootssalecheapuk.co.uk]ugg sale[/url] with the notion! Ruiqie Bay Wilson (RachelBilson) snowfall Boots it is feasible to put on garments by working with "sharp" very good sense! Vanessa Huggins (VanessaHudgens) related with Ugg 1873 house Boots, cozy in addition to cozy which favorably Oh yea!



Recently, Ugg snowfall Boots minted that pin, grew to turn into fashionable. Well-known actors within just Artist, Atlantic Ugg Bailey Button Triplet is basically a established of manpower grew to become any celeb basically sole item. Be self-assured that tumble months carries on to be not always backside the widely accepted Ugg, in buy to seriously think cozy in addition to cozy in addition to classy, and not have a shot at also Tall carry reduced-leg Boots, snowfall just after that surely really hard selection!

Anonymous said...

锘縑arious complexions are suitable for several clothing, hairstyle, and footwear and so on. In the early 20 century, The Initially Girl of American Carlo Jackson translates into the several seasons colour theoretical process.

The principle clarifies that people [url=http://www.uggukcheaper.co.uk]ugg boots uk[/url] epidermis can be divided into 4 seasons: Spring, summer season, autumn and winter months, each and every period stands for a person coloration of skin. However, jogging in the street, you may perhaps locate that there at least 8 men and women don the incorrect colour apparel and footwear.

For an example, some girls' skin is shut to darkish-great coloration, but we located that they like to put on the wheat Moncler down jacket and gentle grey colors UGG boot. These colours make their skin appears darker.

On the other hand, UGG boot and Moncler down jacket are the most well known elements in this winter season simply because of its vast array types and heat. Occasionally it is not the fault of your overall look but your neglect in the colour you put on when you suppose you are not seems to be like beautiful.

Perfectly. According to the four season idea, Currently, I would like to give you some tips of what shade of the apparel and footwear you need to wear base on the coloration of your pores and skin.

Spring skin
The "spring pores and skin" is white, exquisite and clean. Typically, she need to have a ruddy lip and a red cheek if the lady who has this kind of pores and skin. The beige color, cream-colored, orange and golden brown are the suited shade for the "spring epidermis".

As to the down jacket and boot, the orange Moncler down jacket and the beige UGG Typical Mini Sand are the fantastic preference.

Summer pores and skin
The "summertime pores and skin" is white, beautiful and healthier. The lady who is "summer time pores and skin" will need to have a black eyeballs and brown black hair. The gentle purple is the most suitable shade for them. So choose a purple Moncler down jacket and a pair of Jimmy Choo boot is the perfect options.

Autumn pores and skin
Autumn [url=http://www.uggsbootscheaponline.co.uk]ugg boots cheap[/url] is a harvest time, so the "autumn skin" has a little emotion of autumn. The girls who have this type of epidermis have to have ivory pores and skin which is just like the easy porcelain.

They look warm from the [url=http://www.www.buyuggsbootscheap.co.uk]ugg boots cheap[/url] physical appearance. So brown, golden and moss eco-friendly are the perfect coloration which are fit for them. The brown Moncler and UGG 5819 Sheepskin Traditional boot are the not poor decision.

Winter months skin
Wintertime is cold year. The women who are "winter months skin" must have the eco-friendly white epidermis, a cold cheek, black eyes and hair. So, all the vivid colour is healthy for the "winter months pores and skin". For the down jacket and UGG boot, pick the bright color like as the red Moncler jacket and UGG bailey boot are ideal.
[url=http://forum.paranoiaque.fr/viewtopic.php?pid=106508#p106508] Very low-priced UGG Style Kinds Boots - A review[/url]
[url=http://physicaltherapist.pro/2012/why-peyton-why/] Parenting Types And Their Effect On The Social Conduct Of Small children[/url]
[url=http://www.hypotheekberekening.eu/node/4#comment-21165] Specifically what UGG Boots[/url]

Anonymous said...

Winter season is coming. The most critical point you must do [url=http://www.uggsbootsoutletonline.co.uk]Cheap Ugg Boots[/url] is to hold heat in wintertime. As extended as you have low-priced UGG boots, you can spend the whole winter season with convenience and hot. If you are going to dress in thick down jacket, sweaters and thick socks, you will really feel extremely difficulty.

Somebody will consult: "UGG boots sale spreads all about the planet. How can I get a pair of happy UGG boots?" In modern culture, as Information Technology and digital commerce create, all varieties of UGG online stores seem. Generally a huge selection of online retailers furnish cheaper products. Due to the fact the sellers online desire to contend with countless opponents, they have to offer you UGG sale at decreased value to draw in customers. Prospects only will need to assess and decide commodities later, before you find the most satisfied boots.

At the same time, more and even more faux boots are rising in the marketplace, so you have to be watchful when decide and buy low-cost UGG boots in instance of being deceived into acquiring pretend boots. Frequently, authentic UGG boots can be costly like most designer fashions, at minimum $one hundred. And UGG Classic boots begin at about $sixty, however different other [url=http://www.uggbootsoutletinuk.co.uk]ugg boots cheap[/url] leather-based UGG fashions and variations can cost up to $2 hundred. A pair of affordable UGG at very low selling price may well indicate they are phony footwear.

The simple fact that the UGG boots sale has been common around the community so very long is just one label that it is just a steady fashion boot craze. The outer sheepskin designed of the boots is smooth enough to be comfortable for the feet, however strong adequate to final. The authentic and low priced UGG boots also has capabilities well in both warm and amazing climate, they fleece lining drawing any dampness away from the foot and holding it insulated against chilly or warmth.

It is well worth getting UGG outlet. If you get a pair, they will not be out of fashion just after you wear them a couple periods? The UGG sale is a pop way of life [url=http://www.uggsbootsforuksale.co.uk]ugg sale[/url] boot phenomenon and it is destined to be a vintage merchandise in the boot wardrobe. What is additional, a enormous quantity of UGG can meet up with your need. These as UGG basic boots, UGG child, UGG jimmy choo, UGG for fellas, UGG sparkles, UGG women and so on.

In a term, this winter months you can give your self a unique current- a pair of cheap UGG boots. They can fulfill your need of style and heat.
[url=http://weddingdaze.com/members/blenivelf/activity/?r=hildawa&_wpnonce=11e0f3a839] Uggs Uk a human being using a great reviews rating[/url]
[url=http://www.aankomen.net/members/secelomstrede/activity/] Tiffany Necklace - a symphony in steel[/url]
[url=http://www.iwanttobeasurgeon.com/members/speadasealf/] Uggs Magasinshox Pas Cher Effectuer Ils Sont Prsents Et Sont Habituellement Ils Seront Effectivem[/url]

Anonymous said...

Learn new skills: Think about the dynamics between the difficult person and yourself, and what you need to learn that would improve the relationship. [url=http://www.latestbagsdesign.com/]gucci online[/url] hngfufk [url=http://www.cheapbagswholesalesd.com/]cheap moncler jackets[/url] aseeejg [url=http://www.fashionjacketsonline.com/]chanel handbags[/url]

Anonymous said...

If you have any concerns about your own health or the health of your child, you should always consult with a physician or other healthcare professional. http://www.latestbagsdesign.com/ suvfgty http://www.cheapbagswholesalesd.com/ svvfprw [url=http://www.fashionjacketsonline.com/]chanel handbags[/url]

Anonymous said...

Fans of modern rappers are quite lucky in comparison to those of hip hop artists during the 1970's. http://www.latestbagsdesign.com/ newehur [url=http://www.cheapbagswholesalesd.com/]moncler coats[/url] rimgxce [url=http://www.fashionjacketsonline.com/]coco chanel[/url]

Anonymous said...

My favorite is by far the Parfum oil. [url=http://www.latestbagsdesign.com/]gucci sale[/url] xsgevnq [url=http://www.cheapbagswholesalesd.com/]moncler jacket[/url] xjugjex http://www.fashionjacketsonline.com/

Anonymous said...

Some cars also rate list because thieves don't like them and so they don't steel them.. http://www.latestbagsdesign.com/ zlzonpd [url=http://www.cheapbagswholesalesd.com/]moncler coats[/url] oswgzsx [url=http://www.fashionjacketsonline.com/]chanel bag[/url] oszlsqo [url=http://www.topdesignbags.com/]cheap gucci handbags[/url] blgxlsu [url=http://www.hotsalebagsonline.com/]chanel bag[/url] edrzicw [url=http://www.outletjacket.co.uk/]moncler uk[/url]

Anonymous said...

The dream of many people to adorn their wrist with Rolex watch can be fulfilled by these cheap Rolex watches that are well-known for their classy look and are accepted worldwide by the common men of the society.. http://www.latestbagsdesign.com/ adddmde [url=http://www.cheapbagswholesalesd.com/]moncler[/url] jgujltk http://www.fashionjacketsonline.com/ rzsjbjx [url=http://www.topdesignbags.com/]gucci handbags sale[/url] ladbhop [url=http://www.hotsalebagsonline.com/]chanel flap bag[/url] yrdsuml [url=http://www.outletjacket.co.uk/]moncler uk[/url]

chenlina said...

polo ralph lauren
canada goose
oakley sunglasses
canada goose sale
tommy hilfiger outlet
tory burch handbags
cheap ray ban sunglasses
michael kors handbags
celine handbags
ugg australia
chenlina20161220