The Weekend in Sports

What a great time of year for sports fans. We had pretty much every major sport going on last weekend. But I'll start off with the one that matters the most to this blog.

The spring game was held at Saline High School on Saturday. Well, I guess it was more of a scrimmage, but either way, the team was out there...and it was not pretty. I heard the scrimmage was supposed to be aired on BTN, but as I looked around the dial Saturday morning, it was not there. But there were some highlights posted on the BTN site:



Tough to really establish how much progress has been made thus far. When you are starting from scratch on offense, there really is nowhere to go but up. From the looks of it, and from what I hear...the leader for the QB job is Threet. But of course that could all change when Justin Feagin comes to town. But a lot can change in the next few months.

So what tangibles can you really take away from this year's spring session? Well, its not that the offense is where it needs to be. But you can probably say that overall team speed and conditioning is much much better then it was this time last year. And who knows, that may be enough to make up for the lack of experience on offense.

I have to acknowledge that our depth and experience at running back will be able to sustain us in most games this year. With what we lack at QB and WR, we have an more than enough of at RB. Carlos Brown and Brandon Minor are looking better than ever right now. And with a healthy Kevin Grady back, nothing should be stopping us on the ground.

The real spotlight of the spring game was the defense. We are stacked on the line and in the backfield. D-lineman Will Johnson, Terrance Taylor and Tim Jamison give Michigan maybe the best D-line since '97.

Donovan Warren, Morgan Trent and Brandon Harrison at CB provide great coverage and depth. Stevie Brown and Charles Stewart will be key players at the safety position.

The only real trouble spot will be linebacker. While we do have Obi Ezeh and John Thompson coming back. But their lack of quickness and ability to tackle, or at least get a hand on Bennie Wells in the Ohio State game will leave me less than confident heading into summer.

We'll hear more from Rodriguez after Wednesday's final spring practice as far as initial depth at each position. But I have a feeling that we may see a very different squad come fall then we did line up last Saturday.

Moving on, other sports were in action this weekend. Including the greatest annual golf event ever. The Masters.

You may not be a big golf fan, but at least you have to be able to admire and acknowledge the fact that the Masters is not only great TV, but simply beautiful and inspiring to watch. The sheer competitiveness alone is enough to make me want to head to the driving range.

I'll admit, I like Tiger Woods. I used to not want him to win at all. But in the last few years, I've grown to really admire him as a competitor and sportsman. If you have young children, there is no better role model in all of sports. Golf is a quirky game, and to do what this man has done in his short career is nothing short of incredible. He may have not won yesterday, but he was everywhere you looked.

Also in the news, the Red Wings are up 2-0 on the Nashville Predators. I'm no hockey guy, but I love the NHL playoffs. I have only watched bits and pieces of the first 2 Wings games so far in the playoffs, but I am going to make it a point to watch more. There may be no better playoff sport to watch than hockey.

And of course, the NBA playoffs are right around the corner. I won't lie, I know so little about the NBA its scary. But what I do know is the Pistons have home court throughout the playoffs. And that is all I need to hear. I'll be watching.

And of course in less than two weeks, we have the NFL Draft. Where, of course, our hometown favorite Jake Long will be picked #1 by the Miami Dolphins. Word on the street is that the Big Tuna in Miami is also interested in Chad Henne. And I'll go on record as saying, if those two both go to Miami, then this half-assed Lions fan will done the Aqua and Coral come fall.