In this episode of The Detroit Lions Podcast, Chris is without Case, but still joined by Jeff “The Riz” Risdon breaking down all of the latest and greatest Lions news. It’s been a pretty strange week for Lions news and reporting, but we’ll stay above the fray and take you through all of the breaking news, important views, and we’ll have The Riz take us Around the Division again.
Everything kicks off when we find out that Case left his phone behind in the studio and the Riz finds some horrible choices that Case made on Tinder, then we get into the football stuff. The first cut is on roster moves and we talk a bit about what Dontez Alexander brings to the team, how the Riz has a connection, and what he thinks of the kid. Chris starts relating some things he’s working on to how teams might be finding/valuing players like him and Tracy Walker. He mentions that he’ll have a guest on later to talk about machine learning and AI and how it may be assisting teams in finding more obscure talent, replacing some of the scouts on staff, and how it might be able to help with injuries in the NFL.
Next topic, Golden Tate and his contract extension. Lots of hullabaloo, but the reality is that we, as fans, may just have to enjoy the last season of this great talent. There are options, but none of them are super appealing for the team on a guy who’s about to turn 30 and has mentioned how much he wants to get paid. Doesn’t seem to fit the Quinn template from what we’ve seen so far.
After talking about having all of the Lions draftees signed, we move on to some recent signings and a little bit of talk about show favorite, Zach Zenner. We believe we’ve brought a realistic approach to the situation and it’s likely that our hopes are a bit different from where reality lies for his NFL career.
Things take a turn for the sad news about Matt Millen. While not a Lions fan (or Detroit Lions Podcast) favorite, we still lament his illness and hope that he finds a way to get better and enjoy many more years. Our opinion of him as a GM hasn’t changed, but he’s still a human being and these types of stories are always heart-wrenching.
Speaking of heart-wrenching and Matt Millen, Joey Harrington did an amazing TedX speech about seeking perfection. It is amazingly well done and brings a new perspective on him, his career, and also gives us a great take-away. Damn it, why are all the villains becoming heroes?!
We take a few minutes to tell you how you can win a $75 gift card from Under Armour with our Lions Meme contest. Tweet your favorite meme, make sure to tag @DetLionsPodcast and @UnderArmour and use the hashtag #LionsWILL to enter. We’ll pick the very best Lions meme to win this gift card. Competition will be intense, so bring your best game to the party. Most of all, have fun with it. We want Under Armour to know you love the podcast and appreciate the fun – even if you don’t have a meme, let them know you appreciate their support!
We then get into what is likely to be the most discussed part of this week’s Detroit Lions Podcast. We really prefer you listen to the Joey Harrington TedX before you @ us on this topic, it’s likely to be a bit controversial and he does a good job speaking to social media. It’s not controversial because we planned it to be, but because we called some things for what they are on their face. The story about Matt Patricia in Texas from the Detroit News this week was a big topic for discussion. Everywhere you look, there it is. We don’t take on the issue like most (there isn’t enough info to make it more than gossip), we prefer to take more of an ombudsman’s approach to the topic. We point fingers and make judgements, sorry if you don’t agree, but if you take this specific story out of what’s happened this week, it will reveal a lot to you.
Lastly, the Riz takes us Around The Division, it’s a shorty, but only because the show is jam-packed with goodness.
Let us know what you think about the show by commenting in the podcast thread in the subreddit, or by leaving us a voice mail message via Skype at: DetroitLionsPodcast Your input will help make the show better, and if you leave us a message on Skype, you just might be featured in an upcoming Detroit Lions Podcast! You can also give us a call at (929) 33-Lions.
