Luke Waltons Forehead presented by the Sports Dude.

Ladies and gentlemen, well again I say I suppose just gentlemen, I am back and ready to start posting again! Can I get a "whoop-whoop"?!?! All right, maybe there is not that much fanfare over it, but I did miss this place. Unfortunately for me I am not only behind in the blogosphere, I am behind at work as well, but then again has that stopped me before? Hell no, I still will find a few moments to blog here and there, and the here is now, so let us begin!

I thought about recapping the events that took place while I was out, but really why bother? Is it really all that important to talk about the "shocking" news that Barry Bonds, once again, is being reportedly linked to steroids? Or that he dressed in drag? Or either? Does it really matter, in the grander scheme of things? To me, I say no, so let us recap some of the more recent and important stuff.

The Pistons seem bored, can you blame them? I hope they refocus here and start playing better in their last 20 games, can you believe they have only 20 left already? It is all but certain they have the #1 seed locked up in the East, but they need to focus on the #1 overall, that is huge. Dallas and San Antonio are both on their heals, I think at last check they were only a couple games off in the win-loss column (Detroit is at 50-12, which is two games up in the loss column on SA and Dallas, 50-14 each) and that #1 seed in the Finals would definitely be nice. It should come down to the final weeks of the season and I hope the Pistons realize this and finish with a strong stretch run.

The Tigers seem to be fairing rather nicely so far in spring ball, but spring ball and the regular season are two different things. I still like the looks of Shelton, Polanco, Guillen, Inge, Pudge, Monroe, Granderson, Maggs and I guess Young at DH. The pitching staff of Rogers, Bonderman, Maroth, Robertson and what looks like Verlander is okay, better than what was there last year! The biggest thing will be getting Maggs and Guillen for a healthy, full season and keeping Pudge from putting his head up his ass again! I still don't think this team is ready for a playoff run, even the wild card just yet, but just give me a couple games over .500 and some sound baseball and I will be happy.

The Lions have signed some guys, from keeping KR Eddie Drummond and DE Kalimba Edwards, to bringing in TE Dan Campbell, WR Korey Bradford, QB Shaun King and QB Jon Kitna. Look, we all know that I am not a Joey supporter, but I think the writing is on the wall here folks... He is as good as gone. Either the Lions are going to try and trade him for something (can you say maybe a towel boy or a gatorade bucket?) to simply just releasing him. I think the Kitna signing all but solidifies it folks. Either they are going to sign one more QB, like a young Josh McNown, to play behind Kitna and learn or they are going to draft a QB and, much like Kitna did for Carson Palmer in Cincy, have Kitna pave the way for said drafted QB. I just think that Marinelli and Martz both want "their guy" here to learn under Kitna and I also feel that Joey just doesn't want to be here anymore. Here is a link to a MLIVE article by Tom "the Killer" Kowalski about that subject exactly, the fact that Joey is the one that wants out this time. Not that I blame Joey, I think he finally realizes that he can not win over that locker room ever and if, as Martz puts it, they are going to "strip him down and make him relearn everything about being a QB" then he may as well get stripped down some place totally new. I think what the Lions do in the next few weeks as far as if they persue any other QB's or what they do in the draft will indicate what they are going to do with Joey. The thing is they have plenty of time, it is not until June that they owe him a $4 million roster bonus, so there is no rush... That is about 2-3 months before they must decide to keep him or cut him or trade him. You all know my opinion, trade him for a beer vendor, who is more valuable, but let's see how it plays out.

That is it for now, I am back and ready to start driving you all crazy again! I would like to say thanks again for your continued "checking in" and your concern, I am down to one crutch already and by next week it should be zero! Thanks again guys and, for the sake of sounding sappy, yes I did miss this place and all of you! Later - the sports dude.