BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
I never thought I would even say this but to see controversial wide receiver Terrell Owens in a Detroit Lions uniform would make a lot of sense!
For a team that’s won only two games in the past couple of seasons, he would be a great draw at the ticket offices and put bodies in the stands at Ford Field. Detroit is too good of a sports town to experience blackouts at a stadium which is 15,000 smaller than the 80,000 seat Pontiac Silverdome.
Critics will tell you that Owens is a quarterback killer and his track record with Jeff Garcia, Donovan McNabb and Tony Romo certainly documents that.
However, when Detroiter & Buffalo Bills Owner Ralph Wilson Jr. signed Owens to a one-year contract worth $6.5 million on March 8, 2009, to give Trent Edwards another weapon, he knew the goods he was buying.
But to Owens credit, he stayed low-keyed all season and managed to catch 55 passes for 829 yards and five touchdowns. He also ran for a touchdown.
In Buffalo, Owens had the opportunity to play near a border Canadian town with Niagara Falls and Toronto nearby.
In Detroit, Owens can hang out in Windsor if he desires where there is plenty of nightlife at Caesars Casino. If he doesn’t want to cross the border, there are three casinos he can patronage if he gets bored in Detroit. Maybe he can become friends with new Tiger Johnny Damon.
But Owens is a guy that is third on the NFL career list with 14,951 yards.
Do you think that opposing defenders would pay attention to Owens with Calvin Johnson as Matthew Stafford’s primary target? There are enough passes to go around for both receivers.
I’m sure that Owens will remember where his milestone 15,000 yard will come from with a future star signal caller in Stafford who is destined for great things as long as he stays healthy.
Since wide receiver is a position the Lions need to upgrade, we all know about Detroit’s recent history of bad draft choices at that position. Just look at the media guide where you’ll see Charles Rogers (Michigan State), Mike Williams (USC) and Roy Williams (Texas). Although as it turned out, trading away Williams to the Dallas Cowboys did produce tight-end Brandon Pettigrew (Oklahoma State) along with other draft choices.
Nevertheless, Owens, who played his college ball down I-75 at Tennessee-Chattanooga, is 36-years-old and could come reasonable. Here is a guy who is trying to salvage his career and bolster which should be a Hall of Fame resume.
I think he’d be grateful for this opportunity and from what I’ve been told about Lions Coach Jim Schwartz, he seems like a genuine guy that has a strong admiration for the man upstairs who does a lot of praying. To take on the challenge of inheriting an 0-16 team, that speaks volumes in itself.
With Schwartz being the former Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator, now there is a Volunteer State connection.
Nobody should forget that Owens bounced back from a serious injury to play for the Philadelphia Eagles in their 24-21 loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 39 in Jacksonville. Since Detroit is a blue collar town, Owner William Clay Ford Sr. would appreciate a guy that works hard to get healthy much faster.
Ironically, Owens shares the same birthday as my mother Shila Morganroth. But it’s no ordinary birthday since it’s December 7. Owens was born in 1973 while my mother was born on Pearl Harbor Day in 1941.
My mother and Owens are nice but strong and passionate personalities. Perhaps there is an attitude about entering the world on such a historic day that it brings out that extra internal fire that everybody notices and affects those around them.
But if the Lions are indeed committed to getting better, to be able to get a year or two out of Owens since he is a free agent, Bob Barker would tell you that "The Price is Right" for a guy that has caught over 1,000 passes in his career and is a six-time Pro Bowl receiver.
If the Lions are going to lose, then do it by being more competitive and entertaining. Perhaps this years Thanksgiving Game would be more competitive with Owens being part of the story-line as Johnson and Stafford get better. With the NFL Draft just weeks away, the second overall pick, barring a trade, should make the Lions better.
Since Thanksgiving is the only time the Lions ever get a national television broadcast, the focus would be better served at a good game instead of talking about a poor team where everyone is anxious to take the holiday tradition away from them.
Although the Lions and Owens would be classified as the "Odd Couple" that hit series television show had a great run when it aired back in the good old days long before cable television.
Now the Lions version could be a scaled down short term version which leads to NFL relevance as to this date, they are now one of four teams to have never reached a Super Bowl.
Scott Morganroth can be reached as scottsports33@aol.com and his blog can be read at www.scottsports33.com.
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BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
Whenever FAU and FIU meet in any sport, this is a nice intense rivalry between these two schools separated by an hour drive off the Florida Turnpike.
The Shula Bowl adds a nice ending to the football season while in baseball both universities have produced a lot of professional baseball prospects.
During the past two weeks, the basketball programs met and even though FAU defeated FIU both times, this series figures to get interesting in years to come.
On January 30, 2010, in Boca Raton, FIU Golden Panthers Coach Isiah Thomas made his first appearance in Palm Beach County.
For myself, it was an opportunity to be reunited with a guy that I worked with when I covered the Detroit Pistons for the Detroit Monitor during their Bad Boys era in the late 1980’s and 1990’s which won two NBA Championships.
Before the game, Thomas and I spent time talking about the good old days of how his team’s defensive physical style of basketball changed how the game is being played today. We also talked about personalities like Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman and the battles Detroit faced at the famed Boston Garden.
It was a great reunion for us and the crowds were much bigger than they were on this night. At the Palace of Auburn Hills, 21,454 fans jammed the building and the electricity was tremendous.
The FAU Arena was buzzing as well but the crowd was considerably smaller. FAU sold the game out as 2,916 turned out, in addition to filling the suites, media requests which increased the total to nearly 5,000.
Before the game, Thomas and I talked about the difference in the two arenas and we both agreed that basketball is basketball regardless of how big the building is.
On this night, FAU Athletic Director Craig Angelos was gleaming because he knows that there aren’t many occasions that an opposing coach will sign autograph posters to frame and exhibit in his athletic department.
Naturally, he was pleased with the attendance to watch an opposing coach who also won an NCAA National Championship at Indiana in 1981 for the legendary Bobby Knight.
As for the game, FAU won round one 106-88 and judging by the way the Golden Panthers were playing, I got the feeling that Thomas, the Hall of Fame point guard, was going to go to the FIU locker room and put on his No. 11 jersey to show his team how things needed to be done.
Oh well, it was nice to dream!
But it was evident that Thomas was out coached by FAU’s high profile coach Mike Jarvis. Last year, Jarvis had to experience a difficult first season as the Owls finished the campaign 6-26.
While FAU has turned things around this season with a 14-13, 10-6 record and is 2-0 against Thomas, with the most recent win occurring in Miami on February 18, 77-74, despite Isiah’s 7-22, 4-12 record, this rivalry figures to get better as both teams recruit better players.
Meanwhile, Thomas and Jarvis have found fresh starts in South Florida after their departures from New York.
Jarvis was fired by St. Johns University on December 19, 2003 due in part to a series of off-court incidents.
Thomas had an unsuccessful tenure with the New York Knicks from 2003-2009 as an executive and head coach.
Both have traded the limelight & subways for the sunshine to begin their challenges of turning mid major schools into regular NCAA Tournament participants. They’ve earned all of their millions and are now in the "Been There And Done That Club."
Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com and his blog can be read at www.scottsports33.com.
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BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
MIAMI GARDENS—-Going into Super Bowl XLIV, this writer did predict that the New Orleans Saints would score 31 points. The problem is he also thought the Indianapolis Colts would win by a 38-31 margin.
Oh well, I’m not alone because there were many others who expected Colts quarterback Peyton Manning to walk away with his second Super Bowl Championship.
But destiny is the key word as to what transpired Sunday night at Sun Life Stadium.
The Saints defeated the Colts 31-17 and despite the fact that there were two small market teams playing, that didn’t matter as far as TV Ratings were concerned.
According to the Nielsen Ratings, this was the most watched program in US Television History as 106.5 million tuned in.
We had the hometown boy in Manning facing a city that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Is there any doubt that the Saints have become America’s adopted team? As I spent time at the Media Center talking to radio show hosts along with other national media members from around the world at Radio Row, there were plenty of these people who were hoping that the Saints would come marching out of Miami with the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
As it turns out they did. The celebration has shifted from South Beach to Bourbon St. But while this victory does bring joy to New Orleans, even when I was there two years ago, the devastation of the storm was still quite evident. That’s what many of us in the media talked about at the various functions throughout the week especially throughout Sunday’s game.
This was more than a football game, it was a human interest story in every way possible. That’s what made it such a thrill to be a part of. There could be no better hype leading up to this game then listening to the players, coaches, media, commissioner, etc., talking about the significance about what a win would mean to New Orleans.
Despite being 13-3 and being the No. 1 seed in the NFC, the Saints were still underdogs to the No. 1 seeded Colts who were 14-2.
Last year in Tampa, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the underdog Arizona Cardinals 27-23 but needed an eight play, 78-yard drive capped by a six yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Santonio Holmes to earn the win. Pittsburgh also had a Super Bowl record 100-yard interception return from James Harrison at the end of the first half.
There were a lot of critical plays in this contest. But the only interception Manning threw resulted in a 74-yard touchdown return by Tracy Porter that gave New Orleans the 14 point lead. But Manning did throw for 333 yards while New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees has folks in San Diego scratching their heads by letting him leave as a free agent as he threw for 288 yards and two touchdowns.
Nevertheless, this was history at its best and to be part of a crowd of 74,059 yards was a tremendous experience watching the Saints win their first ever Super Bowl Championship.
Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com
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BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
1. The last time a Detroit Red Wings Goaltender won the Vezina Trophy was back in 1954-55 when Terry Sawchuk won his third award as the NHL’s top goalkeeper.
2. Speaking of Professional Hockey, which team wore the Red, Black & Gold uniforms and played at Cobo Arena? The Michigan Stags played in the defunct World Hockey Association (WHA) and were coached by Johnny Wilson, who held the same position with the Detroit Red Wings. The Stags began play in 1974-75 but folded on Jan 18, 1975. The team moved to Baltimore shortly after it folded to finish out the season.
3. The last time a Detroit Tigers pitcher won the Cy Young Award was when Willie Hernandez led the Motor City Kitties to a World Series Championship in 1984. He was 9-3 with a 1.92 ERA and posted 32 saves.
4. The Michigan Panthers won the USFL Championship Game in 1983 defeating the Philadelphia Stars 24-22 at Denver’s Mile High Stadium in front of 50,906 fans on July 17.
5. In 1984, the Panthers bid to repeat failed as they lost to the Los Angeles Express 27-21 at the Coliseum on June 30 in the Quarterfinals in three overtimes. To date, this is the longest game in professional football history and only 7,409 saw it. The contest was 93 minutes and 33 seconds. The QB of the Express was NFL Hall of Famer Steve Young.
Ironically, in the other sport called Football/Soccer, the Detroit entry in the North American Soccer League which played at the Pontiac Silverdome, the former home of the Panthers, was named the Detroit Express.
6. The Detroit Drive won four Arena Bowls including three in a row. The Drive won in 1988, 89, 90 and there last one was in 1992. Their kicker Novo Bojovic (Central Michigan) played on all four championships and won another one with the Michigan Panthers. It’s hard to believe that this guy has won five championships, yet played in only one season in the NFL with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1985, appearing in only six games.
7. The last Detroit Red Wing to win the Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year) was Roger Crozier back in the 1964-65 season.
8. The last time Detroit hosted an NHL All-Star Game was on Feb 5, 1980 at the Joe Louis Arena as the Wales Conference defeated the Campbell Conference 6-3. Detroit which was a member of the Wales Conference, was represented by Reed Larson, along with former and future Red Wings. Ron Stackhouse, Jim Shoenfeld, Gordie Howe, Marcel Dionne, Danny Gare, Darryl Sittler along with Coach Scotty Bowman represented the Wales.
Bernie Federko played for the Campbell Conference.
Ironically, there would be three future Buffalo Sabres ties on this team to Detroit with Bowman, Shoenfeld and Gare. Bowman would eventually coach another Sabres legend in Detroit as Dominik Hasek led the legendary coach to a Stanley Cup title in 2002 over the Carolina Panthers 4-1. This would be Bowman’s record ninth and final championship as a coach.
He has 11 titles total with a one in the front office of the Pittsburgh Penguins and another with the Red Wings. Don’t expect the Red Wings to host another All-Star Game in Detroit until a new stadium is built and there is speculation that this could be the Red Wings final season at Joe Louis Arena as they’d move to the Palace of Auburn Hills on an interim basis.
9. The last time the Pistons hosted an All-Star Game was in 1979 when 31, 745 fans saw the West defeat the East 134-129 at the Pontiac Silverdome. Bob Lanier represented the Pistons while former Coach Doug Collins (Philadelphia 76′ers) was selected but didn’t play due to injury. Notable stars for the East included Julius Erving (Philadelphia) George Gervin (San Antonio Spurs) Elvin Hayes (Washington Bullets) Moses Malone (Houston Rockets), the late "Pistol" Pete Maravich (New Orleans Jazz) and Campy Russell (Cleveland Cavaliers).
For the West, David Thompson (Denver Nuggets) Kareem Abdul Jabbar (LA Lakers), the late Dennis Johnson (Seattle Supersonics) and Paul Westphal (Phoenix Suns) played for the winning team. To this day, I’m puzzled by the fact that the Palace of Auburn Hills hasn’t hosted an All-Star Weekend because it’s one of the best arenas in the country.
10. Finally, the Detroit Lions last NFL Championship was in 1957. The team has qualified for the playoffs only nine times in more than 50 years since winning that championship and has only one one playoff game. They are now only one of four teams that have never played in a Super Bowl.
It doesn’t matter how old or young you are. I’m amazed at how many championships and big events have taken place that many of us have forgotten or don’t realize. As for the baby boomers, there is more to Detroit Sports History then the four major teams along with Michigan & Michigan State.
Despite all of the Lions failures, there have been professional football championships.
Scott Morganroth can be reached at Scottsports33@aol.com
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BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
As we prepare for Super Bowl XLIV in Miami, here are the reasons why the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints should win on February 7.
In the last three Super Bowls I’ve covered, each quarterback has won multiple titles and padded their Hall of Fame credentials.
In Super Bowl XXXIII here in Miami, Denver Broncos signal caller John Elway retired a two-time champion with a 34-19 win over the Atlanta Falcons, who were piloted by his old coach Dan Reeves. This gave Coach Mike Shanahan his second championship.
Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville saw former Michigan Wolverines QB Tom Brady and Coach Bill Bellichick capture their third titles together with a 24-21 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Finally, Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger, who struggled to win Super Bowl XL in Detroit by tossing for only 123 yards passing, redeemed himself with a one touchdown and a 256 yard performance to emerge with a 27-23 triumph over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa.
Roethlisberger’s game winning six-yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes with 35 seconds was one of the greatest games ever, and gave him his second championship, and the Steelers recorded the franchise’s sixth crown.
Here are the reasons why the Colts should win:
Indianapolis is the beneficiary of the Rooney Rule which requires teams to seriously interview a minority candidate for head coaching and executive positions. Former Coach Tony Dungy became the first African American Coach to win a Super Bowl by knocking off the Chicago Bears 29-17 in Super Bowl XLI in a battle of black coaches defeating his former assistant Lovie Smith.
Now Dungy’s African American successor Jim Caldwell has a chance to win on the same Joe Robbie Stadium turf.
This is my third Super Bowl where I’ve seen a team reach the title game for the first time. The Falcons and Cardinals have both lost and Indianapolis is under extreme pressure to win because the Colts bypassed a historical opportunity to go 16-0 by resting their starters in season ending losses to the NY Jets & Buffalo Bills.
The AFC is 3-0 in Super Bowls that I’ve covered as Denver, New England and Pittsburgh have won the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Here are the reasons why New Orleans should win:
Quarterback Drew Brees is on a mission to make the San Diego Chargers regret that they kept Philip Rivers instead of him.
If Brees leads the Saints to a victory in their first appearance in the Super Bowl, they’ll join division rival Tampa Bay with victories in it’s initial appearance. The Buccaneers blasted the Oakland Raiders 48-21 in Super Bowl XXXVII as Coach Jon Gruden defeated his former boss Al Davis.
New Orleans defeated the Miami Dolphins 46-34 at Joe Robbie Stadium on Oct 25, 2009. The Saints would like nothing better than to extend their celebration from South Beach to Bourbon Street giving the city its first major championship against New Orleans native Peyton Manning, the son of legendary Saints QB Archie.
New Orleans spoiled the homecoming of former Saints fan Brett Favre with a 31-28 OT win in the NFC Championship Game. New Orleans would like to continue this against Manning.
For the Saints to defeat future Hall of Famer Kurt Warner of the Cardinals who retired Friday, Favre, who could likely retire this year with his final game like Warner’s being played in the Superdome, and Manning; this would be a championship well earned. Warner is 1-2 in Super Bowls and has played in three classics.
Finally, if there is a sentimental choice to root for a team, this would be it. The city of New Orleans has already said it will throw a parade whether the team wins or loses. To see the Saints win a title after the region was battered by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 would be
unbelievable!
Here is my prediction on who will win Super Bowl XLIV based on this formula.
Denver defeated Atlanta by 15 points, New England edged Philadelphia by three while Pittsburgh came from behind to defeat Arizona by four points. The total point differential for all three games is 22 and if you divide it by three games, this equals 7.3.
Therefore, in a shootout of two franchises which have won important games at Joe Robbie Stadium, Indianapolis (14-2) defeats New Orleans (13-3) by a 38-31 score in the Super Bowl everyone wanted to see in the battle of No.1 seeds.
The win allows Manning to join Elway, Brady and Roethlisberger as multiple Super Bowl winners.
Since Shanahan and Bellichick won back to back multiple titles when I attended those games, it’s time for a repeat of African American titles. Caldwell would become the third African American to win a championship with last year’s Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin being the second.
Scott Morganroth can be reached at Scottsports33@aol.com
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