I cant make this Sh*t up.....Heading to tonights Whitesnake Concert in Bay City, MI me and a buddy (Cardinals fan and a Reds Fan) stopped to catch the Cubs vs. Tigers game at Comerica yesterday hoping for a sweep (we got it!) and this dude fell off the roof top balcony (3 stories up) before the game. Believe it or not during this malaye the dude was laying on the sidewalk and pulled his phone from his pocket and started to text someone. Not sure if there were any Cub fans involved and were letting out 100 years of losing frustration......

This is my pic from the roof top moments after it happened. Hopefully this guy is alright and only ended up with a mere flesh wound. The Local 4 news in Detroit said this guy only suffered from facial injuries.

If this guy didnt die then to quote Pulp Fiction.....Jules - "We just witnessed a miracle, and I want you to fucking acknowledge it!"

keep up the good work

It's so cold in the D...

Man Falls From Hockeytown's Roof [Local News 4]

This year, the previews will be a little shorter, but will hopefully give us enough of a taste so that, come fall, we'll all be officially sick of previews.

Today: The perpetually craptacular Detroit Lions. Your author is Craig Barker.

Craig Barker is one of the co-authors of The Hoover Street Rag, which covers University of Michigan athletics. He's writing this preview because he believes that the Lions on Sunday are the penance he pays for watching Michigan on Saturdays.

His words are after the jump.

From time to time in my life, I've wondered what it would be like to see the Detroit Lions go in to a season as a popular media pick to win the NFC. Not even the Super Bowl, mind you, just winning the NFC and having a shot in the game. I've been through the nerve-wracking high drama Finals moments with my teams before, so it's not a completely foreign feeling, but with the Lions, I don't even know where to begin thinking about what it would be like.

Then again, from time to time, I ponder the end of the world, and what that would be like. So, I'm probably not your best bet for considering the whole spectrum of idle pondering.

Every year about this time, I watch as my fellow Lions fans ramp up their hope level, in spite of pesky things like logic, facts, and statistical analysis. This is going to be the year, they just know it, a break here, a bounce here, and we're in the playoffs, and then it's anyone's game.

I'm no better in this regard. Every year I get suckered in, and by October, sometimes early, sometimes late, I'm counting up the number of distinct and unique ways in which the Lions will blow it in the end. It's just Lionesque incompetence; a wonderful yet horrifying blend of calliope music and terrible football. Last season's 6-2 start ended with a 1-7 finish, a disheartened endgame for those of us who want to believe, particularly the 51-14 debacle in San Diego in Week 15. Sadly, this 7-9 mark was the high water mark of the Millen regime thus far. But like a tinhorn Central American dictator who is a committed anti-Communist during the Cold War, Millen is (Team) President for Life, and there's nothing that the common people can do about it.

So why should this year (or the near future for that matter) be any better? Here's my top 4 reasons: (I was going to give you one for each Lions playoff win in the Super Bowl era, but a list of one is, by definition, not a list.)

1). The Lions currently have the best quarterback in the NFC North (and it won't matter).

With the departure of he who shall not be named from Green Bay, the projected starting quarterbacks in the NFC North this season are Detroit's Jon Kitna, Chicago's Kyle Grossman (or is it Rex Orton), Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers, and Minnesota's Tarvaris Jackson. This puts Kitna at the top of the heap, but it's like playing king of the hill in North Dakota; it's a small heap and there's not a lot of competition. Kitna is also blessed with two fantastic wide receivers (at least on paper), Roy Williams and Calvin "Megatron" Johnson. The problem is, the Lions parted ways with pass-happy offensive coordinator Mike Martz during the off-season, and Head Coach Rod Marinelli has promised a renewed focus on the run game. This shouldn't be too hard, as the Lions actually finished an honest to goodness NFL game last season (admittedly against the Arizona Cardinals) with negative rushing yardage. What this does not change is the fact that the Lions will still struggle to match last year's seven wins.

2). They play in the NFC.

If there were in the AFC, this preview would have merely listed any of the nine teams that are going to make the playoffs ahead of the Lions and called it a day. At this point of the preview, I'm sort of wishing the Lions were in the AFC.

3). They have Jason Hanson.

It has always been my firm belief that if one were inclined to purchase a Lions jersey to wear (which, to be honest, is like buying a less itchy hairshirt), it should be a Jason Hanson jersey. And yes, I know, suggesting that getting the jersey of a kicker borders on the insane, but let's look at the facts. Hanson was a teammate of Drew Bledsoe's at Washington State. He's the longest tenured current NFL player with one team now that he who shall not be named is playing for the Jets and Michael Strahan is now spending Sundays with Curt, Terry, Howie, and Jimmy and he's the last NFL player who still with the team he played for before the introduction of free agency and the salary cap. He still has a lot of leg for a 38-year old guy and well, who will look more foolish, the guy in the Hanson jersey, or the guys in the Harrington jersey. In an era where every Lion will look to find a way to disappoint you, Hanson is the one constant positive force.

4). No one lives forever

That said, until William Clay Ford, Sr. decides he no longer wants to own the Lions, or passes on to the Glass House in the sky, Lions fans likely have little reason to hope. We will continue to do so for any number of reasons, but we will not see them sniffing a Super Bowl, let alone hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. We will continue to hope, because hope dies last.

The explanation for the logo is ... a bit confused.

"You know, I have no idea [what the logo means]," said (Bill) Ryan, the executive director of the Detroit Local Organizing Committee, " ... so I will tell you that it means we're one of the hottest sports towns in the country."

Can you imagine what kind of nightmare fuel Detroit would come up with if it hosted the Olympics? For that matter ... wouldn't it kind of rule if Detroit hosted the Olympics? They've had the Super Bowl and the Final Four ... why not? International incidents are fun.

(Yes, yes, we know, Detroit's getting better. Let us have our cheap, tired jokes. It's Friday.)

The 2009 Final Four Logo Has Been Unveiled [The Wayne Fontes Experience]

We don't mean to gratuitously rip on Detroit; ripping on host cities is the way it's supposed to work. But why so quiet about Detroit? Maybe their big PR campaign worked? Maybe. But The FYC has a different theory.

Yes, the Super Bowl could have been in a more "fun" location. And, yes, Detroit has seen better days. But it really makes me wonder: How much does the lack of venom by the national press this year have to do with a respect for the city of Detroit; and how much does it have to do with the fact that ESPN essentially rules over every single sports writer in America? ... I noticed that not only were sports writers not attacking the city of Detroit for sucking, they were actually defending it. The same group of writers who had viciously assaulted the last two hosts of the NFL's championship game, all of a sudden not going for blood?!? Excuse me, sir, but I smell a rat.

It's just a theory. But considering how quickly anything off-topic has been quashed this year, well, it's not an interesting one.

ESPN Sucks, Reason 135,972 [The FYC]
What's Right About Detroit [Detroit Free-Press]
Who Started The Fires? [ESPN]

(Addendum: For the record, we do not think there's some huge conspiracy here, though if there were, we're sure Castro and the mob were involved. It just seems strange that everyone just kind of locked into place, no?)