Scanning the Savanna

As part of a daily enrichment program at the Detroit Zoo, and to celebrate the Detroit Lions (4-0) hosting a regular-season Monday Night Football game for the first time in a decade, zoo officials introduced a meat-filled piñata to the lions today.  The piñata was shaped like a Chicago Bears (2-2) football player and placed on the grounds of the lions exhibit.

The Detroit Lions, like the rest of the NFL, had to act quickly in free agency during the lockout-shortened offseason.

They made the most of their limited window by signing veterans Stephen Tulloch and Justin Durant, both of whom have turned one of the team’s weaknesses into an asset. Detroit also kept DeAndre Levy and Bobby Carpenter after parting with Julian Peterson and Larry Foote, decisions that look good so far.

The problems plaguing the most depressed big city in America — block after block of abandoned houses, a plummeting population, troubled schools and unemployment near 30 percent — are not going away.

But for Jim McCusker, who was laid off as an engineer at Chrysler five years ago and is still trying to break back into the auto industry, the surreal season for Michigan sports has allowed him to escape, if only for a short time.