If you write about the NFL; or the “N”o “F”ootball because of the “L”ockout league, as it should be known, it can be pretty tough these days to come up with something interesting to write about. If I knew stuff like the intricacies of the Tampa Two defense and how to beat it with short passes underneath I’d spend an article explaining it to you to fill in space until the REAL football starts. But I don’t have a clue about stuff like that, I’m more of a “They run ball, we stop guy with ball” kinda person. I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve for later stories that I’m saving for when things get really desperate, like next week.
Trolling the different sites on the web for ideas to write about is my first choice for a story, because we all know the NFL is only good for sob stories on how the teams are suffering so much that they have to furlough people in the front offices to make ends meet. Hey owners, instead on docking loyal hard working staffers, how about laying off some of the people who count your money.
In the June 1st edition of the Sporting News, which I have delivered to my laptop every morning, was an article of a hundred reasons why we love the NFL (when not locked out). What jumped out at me was reason #9. It mentioned that Ndamukong Suh was already the face of Detroit sports. Wow! You know what, I think they’re exactly right. After only one year playing pro sports, the Lions defensive tackle is the most prominent face in the sports world of Detroit. That didn’t take long.
Who else is there that could challenge him in this town? Ironically, the stiffest competition comes from his own teammates. Calvin Johnson is known throughout the NFL as MEGATRON because of his super human physical prowess. Try to name another one-name player? Matt Stafford’s day will come, but we’re talking about today. The Red Wings are a great franchise, but Stevie Y resides in Florida now and the national sports fan can’t tell the difference between a Datsyuk or a Zetterberg. Besides Miguel Cabrera and his untapped potential, the only person the Detroit Tigers possess that tickles the national fancy is pitcher Justin Verlander. Known more for throwing no-no’s, he is at best only in the top ten of his position in his sport. The Detroit Pistions?….Next. Are the most popular athlete’s in Detroit now wearing football uniforms?
He entered the league with tons of hype after throwing around quarterbacks in college like he was in an Adam Sandler movie about a high school senior who got to play in the pee wee league. He blazed through his rookie year like some of the greatest ever here in the Motor City: Barry Sanders, Isiah Thomas and Mark “The Bird” Fidyich come to mind. He has a national commercial selling cars for Chrysler. He just set a world record for tweet-ups. In the Sporting News article that I mentioned earlier, they liked him so much that they mentioned him again at #26. That point noted how he’s a once in a generation defensive talent. The best news? He’s AAAALLLLLLL ours!
Like what you see? Give SideLion Report a “like” on facebook, become a follower on twitter, or grab our RSS feed.