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Lions And Wolverines Lowlight The Six Pack

By: Mike Stone

Unfortunately this week's Stoney Six pack might give you the bitter beer face. Yes there is one tasty treat, but the other five are tough to swallow.

1. The Lions cutting of Aaron Berry was the only logical move the team could make. I mean how can you keep a guy, who since the season ended has dissed the fan base via twitter, but arrested for DUI, and then was charged with three counts of simple assault where a gun was in play. I do understand the double standard by cutting a marginal player as opposed to a star, but the Lions had to do something. Seven arrests in an off-season is a disgrace. The incidents were making the Lions the punch line of the NFL and a statement had to be made. It figures that as soon as the Lions are thought about as a possible Super Bowl contender, something happens where people are ready to use the "same old Lions" cliché. I applaud the Lions for getting rid of Berry. He is not worth the trouble.

2. Michigan football coach Brady Hoke has suspended running back Fitzgerald Toussaint and defensive lineman Frank Clark indefinitely. Toussaint was arrested for DUI while Clark was booked for second degree home invasion in a theft of a Mac Book Air Laptop from a dormitory. Although Hoke has not suspended guys from games for first time offenses, he should start now, especially for Toussaint. I believe that the star running back should watch the opening game with Alabama from his couch like the rest of us. Drunk driving is a very serious offense and I don't care if it is the opener against the defending national champs. Players and the public need to know that drinking under the influence will not be tolerated at Michigan. As for Clark, if his charge is not lessened to a misdemeanor, he should not be able to get on the plane to Dallas either.

3. I like the Tigers trade with the Marlins that brings Anibal Sanchez and Omar Infante to town. Yes, I thought they might be able to get more for Jacob Turner and Rob Brantly, but the bottom line is it makes the team better. Sanchez is a steady, though not spectacular starting pitcher. His strikeout to walk ratio the last 2 seasons is stellar at over 3 to 1. His WHIP is not great at 1.25, but it has gone down every year since 2007. Infante is a huge upgrade at second base over the near zero production the Tigers have gotten from the likes of Inge, Santiago, Raburn, and Worth. The team is definitely better with this trade and if Sanchez at age 28 pitches well you can be sure the Tigers will do everything in their power to re-sign him before he hits the free agent market at the end of the season. Turner has a chance to be a good pitcher for the next ten years, but this is a win now mentality for this team, so the move was the right one.

4. I tried to calm down my Penn State relatives after the NCAA sanctions came down Monday. My sister was upset that the punishments only affect people who had nothing to do with the Sandusky horror show. I tried to explain that since they are not getting the "Death Penalty", her son (my nephew), is still being able to go to Beaver Stadium and watch his school play football over the next three years he is at Penn State. She said," but they will be hurt by all those scholarship losses". My response was simple...So what. You will be Indiana for five years. It's not that big of a deal.

5. Hmm. Rick Nash gets traded to the Rangers and Shea Webber signs a massive offer sheet with Philadelphia. Are there any good players that want to play for the Red Wings? Unless something happens in a trade, I don't see this off-season as anything other than horrific for Detroit. Ken Holland can spin it any way he wants, but Mikael Samuelsson, Jordin Tootoo, Jonas Gustavsson, and the re-signing of Kyle Qunicey do not exude much excitement for Red Wing fans. With lots of loot to spend, the Wings have done very little. Can you say Hey Hey Schlockeytown?

6. I don't know about you but I actually like the Olympics and will be watching the mainstream sports of swimming, track, and basketball. However I also enjoy watching the off the wall sports as well. My favorite is team handball, which is basically soccer with hands. Unfortunately the United States did not qualify a men's or women's team, so I will have no rooting interest. France is the defending men's gold medalist, but I have to go with upset minded Iceland.

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