This is not going to be pretty

If Rod Marinelli wanted to see how terribly a team could play in a football game played shortly after a cross-country flight, the Detroit Lions gave him a definitive answer Friday night.

Otherwise, I'm having trouble figuring out the point of the whole exercise.


Making his team "comfortable with being uncomfortable"? Okay. But will the Lions ever have to fly from Michigan to California in the morning, and then play a football game that night at any point during the NFL season? Is the team planning to fly out to Arizona (the Lions' only trip out west, unless you count Dallas) for its November 19 game against the Cardinals mere hours before the game?

No? Then really, why bother putting the team through that?

"This is what we have to do," Marinelli said to the press yesterday. Really? Because it seems like something he and Matt Millen cooked up while playing catch in the hallway.

"Hey, you know what we should do? I've always wondered if a team would play like total cow$#!+ if we put 'em on a five-hour flight and then bussed right to the stadium."

"Oooh, I like that. You know what? We'd see how tough these guys are. We'd separate the men from the boys."

"Yeah!"

"Yeah! Hell, yeah!"

And then they'd bump chests, send out for lunch, and go watch some more tape.

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So maybe you think the Lions are too soft and you like seeing a head coach ride these guys instead of pampering them. Maybe you think this is exactly the sort of thing that will toughen them up, and yield results later in the season. Maybe all of that stuff is true. And if it is, I'll post a mea culpa the moment we see that.

In the meantime, I don't get it. Were the flight arrangements the reason they lost 21-3 (and it could've been so much worse) to Oakland on Friday? Probably not. As Big Al explains in excruciating detail, the Lions just aren't looking very good right now and a sharp improvement doesn't seem possible. Not unless the offensive and defensive lines begin to play better. Or the front office can find some - any - healthy linebackers to take the field.

And yes, we understand that certain players (Big Mike Williams, Charles "Cheech" Rogers) aren't earning their playing time in practice. But shouldn't the coaches try to see what they can get from these first-round draft picks? If not in exhibition games that don't count, then when? Send messages during the regular season. See if these guys can make some plays now.

Anybody else not yet ready for what we'll be seeing this football season? The Tigers really need to extend their season well into October.