Lions presser post-mortem

Well, I was a bit disappointed by that press conference, if only because I was hoping (and expecting) some antagonism between Matt Millen and the media. Remember how the press attacked Mike Ilitch and Randy Smith when Phil Garner was hired as the Tigers' manager? Now that was a press conference. Of course, the late Joe Falls was on hand that day to demand some answers. Maybe that's what was missed in Allen Park today. Either that, or Millen's just too big, too scary a guy to take on.

You never know; Millen could pounce from behind that podium and attack someone. He still has that ruthless linebacker look in his eyes. At least when he's not sheepishly defending his 20-55 record as Lions president and general manager.

Hoo boy. 20-55? Wow, that doesn't look good at all - especially when you type it out like that. That had to have been the pink elephant in the room. And as far as I could tell while watching the press conference, the Detroit News' Bob Wojnowski was the first (and maybe only) one to point it out, asking Millen what mistakes he thought he'd made during his five years in Detroit.

But the press conference made it official: Steve Mariucci is out as Lions coach. Dick Jauron is the interim replacement. And Greg Olson will call the plays as offensive coordinator. In his brief remarks to the press, Jauron practically read from the sports cliche handbook, flatly stating that the Lions "had five more games, and would play them one at a time." However, I was intrigued by his comments that the defense performed poorly on Thursday because players were "freelancing," rather than working within the system.

Millen denied that any "emergency meeting" was called after the Thanksgiving Day massacre vs. Atlanta, saying that the decision was made this morning. Why did he wait?

"I was angry after that game," he said. "It was disturbing to watch. I did not want to make that decision based on anger."

After lamenting how difficult the decision was, based on Mariucci's quality as a person, Millen made it quite clear why a coaching change was made. He believes the roster is "capable of making a playoff run." He twice stated that the staff has "not developed our younger players, and that’s bothersome."

"The talent is there," he said. "And it hasn't played up to that level."

When asked whether a new coach should tailor his system toward the available players, or make the roster play his system, Millen said, "I think every coach has to adapt to what you have, and what you get."

There you go. In his eyes, Millen did his job. He brought in good players. But Mariucci didn't do his job. He didn't win games.

Of course, if the Lions have to hold another one of these press conferences in the near future, there won't be much question as to whether or not Millen did his job well.

It's never boring in Detroit

It's been a tough fall for Detroit sports fans so far. The Tigers sputtered toward the finish, and then just flat-lined. Now, it looks like the Lions could be following their lead. And who knows what the Red Wings will look like in this new, post-strike/rules-changed National Hockey League? The championship days are likely making a pit stop. Thankfully, we still have the Pistons.

But here's something I love about the Detroit sports scene (and missed so much during my two years in Iowa): Two of the four major teams may stink like skunk roadkill, but it is never boring around here. Look at this past week.

On Sunday, the Tigers' season came to a merciful end. The very next day, the Tigers' front office fired manager Alan Trammell and his coaching staff. And as General Manager Dave Dombrowski was explaining his decision to the press, revealing that he'd already interviewed two candidates for the job (who, conveniently for the Tigers, both happened to be minorities), former Pirates and Marlins manager Jim Leyland was in a car, on his way to town - ostensibly to replace Trammell. By Tuesday evening, it was a done deal: Leyland was in as manager. It took longer for me to have a post-root canal bottle of whiskey shipped to my friend Mis Hooz in New York.

(Photo by Steve Perez/ The Detroit News)

On Sunday, the Lions lost to Tampa Bay, 17-13, after a touchdown was (wrongly) taken away by the referees. The next day, sports talk radio was on fire, ripping the Lions' wide receivers for dropping balls and lazily running pass patterns. Inexplicably, one of those receivers, Charles "Half Baked" Rogers, who'd been on a milk carton so far this season, complained to the Free Press' Drew Sharp about his increasingly diminished role. Later in the day, everyone who said "What the hell is Rogers smoking?" got a surprising answer to their question. ESPN reported that Cheech Rogers was being suspended by the NFL for violating its substance abuse policy.

And once all the smoke from the teams that suck cleared, the good things in the Detroit sports scene returned. On Tuesday, the Pistons reported for training camp, eager to win back the NBA title they lost back in June. And last night, after a year-long absence, The Red Wings - who made their own coaching change in the offseason - took their first step in re-introducing professional hockey to fans by stomping the St. Louis Blues, 5-1.

How many other cities have a week like that? Our baseball team might not be in the playoffs, and our pro football team has a losing record, but they're keeping things interesting. And this coming Saturday, we'll get to watch two good college football programs take the field. I love it here.

I took my sweet, lazy time addressing the issues of this past week, unlike several great Detroit sports blogs that stepped up right away to comment on what's been going on. You probably read these already, but I can't just pretend no one else has written about these stories - and really well, to boot. If they weren't so good at what they do, I wouldn't have spent the last couple of days wondering whether to bother jumping onto the pile.

♦ The Detroit Tigers Weblog not only thoroughly covers all sides of both the Trammell firing and Leyland hiring, but takes a look at the team on the field, and analyzes perhaps the most disappointing aspect of this past season: the Tigers' limp, ineffective bats.

♦ Greg Eno provides angles on Trammell and Leyland too, while also pointing out the silly shell game losing teams play when they change coaches, at Out of Bounds.

♦ Brian at Beyond Boxscores made me pound my desk in admiration, by addressing something that really bothered me about the Trammell firing - the token minority interviews - before I could do it. (But I'll try to do it later, anyway.)

♦ Bless You Boys points out how important a role public relations has played in the managerial game of musical chairs that the Tigers are playing.