What to expect this weekend...

Before I start lamenting on the issues of the day of the Detroit Lions, I'd like to encourage anybody reading this to go see the season opening game tonight for your local high school football team.

Go see the local kids who are playing with dreams of college football and maybe some day professional.

Go see the coaches and the marching bands, the cheerleaders and just the experience of the epitome of local sports.

And now, about the Lions....

The first and most important thing about this game is keeping everybody healthy. In a game where the starters are supposed to play well into the third quarter, a game that, historically, is the "dress rehearsal" for the regular season, the Lions can show they are much better than a team that is regarded at the same level as themselves.

Cleveland is not a good team. Saturday night, the Lions will host the Browns in the annual Great Lakes Classic. A team that has been taken over by former Green Bay and Seattle head coach Mike Holmgren. Holmgren, the new GM has brought in a 300 year old quarterback in Jake Delhomme is waiting and watching to see what his team is really made of.

His coach, Eric Mangini, who pretty much showed last season in an ugly loss to the the Lions that he didn't really even know the rules, is certainly on the hot seat this season.

To put it succinctly, the Browns are a one man team and that one man is Josh Cribbs. When your team's only real weapon is your kick and punt returner, you've got some major issues.

But what about the Lions...

What do we need to see from them? More improvement hopefully. I'd like to see The Kong record his first sack. I'd like to see Louis Delmas actually play and then not be crippled on Monday.

I think we need to see two touchdowns from the Franchize and some break away runs by Best.

We also need to see continued improvement from undrafted free agent safety Randy Phillips.

And about Randy Phillips...

WDFN (detroitsportstalkradio.com) has a clip of audio featuring some quotes by Randy Phillips. who has become an SSR favorite lately.

Phillips is quoted saying, "If the Lions secondary is the weakest part of the team, the Lions are going to the playoffs." This comment obviously angered the show hosts and probably a few fans.

Why? Because, first of all, Phillips isn't even guaranteed to have a paycheck coming to him this September. He's an undrafted ROOKIE free agent. He's never played a down of real NFL football. He's never seen the right side of a regular season.

He really doesn't have any right to make predictions about the Lions.

But...

Randy Phillips comes out of the University of Miami, a place that has never been known for producing humble athletes. It is not a huge stretch to think that he, as a professional athlete, might have an ego.

Perhaps, he feels insulted that all he's ever heard this season since joining the Lions is that the defensive secondary (of which he is a part) is the weakest link on the team. In other words, he is tired of hearing that he and his close teammates are the problem.

So he spoke out...should he have? Probably not, but he's still a very young man and people need to cut him a break.

Detroit vs Cleveland means...no cheerleaders.