My column in Tuesday's Oakland Press: http://bit.ly/nhxXHl

My column in Sunday's Oakland Press: http://bit.ly/re8GJ6

Preseason football does mean something. Especially when it's the third game, the most important dress rehearsal for the regular season.
Particularly when the New England Patriots, arguably the premier team of this generation, is coming to town, selling out the game at Ford Field. And it is on national television.
The Lions will be under the microscope Saturday. Such circumstances have destroyed the Lions before. Remember against the Rams in 2005? Monday Night Football? Third preseason game? The Lions donning their ill-fated black uniforms for the first time. The Rams' Stephen Jackson running right over the Lions. Penalty flags dropping all over Ford Field's turf. It was awful. And did set the tone for the regular season. In fact, the Steve Mariucci regime never recovered from it.
Whether the Lions win or lose this game is a moot point. The starters will be out by the beginning of the second half. But if it's awful, like that game in 2005, it won't bode well for the Lions, whose fans are seriously buying into what they are selling.

My column in Monday's Oakland Press: http://bit.ly/o3VhXv

My latest column for The Oakland Press: http://bit.ly/nMN1FL

My column in Sunday's Oakland Press: http://bit.ly/r1wZKn

My column in Sunday's Oakland Press: http://bit.ly/dODbvQ

My latest column in The Oakland Press: http://tinyurl.com/3xkeqc7

My column in Sunday's Oakland Press: http://tinyurl.com/25r8fjm

Lions' Draft Class of 2009 Will Make Or Break Lions In the Long Term: http://tinyurl.com/2aobptf

My intitial reaction to the Lions hiring of Jim Schwartz as head coach?
Based on what I know, he was the best available candidate.
The Lions certainly could have done worse. What I like best about Schwartz is that he is the opposite of Rod Marinelli. Everybody works hard in the NFL. That's a given. Schwartz will try to outsmart the opposition rather than constantly attempting to drill a hole through solid rock with the same dull instrument.
Schwartz has been a coordinator for eight years. He understands the cat and mouse aspect of adjustments in the NFL - both in-game and week-to-week. I'd be surprised if he isn't much better at looking at the entire forest instead of just the one try in front of him than his predecessor. Marinelli's downfall was never being able to adjust on the fly.
We'll also know more about Schwartz sooner instead of later based on how he puts together his coaching staff. It will put his organizational skills to the test immediately.
I do think the Lions did a much better job this time not rushing to judgment on a head coaching candidate. The Lions search was much more extensive than it was during the Matt Millen era - a sign the organization may have learned from some of its past mistakes.
What I didn't like is that the search was only limited to NFL assistants. Under current circumstances, the Lions weren't going to land Bill Cowher or Mike Shanahan, but there were other former NFL head coaches they could have at least interviewed and considered.
The rookie general manager, rookie head coach situation is less than ideal. Schwartz will have to mature quickly into his role. But at least the pedigree is there.

Those thinking Allen Iverson should be coming off the bench instead of Richard Hamilton - assuming the Pistons go back to a "big" lineup - are missing the point.
The reason it makes sense for Iverson to remain in the starting lineup is because he and Rodney Stuckey have been playing so well together. Hamilton was totally out of sync when he and Iverson were the Pistons’ backcourt, and he hasn’t blended in as well with Stuckey or the three-man backcourt.
Stuckey has controlled the ball most of the time. He is the Pistons’ best player. Iverson has been effective playing off guard with him. The Pistons have benefitted greatly defensively by adding more size to their front court. It’s the bottom line.
Is it fair to Hamilton? No, given his status as an All-Star and a Piston - and because he would be losing his job because he got hurt. Should he be upset about it? Absolutely. A player of his caliber isn’t going to take not starting lightly - even if he does play a lot of minutes. The same issue would be there with Iverson.
But what’s best for the team? Right now, it’s starting the bigger lineup. Right now, it’s Amir Johnson starting and Hamilton off the bench. It could also change as time goes on.
How he handles this is a huge test for Pistons’ coach Michael Curry. It’s also for Joe Dumars. He has to back his coach.
It isn’t a matter of whether Hamilton would be upset about the sixth man role. It would be whether he played hard in the role. If put in that situation, and if he doesn’t play hard, Dumars would have no choice but to try to trade him - even considering Hamilton’s contract extension. Dumars is the one who put Curry in this situation. He can’t expect him to pull off making Hamilton feel good about going into the sixth man role.
It has to be made clear what’s best for the team is what’s best for the team. That’s comes from the top. When it comes to the Pistons basketball operations, that’s Joe Dumars, not Michael Curry.
The only hammer the Pistons have is the possibility of trading Hamilton. And it’s in Dumars hand.

Random Thoughts

- My Hall of Fame ballot this year included: Rickey Henderson, Jim Rice, Bert Blyleven, Alan Trammell, Jack Morris, Lee Smith and Andre Dawson. Just couldn’t bring myself to vote for Mark McGwire. Not sure I ever will.

- If I were to rate potential Lions head coaches at this point, I would go: 1. Jim Schwartz. 2. Ron Rivera. 3. Todd Bowles.

- The 49 shots the Red Wings surrendered during Monday’s loss at Dallas were the most since 1991. I didn’t think they could possibly play that poorly defensively. Chris Osgood played one of his better games. If he hadn’t, the Red Wings would have allowed double digits in goals.
- My Hall of Fame ballot this year included: Rickey Henderson, Jim Rice, Bert Blyleven, Alan Trammell, Jack Morris, Lee Smith and Andre Dawson. Just couldn’t bring myself to vote for Mark McGwire. Not sure I ever will.

My impression from the BSC title game Thursday is that I wouldn’t take Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford with the first overall pick. I know that’s harsh, given that it was just one game and he had such a spectacular season overall.
But in this particular game, I didn’t see the same caliber of athlete I saw in previous games. I think the main reason is that Florida probably has the best raw material in college football. It provided a more realistic view of how Bradford stacks up athletically with NFL players than, say, Texas Tech or even Texas. He seemed more slight of build. His arm strength is OK, but doesn’t appear to be exceptional. He needed to make plays. He wasn’t able to so. At times, he looked more like a "system" quarterback than he did before. In terms of the measurable factors (arm strength, size, even speed) Georgia QB Matthew Stafford appears as the better pro prospect. He played three games against Florida in his career - one well (in 2007) and two poorly. Stafford’s lack of consistency makes him questionable with a real early pick in the draft.
Both are being projected as top five picks in the upcoming NFL Draft by some gurus. I’m not sure if it will play out that way. Now if they drop down to 19th or 20th, it would be more reasonable for the Lions to take one of the two with their second first-round selection. They need to take a QB with one of their first five selections because it is such a glaring hole, but the dropoff after Bradford and Stafford is considerable. That could change if USC QB Mark Sanchez decides to come out. Apparently he is pondering doing so. But would he be worthy of the first overall pick? Doesn’t appear so. Sanchez was surrounded by the best talent of them all at USC.

Random Thoughts

- Tim Tebow will probably go back to Florida, but count me among those who feel he is a better pro prospect than he is being given credit for. I don’t care if he never takes snaps under center or if Alex Smith didn’t make it after playing in Urban Meyer’s system at Utah, Tebow is an extraordinary athlete and a winner. You saw the game? Who was the better QB - Tebow or Bradford? Look to me like Tebow - hands down.

- In my opinion, Titans defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz is a more viable candidate for the Lions head coaching job than Jason Garrett. The Lions need to think defense first. And look at what the Titans defense has done lately compared to the Cowboys offense?

- And so Grady Sizemore and Curtis Granderson are both on the USA team for the World Baseball Classic. Who starts in center field if both are in the lineup? Talk about picking between elite defenders, eh?