Didn’t you just know Joel Zumaya would be throwing bullets down at spring training? Didn’t you just know everyone would be raving about the re-vitalized, "Joel?" This is what we’ve learned about Joel Zumaya in the past: Just when you start trusting him, the other shoe drops. Seems like he has a long way to go re-earn the trust of fans in this town.

- The Pistons were 12-12. Since then, they have gone 9-23. Beating teams like New Jersey, Minnesota and Sacramento - all varying degrees of awful - doesn’t mean much. The danger would come if they were actually about to vault into some kind of contention for a playoff spot, which would have been the case last season. It’s unlikely to happen this year. Can you imagine? The last seed in the Eastern Conference just might have a .500 record? You’re seeing lately that Richard Hamilton does have gas left in the tank. Too bad he didn’t play consistently like this before the trade deadline. Maybe the Pistons would have been able to find a buyer for him.

- To me, Jimmy Clausen is a much better pro prospect than Sam Bradford. His arm strength is better, he played in more of a prostyle offense at Notre Dame and isn’t coming off injury.

Prediction: Russia 6, Canada 5. Ovechkin gets three goals. Hope I'm wrong. I am rooting for the Canadians.

My column in Wednesday's Oakland Press on the good and bad of the NFL combine http://tinyurl.com/yana6vs

Caputo And His Boss video about Tom Wilson working for the Ilitches http://tinyurl.com/yhplb9p