Despite a playoff appearance last season and a team that is by all accounts getting better, Lions owner William Clay Ford is still seen in the eyes of many as one of the worst owners in the NFL.

Last November, Forbes Magazine ranked Ford as the worst owner in the NFL mostly due to financial reasons however Ford is 27th on the list of Big Lead Sports’ Jason Lisk.

Lisk chose not to rank Shahid Khan (Jaguars) and Mark Davis (Raiders) since their time as an NFL owner has been brief as of yet. But, Ford comes in at No. 27 ahead of ahead of are Kansas City’s Clark Hunt, Cincinnati’s Mike Brown and Cleveland’s Randy Lerner.

Here is what Lisk has to say (via Mlive.com)

“Last year was great for the Lions. The previous 49 with the senior Ford in official ownership position, not so much with very few exceptions, and it’s hard to get the taste of the Matt Millen era out. The Lions were one of the feared franchises of the Fifties and early Sixties, but it’s been a while. The good news is that the team looks up as his role diminishes with age.”

Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots, Dan and Art Rooney II of the Pittsburgh Steelers and John Mara and Steve Tisch of the New York Giants round out the top three according to Lisk.

Ref: Mlive.com, The Big Lead

Doug Fister was the most consistent starter the Tigers had down the stretch last year, and he looked like he was rounding into shape for more of the same this year. However, even Fister isn’t immune to the inconsistencies plaguing the Tigers lately.

After allowing eight hits in the first three innings on Thursday, the difference in Detroit’s 4-3 loss to Minnesota came down to the Fister delivery that Prince Fielder missed at first base, and the opportunities missed to complete another four-run comeback.

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According to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney baseball executives from around the league believe the Dodgers, Cardinals and Tigers to be the be the most aggressive teams when it comes to trade talks this July.

One person (via MLBTradeRumors.com) believes the Tigers will be aggressive after their $214 million dollar commitment to Prince Fielder in the offseason and their needs at second base, pitching and potentially left field.

If this is the case, it wouldn’t be surprising seeing Dave Dombrowski part with top prospects such as pitcher Jacob Turner or third baseman Nick Castellanos.

Ref: ESPN, MLBTradeRumors.com

On Wednesday Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports wrote an article about the Big Ten and its love for the Rose Bowl and a broken bowl system.  Apparently the Big Ten is giving up a chance to try to get a playoff system in place with semi-final games on campuses because they do not want to break the bond they have with the Rose Bowl.

So basically what this is saying is the Big Ten never wants to win a National Championship in football ever again, right?

Not only have they given all of the home-field advantage, in a sport where home-field still means something, to the Pac-12 and SEC they may even end up playing in some of these teams stadiums as well!

This continues the seemingly yearly play by the Big Ten to make it harder and harder for teams to make it to the National Championship.  After last year adding Nebraska, an extra conference game and a conference championship, the odds for a Big Ten team to be in the top-two of the BCS seemed slim.

Read more at Detroit Sports Bloggers

The Lions got some big things done this offseason in restructuring Calvin’s contract, resigning key players and doing a decent job in the draft.  But one thing that was not done so far this offseason, at least that we know of, is coach Jim Schwartz getting a new contract.

Going into next season, Schwartz will be a ‘lame-duck’ coach with only one year remaining on his deal.  When asked about his contract at a presser he responded with, “I don’t talk about my contract,” and when asked if a deal was done he elaborated by saying “I don’t talk about my contract.”

My question to all out there reading, does the Schwartz deserve a contract extension?

Lets take a quick look back at his history with the Lions:

Read More at Detroit Sports Bloggers

Add Wednesday to the puzzling season of Rick Porcello and the Tigers.

In Porcello’s defense, he did not have much of a defense behind him. The Tigers erred around the horn, with one miscue from each of their infielders, setting up four unearned runs in as many innings in the 11-7 loss to the last-place Twins.

On the other hand, all six runs scored on hits, four of them for extra bases — a scenario that means curtains for a sinkerball pitcher.

“In fairness to Rick, we didn’t help him out a lot,” manager Jim Leyland said, “but he didn’t help himself a lot tonight, either.”

It was a shared effort that saw the Tigers fall behind big for the second straight day, come back with a big inning, then give up the lead twice. But it’s the fact that the Tigers starting pitcher didn’t get an out past the fourth inning for a second straight game that had manager Leyland worried.

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Lions rookie minicamp took place this past weekend and it’s certainly too early to tell as to who will make the team and who won’t. One thing that can certainly be determined though is just how much work some players need to do to ensure their name will make that final 53 man roster.

And judging from what John Krueger of CBS Sports had to say, Lions undrafted rookie QB Kellen Moore has plenty of work to do if he wants to play behind Matthew Stafford and Shaun Hill in 2012.

QB Kellen Moore’s passing improved during Detroit’s rookie mini-camp practice Sunday, but his performance over the three-day orientation left a lot to be desired. Moore wasn’t consistent in drills, and his effort gave credence to questions surrounding his arm strength that saw him go undrafted. Non-roster invitee QB RJ Archer, who was given leave from the Arena Football League’s Georgia Force to attend Detroit’s workouts, outperformed Moore at times.

Moore was one of the most decorated college QBs winning a FBS record 50 games at Boise State‚ including a BCS game win over TCU during his sophomore season, and was also the school’s first ever Heisman Trophy finalist in 2010-11. Moore threw 142 touchdowns and just 28 interceptions over four years of starting experience. In his final collegiate game, Moore beat Arizona State and finished with a 50-3 career record. Two of the losses came on late field goals that would have won the game.

Still there were plenty of concerns with Moore coming out of college which included his height (6’0”) and his arm strength. Both factors that ultimately led to him not being drafted.

With all this said if Moore continues to struggle, there is a good chance that the Lions enter the 2012 season with only two QBs.

Ref: CBS Sports

Washington Capitals forward Alexander Semin and his agent have pretty much made it clear that he will not return to the team next season and is looking for a new start with a new team.

Could that new team be the Detroit Red Wings who are going to be in the market for a goal scorer this offseason?

Ansar Khan of Mlive.com takes a look at the notion of obtaining a guy like Semin if the pursuit of Devils forward Zach Parise falls through.

Semin has tremendous talent, no doubt. He has a terrific shot and good one-on-one moves. He notched career highs in goals (40) and points (84) in 2009-10. He has scored 187 goals in the past six seasons.

But is that offensive firepower enough to overlook the baggage he brings? Semin has a reputation for not playing hard on a consistent basis and disappearing at times. Former Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau made him a healthy scratch for one game earlier this season.

If Semin lacked motivation to play on a team with stars Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, would the situation be any different with Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg?

There have also been some concerns surrounding his playoff performances. According to Khan, Semin has just 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in 30 postseason games over the past three seasons – after putting up 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) in his first 21 playoff games.

Semin’s agent too told ESPN The Magazine that Semin had a problem with the way he was used in his last season with the Capitals…

“I think the issue is with the organization, not necessarily with the coach (Dale Hunter, who resigned this week). They told us Alex is not going to play short-handed, he’s not going to play in the last minute. He’s going to get the same ice time as everybody else … Alex is not ready to be a role player. He wants to be a full-time player. It’s important to him.”

Still Semin could very much benefit playing with the Wings and the Wings could benefit from his presence on one of the top two lines. First he is only 28 years old so he is in his prime but he also shoots right handed, a bonus considering the Wings only have two other right-handed shooting forwards in Patrick Eaves and Jan Mursak.

Last season Semin earned $6.7 million which will be reduced this season if he were to sign on with an NHL team. There are still thoughts that he could jump ship to the KHL to find a more lucrative deal.

Ref: Mlive.com

Even on the world stage, Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall doesn’t let up.

Here is Kronwall laying a devastating hit on Latvia’s Kaspars Saulietis during yesterday’s matchup between Sweden and Latvia in the IIHF World Championships.

Saulietis was shaken up on the play and didn’t return for the third period.

Sweden went on to win the game 4-0 with goals coming from Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen.

Kronwall’s hits at the Worlds kinda make you wonder though if he’d do the same thing to Datsyuk or Filppula?

Ref: YouTube, IIHF.com

The Tigers offense everyone expected finally showed up Tuesday.

It was a good thing, too, because the Tigers needed every last bit of breathing room.

Miguel Cabrera, Ryan Raburn and Austin Jackson each homered as part of an eight-run sixth inning, as the Tigers posted their largest comeback win of the season and held off a late rally to defeat the White Sox, 10-8, at U.S. Cellular Field

Raburn had his second straight two-hit performance and drove in a season-high four runs, while Prince Fielder went 3-for-4, his second straight three-hit game, as the Tigers split a two-game set in Chicago to finish their nine-game road trip 4-5.

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