Dirty Jeans, Wings in Juniors & The Return of E-Rod

Can't confirm but I'm almost positive Dan Campbell starts every motivational speech having no idea where it's going to end up.

Reminds me a little bit of this newsletter. Heyyo!

Ok, before we get into it. At the bottom of this issue you'll notice a referral program. Essentially, you refer your friends (must get the 'GordieBarry' reference), you earn cool stuff.

So far the rewards are a GordieBarry sticker for your Nalgene bottle (throwback), a GordieBarry smokin' a stogey hat and finally, Detroit sports tickets of your choice (limited availability).

Yup, free tickets. Refer your fellow Michiganders, earn cool stuff.

Forward.

Lions Win, Tom Kennedy Dominates Pre-Season, MCDC Dominates HBO

For the second week in a row the Lions found themselves in a nail-biter. This time, however, they ended up on the winning side of things.

As position battles move into the final week of preseason, Tom Kennedy, the professional-lacrosse-player-turned-NFL-wideout, is making decisions tough.

The top four receivers are all but set in stone:

• DJ Chark

• Josh Reynolds

• Amon-Ra St. Brown

• & Khalif Raymond

With the reserve spots seemingly set for Quintez Cephus & Trinity Benson (this is all with the understanding that first round pick Jameson Williams will be returning sometime after week four), there didn't appear to be much controversy.

But Kennedy has exploded this pre-season with an eight-catch, 104-yard performance in week one, then two tugs (touchdowns) in week two...definitely not making it easy on the Lions coaching staff.

The rosters gotta go from 80 (currently) to 53 players by August 30th.

Hard Knocks Episode Three Takeaways:

• Campbell is the star of the show, once again. Dropping must-hear one liners as he shakes out dirty pants, puts on fake war paint, and promises players they can pilot the plane home from Indy. *pictures Jamaal Williams in the cockpit*

• Coach Duce Staley lost his voice at a very inopportune time.

• LB Malcolm "Rodrigo" Rodriguez started vs the Colts.

• OT Obinna Eze, from Nigeria, has an intriguing story, but is most likely getting cut.

• Crickets on Jared Goff, which I find interesting.

E-Rods Back & Grossman Figures Out How To Hit (for another team)

The Tigers reinstated their biggest pitching off-season signing in Eduardo Rodriguez from the restricted list on Friday. For more than two months E-Rod was off for personal matters.

We, the public, have no idea what those matters were (The Athletic speculates marital issues) but all we know is that the Tigers literally could not get the guy on the phone, or locate him, for some time (my boss looking for me Monday morning after a Sunday funday).

But he's back now, shared the reasoning for being gone with his teammates, then proceeded to toss a five-inning, four-hit, five-strikeout, zero-earned-runs performance in a 4-0 win over MVP candidate Shohei Ohtani and the Angels.

Remember Robbie Grossman? The Tigers outfielder we dealt to Atlanta at the trade deadline who was hitting pretty piss poor for us? He's killing it now.

Via: Detroit Sports Nation

Grossman had two doubles and two homers in 18 at-bats against righties, after totaling just six extra-base hits with 69 strikeouts in 196 ABs against righties for Detroit. He had home runs in consecutive games against the Mets this week.”

Annnnd the worst part...

“They were very open when they got me here,” Grossman said. “The first day when I got here they kind of set me down and it was like, ‘Here’s the difference we saw in your swings from this year and the previous two years. This is what we think you should do.’ And we just got to work, hit the ground running with it, and I feel a lot more normal now.”

We're all scratching our little tiger heads, Cody.

World Juniors, Baby!

Okay look I know this play has nothing to do with the Wings but it's one of the wildest saves I've ever seen in hockey.

That would have won the gold medal game! In overtime! Canada would score only moments after this to secure the W over Finland.

Some notable takeaways:

• Simon Edvinsson: Pundits are saying he disappointed, but also was banged up and suffered food poisoning at the tournament. He finished strong, racking up a lot of ice time and played a solid bronze medal game.

• Carter Mazur: Consensus best tournament of the Wings' prospects, netting five in as many games.

• Sebastian Cossa: The Wings monster-sized goaltender served as a backup in these games, playing only once. He seems to be off to a rocky start, which is a little disheartening given the hype surrounding him when we traded up to draft him.

Schedule Released, Flights Booked To Paris

Last Wednesday, the full NBA schedule was released, here's ours:

The 'Back To Work' boys (yes, I want that to be a thing) open up the season at LCA vs the Magic, which is intriguing because it will feature last year's no. 1 overall pick in Cade Cunningham, and this year's in Paolo Banchero.

The Pistons also get a date with Chicago on January 19th in Paris.

But here's what really matters:

B1G Money For the B1G Ten

On Thursday the B1G announced a new media rights agreement.

With who?

Fox/FS1, CBS, NBC & The Big Ten Network

For how much?

Via The Athletic... CBS and NBC are each paying around $350 million per year for their Big Ten packages, and the Big Ten’s new rights agreements are worth more than $8 billion over the seven-year term, sources tell The Athletic, the largest rights deal ever for a college athletic conference. Each contract is for seven years, which means the Big Ten will go to market again before the SEC’s new contract with ESPN expires in 2034.

Also

For the first time in 40 years, ESPN will not broadcast home Big Ten football and basketball games. The network officially pulled out of negotiations last week.

The deal will go into effect July 1st, 2023.