Wings, Red

THE USA IS GOLD! But the Ides of March are upon us. 

If this is your first time experiencing this hellish month as a Wings fan, let me fill you in. Over the last few years or so, the Wings have been in a good spot to finally make the playoffs at the end of February. However, as we can see, those years ended in failure once again. So how does a hockey team go from worst to first over the span of 12-13 games?

The answer? The month of March. In like a lion, out like a lamb.

Last year we lost five straight coming into March, finishing with an overall record of 4-10, effectively knocking us out of the playoff race and allowing the Canadiens to shoot up the standings. The year before that, we lost six straight, with a record of 3-11. In the last three years, through 2023-2025, we have won a total of 12 games in the month of March.

That’s not good.

Out of the last few years, this is the best team out of all of them. And while March isn’t exactly a walk in the park, there are some easy games in there. I think we can cruise past the first week, where we play Nashville (win), Vegas (loss), and Florida (win). The second week is where things start to get a little rough.

We first play New Jersey, who, despite having a healthy Jack Hughes now, I think we beat pretty handily. However, after that, it’s Florida again, Tampa Bay, and Dallas. As bad as the Panthers are this year compared to previous ones, they still scare me a bit. And playing them twice in less than a week is not an advantage for us. Meanwhile Tampa Bay is probably the best team in the East right now, and Dallas is one of the heads of the three-headed monster that is the Central division in the West. Two very good teams in the span of three days, and if we lose both, it’s not going to be the end of the world, but it could be the start of those famous March skids we’re known for. 

After the Dallas game we play Calgary, another bad team, whom I think we beat easily, then Montreal and Boston, two good, solid playoff teams within three days as well. We cannot drop both of those. I could see us losing to Boston more than the Habs, but it is crucial that we win at least one. 

To close out March, we play the Senators (win), Buffalo (win), Philly (win), and Pittsburgh (win provided Crosby is still on IR). Now this is an ideal scenario, which will most likely not be the outcome. But this is more so meant as just a glimpse into the dreaded third month of the year. I don’t know what it is about March. We just forget how to play hockey.

But it’s time to put those fears to rest. This is the year.

Motor City Kitties

Spring training is underway this week as many prospects for the Tigers make their debut against the pros in various locations. In other news, Tarik Skubal has announced that he will pitch only one game in the World Baseball Classic, so we have a variety of topics to cover this week.

Starting off with Skub-erman, the two time Cy Young winner will pitch one singular game for the US in the WBC, an early game against Great Britain. 

This isn’t bad news. Half of me wants to watch Skubal pitch his heart out and us dominate, but the other half of me understands his side of things. It is a contract year for him this year, and if something bad happens, it could be devastating for his future contract.

So I understand where he’s coming from, and although he is the best pitcher on the squad (yes, better than Skenes), we’re still loaded, and we’re still going to win it all.

Back to spring training, Troy Melton has “right arm soreness” according to sources. Now this is bad news. Troy was an absolute nail gun last year (in my eyes), he’s super young, and I think he could be great this season. Obviously we don’t know that much about the situation at hand, seeing as it literally just happened, but hopefully it’s nothing too severe. 

We’re reportedly resetting Troy for a while until we figure out what’s going on.

Max Clark, the 2nd best Tigers prospect and one of the top in the league, made 3 errors in left field in the same inning, and then forgot the count in the box which resulted in a strikeout. Look, the guy is a natural center fielder, and hasn’t played left in a while. But there is just a tiny amount of concern in my head about the fact that he wore like four diamond chains in the field. I get it. If I had four diamond chains I’d also like to wear them in public, but not when I’m playing left field in a baseball game. 

It just rubs me the wrong way.

McGonigle hasn’t been as great as we’ve expected him to be, but the guy only has nine plate appearances to account for, so I’m not worried whatsoever.

In other news, Konnor Griffin, the #1 ranked MLB prospect, is raking in Pittsburgh and I would like to make a formal declaration that he becomes the best hitter of the 2030’s, which is absolutely ludicrous to think about. The guy hit two homers in the same game. He’s 19. He’s also one of the fastest youths you’ve ever seen. Next Griffey. I’m telling you.

Javy went 2-3 at the plate (score), we left a man on third with no outs (love to see it), and Casey Mize blew up in the first inning once again. We are so back.

The ‘Stons

The regular season continues to motor along, as Cade nears closer and closer to a potential MVP, and the Pistons to a #1 seed. Duren is back from suspension, with Stew not far behind. Coming off of Cade dropping 40 in the garden last week, the Pistons cruised past the Bulls of Chicago, dropped a tough one to San Antonio, and beat the shorthanded Thunder at home. 

The Thunder win was impressive, even if they were missing Shai and Chet. Chet isn’t even that good, but Shai is, and the Thunder are still good without him. Cade did a good job facilitating the offense with Lu Dort on him, one of the league’s perennial perimeter defenders, and JD continued his reign of terror, dropping 29 points with 15 boards. 

The San Antonio loss was pretty rough. The recurring thought I had while watching was “how does anyone stop Victor Wembenyama?” Even though we were trying to out muscle him, he’s just too good. He is an alien. There’s no real answer for him.

Cade threw Stephon Castle to the ground, we pushed around Wemby for a bit, but we still lost, primarily due to some role players for San Antonio catching fire. Vassell couldn’t miss for them, and Champagnie went 5/8 from deep. Wemby, obviously, is an amazing defender and tallied six blocks, but it felt more like 60. 

So, if we’re going to lose because Julian Champagnie turned into Shane Battier in game 7 of the 2013 finals, so be it. We showed we can compete with the best, and the loss doesn’t deter my faith in this squad.

We do have a pretty tough schedule coming up, with Cleveland twice, Orlando, and San Antonio again, so hopefully we can make up for that loss with a couple of wins against playoff teams.

Cleveland does scare me in the playoffs though.

Los Lions

Well, another week with no football. And another week in which I have to scramble to come up with something to talk about concerning our beloved Detroit Lions. I don’t want to do two draft things back to back, so today, we’ll be taking a look at the four teams I think are the biggest threat to the Lions in the NFC for the 2026 season.

Seattle Seahawks – No surprise here, the reigning super bowl champs will in fact be good next year. Darnold now has nothing left to prove, JSN is coming off his best season yet, the defense is still lights out, everything looks to be going just fine in Seattle. One thing that could become their weakness however, is their run game. With Charbonnet out and Kenneth Walker rumored to leave, Seattle’s run game could take a massive hit in 2026. I don’t think it will be that big of a problem for them, they’re still an extremely well coached and staffed team and can probably move past it, but if Darnold continues to play like this, then the run game might be the weakness to exploit.

While Detroit and Seattle will not face each other in the regular season, they’re still a team to keep an eye on in that playoff picture. With how good Darnold has been, and the state of our secondary, it’s going to be a tough matchup if we face them. Seattle is currently, without question, the team to beat in the NFC.

Los Angeles Rams – A storied rivalry between the Lions and Rams, Stafford and company definitely got the best of us this past year, routing our defense into oblivion, and with a pretty decent first round pick this year, LA is only getting better. Stafford is 38, yes, but he was 37 last year and had his best season yet. I’m not betting on that big of a drop off. However I would bet on their defense improving in the offseason, if they land someone like Sonny Styles, they could be a wrecking ball on defense.

We always struggle with Stafford one way or another, but we’ve managed to eke out the win in the majority of the times we’ve faced him, so I think we have a fair shot of beating the Rams if our paths cross. Which, again, will be in the playoffs because of how the schedule shaked out this year.

Green Bay Packers – Man, I really can’t stand the Packers. A bottom three sports franchise for me. But, as they say, game does recognize game. The Packers, sadly, will be good this year. That second place schedule should do them some favors, and with a healthy Parsons, assuming he comes back with minimal regression, will be a threat nonetheless. I still don’t think Jordan Love is a good quarterback, and with Doubs leaving, Matthew Golden looks to become a larger player in the passing game. Something I’m pretty scared about because I think Golden is super good, and they didn’t use him a lot last year.

LaFleur, or LaFraud, as I like to call him, will keep his job for the 2026 season, despite rumors predicting otherwise. Green Bay is going to be annoying, as they always are, but I think we can deal with them when the time comes. We face off against the Packers twice in 2026, and we definitely win one of those.

Atlanta Falcons – Pick yourself off the floor, the Atlanta Falcons are going to make the playoffs, and be a dangerous team come 2026. With Cousins gone, Penix is going to rock ATL to its core, and with a trio of Bijan, The Drake, and Kyle “This is the Year” Pitts, he’s got weapons to score with. I think Penix is going to do great, and with a solid O-line, he could be a real threat.

Look at the NFC South, making a little comeback of their own. The Falcons had a very heavy blitz defense last year, and regardless of the lack of big names on their defense, it’s still pretty hard to play against a defense that is in your face 24/7. Think Brian Flores, but not nearly as good. And with Stefanski at the helm, there’s no telling what their ceiling is this year. The Lions do play the Falcons in the 2026 regular season, and it’s going to be a good one. I think we win, but I think it’s close, and the Falcons prove themselves as a team to be reckoned with in the league.

So there you have it, the biggest threats to the Lions in the NFC. If nothing happens at the combine, we’ll tackle the AFC next week, which is a much more difficult environment to play in.