Disappointed but encouraged. Here is why.
- In 1967 The Tigers lost the American League Championship on the last day of the season. In 1968 they won the World Series.
- In 1987 the Piston lost to the Celtics in game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals. In 1988 they lost to the Lakers in game seven of the NBA Finals. In 1989 and 1990 they were NBA champs.
- In 1995 the Red Wings lost in the Stanley Cup finals. In 1996 they had the best record in the NHL but lost in the early rounds of the playoffs. In 1997 and 1998 they were Stanley Cup Champions.
- In 2003, the Pistons lost in the Conference Finals. In 2004 they won the NBA Championship.
- In 2006, my daughter’s Southern Illinois-Edwardsville women’s softball team made it to the College World Series but were eliminated in two games. In 2007 they went undefeated in their conference tournament, the NCAA Regional Tournament, and The College World Series to finish the season with 16 straight wins and a National Championship.
- In 2021 and 2022 the Wolverines football team made it to the CFP playoffs only to lose in their first game. In 2023, they went 15-0 as they marched to the National Championship.
So yes, the Lions loss yesterday was disappointing but there is no reason to be discouraged. Michigan players said when they lost to TCU in 2022, they came back because they had unfinished business. The Lions have unfinished business. I don’t think it will take the Lions long to say, “business is finished”.
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From Bridge Michigan on Sunday.
Stop if you’ve heard this before: Michigan has a transparency problem, and despite promises from Democrats to bring light to government, taxpayers too often remain in the dark.
Last week was the deadline for lawmakers to disclose which of the $1 billion in pet projects approved last year that they sponsored, but the state still hasn’t released the information. Democrats changed rules to add more disclosures to the process last year. As in the playground, though, rules only work if they are followed — and so far they aren’t.
There could be some hope. After ending last year without passing any legislation to end Michigan’s dubious distinction as being one of two states to exempt the governor and Legislature from public records requests, Democrats say they will work to reform the state’s porous Freedom of Information Act soon.
Bridge will be there, following every step.
So, will I.
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In Letters from an American on January 26, Heather Cox Richards reported about the former president’s attempts to destroy the bipartisan border deal. Here are excerpts from Cox’s “Letters”.
Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) told his colleagues: “I didn’t come here to have the president as a boss or a candidate as a boss. I came here to pass good, solid policy…. It is immoral for me to think you looked the other way because you think this is the linchpin for President Trump to win.”
Greg Sargent noted yesterday in The New Republic that when Trump was in office, “[h]e too released a lot of migrants into the interior, and he couldn’t pass his immigration agenda even with unified GOP control.” And, of course, he never got Mexico to pay for his wall, as he repeatedly claimed he would, while President Joe Biden, in contrast, got Mexico to invest $1.5 billion in “smart” border technology and to beef up its own border security.
President Biden said, “What’s been negotiated would—if passed into law—be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we’ve ever had in our country. It would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed. And if given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law.
Yesterday the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board wrote: “[G]iving up on a border security bill would be a self-inflicted GOP wound. President Biden would claim, with cause, that Republicans want border chaos as an election issue rather than solving the problem. Voter anger may over time move from Mr. Biden to the GOP, and the public will have a point. Cynical is the only word that fits Republicans panning a border deal whose details aren’t even known.”
The former president wants the border fixed, but only if he gets credit for it. I just don’t get it.
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There is a lot of second-guessing Lions’ coach Dan Campbell for going for it twice in the second half on fourth down, when it is likely the Lions would have made both field goals. In a game that was lost by 3 points the 6 additional points would have made the difference.
I have always been of the opinion that you take the points, especially in playoff games where most games are decided by a touchdown or less.
Hindsight supports kicking field goals, but that is not who Dan Campbell is. He believes in his offense and his players. In the game against the Rams, he went for it on fourth and goal and the Lions scored a touchdown. In the game against Tampa Bay, he went for it on fourth and goal, and again the Lions scored a touchdown. In both of those games he also converted fourth down plays during drives that led to either a touchdown or a field goal. If Campbell had played it safe in either the Rams’ game or the Tampa Bay game, the Lions probably would have lost one of the games and not been in the NFC Championship Game.
I hope Campbell continues to take the risk. I am confident it will pay off more times than not.
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Quote of the Day: “We keep seeing how Kindle Vildor had that long bomb from Purdy in his hands, but lost it, how the ball hit his helmet and his face mask and bounced in the air and Brandon Aiyuk jumped for it like a hungry dog leaping for a bone. It was a fluke. A freak. A penny that lands on its side.” Mitch Albom describing the play that started the Lions’ downfall yesterday.
Orchid of the Day: To GM and other companies who adjusted their employee work schedules so employees could watch the game.
Onion of the Day: The Baltimore Ravens’ players for letting the KC Chiefs’ Travis Kelce get into their heads.
Question of the Day: Fourteen teams entered the NFL playoffs. Thirteen of those teams will lose their last game of the season. Does that playoff loss diminish an otherwise successful season?
Video of the Day: Dan Campbell’s post-game press conference.