Detroit Lions admit that Matthew Stafford's game needs some work

The worst kept secret in the NFL was that Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford needed to be refined. He has regressed since the 2011 season when he threw for  5,038 yards and 41 touchdowns. Over the past two seasons Stafford has backslid. He completed 63.5 percent of his passes in 2011. In 2012 59.8 percent and in 2013 his percentage dove to 58.5, which was good for 30th in the league.

Stafford would always say there's nothing wrong, but his play on the field said otherwise. Fans started to watch the Lions and wait for the untimely interception off of an ill advised throw. The worse part was that former Lions head coach Jim Schwartz was an enabler of Stafford's lousy performances.

Stafford threw 12 picks in his final seven games of last season, and was culpable for 14 turnovers overall during that stretch and the Lions finished 1-6 after a 6-3 start. Seven games doesn't make a career but the way the turnovers happened you don't see the elite quarterbacks make.

General manager Martin Mayhew finally admitted what many knew all along. Stafford needs some work.

"I think there certainly has to be some work done," general manager Martin Mayhew said this week. "I couldn't really quantify that."

"I don't think his confidence has fallen very far," he said. "I mean, think about it. In Week 9, his numbers were outstanding. We were winning games. We were playing really well.


"Didn't finish up the second half of the season the way we expected to, do the things that we wanted to do. But there are a lot of moving pieces to that. It's not all on Matthew. I've been in contact with him several times since the end of the season and he sounds pretty confident to me."

If the season were nine games the Lions might be in the Super Bowl. Instead they're watching from their lavish homes once again.

The team has taken steps to get Stafford back on track. The Lions have hired former Indianapolis Colts head coach Jim Caldwell, who worked extensively with Peyton Manning. The Lions have tabbed former New Orleans Saints quarterbacks coach, Jim Lombardi as their offensive coordinator. Lombardi worked with Saints quarterback Drew Brees.

Considering the past of the offensive coaches brought on board so far, many of the hires are geared to help Stafford.

Louisville's Russ Smith escorts freshman high school player to homecoming

 Louisville senior captain and leading scorer Russ Smith agreed to escort a Manual girls basketball player during homecoming festivities Friday night, after that girl's date didn't show up.

Smith was there to support a friend who is an assistant coach on the Eastern High School boys' basketball team. Eastern played at Manual Friday night.

Tonysha Curry, a freshman on the Manual girls basketball team, waited and waited for her date to arrive. He never did. Curry and her friends noticed the Louisville star sitting court-side, and Curry got up the nerve to go and ask Smith to step in as her homecoming escort.

"I had an escort, and he had won the homecoming for king. But he hadn't been coming to the practices. So, he didn't come to the game apparently," Curry said. "I was like, ‘There's Russ Smith. Oh my God. What if he escorted me?' Everybody was like, ‘Go do it! Go do it!'"

So Curry did. Russ Smith's response?

"Can I do that?"

"I was like, ‘Yeah, you can! You can,'" urged Curry to Smith.

"I didn't know," said Smith, when recalling being asked to take part in the homecoming festivities. "It just all happened too fast. She said, ‘Please, it would really make my day, make my night.' It actually made my day probably more than hers. I'm kind of really happy about it."

Let's recap: Freshman girl in high school gets ditched by the homecoming king. The leading scorer on the NCAA college basketball national championship team takes his place. Yet it made Russ Smith's day more than Tonysha Curry's? Russdiculous, please explain.

"It just never happens. It's something that's one in a million," replied Smith. "You just have to live in the moment. It may not ever happen to me again. That made my day."

"I could not breathe," said Curry recalling the moment, when she took Smith's arm and walked to half-court. "I was almost in tears crying. We even had conversations. We were talking to each other."

Smith was a finalist for Louisville's 2013 Homecoming King, but he was beaten out by teammate and Final Four Most Outstanding Player Luke Hancock. No matter. Curry got her man.

"Oh my God. Best day of my life."

Kudos to Smith for giving Curry a memory that will last a lifetime.

Georgetown's Josh Smith out for the season for academic reasons

Georgetown's Josh Smith might go down as one of college basketball's most puzzling players.

Smith was a talented high school player and a McDonald's All American and that netted him a scholarship to UCLA. Unfortunately for UCLA, Smith took the McDonald's billing literally and ballooned to 300+ pounds and never got into playing shape. When he was on the court he flashed the skills that made him one of the top high school players in the nation, but due to his weight issues and inability to mesh with then UCLA head coach Ben Howland, Smith often found himself on the bench.

Smith played six games for UCLA in 2012-2013 and decided to transfer to Georgetown. Hoyas coach John Thompson III was willing to grant Smith a second chance and surprisingly Smith was given immediate eligibility by the NCAA.

Smith paid immediate dividends as he reached double-digit points in seven of his first nine games. Water finally net its level regarding Smith's production as he averaged less than six in his final four games. His final game was on January 4 against St. John's as he scored six points and grabbed five rebounds.

That was his final appearance because Georgetown has ruled Smith academically ineligible for the remainder of the season.

This is a big blow to the Hoyas as a season that started as a Big East contender is now on the brink. The team released forward Greg Whittington, and starting guard Jabril Trawick is out with a broken jaw.

Coach Thompson released a statement regarding Smith's status with the team.

"It's disappointing," Thompson said. "So much was geared toward [Josh's] presence. "Now here in the middle of the season, between [Smith] and Jabril, you lose two starters," Thompson said outside the team's practice court inside McDonough Arena. "You have to reshuffle everything. But this is Georgetown. We have a set of standards here. Everyone has a responsibility above and beyond what goes on those doors right there. He let his teammates down, but the rest of the group will try to regroup here and figure it out."

Hopefully Smith sticks around and figures it out. He has a ton of talent but it has gone untapped in a big way. But knowing Smith from the outside looking in, I don't see him staying at Georgetown to fix his academic problems.

I could be wrong in this assessment on his future. I see him as a future D-League player or trying to go to Europe. Cliff notes version, he's gonna be a basketball vagabond.

Lester willing to give the Red Sox a hometown discount

Spring training looms, and while the Boston Red Sox prepare to defend the eighth World Series championship in franchise history one of the major subplots will be the contract status of Jon Lester.

The imposing left-hander struggled down the stretch of 2011 and throughout 2012 when he posted the first losing record of his career, but he rebounded last year with a strong season. Then he truly proved his worth in the postseason, when he was 4-1 and allowed just six runs in 34 1/3 innings, including a 2-0 record against the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series when he gave up a single run in 15 1/3 innings.

But Lester is entering the final year of his contract and will be eligible for free agency if he doesn't re-sign with Boston before the end of the season.

And given the contracts recently signed by Clayton Kershaw (seven years, $215 million) and Masahiro Tanaka (seven years, $155 million), Lester could command — and demand — significant money.

But Lester is willing to give the Red Sox a hometown discount as long as it's a fair deal.

“I want to stay here,” he said. “This is what I’ve known. I’ve grown up in this organization. I’ve had plenty of good times and plenty of bad times here. I enjoy it. My family loves it here. All my son talks about is going home to Boston. That’s what he thinks is home. …

“I want to be here until they have to rip this jersey off my back.”

"I understand that to stay here you're not going to get a free-agent deal ... I understand you're going to take a discount to stay. Do I want to do that? Absolutely. But just like they want it to be fair for them, I want it to be fair for me and my family, and if we can hopefully get to something in spring training that's awesome." 

If I'm the Red Sox I'd be locking up Lester right now. He's willing to take less than what Kershaw is getting and wants to remain with an organization that is competitive. I'm sure his agent will have something to say about that  as will players seeking big money deals.

I'm sure the Red Sox will give him a fair deal and Lester will remain in Boston. It's almost a feel good story where this isn't about the money but rather being in a place you and your family have grown to love.

Kentucky basketball strength and conditioning coach charged with assault on his wife

An assistant on the coaching staff of the UK basketball team has been arrested and charged with assault and wanton endangerment after an incident involving his wife.

Brian Shorter, a part-time assistant strength and conditioning coach for the University of Kentucky's basketball team, was arrested early Thursday morning accused of shoving his wife into an unheated garage and throwing water on her.

A source said there was an argument between Shorter and his wife at their home on Russell Springs, early Thursday morning. According to the victim, it came to a head when Shorter pushed her into their garage, which had no heat, and locked her in there. The victim claimed that about 40 minutes later, Shorter returned and threw a bucket of water on her. She, then, apparently made her way to a nearby hotel where she called for help.

Shorter was arrested at his home.

Shorter is in the Fayette County Detention Center, charged with assault and wanton endangerment.

It's hard to envision Shorter having a job after this alleged incident.

Detroit Tigers showing interest in reliever Luis Ayala

Even though Dave Dombrowski said the Detroit Tigers were done spending for the offseason, he's still looking to improve the team and do it in an affordable way.

The Tigers have shown interest in right handed veteran reliever Luis Ayala. Ayala spent most of last year with the Atlanta Braves after pitching in two games with the Baltimore Orioles. He went 1-1 with a 2.90 ERA in 37 games with the Braves.

In three years with the Atlanta Braves Ayala has made about 157 appearances while posting a 2.58 ERA. Ayala, 36, must have himself a top agent if he’s able to get the attention of almost every organization in the league. The Cleveland Indians and Seattle Mariners are also said to be courting the well traveled veteran.

Overall Ayala has a career record of 38-47 with a 3.34 ERA and 367 strikeouts in 554 1/3 innings for the Montreal Expos, Washington Nationals, New York Mets, Minnesota Twins, Florida Marlins, New York Yankees, Orioles and Braves.

Former NBA star, Clifford Robinson, to appear on 'Survivor'

Former NBA forward Cliff Robinson will be on the upcoming season of reality series Survivor.
On Wednesday, CBS announced Robinson would be a cast member of Survivor: Cagayan, which premieres Feb. 26.

“It’s a challenge to come out here and see if I can one, play the game, and maneuver through the game at 6-10,” Robinson said in a bio video for the show.

The 46-year-old Robinson, who played 18 seasons in the NBA and was named an All-Star in 1994, cited his reason for being on “Survivor” on his bio: “The challenge of the show being so tough, and the million dollars.” And why does he think he’ll win? “I think I would do well in challenges. I also have a good ability to make people feel comfortable with me.”

Robinson played 1,380 games in the NBA with the Portland Trailblazers, Phoenix Suns, Detroit Pistons, and Golden State Warriors, averaging 14.2 points and 4.6 rebounds.