Detroit Lions: Playoffsssss, Just Maybe

Last year was the first year in the Jim Schwartz era and there were already changes with in the Organization. Starting with Kettle ball Training during training camp and open competitions all the way around. Through the 2009 season and there was progression through Scott Linehans offense and from Matthew Stafford as well as fast rising linebacker DeAndre Levy as well as the emergence of rookie safety Louis Delmas. Fast forward to the off-season and you can see the out with the old and in with the new continues with the acquisition of defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch and wide receiver Nate Burleson who had a sub-par couple years in Seattle and a solid draft with the picks of Ndamukong Suh, Jahvid Best, and what Could be the steal of the draft in Amari Spivey. This is not your Detroit Lions teams of the early 2000s, its a new day in Lion Land and a new buzz is generated, just ask safety Louis Delmas who said " It's no surprise if we come out and get eight wins, I won't be surprised at all. We know we can do it." With that said, I'm going to get on the Lions bandwagon or at least put one leg in because Jim Schwartz has put new life into the Detroit Lions.

Raider Nations Revival

For a very long time fans of the Oakland Raiders have had a lot to put up with when it comes to the off season. Whether it is the head scratching free agent pickups (i.e Javon Walker) or poor draft decisions (i.e Tyler Brayton, Slade Norris and more). But I must applaud GM Al Davis and the front office for all the moves it has made in getting rid of dead weight players, bringing in guys who want to play football and making smarter and needed drafts unlike other drafts where they went for the flashy picks. The addition of Jason Campbell gives them stability under center and a proven quarterback which, is something they have not had since Rich Gannon. On defense, they made improvements as well with the additions of Kamerion Wimbley and Quentin Groves and the draft pick of former Alabama standout linebacker Rolando McClain.Last but not least, the hiring of Hue Jackson to call the offense will be very solid because he has proven he can develop wide receivers as well as quarterbacks giving Jason Campbell the consistency he has never had as an NFL quarterback. Finally the powers that be in Oakland have given fans something to cheer about and to be excited about this upcoming season, So I can say proudly "Just Win Baby"

Paid For Plays: Shoud College Athletes Get Paid

The quest for greater revenues and T.V exposure to a seismic shift in college football with top programs Texas and Oklahoma possibly on the move to the Pac-10 to create a mega conference and to bring in mega dollars for those institutions have re-opened the discussion of whether students athletes should be provided compensation for competing in sports. The reason why this topic been re-opened is simple, there are some people who think that with all the money that these schools bring in during the season they should be able to provide the players with some form of spending to pay for things they may need. I myself would wonder if you can pay athletes, why not pay the medical students a stipend because they struggle just as much as student-athletes and spend just as much time making themselves better as a student athlete does. But ere are the pros and cons to this theory of paying athletes.
Pros:
The positives to providing athletes with a stipend is that it would provide less opportunity for boosters to come in and make an offer for easy money to your player. Coaches wouldn't have to worry about their players getting work-study jobs to make a little money during the off-season, players can give a better effort with incentive and will also be more rested and have more time to be in the weight room.
Cons
With every positive, there is a negative. For example, paying a player will create a jealousy factor among students who are not athletes and then you have to figure in what athletes get paid because it would be difficult to pay every athlete because most schools have a multitude of different sports. Then do you pay the upperclassmen only.
I understand that some people think its a job and they should be paid but isn't a free education enough, is free apparel not enough. Athletes in the past never got paid (at least legally) so why change the rule. The NCAA has always been a "If it ain't broke don't fix it" type of organization and I would not expect them to change their stance or be deterred in any way to to this conference shifting that is going on in college football.