Oct 7, 2020
Long-time Detroit sports bloggers and podcasters Greg Eno and Big Al Beaton are The Knee Jerks! It's been an awful year, but we hope to take your mind off awful things by talking about awful Detroit sports!! Along with the Birthday Game and the Jerk of the Week, topics for this show include:
The Red Wings plan to buyout Justin Abdelkader's long-tern deal. But what will Steve Yzerman do with the extra cap space? Could they take on a toxic contract with draft capital attached? Or is it just more money in Chris Illitch's pocket, as the team has no revenue at the moment?
With the release of Abdelkader, a roster shakeup begins post haste. The Wings acquired defenseman Marc Staal in a Rangers salary dump, with a 2021 2nd round draft pick attached. The Wings will also not bring back Trevor Daley, Jonathan Ericisson, and Jimmy Howard. The Wings are a long way from contending, but you can now see the method to Yzerman's madness.
Ron Gardenhire retired before the end of the Tigers' season, stating heath concerns. Considering the last thing a man his age and health history should be doing during a pandemic is travelling around the country in a high stress job, it’s surprising Gardenhire lasted as long as he did
Should either AJ Hinch or Alex Cora, currently suspended over the Astros cheating scandal, be considered for the Tigers' opening? A naive, self-righteous segment of the Tigers' fanbase say no. That same fanbase also ignored Miguel Cabrera's adultery, drinking problems and spousal abuse, so glass houses. If you're angry at the lack of Astros punishment, take it out on Rob Manfred and MLB. Once they serve out their sentence, Hinch and Cora will get a second chance. It's just a matter of what team gives it.
The Tigers' prospects finally got a taste of the bigs, to varying degrees of success. But a 58 game season is just too small of a sample size, making it difficult to have any kind of conclusive player decisions...save for Christin Stewart. He's a bust.
“When I came to Detroit there was a lot of work to do" gives an arrogant Matt Patricia his "what's it take to get fired around here," "I don't coach that stuff," "abandon ship," "the bar is high," "I believe in the invisible," moment.
The Ford family has a long history of waiting too long to move on from what's not working - see Russ Thomas, Matt Millen, pretty much every coach since George Wilson walked away in 1964. The Fords would rather be buddies than bosses.
Subscribe to The Knee Jerks on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, Amazon
Music, iHeart Radio, Deezer, Radio Public, and YouTube.
Visit us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter