Artose Pinner and Paddlefoot

A few quick thoughts on the sports over the weekend:

• The Detroit Lions are still chicken soup. It is amazing how a trip to Detroit can cure your ills if you are a National Football League team. The Lions, once an employer of the legendary running back Artose Pinner, allowed ol Artose (pronounced ar-TOOZ) to run wild over Ford Field for well over 100 yards and three touchdowns as the Purple Helmeted Love Warriors won 30-20. Pinner has played in the league three years without doing much other than having the coolest first name since former 70s era Saints Bivian Lee and D'Artagnan Martin. Good for him, though - I didn't catch what Chris Berman called him but I'm hoping it was Artose-Latrec Pinner. That's my humble suggestion.
• The Pack wasn't on here in Twinstown so I didn't get to see it, but Brett Favre is now an amazing 11-1 against the 49ers after leading the Packers to a 30-19 win. Favre's only loss (in the 1998 playoffs) still should have an asterisk, as Jerry Rice had clearly fumbled the ball on the drive prior to Steve Young's game-winner to Terrell Owens. Under the current rules, the Packers would have won that one. But no worries - the Pack has played very well on the road this year, with a 4-3 record. Now, if they can only figure out what the heck is wrong with them at Lambeau, they may have something. Luckily, the Lions are coming to Green Bay this week. Mmmm, chicken soup.
• I saw the second half of the Wisconsin-Marquette basketball team and was impressed with both teams. Marquette has some impressive talent on their team, especially their 3-guard attack. It wasn't enough to stop Alando Tucker, who is an amazing player/scorer. His game is very different from Adrian Dantley, but I keep thinking of Dantley when I watch Tucker play. He just knows how to score. I haven't seen Ohio State yet, but it's difficult to imagine that too many other teams in the Big Ten will be able to beat the Badgers this year. And I wouldn't give up on MU, either -- guard-oriented teams often do especially well in the NCAA tournament, and the Warriors will be there. Oops, can't call them that. Old habits die hard....
• So the rumors keep flying that some combination of Allen Iverson and/or Bob Knight are coming to town to rescue us from our basketball torpor. I hope not, especially AI. Word is that the Woofies would have to give up Randy Foye as part of the deal. That would be a big mistake. If they can ship out Mike James, Troy Hudson and Rashard McCants, do it. But Foye is going to be a very good player in this league and you want to see him do that here. As for Knight, well, let's just say that his act wore thin a long time ago. The Gophs need to do something, but that's not it.