Wednesday Notes: Steve Mariucci Speaks on Disagreements With Front Office

by Sean Yuille on Sep 10, 2008 11:53 AM EDT in Notes Comment 7 comments

The mysterious woman that ended up with Rudi Johnson's bags has finally broken her silence on the situation, and her story really contradicts what both Victor DeGrate and Tatum Bell said about what happened.

"Somebody's not telling the whole story," said the woman, who spoke to the Free Press on the condition of anonymity because she did not want to be harassed. "It all lies with Mr. Bell. He's the only one who knows what really happened."

She [the woman] was an acquaintance of DeGrate's and knew Bell through him. The night of Sept. 1, Bell called her and said he had a bag that he had thought belonged to DeGrate but really belonged to Johnson.

Bell asked her if she could return it to Lions headquarters in Allen Park and gave her the phone number of Cedric Saunders, the director of football operations.

She asked him why he couldn't return it himself. He said he had to go to Houston to work out for the Texans and didn't have time. (He never worked out for them.) She said OK, and he came over to her house and put the bag in her car.

The woman denied stealing Johnson's belongings from the bags, but I don't really buy it. If she knows what happened to the stuff then she needs to say so as this won't go away until Johnson's stuff is returned or at least located. The fact that her story differs from both DeGrate's and Bell's makes me realize that everyone is trying to clear their own name and that there is nothing but lies being told. Sure, a few parts of each story may reveal the truth, but considering three people have three different stories, that truth is buried right now.
Lions coaches and the front office reportedly don't agree on how much playing time some of the rookies should get. I imagine the disagreement is over Gosder Cherilus and Jordon Dizon, the Lions' first two draft picks, as neither is starting. I hate to break it to the front office, but there's a reason for that: they're not ready. Throwing them in to start before they're ready is just dumb, and the coaches obviously realize that.
Steve Mariucci went on The Huge Show yesterday and discussed disagreements he had with the front office when he was the Lions' head coach. Unsurprisingly, the front office wanted Joey Harrington to play. Mariucci, on the other hand, wanted to bring someone else in, such as Jon Kitna or, get this, Drew Brees.
A coverage map for Sunday's game can be found here. The map for the 1 p.m. FOX games won't be accurate for the local Detroit area if the game gets blacked out as people in and around Detroit won't get to watch the game.
Matt Vasgersian and J.C. Pearson are the announcers for Sunday's game. I feel sorry for them as they also had to announce the Lions-Falcons game. Two Lions games in a row can't be much fun.
The Lions dropped to 30th in FOX Sports' power rankings.
We all know that Tom Brady's injury has screwed a lot of fantasy football owners over, but in terms of money it is a $150 million shift in prizes. It is just unbelievable how one play can affect so many different things.
Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman is out for the season as he has to have knee surgery.

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Blackouts

If the game is not sold out will it be blacked out for the whole state or just the metro detroit area?

by sparto on Sep 10, 2008 11:58 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I believe...

It’s everything in a 75-mile radius.

Check out Pride of Detroit, SB Nation's Lions Blog

by Sean Yuille on Sep 10, 2008 12:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

cool

cool, i get to see it anyway

by sparto on Sep 10, 2008 2:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Lions are going to need to play Dizon at some point because the defense looked horrendous on Sunday against Atlanta. Either that or Joe Barry has got some work to do. He’s going to be on The Hot Seat big time this season.

by jmantemp on Sep 10, 2008 1:34 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

agree

Coming off the bench, he still was number two in tackles after week one. Start him.

by cridg1zt on Sep 10, 2008 2:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Big News In Detroit.

Though the news in Detroit today is some of the best news this town has received since the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup this past Spring, we must remember that this is only the first step in the Detroit Lions rebuilding marathon. The organization must gel together and become a “team”.

Will the firing of the General Manager help score more touchdowns or make tackles for loss this season? Of course not, but it is the first step.

by Groove on Sep 24, 2008 1:57 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Head Coach?

Bill Cowher is a happy family man living in a brand new mansion in North Carolina. It would be quite a surprise if he came back to the NFL. I agree that the “new system” isn’t working, but is all the weight of that decision to rest on the shoulders of the head coach? You’ve seen the first three games this season, you know there’s a huge breakdown in football basics on the field. It’s a shared burden that will be addressed in Detroit against the Chicago Bears … on the day that the alleged “Curse Of Bobby Layne” comes to an end.

Hmmmm, things are looking up already!

by Groove on Sep 24, 2008 3:19 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs