The Lightning Round

Seeing as how I am currently up to my eyes in Sports Law, Criminal Procedure, and Accounting for Lawyers (yes, finals are upon us) as well as reading about potential Detroit Lions NFL Draft trades and trying to make time for a Tigers game Friday and NHL/NBA playoff watching, we'll hit some quick hit topics today, which I'll call the "The Lightning Round" in honor of Jim Cramer's segment on his great CNBC TV Show, Mad Money

** Astronomers find Earth-like Planet: I'm not a big "science fiction" guy. I've never gotten into Star Trek, never watched Star Wars, but Contact and Gattaca are two of my favorite movies, and The 4400 and Heroes are two television shows I watch on a regular basis, so I don't know where on the continuum that places me. But I will say I was intrigued by the headline of astronomers finding an earth-like planet a few trillion miles away, with similar temperatures and potentially similar properties to earth. An artist rendering of the planet, from the Associated Press, is below.

I think in the next few years, especially as technology continues to increase, more "planets" like these will be found, that are similar to Earth. There are just too many stars out there and galaxies and whatever else for there not to be planets with similar compositions to earth. I'm more skeptical about finding life on these planets, or at least, anything like what we consider to be life on earth. There's probably life out there somewhere, but, its probably absolutely nothing like the aliens and spaceships and flying saucers most people consider to be "alien life." Interesting to think about in any case.

** NFL Draft Nears: I can't wait for the NFL Draft on Saturday. This time of year is great. Espeically with the Detroit Lions holding the #2 pick and teams fighting with themselves to trade up to draft Calvin Johnson and the fear that Johnson will be taking #1 overall by Oakland, leaving the Lions stuck with the #2 pick. I'll have a draft preview post late Friday night, but for now, even though I wrote in one my first blog posts ever here that I wanted the Lions to take Wisconsin Offensive Tackle Joe Thomas, I've switched to either wanting Mississippi linebacker Patrick Willis or LSU Safety LeRon Landry. Of course, all signs point to the Lions taken neither of those players, choosing instead Clemson DE Gaines Adams. Adams put up great numbers at Clemson, and is a speed rusher the Lions need to make their "Tampa 2" defense work, but there are questions about his worth ethic and motivation, and if there's anything the Lions should have learned from the Charles Rogers and Mike Williams debacles, its taking players who don't have 100% dedication to being a success won't work. And the Lions coaching staff always talks about "football character." I'm not sure Adams has the "football character" the Lions want.

** Larry Brown to Return to NBA Sidelines? I thought this was a joke when I first saw it, but apparently the Memphis Grizzlies are interviewing Larry Brown for their head coaching position. This is a disaster. I love Larry Brown. He's a great coach. He brought the Detroit Pistons to an NBA Championship and he should have won a second when he was here. But, he's done as a coach. He was a disaster in New York (though, that was also partly Isiah Thomas' fault) and he's done as a head coach. He may be one of the best coaches ever in the NBA, but I just can't see him being successful in a rebuilding situation. Taking over a team on the verge of winning a title like the Pistons is one thing, taking on Memphis, no, no no. Bad idea.