Jon Kitna as "Naked Coach" Joe Cullen for Halloween

Halloween Update: The story has picked up legs, both nationally and locally on this Halloween day, so check the postscript below for an update on the "Kitna as Cullen" story, including a clip from tonight's Pardon The Interruption. And if you are joining us at Quo Vadimus for the first time (coming from The Big Lead, ESPN.com's Hashmarks, or Deadspin) welcome.

It was a low point in a low era for the Detroit Lions. It was right before Rod Marinelli's first game as Detroit Lions head coach, and one of his defensive assistants was arrested. The devil, though, was in the details, as Joe Cullen was not arrested for any ordinary offense. He was arrested for driving through a Wendy's naked. Cullen was suspended for a game by the Lions, suspended for another game by the league, and received treatment, and has, from all accounts turned his life around in a positive direction.

And Cullen's personal turnaround, and the all healing power of time, probably allowed quarterback Jon Kitna to have some fun with the incident at wide receiver Mike Furrey's for-charity Halloween Bowling Party Monday night. While some Lions dressed up as celebrities (Michael Jackson and Kid Rock were two such costumes) Kitna dressed up as a nude football coach, and his wife got in on the act by dressing up as a Wendy's cashier. The video from FOX 2 Detroit:

And the photo of Mr. and Mrs. Kitna:

While some think the stunt was in bad taste (As Terry Foster wrote today, former Lions linebacker Chris Spielman was in that category) I agree with FOX 2 sports anchor and Detroit Lions play-by-play voice Dan Miller, who writes the costume was all in good fun. And Jon Kitna certainly does not appear to a person who would dress up like that without either having the okay of Cullen or without genuinely believing it would not cause a problem.

And hey, when you are 5-2, you can have a bit of fun with a naked coach driving through a Wendy's.

Halloween, 10/31, Postscript: Lots of talk about Jon Kitna's costume today. First, Big Al over at the Wayne Fontes Experience had a nice rundown of the early talk, and drew a comparison of Kitna's costume to that of Scott Mitchell, who impersonated Wayne Fontes back in the day. Kitna defended his actions on WDFN radio Wednesday morning and said he spoke with Cullen after the party, and there was no problem with the costume. Drew Sharp, on the other hand, thought Kitna went over the line. The Pardon the Interruption crew, an in costume Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon, spoke about the gag on their Wednesday night, and they felt that while the costume may have been a bit over the line, it was funny enough to justify it.

Detroit Tigers Trade for Edgar Renteria

The Detroit Tigers aren't messing around. They want to win now and they aren't afraid to mortgage some of their future in order to help themselves today. Last season, right around this time, they traded one of their top pitching prospects (Humberto Sanchez) and two other young pitching prospects (Kevin Whelan and Anthony Claggett) for Gary Sheffield. Today, the Tigers traded two of their arguably top-five prospects (pitcher Jair Jurrjens and outfielder Gorkys Hernandez) for multiple-time All Star and Gold Glove shortstop Edgar Renteria.

On first blush, the Tigers gave up a lot for the 32-year-old shortstop. Jurrjens went 3-1 after being called up to the Tigers last season, and he looked very impressive late in the season. With Andrew Miller ticketed to start off next season in AA Erie, Jurrjens was the odds-on-favorite to win the fifth starting spot in the rotation for next season. Now, the Tigers will either have to bring up Miller (again faster then they really wanted to) or give the fifth spot to someone like Chad Durbin or Yorman Bazardo. And this assumes veteran Kenny Rogers will return, which is no sure bet.

Hernandez is also a very bright prospect. He hit .293 in Class A West Michigan with 58 steals, and had mouths watering over a potential Maybin-Hernandez-Granderson outfield of the future for the Tigers. But he just turned 20-years-old and he's at least three years away from the major leagues. Success at Class A West Michigan is a long way from success at Comerica Park, but Herandez has a ton of potential.

But the Tigers needed a shortstop now, not an outfielder three years from now, and there's no question, with Miller, and the drafting of Rick Porcello, outfield and pitching are positions of strength for the Tigers. And Renteria is one of the best available options for shortstop, certainly better than Jack Wilson, and better than any free agent the Tigers could have acquired. He can lead-off, allowing Curtis Granderson to move down in the lineup if the Tigers want (that's where manager Jim Leyland sees Granderson's future anyway), and he is a better defender than Carlos Guillen. He's also very familiar with Jim Leyland and Dave Dombrowski (having played for the World Series winning Florida Marlins team) and the Tigers have instantly become a better team today.

It's tough giving up so much, especially because Jurrjens looked so good last season, but shortstop was the Tigers biggest need, and the Tigers filled it with one of the best available options (and probably the best, A-Rod excluded). There's no question the Tigers, trading for Renteria, picking up Pudge's option, and trying to re-sign both Kenny Rogers and Todd Jones believe they have a short window to win a championship. They can be a great team for a long time with their young pitching and young talent, but they can be an elite team for the next two or three seasons, and the addition of Renteria certainly fits that strategy.

Charles Barkley: The Cleveland Cavaliers Will NOT Make the Playoffs

Here's something interesting. On Jim Rome's radio show this afternoon, NBA Hall of Famer and TNT analyst Charles Barkley (who is a must listen any time he is interviewed) said he would be legitimately stunned if the Cleveland Cavaliers, the defending Eastern Conference Champions, made the playoffs. He wasn't joking either. He said that while almost every other contending Eastern Conference team has improved from last season, the Cavs have not, and as such, they will not make the playoffs.

While I agree with Barkley that the Cavs certainly did not improve themselves this off-season (and with the losses of Sasha Pavlovic and Anderson Varejao, they are almost undoubtedly worse than last season) while teams like the Boston Celtics and the Heat and even the Pistons did (though the recent injury to rookie Rodney Stuckey will set the Pistons back a bit), to say that the Cavs aren't one of the eight best teams in the Eastern Conference may be stretching it a bit.

Then again, the Cavs were a dreadful 1-6 in the exhibition season, second worse only to Miami's 0-7, and there are a lot of good teams in the East. Toronto, New Jersey, Boston, Detroit, Chicago, and Orlando are probably all shoo-ins for the playoffs. Indiana went 6-2 in the pre-season, and if Shaq and Dwyane Wade are healthy (a big if) the Heat will make some noise too. And we can't forget about Washington.

Maybe Sir Charles is smarter than I give him credit for....

Balanced Attack Leads Detroit Lions to 16-7 Victory Over the Chicago Bears

It wasn't easy, and by the end, it looks a bit concerning for those long-time Detroit Lions fans, but as the Lions have told us all season, this is not your father's Detroit Lions team (or, for that matter, your grandfathers). A balanced attack led by over 100 yards rushing from Kevin Jones, 268 yards passing without an interception from Jon Kitna, and a ferocious defense with four interceptions (three in the Chicago end-zone) and suddenly the Detroit Lions are 5-2 and with a Green Bay loss Monday night at Denver would move into a first-place tie in the NFC North. Amazing. Absolutely, just amazing.

The return to full health of Kevin Jones has really turned around the Lions fortunes. A team that is known for their passing attack ran the ball 27 times on Sunday, with Kevin Jones gaining 105 yards (with a touchdown). That allowed Jon Kitna to sit back and pick apart the Bears secondary, and he found 8 different receivers with everyone, from Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson (who had another nice reverse for a first down) to Casey FitzSimmons and Sean McHugh coming up with big plays throughout the game. And how about the much maligned defense? Four interceptions, tons of pressure on Bears quarterback Brian Griese, and not giving up any big plays.

And what might be most impressive about the Lions, and so unexpected, is their resiliency. In the second quarter, they drove the ball over 90 yards before scoring a touchdown. Lions teams in the past were not able to do that. In the third quarter, after a nice drive to start the half faltered after Jason Hanson's field goal bounced off the upright, the Lions defense responded, and held Chicago to a three-and-out. Later, after the Bears drove down and scored their only touchdown of the game, and pulled within six, the Lions offense went to work, and drove 70 yards to the Chicago one yard line. They settled for a field goal, but those three points, making it a two-score game, were critical in helping the Lions move to 5-2.

Now, of course, all was not perfect (I'm a Lions fan, I've been trained to see the negative in even the greatest of starts). Kevin Jones had a fumble, they kicked to Devin Hester once and it cost them a touchdown, and I'm not sure why, up 13-7, the Lions were going for it on 4th and 1 from the 2 yard line (you need to go up two scores there and kick the field goal -- Luckily Chicago jumped off-sides and made the issue moot) but today is not about the negatives. Detroit has swept the NFC Champion Chicago Bears, winning on the road, showing the world they can win on the road. Most importantly though, they proved to them themselves that the Philadelphia and Washington debacles are behind them, and now the team has a lot of confidence going forward. Denver at home next week won't be easy, but the Broncos will be coming off a short week, and a 6-2 start is only a game away.