Been There And Done That

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
PHOTO BY CANDY EBLING

Prior to the game between the Florida Atlantic Owls and Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles, one of my followers asked whether Owls Coach Lane Kiffin would leave to take a more high profile job.

I told him that it’s possible but Kiffin can afford to be selective of his next gig.

In 2017, the former USC-head coach led FAU to an 11-3 record and the Owls trounced Akron 50-3 in the Boca Raton Bowl. The Owls were Conference USA Champions, even appearing in the AP Top 25 rankings for one week.


The 2018 season saw FAU finish with a 5-7 mark and it missed a bowl game.

As the 2019 season concludes, chalk up another successful season for Kiffin and his Owls.

The Owls defeated Southern Mississippi 34-17. The game was televised nationally on the NFL Network. FAU won The Conference USA East Division title. The exposure was priceless.

They'll face the University of Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday at 1:30 PM in The Conference USA Title Game at FAU Stadium.

On Saturday, Former Green Bay Packers Hall Of Fame QB Brett Favre wasn’t in the building to lead his Alma-Mater.

But how has Kiffin managed to compile a pair of winning seasons at a mid major university?

1. He gives fresh starts to players at major universities such as QB red-shirt sophomore Chris Robison, who played at Oklahoma before being dismissed for disciplinary reasons. Robison has been Kiffin’s biggest reclamation project thus far during his tenure at FAU.

2. He knows the value of Social Media and takes full advantage of as he has 434,400 followers on Twitter.

3. His offense is real good. The team has eclipsed 30 points in nine of it’s games. FAU gave the Ohio State Buckeyes a battle by losing the opener 45-21.

4. FAU has amassed 300 or more yards in 11 of its 12 contests.

5. Against Southern Mississippi, FAU forced five turnovers and just committed one.

The coaching carrousel has already begun.

Florida State, Arkansas and Missouri are Power Five Schools looking for new coaches. You can rest assure, this is just the beginning of many more job openings.

Will Kiffin, who has head coaching stops at USC, Tennessee and the Oakland Raiders be ready to leave a university which at the rate he’s going being a Big Fish in a Little Pond eventually erect a statue for him outside of FAU Stadium?

Time will tell.

Will Kiffin follow the likes of Butch Davis (FIU) and Frank Solich (Ohio University) and coached at Nebraska along with Miami, North Carolina be happy to stay put, thus putting them in the been there and done that category?

I’ll be curious to see how this plays out.

But with Bowl Season upon us, this is the time when coaches do jump ship and take the greener pasture jobs and as a result, interim coaches audition for opportunities to be permanent coaches. Will the coaches take the money and run or stay put and be happy?

One thing is for certain, Kiffin is earning close to $1 Million annually in an area where there is no state income tax and his father Monte Kiffin is on his staff.

Life isn’t all bad coaching football in paradise in the Sunshine State.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottbm33@gmail.com and is the Owner of the South Florida Tribune & Broadcasting Network.

Tale Of Two Games Versus Florida Panthers

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

SUNRISE, FL

What a difference a few days makes.

Going into the Detroit Red Wings game against the Florida Panthers at the BB&T Center on Thursday February 4, I expected a playoff type atmosphere. 

For the most part it was. There were 16, 991 fans and no shortage of Red Wings jerseys as you can see here in the pre-game skate from My Vantage Point in the Press Box. There were many "Let's Go Red Wings Chants" throughout the contest to go along with an octopus thrown onto the ice at the end of the game.

However, at the end of the game, the Florida Panthers cruised to a 6-3 win and the rubber rats also got thrown onto the ice. 

This was Florida's third straight win over Detroit dating back to March 19, 2015 here in Sunrise, a 3-1 margin.

Florida won the first meeting of the season with an overtime 2-1 triumph at The Joe Louis Arena on November 29, 2015.

There was a 2:36 minute stretch in this contest for the Panthers who scored three goals to take a 3-0 lead midway through the first period.

Rookie sensation Dylan Larkin scored a power play goal with seven seconds left in the first period off the face off to make it 3-1

In his South Florida debut, Larkin would score two goals against Panthers Goaltender Roberto Luongo,  who stopped 36 shots for his ninth straight win at home and moved past Tony Esposito into seventh on the NHL's career wins list with 424.

Another milestone came from the ageless 43-year old wonder Jaromir Jagr got his 1,100th career assist and joined five other players in NHL History: Wayne Gretzky, Ron Francis, Mark Messier, Ray Bourque and Paul Coffey.

Jagr also had a goal in the game which was his 738th, putting him three behind Brett Hull for third on the NHL list. The game was Jagr's 1,800th game which includes playoff appearances.

Jagr's big night occurred against Red Wings backup goaltender Jimmy Howard, who made 27 saves, but was saddled with his seventh consecutive loss. Howard's last win was on December 3, 2015 at home against the Arizona Coyotes.

But to Howard's credit, he was facing a red hot Florida Panthers squad. After the Red Wings game, Florida's winning streak reached five, all of them by at least three goals. 

The Panthers have scored at least five goals in each of their last four games; the first time this has happened in franchise history.

Florida improved to 16-0-1 when scoring at least four goals.

To explain the type of season Florida has had, on February 2, 2016, the Panthers appeared on National Television for the first time in 2 years on the NBC Sports Network as they won an impressive 5-2 contest on the road against the Washington Capitals.

I saw a first in this game. Red Wings Coach Jeff Blashill pulled Howard with 8:34 left in the third period while Detroit was on the power play which resulted in a Mike Green Goal. 

Former Red Wing and Panthers coach Gerard Gallant had a hard time explaining how the team has scored five goals in four straight games.

"I don't know, you know," Gallant said. "Teams go on streaks. But we're putting pucks in the net and guys are confident. It's about putting pucks in the net, skating and being confident."

While most people come to Florida for Spring Break, the Red Wings came to Florida after the All-Star Break. The night before in Tampa, Detroit dropped a 3-1 decision to the surging Tampa Bay Lightning (29-20-4) with Petr Mrazek between the pipes.

Detroit left the Sunshine State going 0-2. 

Nevertheless, Red Wings Coach Jeff Blashill Didn't Leave Sunrise, FL., with a bad taste in his mouth despite his team being down 3-0 early in the game acknowledging that this lead was too much to overcome.

"Yeah but to be honest, I thought we came out and played really well," Blashill said. I thought we played well early. I thought our battle level and compete level were really good. I thought our execution level was good for the most part.

"In the end, I was really happy with the way our guys continued to battle back and I was real happy with the effort. I was real happy with their character."

Blashill also added, " It was one of those nights from a process point I was happy with a lot of areas. That might sound funny to fans when you lose 6-3, but again anybody can come and watch the tape, and see a lot of the good things we did, and the execution was pretty good to be honest with you."

On Saturday, February 6, the Red Wings would bounce back from this loss by hammering the New York Islanders 5-1 at the Joe Louis Arena. 

Red Wings Announcer Mickey Redmond admitted during the telecast that he wasn't looking forward to Detroit facing the Panthers Monday Night.

By the end of Monday Night, Pavel Datsyuk and Mrazek allowed Redmond and Red Wings Nation to breathe easy as Detroit defeated Florida 3-0. This was a much needed win for Detroit as it seeks it's 25th straight playoff appearance.

The only numbers that mattered on Monday was Jagr reached another milestone just by stepping on the ice. The Panthers forward appeared in his 1,600th career regular season game.

Jagr was already 10th all-time in games played, but he's now 12 games behind Ray Bourque for ninth.

Red Wings legend Gordie Howe holds the all-time record with 1,767.

The other number was simply the Red Wings 3-0 shutout over Florida and Mrazek has a career-high four shutouts this season. He out played Panthers backup goaltender Al Montoya, who finished with 28 saves.

On Wednesday Night against the Ottawa Senators, Mrazek turned in another stellar performance in a 3-1 victory. The Senators lone goal occurred with 2:24 left in the third period. 

Mrazek, who turns 24, on February 14, had a shutout streak snapped at 133:29 and improved his record to 21-10-4. Going into the Ottawa game, he had a 1.97 GAA. 

This is a guy who was the 141st overall draft pick by the Red Wings in the 2010 draft.

The Red Wings return to Florida on March 19 at 7 PM and I can only imagine how intense the contest will be with playoff berths on the line.

I'm definitely looking forward to seeing this game.

As of this post, the Red Wings have a 28-18-8 record for 64 points and are in second place in the Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. 

Meanwhile Florida is leading the Atlantic Division with a 32-16-6 mark with 70 points. .

Scott Morganroth is a member of the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association and can be reached at www.scottsports33.com.

Penn State's VS Wisconsin---Michigan Connections

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
PHOTOS BY CANDICE EBLING
MADISON, WI

There were a lot of interesting story lines during the Penn State Nittany Lions recent visit to Camp Randall Stadium on November 30, 2013, which is the fifth oldest stadium in the country.

There were two members from the Orange Bowl Committee scouting the Wisconsin Badgers because it appeared to be quite possible that there would be three Big Ten teams heading to BCS Bowls.

Normally, the Atlantic Coast Conference Champions would get an automatic Orange Bowl bid. As it turned out, two Big Ten teams made it to BCS Bowl games.

No.2 Florida State (13-0) jumped to No.1 thanks to No.4 Auburn's 34-28 win over No.1 Alabama (11-1, 7-1) in the Iron Bowl on 11-30-2013.

The Seminoles 45-7 pounding of Duke (10-3, 6-3) in the ACC Championship Game on Saturday earned FSU the right to play in the National Championship Game in Pasadena, CA on January 6, 2014.

The Orange Bowl will now feature No.12 Clemson (10-2) against No.7 Ohio State (12-1) on January 3, 2014 in Miami.

Auburn (12-1, 8-1) will face Florida State (13-0, 9-0) in the National Championship Game after their 59-42 win over the Missouri Tigers Saturday in the SEC Championship Game.

Ohio State was defeated by a hot Michigan State squad 34-24 (12-1, 8-1) in the Big Ten Title Game Saturday and the Buckeyes are heading to South Florida.

The Big Ten is always a Big Draw in Florida.

Ohio State, Wisconsin, Iowa (Outback Bowl) and Nebraska (Gator Bowl) are playing in the post-season in The Sunshine State.

The Badgers took a seven-game winning streak into their contest against Penn State.

That was until the Nittany Lions figured this game was their bowl game and stunned the Badgers 31-24 in front of 78,064 fans. Any chance of a BCS Bowl ended with an inspired Penn State effort which allowed the Nittany Lions to improve to 7-5 and 4-4 in the Big Ten.

Wisconsin lost at Camp Randall Stadium for just the third time in the last four years and is now 61-7 at home since the start of the 2004 season. UW entered the game with the third-best home record in the nation since 2004.

Penn State entered the game as 24-point underdogs.

Head Coach Bill O'Brien said his players felt disrespected about the odds makers prediction.

"Our guys practice hard, they love to play and you know I can tell you flat out that they took offense to the fact that they were 24-point underdogs and that nobody even in State College thought they could win that game, except for the kids in that locker room and the coaches in that locker room.

"So I think that those kids took it personally. You know, you take those things personally. It's just the way it is, that's football. I really feel good about the seniors that they were able to go out on a winning note."

Because of the Jerry Sandusky Child Abuse Sex Scandal, Penn State is ineligible for the post-season.

Penn State ended the season on a winning note thanks to the play of freshman quarterback Christian Hackenberg, who went 21-30, for 339 yards, four touchdown passes and zero interceptions.

The No. 19  Badgers dropped to (9-3, 6-2) and will play No. 9 South Carolina in the Outback Bowl on January 1, 2014 in Orlando.

Wisconsin needed just 34 rushing yards to break the school record of 3,309 set last season in 14 games. The Badgers added 120 and set a new school record with 3,396 yards in 12 games. These numbers will increase in Wisconsin's upcoming bowl game. The previous 12-game mark was 3,305 set in 1999.

There are two Metro Detroit Players that are performing well for Penn State.

Junior Wide Receiver Allen Robinson is from Southfield, MI and played High School Ball at Orchard Lake St. Mary's.

Entering the final week of the regular season, Robinson is third in the NCAA with 1,310 receiving yards and fifth in the nation with 119.1 yards a game. His 89 catches are seventh in the NCAA and his 8.1 yards are eighth nationally. He's also has six touchdowns.

Against the Badgers, Robinson had eight catches, for 122 yards. He finished the season with 1,432 yards which is a school record, and also added another school record for receptions in a single season compiling 97 receptions.

Despite one year left of eligibility, it is likely that he'll declare for the 2014 NFL Draft.

O'Brien wasn't thinking about whether Robinson would be back and said, "He made a lot of plays again tonight. I think even the plays that he didn't make it helped because there was the threat of him making a play and I think that always helps in the running game, which it was very hard to run the football tonight.

"You can't say enough about Allen Robinson. He's an excellent football player, a great guy to coach and a great guy to be around."

Red-shirt Junior C.J. Olaniyan has started 12 career games including every game in 2013 at defensive end. He ranks second in the conference with three forced fumbles, is tied for 10th in tackles for a loss (11) and is tied for ninth in the Big Ten in sacks (5.0).

Olaniyan, who is from Warren, MI and played for Warren Mott High School, Earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors with eight total tackles, four assisted and four unassisted, had 2.5 sacks and forced his first career fumble in the second quarter of Penn State's 43-40 (4OT) home win over No.18 Michigan on October 12.

Going into the Badgers game, Olaniyan had 25 unassisted tackles.

Against Wisconsin, Olaniyan had a 33-yard interception return that led to a Penn State 28-yard field goal which gave the Nittany Lions a 24-14 lead. He also had three QB Hurries.

Coach O'Brien said he's very pleased with Olaniyan's improvement this season.

"He's had a good year for us," O'Brien said. "He's made a lot of plays, is an instinctive player, has played much better this year than last year. C.J. has another year for us and we're excited about that. He's made key plays for us all year in the games we've won."

Olaniyan knew that there were plenty of Michigan Schools he could have attended and said Penn State was simply a better fit.

"It was all about the visit and I walked around the facilities and they were fine," Olaniyan said. "When I talked to coach J (late-Joe Paterno), I knew this was the place I wanted to be. When I came to Penn State, it had to do with the people and the fans. By them (NCAA) taking away the bowl games, it didn't effect me much because I had the opportunity to play in front of our great fans. That's all that mattered to me."

When the NCAA hammered Penn State with major sanctions in the Jerry Sandusky Child Abuse Sex Scandal, this would have been a perfect opportunity for Olaniyan to leave.

But he knew that the hiring of former New England Patriots Offensive Coordinator O'Brien's NFL connections would be helpful in his pursuit of a professional career.

"He's going to tell you straight up what you need to do to improve," Olaniyan said. "He won't tell you want you want to hear, but what you have to hear. He will tell it like it is. He won't lie to you. He's been in the business a long time."

There are two players on Wisconsin's roster that are from Michigan.

Senior Tight-End Jacob Pedersen is from Menominee and Senior Offensive Lineman Zac Matthias (No. 75 in photo above) is from Hemlock. Matthias is 6-5, 318 pounds.

Pedersen had four receptions for 64 yards against Penn State. He finished with 501 yards this season. In his four years with Wisconsin, he amassed 1,344 yards and 17 touchdowns. Pedersen was a captain for his final home game in red.

Interesting Note: Thanksgiving Weekend wasn't a good one for Wisconsin based teams facing Lions nicknames. Wisconsin lost to the Nittany Lions while the Green Bay Packers went to Detroit and were thrashed by the Lions 40-10 at Ford Field.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com.

Self Destruction 101

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

I'll never forget what Ivan Drago's trainer said in Rocky V when describing his powerful fighter.

Whatever he hits, he destroys.

The same can be said about NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr. Whatever league he leads, he destroys.

In 1994, Major League Baseball cancelled the World Series for the first time in history as a result of a labor conflict.

This ultimately led to the demise of the Montreal Expos, who were on pace to reach the "Fall Classic" for the first time in team history. The Expos are now the Washington Nationals.

Thanks to a home run battle between Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire, along with Cal Ripken Jr's consecutive game streak, baseball eventually recovered although I wouldn't doubt it if some of the fans never came back.

During the last baseball negotiations, both sides quietly put another deal together in the off-season enabling peace and harmony to continue.

Meanwhile, Fehr is working for a league that cancelled the 2004-2005 season. The players revenue decreased from 74 percent down to 57 percent.

Once again, players have flocked overseas to play for minimum wage so they can pay their bills.

Nobody sees them on TV and you can rest assure that the crowds at the arenas are lower than the 15-20,000 per-game in the NHL.

Before he took the NHL gig, didn't Fehr realize that he's in a sport which has the worst TV Contract of the four?

I have a strong feeling that NASCAR's TV Contract is better than the NHL's.

To the NHL's credit, at least they're no longer buying their air-time on NBC because the product and star power is much better.

Oh well, now that the 2013 Winter Classic has been cancelled, it's time to say good-bye to the 2012-2013 season.

The Southeastern Michigan Region figures to lose $75 Million while Detroit figures to take a $25-35 Million hit that could have bolstered it's battered economy. Estimates of 114,000 fans were expected to go to Michigan Stadium's "Big House" to watch Hockey's Attendance Records get shattered.

The NHL has already announced that the 2014 Winter Classic will be played between the Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs providing that the owners don't get too mad in their quest to break the union again!

The fans aren't going to care. The NBA has all of the winter sports headlines to itself.

The NFL, College Football, Basketball, The Final Four, will hold us over until MLB begins Spring Training.

In a bad economy, there will be no sympathy for NHL Hockey.

I was looking forward to seeing the Detroit Red Wings play the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers in the Sunshine State.

There was an outside possibility I was going to spend my 50th birthday in Michigan then see the Winter Classic at the "Big House."

Instead, it will be short sleeves this winter and No. 50 will be spent near the beach.

I'm grateful to Fehr that he's saved me a lot of money with the high gas prices.

As I mentioned earlier, Michigan Stadium gets the 2014 Winter Classic. The only thing that will change are the players who will participate in the old-timers, regular game and the festivities.

Hopefully, some of the legends that were scheduled in the 2013 game won't be deceased.

Nonetheless, the NHL has set an example that they don't learn from past mistakes.

Look for empty arenas and lower television ratings.

As was the case with the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Los Angeles Kings get to keep their Stanley Cup Trophy longer.

While I never visualized the Detroit Tigers would face the San Francisco Giants in the World Series during a recent blog, I safely made this prediction that the NHL would alienate its fans again thanks to greed.

The NHLPA will once again cave in.

The owners will make sure of that. They're stubborn and Commissioner Gary Bettman won't negotiate a bad deal for the owners even if it means losing another season.

They're losing revenue now and with the 2013 Winter Classic history, the owners aren't spending money on payroll.

Fehr the Fehr and congratulations Donald for wrecking another sport.

The backlash from the fans will be far worse than the damage caused by Hurricanes Katrina (New Orleans) and Sandy (New York City) as Donald Fehr was the eye of the MLB and is the eye of the NHL Labor Storm.

Especially since Hockey has self destructed for the second time within a decade over greed.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com.

Geographic Sensibility

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

Although it's a year away, I have to admit that I was very pleased the Detroit Red Wings will do much less traveling as the NHL begins realignment in 2012-2013.

Like most old school traditionalists, I was hoping for an "Original Six" Division!

Fat Chance. Commissioner Gary Bettman wasn't going to go that far.

But I'll settle for the Detroit Red Wings making at least one appearance to play the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers in the Sunshine State.

I have no sympathy whatsoever for the whining East Coast teams that they have to travel to the Pacific Time Zone. The Red Wings won four Stanley Cup Championships and gobbled up tons of frequent flyer miles in the regular and post-seasons residing in the Eastern Time Zone.

When the Red Wings faced the Columbus Blue Jackets, Nashville Predators, Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues in the playoffs, it was less tiring. Those Western trips to Vancouver, San Jose, Calgary, Southern California and Phoenix were brutal.

When the Red Wings Conference was announced, there was no way that Detroit was going to be separated from Original Six buddy and I-94 Rival Chicago.

Bettman complied with the pleas from Nashville's ownership to keep Detroit so this small market team with Michigan transplants could pack their building a few times a year, in addition to the playoffs.

Although the Columbus Blue Jackets and Red Wings will never have the U-M VS Ohio State intensity, they're both in the Eastern Time Zone and in neighboring states. Like Nashville, Columbus needs Detroit's drawing power.

As for the rest of the conference rivals, there is the Dallas Stars playing in their old stomping grounds against the Minnesota Wild. How many Minnesota North Stars jerseys are out there?

St. Louis is always a good rival for Chicago, though not at the level of the Cardinals and Cubs.

The Winnipeg Jets renew acquaintances with Minnesota.

Detroit and Dallas, the two Thanksgiving cities known as "Big D's" play great games and are linked by Brett Hull and Mike Modano.

The only mystery left now is what will be the names of the conferences?

Will Bettman get creative or historical?

Here are some ideas. Bring back the Wales and Campbell Conferences. Once upon a time there was the Norris Division. Just ask ESPN's Chris Berman.

How about the (Gordie) Howe and (Wayne) Gretzky Conferences named after the two greatest players in NHL history.

Even the Big Ten considered (Bo) Schembechler and (Woody) Hayes before deciding to name their Divisions, The Leaders and Legends.

I realize that we've seen the last major realignment.

But I'll be curious to see where the Phoenix Coyotes land since the NHL owns them and expects to have a new owner in place within the next year.

I could see the Coyotes landing in Kansas City, Las Vegas or even Houston. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Coyotes relocate in Seattle once a new stadium is built to replace the departed Seattle Supersonics and fill that winter sports void. The Vancouver Canucks would be thrilled to create another Pacific Northwest rivalry.

There are two seven team conferences East, so if the Coyotes were to end up in Kansas City, this would be a natural rival for St. Louis. If they move to Houston, Dallas has their in state rival.

Then I could see Detroit shift into a conference with Boston, Buffalo, Florida, Montreal, Ottawa, Tampa Bay and Toronto, therefore creating more Original Six games.

Eventually, I could see Columbus landing with Carolina, New Jersey, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Washington.

But in the meantime, I'm glad the NHL finally created some Geographic Sensibility. Those extra division games during the season will get made up in the playoffs when these teams face each other. The division rivalries are enhanced and the travel is greatly reduced.

Best of all, now the fans and media get to see at least each team's stars once a year, which will only bolster attendance along with increased television coverage.

In January of 2012, Versus becomes the NBC Sports Network. I could see this platform leading to more Original Six match-ups as we saw when NBC televised a Thanksgiving Week Classic featuring Detroit and the defending Stanley Cup Champions the Boston Bruins.

With the realignment, there will be more inter-conference games with Detroit and Chicago facing the other four Original Six teams.

The NHL is definitely headed in the right direction. The changes should also bolster interest in televising the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, thus giving them more exposure and marketing the NHL as North America's Sport.

I know a Detroit Red Wings VS Montreal Canadiens contest would be a great ratings draw. Detroit has 11 Stanley Cup Championships while Montreal has 24. Who can forget the numerous Hall Of Fame Players and retired numbers with these storied franchises.

I could only hope that this realignment does lead us to an Original Six Stanley Cup Final. I'm sure NBC would be thrilled with those potential ratings.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com and his blog can be seen at www.scottsports33.com.

Lions Losing Streaks Falling

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

When the Detroit Lions snapped their 26-game road losing streak to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on December 19, it marked the second straight week that they ended a futile drought.

On December 12 at Ford Field, a 7-3 win over the Green Bay Packers halted a 19-game losing streak to NFC North opponents.

During the Lions Post-Game Press Conference in Tampa at Raymond James Stadium after Detroit removed a Gorilla off it's back against the Bucs, Head Coach Jim Schwartz candidly told the Media that We'll find another streak to create.

So out of respect to Schwartz, I found three streaks for the coach that would either continue or also come to an end.

1) The Miami Dolphins are 7-2 in the all-time series, but have won five straight games dating back to 1994. On November 23, 2006, former quarterback Joey Harrington led the Dolphins to a 27-10 win on Thanksgiving Day.

2) The Miami Dolphins are 4-0 at home in two stadiums starting with the now demolished Orange Bowl and their current home Joe Robbie Stadium.

3) In this series, the month of December hasn't been kind to the Lions.

Miami rolled to a 34-7 win on December 15, 1973 at the Orange Bowl.

Six years later, the Dolphins whipped the Lions 28-10 on December 9, 1979 at the Pontiac Silverdome.

On December 25, 1994, Miami came away with a Christmas Night Prime-Time 27-20 victory at Joe Robbie Stadium.

Finally, the Dolphins improved to 4-0 in December as they defeated the Lions 33-30, on 12-7-97 at Joe Robbie Stadium.

So what was going to give as the Lions made another Christmas time appearance on December 26, 2010 wearing their blue home jerseys facing former U-M Wolverines QB Chad Henne and Left Tackle Jake Long?

The Dolphins (7-7) were 1-6 at home going into their Joe Robbie Stadium Finale. Their lone win occurred on November 14 as they defeated the Tennessee Titans 29-17.

When the contest was over, the Lions received a belated Christmas Gift from Henne. Going into the contest, the former Wolverines signal caller was 266-430 for 2,952 yards with 14 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. By the end of the afternoon, went 29-44 for 278 yards with two more interceptions and one touchdown.

Both interceptions occurred in the fourth quarter. The first was picked off by Nathan Vasher at the 3:48 mark and four plays later led to a 47-yard field goal by Dave Rayner which tied the game at 27-27 with 2:44 remaining in the game.

With 2:25 left, Henne's pass short in the middle that was intended for Davone Bess was intercepted by DeAndre Levy at the Miami 30-yard line and returned for a touchdown. Demonstrating a little showmanship, Levy took a 30-yard run and worked his way to the middle of the field and it looked like a 50-yard run. Yet the end result turned out to be Detroit 34-27 win over the Dolphins. As the clock read 2:11, the Dolphins fans were totally stunned. The only word you'd hear in the Press Box was "Wow."

Levy said the team scouted Henne's tendencies and knew he has a history of making mistakes late in games.

"We knew he had some shaky numbers," Levy said. "A lot of people from the outside look at that and say that's the reason they struggle with so many play makers. But we never want to underestimate a guy. We've had second, third string quarterbacks that, you know, people may not expect much out of come in and win games. We never overlook anybody. We want to come in and execute and do what we're supposed to do."

After both interceptions, 66,731 fans were booing Henne out of the stadium.

Yet when the contest was over, Lions Coach Jim Schwartz didn't know about the three streaks written here in Miami. Just the three-game winning streak the team has and winning a pair in Florida in consecutive weeks against teams that were playoff contenders leading Detroit's development throughout the year.

"Going back if you look at our losses, I don't know if there was a common vein in any of them in any of them," Schwartz said. Each one was a little different. It is a credit to the team. We learned from those. We have not gotten beaten the same way twice. We are used to playing in close games. We are playing with quarterbacks like Shaun Hill and Drew Stanton even though they are second and third stringers this year that have a lot of experience this year. So it is not new for any of these guys."

Now the Miami Dolphins find themselves 7-8 and finished the season 1-7 at home.

The Lions improved to 5-10 and 2-6 on the road. There is no doubt that the next opponent they scout will be live as the Minnesota Vikings contest against the Philadelphia Eagles has been postponed to Tuesday night at 8 pm due to a Snow Storm in Pennsylvania.

It's not hard to figure out which team will be tired as they Lions now have a built in advantage with the extra rest as they look hope to finish the season with a 6-10 record and four-game winning streak.

In addition to the three historical notes listed above, Lions Defensive Tackle Ndamukong Suh racked up his ninth sack of the season which tied Jerry Ball for the third most at his position in Detroit history.

Suh said the team is playing with heart not being a playoff contender and, "It's more of an understanding in the locker room we all understand that we're not going to the playoffs. We have our own schedule we need to work on for and work at, finish the season out and get ready for next year."

Before Wide Receiver Calvin Johnson injured his ankle, he had four receptions for 52 yards. Johnson endured the Lions 0-16, 2-14 seasons and has watched the team progress to five victories with one more game to go.

Was a pleased at the outcome of the contest?

"Three wins-in-a-row man, we hadn't really seen that since I've been here. I might have seen it in my first year, I'm not positive," Johnson said. "I don't really remember. But we put some good things together, good December. And these things will carry over. I think it's guys just focused in and we're not killing ourselves with mistakes. That's what we were doing most of the season. We'd been in all the games, the games were close and draw some penalties and stuff like that. These last few weeks, it hasn't been the same thing."

Hill was 14-26 222 yards and two touchdowns. One of those touchdowns was a 53-yard strike to Running Back Jahvid Best in the fourth quarter which saw Miami's lead shrink to 27-24.

What did Hill see in the Dolphins coverage which enabled his running back shock the crowd at Joe Robbie Stadium?

"They were playing two man, he came out on the weak side of the formation and they were pre-occupied with Tony Scheffler and Brandon Pettegrew, " Hill said. "He just came out there free and took off."

When the Lions airplane took off from South Florida, it did with the team improving to 7-3 all-time against the Dolphins. There was no more five game losing streak to Miami. In the eyes of the late Ernie Harwell it was "Long Gone."

Detroit did it despite yielding the second highest rushing total to the Dolphins with 154 yards.

They left the Sunshine State with a 2-0 record in successive weeks.

In this very building on November 27, I watched the Miami Hurricanes lose 23-20 in overtime to the University of South Florida. Later that night, the Hurricanes fired Head Coach Randy Shannon.

For some reason, I have a feeling that Dolphins Head Coach Tony Sparano will experience the same fate. The team's final game is Sunday January 2nd in New England against the 13-2 Patriots. The Patriots currently have a seven game winning streak.

If the Dolphins lose, Miami will finish with a 7-9 season. On October 4, the Patriots drilled the Dolphins 41-14 in a Nationally Televised contest on ESPN.

Miami's only chance at an 8-8 season is if the Patriots rest some of their players now that they have clinched home field advantage in the AFC throughout the playoffs.

Miami experienced another National Embarrassment when the Chicago Bears blanked the Dolphins 16-0 in Prime-Time on the NFL Network on Thursday November 18.

When the NFL schedule was released in April, who would have thought that when the 2010 season was over that the records of these two teams could be potentially so close? But should Detroit conclude its season 6-10 and Miami 7-9, that's what we're potentially looking at.

Regardless, there are no more Ghosts in the Lions closet in South Florida.

Yet before the game, since 1970, the Miami Dolphins still owned the second best record in the NFL with a 379-249-2 mark, yet that seems like a distant reality since they have two Super Bowl titles to show for their efforts. The Pittsburgh Steelers were the best team with a 382-246-2 mark and six Super Bowl titles.

Judging by the Lions recent futility and Miami's overall success, one would think these two teams didn't need to be mentioned in the same sentence. Miami was 7-9 in 2009 and Detroit 2-14. Now they're much closer to one another in the standings.

On December 26, 2010, none of the streaks or records mattered. Three were snapped.

The only things that mattered was Detroit's win total is 2 1/2 times more than last year and with a Sunday win against the Vikings, there could be an improvement of three times last years totals.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com and his blog can be seen at www.scottsports33.com.