the lions

The Lions qualified for the playoffs for the first time since the 1999 season, doing a nice job of erasing a lot of harsh memories over those 11 seasons (that period, which featured an 0-16 season, is known as the Millen Era). But there is another streak the Lions need to consider: 20 years. That’s the last time the Lions won a playoff game, beating Dallas 38-6 in something of a fluke considering what happened to the respective teams over the next few years. Or there’s the 54 years since the Lions played for the NFL title, beating Cleveland way back before even I was born.

If the Lions stay focused for another week, they have a chance to get a good draw in the playoffs. Instead of facing a return to New Orleans, where Detroit was beat handily 31-17, the Lions could go to the winner of the Dallas-New York Giants showdown for the NFC East title........

David Beckham's resiliency inspired Los Angeles Galaxy

Beckham, hampered by numerous injuries since joining the Galaxy in 2007, played all 90 minutes of Sunday's MLS Cup after tearing his right hamstring in training last week.

Landon Donovan, whose goal gave the Galaxy a 1-0 victory against the Houston Dynamo, described how his team relied on Beckham's determination.

"The way David has played through some pretty serious injuries the last few weeks inspired me a lot," Donovan said. "It forced a lot of us just to get on with it when, after all the games, we were pretty worn down and physically beaten up."

Beckham's tenacity also impressed the Galaxy's Bruce Arena, who became the first coach to win three MLS Cups.

"I've been around great athletes and competitors in different sports in my life," Arena said. "This guy is as good as it comes. He has an unbelievable desire to win and compete. David's a champion."

The 2013 Shelby GT500 Mustang

The 2013 Shelby GT500 Mustang will what Ford claims will be the most powerful production V-8 engine in the world: a 650-horsepower brute that's a full 100 hp. more than the one it replaces.

Engineers say it will just top 200 mph, but will be street legal -- and tame enough in traffic to be your daily driver, as well as weekend racer. It not only gains speed not only from the new engine, but also styling tweaks refreshing all Mustang models for 2013 as Ford tries to regain the pony car sales lead from archrival Chevrolet Camaro. All the new Mustangs are being formally unveiled Wednesday at the Los Angeles Auto Show (and Drive On will be there).

The current Shelby GT500 is electronically limited to 155 mph. The new one is not limited.........

NFL Replay: Lions take aim at Packers' perfection

coincidence, as the Lions get set to hit the national stage Thursday against the unbeaten Green Bay Packers.

In 1962, Vince Lombardi's team came to Detroit with a 10-0 record — then left Tiger Stadium with a 26-14 loss that was its only blemish during a run to a championship.

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This week, that was news to Suh.

"I'm not a big history buff," Suh said.

Yet he is fully aware of more recent history. The Lions once owned their annual holiday showcase, but are now working with a streak of seven consecutive Thanksgiving losses.

"We definitely want to take that back under control," Suh said, "What has it been, seven years? It would be a great year to continue breaking some of these streaks."

The Packers have been on their roll since losing 7-3 at Ford Field last December when Aaron Rodgers was knocked out of the game in the second quarter with a concussion after sliding head-first into Suh. Now Rodgers triggers the NFL's most potent offense while buzz intensifies about Green Bay's prospects for a perfect season.

Can anybody beat the Packers?

That question borders on an insult in the Lions' locker room.

"We're all professionals," said defensive end Chris Avril. "Their record doesn't faze us. They put their pants on just like we put ours on."

Jerome Bettis, the Hall of Fame-credentialed former running back, has said for weeks that a division team would have the best shot at defeating Green Bay. Bettis originally pegged the surging Chicago Bears as that team.

Two things have altered Bettis' thinking: Jay Cutler and Kevin Smith.

Cutler broke his thumb Sunday against San Diego, and will miss six to eight weeks. If the Bears are to beat Green Bay on Christmas, they will have to do it with Caleb Hanie at QB.

Smith, meanwhile, has suddenly provided Detroit a desperately-needed backfield boost. Signed off the street Nov. 7, Smith had his first extensive action in more than a year during Sunday's win against Carolina and produced a career-high 201 yards from scrimmage. He rushed for 140 yards, averaging 8.8 yards per carry.

The Lions rushing game has struggled, with Jahvid Best missing the past four games after suffering a concussion. Smith, a third-round pick by the Lions in 2008, was plagued by injuries during three seasons and wasn't resigned after last season.

"He adds balance," Bettis said Tuesday. "They were so one-dimensional. They are still a team that will set up the run with the pass, but he makes them that much better."

Now Bettis is bullish on Detroit's chances of springing an upset.

"If I had to circle a date for the Packers' first loss, now it's Thanksgiving," Bettis said. "They're beatable. Tampa Bay just went into Green Bay and fought hard, but didn't have the firepower. It wasn't the type of one-sided game we've seen from the Packers."

Firepower hasn't been much of a problem for Detroit's offense. Matthew Stafford passed for five touchdowns on Sunday, when the Lions became the first NFL team to notch three victories in a season in games they trailed by 17 points.

The Lions (7-3) don't see the comeback route as a formula for beating the Packers, but echo Bettis' theory about playing division rivals.

"You know them, and they know you," said receiver Nate Burleson. "When you're as good as the Packers have been, you can intimidate people. I can imagine some of the teams they've played, when they walk in, they're thinking, 'Oh brother, we've got to play the Packers today.' When it's a division opponent, it's like wrestling with your best friend. You know what moves he's got. It's just a matter of who wants it more that day."

When the 1962 Lions scored their big upset, the fuel came from a defense that sacked Bart Starr 11 times. If Detroit is to win on Turkey Day for the first time since a 22-14 decision against Green Bay in 2003, it will likely take a similar defensive jolt.

With Rodgers leading the NFL with a 128.8 passer rating and 31 TD passes, the Packers are averaging a league-best 35.5 points per game.

"We're going to have to put some pressure on him," said defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch, tied with Avril with a team-high six sacks. "Try to get him off his spot and affect his timing."

Burleson sees a bigger picture. After a 5-0 start, the Lions have lost three of their past five games, including a 37-13 drubbing Nov. 13 at Chicago.

"It's a great opportunity for us," he said. "A win would change everybody's perception. We had a hard one in Chicago. A lot of people jumped off the bandwagon. But all of those people who hopped off will probably jump right back on it, if we pull this one off."

Then again, spoiling perfection is incentive enough. Detroit could get another crack at when teams will meet again in Green Bay in the regular-season finale on New Year's Day. But perhaps there's history to be repeated this week.

"Everybody sees it as The Perfect Pack, the best team in the league right now," said Suh. "Well, we can shatter their hopes for being 16-0."

Five other things we learned from Week 11:

…Defenses can still come through in the clutch. Even with the deluge of points this season, three teams — the Ravens, Eagles and Browns — needed to rely on defense to close out narrow victories. The Browns, however, might have gotten a boost from Jacksonville O-coordinator Dirk Koetter's decision to have rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert throwing into the end zone on the final play rather than trying to run to paydirt with Maurice Jones-Drew.

Nadal leads solid Spanish in Davis Cup final

Rafael Nadal leads an unchanged Spain squad in next month's Davis Cup final against Argentina, which will count on Juan Martin del Potro and David Nalbandian to lead the South Americans to a first title on their fourth attempt.

The second-ranked Nadal helped Spain beat France 4-1 in the semifinals to set up the Dec. 2-4 final on the hosts' favoured clay surface at Olympic Stadium in Seville.

Fifth-ranked David Ferrer is set to play singles alongside Nadal, while Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco should team-up for doubles, although Spain captain Albert Costa also included recent Valencia Open winner Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez as playing partners.

Aside from the 11th-ranked Del Potro and Nalbandian, Juan Monaco, Juan Ignacio Chela and Eduardo Schwank are also in Argentina's squad, although captain Tito Vazquez will need to trim his team to four players before the Dec. 1 draw.

The Argentines beat a Novak Djokovic-led Serbia 3-2 in Belgrade in the semifinals.

Spain has won 20 straight series at home since going down to Brazil in 1999. On clay, Nadal and Ferrer are a combined 25-0.

The final is a repeat of the 2008 decider, when Spain won 3-2 on a hard indoor surface in Argentina despite missing Nadal to injury.

"When we went to Mar del Plata, the Argentine public was absolutely belligerent," Costa said on Tuesday. "I'm not going to ask the Spanish fans to repeat that belligerence but they do need to be passionate and show fire in defending the Spanish team, because that will be a prime factor if we want to win."

Spain is vying for its fifth title since 2000 and third in four seasons. Argentina was also runner-up in 1981 and 2006.

Spain begin training in Seville on Saturday, with Nadal and Ferrer are set to join the team after the ATP World Tour Finals. Argentina has already started practicing on clay at the Tenis Club Argentino in Buenos Aires.

Nadal helped Spain beat the United States to capture the 2004 title at Olympic Stadium.

On DVD: Of Looney Tunes, ‘meep meep’..

Cartoon completists should be salivating at the newest release of Looney Tunes on Blu-ray. In addition to dozens of shorts featuring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig, the three-disc set includes every classic Marvin the Martian cartoon (there were just five) and every one featuring the Tasmanian Devil (again, only five!).
There’s also the complete runs of such lesser-known characters as Witch Hazel (four cartoons), Marc Anthony (three), Ralph Phillips (two) and Michigan J. Frog, who made a single, memorable appearance in 1955’s One Froggy Evening. (Yes, he did reappear 40 years later in Another Froggy Evening — and it’s included — but we’re talking about the classical canon here.)
In a brief making-of feature, it’s revealed that the name Michigan J. Frog was coined by director Chuck Jones decades after the cartoon was made, in response to endless questions from fans. (The character’s signature song, The Michigan Rag, sounds like a classic ragtime number but was actually written specifically for the cartoon.)
Another famous short on the set is Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd in the 1957 Wagnerian comedy What’s Opera, Doc? The origins of the cartoon remain shrouded in mystery, but a clue can be found in a wartime Bugs cartoon in which the rabbit is being chased by a Nazi when both break into a kind of Wagnerian two-step. Jones is also fond of quoting Mark Twain: “A lot of Wagner’s music is better than it sounds.”
The set, which carries the promising title of Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume One, features many commentaries and documentaries about their golden (or should that be platinum?) age. Mel Blanc talks about getting carrots stuck in his teeth while providing the voice of Bugs, adding: “The only thing that will make a sound like a carrot is a real carrot.”
Other sound effects were equally simple and serendipitous. The Road Runner got his “meep meep” when an animator named Paul Julian was calling out while walking down the Warner Bros. hallway, his vision obscured by a tall stack of paper.
Jones cheekily explains that drawing Bugs is “pure simplicity. Learn how to draw a carrot and then you can hook a rabbit on to it.” He also provides a simple summation of the rabbit and the duck: “Bugs is an aspiration. Daffy is a realization.” In other words, we all know we carry Daffy’s pettiness in our souls. But we hope we embody a little of Bugs’ charm as well.
A ‘REAL’ ROM-COM
Some actors hit their early-retirement years and decide to take chances. Tom Hanks, 55, took a working vacation with Larry Crowne, a featherlight romantic comedy he directed, co-wrote with Nia Vardalos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and starred in with Julia Roberts. “We’re not making a romantic comedy; we’re making an authentic romantic comedy,” he says in the controversy-free making-of on the new DVD. It’s a sweet, harmless movie, and the DVD also includes deleted scenes and a short feature called “fun on set.” You can tell them apart because the deleted scenes are of sad moments that didn’t make the final cut, while “fun on set” is pretty much what it sounds like.
NEW DVD RELEASES
Inni ★★½
Larry Crowne ★★