An ESPN.com Page 2 columnist, Bill Simmons, A.K.A. "The Sports Guy," was asked by a reader where he would put the World Wrestling Federation (I can't get with calling it "WWE) Hall of Fame. His answer was an interesting one that carries a lot of merit.

Q: You talked about a location for the WWE Hall of Fame in your WrestleMania diary. Where would you put it? I think it's gotta be where WWE people tend to go anyways, not a pilgrimage site like Cooperstown. My votes are either Daytona Beach, near a NASCAR track somewhere in Georgia/Tennessee or the Wisconsin Dells.

SG: I'd like to see Vince buy the Silverdome and turn it into the WWE Hall of Fame. We already have a nostalgic tie-in: WrestleMania III (in Detroit) had the best WrestleMania ever, the biggest wrestling crowd ever, the biggest match ever (Hulk versus Andre), and the greatest match ever up to that point (Savage versus Steamboat). Throw in the local economy boost and the Silverdome's price (dirt-cheap) and everyone wins. There will never be a bigger wrestling match than Hulk-Andre. It's sacred ground. Think I'm kidding? Two other things happened in 1987 at the Silverdome: Basketball Jesus (Larry Bird) punched Basketball Satan (Bill Laimbeer), and the Pope conducted a Catholic Mass.

That's a very interesting proposition. Historically, wrestling shows sell out extremely fast when they hit this area. Throw in the large Canadian following the WWF has, which would bring tourist dollars to the area, and it seems like a win-win. Something like a Hall of Fame would have many more long-term benefits than Monster Truck Rallies or any "one-night only" events, like one held at the Dome in April. Something like a Hall of Fame would, I'm assuming, be open year-round - and need year-round staffing.

Along with tourist money, a Hall of Fame would bring much-needed jobs, along with some positive exposure. Sure, it's wrestling (the WWE has total assets of more than $467 million), which I haven't watched on a regular basis in about 12 years, but it's better than a lot of other alternatives out there.

Are there even any other alternatives out there?

First three picks pretty much set in stone. After that, look for a number of trades to take place.

1. St. Louis-Sam Bradford, QB Oklahoma
2. Detroit-Ndamukong Suh, DT Nebraska
3. Tampa Bay-Gerald McCoy, DT Oklahoma
4. Washington-Trent Williams, OT Oklahoma*
5. Kansas City-Eric Berry, S Tennessee*
6. Seattle-Russell Okung, OT Oklahoma State
7. Cleveland-Dan Williams, DT Tennessee*
8. Oakland-Derrick Morgan, DE Georgia Tech
9. Buffalo-Jimmy Clausen, QB Notre Dame*
10. Jacksonville-Jason Pierre Paul, DE South Florida*
11. Denver-Rolando McClain, LB Alabama*
12. Miami-Carlos Dunlap, DE Florida
13. San Francisco-Sergio Kindle, LB Texas
14. Seattle-C.J. Spiller, RB Clemson
15. New York Giants-Earl Thomas, S Texas*
16. Tennessee-Dez Bryant-Oklahoma State
17. San Francisco-Bryan Bulaga, OT Iowa*
18. Pittsburgh-Maurkice Pouncey, C Florida*
19. Atlanta-Anthony Davis, OT Rutgers
20. Houston-Joe Haden, CB Florida
21. Cincinnati-Jermaine Gresham, TE Oklahoma
22. New England-Brandon Graham, LB Michigan*
23. Green Bay-Jerry Hughes, LB TCU
24. Philadelphia-Kareem Jackson, CB Alabama
25. Baltimore-Mike Iupati, OG Idaho
26. Arizona-Sean Witherspoon, LB Missouri
27. Dallas-Everson Griffen, DE USC
28. San Diego-Darryl Washington, LB TCU
29. New York Jets-Eric Norwood, LB South Carolina
30. Minnesota-Terrence Cody, DT Alabama*
31. Indianapolis-Jared Odrick, DT Penn State
32. New Orleans-Brandon Spikes, LB Florida

*Indicates strong potential for a trade

I remember the days when the NFL schedule makers would have pity on a team that had an awful season and give them a favorable slate for the upcoming season.

Those days are over, and nowhere is that more evident than in the Detroit Lions' 2010 schedule, released less than six hours ago.

The Lions in 2010 have eight match-ups with teams that made the 2009 postseason, one squad three seasons removed from winning a Super Bowl and another versus a team that has made the biggest off-season move so far.

I see improvement in the Lions, with the solid moves team officials have made and the development of the team's young players. They're still not a playoff team yet, though. But I think Detroit can triple its win total (two) from last season.

Lions 2010 Win Prediction

All times Eastern
Week 1: Sunday, Sept. 12, at Chicago, 1:00 PM-Win: Matt Stafford has more weapons than Jay Cutler

Week 2: Sunday, Sept. 19, Philadelphia, 1:00 PM-Win: The number of roster moves Philly has made so far this offseason will show in this early-season game.

Week 3: Sunday, Sept. 26, at Minnesota, 1:00 PM-Loss: The Lions have as much of a chance in winning this game as Ben Roethlisberger does of being a keynote speaker at one of those "Take Back the Night" vigils.

Week 4: Sunday, Oct. 3, at Green Bay, 1:00 PM-Loss: Lions haven't won in Lambeau since the second season of "Fresh Prince of Bel Air."

Week 5: Sunday, Oct. 10, St. Louis, 1:00 PM -Win: The Lions will get to do what teams did to them last season - tee off on a rookie quarterback.

Week 6: Sunday, Oct. 17, at NY Giants, 1:00 PM-Loss: Giants won't want to disappoint fans in first season in a new stadium.

Week 7: BYE

Week 8: Sunday, Oct. 31, Washington, 1:00 PM-Loss: New Redskin Donovan McNabb will carve up the Lions' D.

Week 9: Sunday, Nov. 7, NY Jets, 1:00 PM-Loss: Jets will be one of the top teams in the league. They're my pick to win the Super Bowl.

Week 10: Sunday, Nov. 14, at Buffalo, 1:00 PM-Win: The only "gimme" on the schedule. Buffalo has a shot to go 0-16 this season.


Week 11: Sunday, Nov. 21, at Dallas, 1:00 PM-Loss: Cowboys will be playing for a division title.

Week 12: Thursday, Nov. 25, New England, 12:30 PM-Loss: Lions haven't won on Turkey Day since 2003.

Week 13: Sunday, Dec. 5, Chicago, 1:00 PM-Win: Bears will be the worst team in the NFC North this season.

Week 14: Sunday, Dec. 12, Green Bay, 1:00 PM-Loss: Packers will need this game for playoff positioning.

Week 15: Sunday, Dec. 19, at Tampa Bay, 1:00 PM-Win: Unless Derrick Brooks, Warren Sapp and Mike Alstott suit up, Lions should take this one.

Week 16: Sunday, Dec. 26, at Miami, 1:00 PM-Loss: Weird scheduling here, giving a team from the north back-to-back trips to Florida.

Week 17: Sunday, Jan. 2, Minnesota, 1:00 PM-Loss: The Lions have as much of a shot of winning this game as "The Back-Up Plan" does of making more money than "Avatar."

Lions' 2010 Record: 6-10

When news broke earlier today about the Lions sending Ernie Sims to Philadelphia as part of a three-team deal that netted Detroit tight end Tony Scheffler from Denver, I didn't know what to think.

My first thought was that Calvin Johnson is the only first-round pick left from the Matt Millen era, which is awful on a number of different levels.

My next thought was what does this mean going into this weekend's draft? I still believe Detroit will stay at number 2 overall and draft Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. But now the intrigue centers around what the Lions will do with the 34th overall pick - No. 2 in the second round.

Dealing Sims, who, in 59 career games, all with the Lions, recorded 420 tackles including 2.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and one interception, creates a huge hole at middle linebacker. There will be middle linebackers available early in the second round, including Penn State middle linebacker Sean Lee and Missouri outside linebacker Sean Witherspoon, who people think could be converted to a middle linebacker. If one of those guys is available at 34, that has to be the direction Detroit goes in. If not, GM Martin Mayhew will have some explaining to do.

As far as Scheffler goes, he's put up solid numbers so far in his young career. The Western Michigan grad, in four seasons, has totaled 138 catches for 1,896 yards and 14 touchdowns, all for the Broncos. He caught 31 passes for 416 yards and two TDs last year. Adding Scheffler gives Detroit the flexibility to run two-tight end sets with he and Pettigrew, which will allow second-year quarterback Matt Stafford to have two safety valves on the field. It also will help in the area of pass protection and run blocking.

This Sunday, during a game NOBODY will see, the 1-8 Detroit Lions will unveil a "Pride of the Lions'' during halftime of the team's game against the 1-8 Cleveland Browns.

Twelve former Lions will be honored during the ceremony, and their names, numbers and years played will be displayed in a portion of Ford Field. All 12 members are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

I didn't even know the Lions had 12 "great" players. The Lions are as deserving of something like this as Carl Lewis and Roseanne were of standing ovations after their renditions of our National Anthem.

Why didn't they switch it up and do a Ring of Shame? There's enough names for that list to fill a five-foot high stack of phone books.

Terry Fair (taken one spot ahead of Randy Moss in 1998). Andre Ware. Charles Rogers. Joey Harrington.

You know how bad it is? When you think of great Lions, you always hear the same three or four names: Barry, Bobby Layne, Charlie Sanders, Herman Moore. But there's enough awful former players and execs to fill a couple 53-man rosters.

Dan Orlovsky. Mike Williams. Brian Calhoun. Scott Mitchell. Everybody on the roster of the 1942 team that went 0-11 and scored 38 points the entire season.

This Ring of Horror isn't just reserved for players. Nope. Coaches and front office personnel have spots, too.

Former coach Alvin McMillin, who was hired in 1948 and led the team to a .333 win percentage in his tenure.

Former GM Matt Millen, who, over a little more than a seven-year stretch, ran a football team about as good as a paraplegic would fly a space shuttle. The team was 31-97 under Millen. They went 8-50 on the road. From 2001 to 2007, Millen was responsible for the drafting 53 players. Five are still with the team.

Rod Marinelli: a head coach who was in way over his head and who oversaw the first 0-16 team in NFL history.

None of them compares to owner Bill Ford Sr. Forty-three years ago Sunday, Ford purchased the team for $4.5 million. It's worth about $800 million today. That's about $799,999,999.67 too much. In that $800 million somewhere lies one playoff win since 1957.

So what are they honoring again?

Sports have always served as a distraction for fans.

Watching a football game can, for a little while, make people forget what ails them.

Not around here. Not this fall.

The last couple months have been awful for fans of local teams. I've gotten to the point that I'd rather watch a Maury Povich marathon than watch a football game featuring one of our teams.

The University of Michigan has pulled an MSU: start fast and fade.

The Spartans have performed well below expectations (not mine, though) and will be lucky to play in a bowl game.

And the Lions have been, well, the Lions.

Fast forward to hockey and basketball season, and the Pistons, while they'll be entertaining, likely won't make the playoffs. And the area's one consistently really good franchise, the Red Wings, stumbled out of the gate (tied for second in the Central Division with Chicago, one point behind Columbus) and will be in a fight all year to make hockey's second season.

I know it's extremely early in the game, but if the playoffs started this weekend, fans of the two Detroit teams that have seen the most success in recent years would have to find a second squad to root for because their hometown team would be watching postseason action at Bdubs with the rest of us.

Things could get much better, though, come winter.

The Spartan men's hoops team is ranked second in the nation (behind Kansas, a team MSU beat twice last season) in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls. Michigan's hoop squad is ranked 15th in both polls, as the Wolverines will look to build on last season's trip to the Big Dance - their first since 1998.

So there may be some light at the end of this long tunnel, but right now, being a Detroit sports fan is about as fun as watching DVR'd episodes of NOVA on a Saturday night.

If the Lions continue to start Matthew Stafford, there's a chance he would end up being Peyton Manning, who went from going 3-13 and taking every snap his rookie year in 1998 to becoming one of the seven best signal-callers in football history.

I'm don't see that happening. Manning came out as a senior. He finished second in the Heisman Trophy race and beat virtually every team on his schedule outside of Gainesville and Lincoln.

Stafford came out after his junior year. His Georgia teams, outside of an inflated preseason ranking last summer, were average at best. Had Stafford waited until 2010 to enter the draft, he would have likely been, at the highest, the fifth quarterback selected.

That's why Daunte Culpepper should start the remaining 14 games for the Lions. Stafford isn't ready. There's no harm in sitting the young fella and giving him a chance to analyze defenses and coverages from the sidelines for a season or two. Some people argue you can't sit him because of the $72 million tied into him. I say that's the reason you should sit him. Don't worry about instant gratification. Worry about getting a solid return on a long-term investment.

If Stafford starts all 16 games this season, the Lions could go 2-14 at best, leaving them in the running for the No. 1 overall pick. That means Detroit would have to shell out another, say, $65 million ($30-$35 million guaranteed) on someone who has never taken a snap in the NFL.

If Culpepper starts, here are the games I say the Lions have a REALISTIC shot at winning. He doesn't even have to put up stellar numbers in order for them to win these games. All he has to do is not kill them.

Sunday vs. Washington - This one is really a pipedream since I know Stafford will get the start. I know the Redskins have beaten on the Lions throughout the series history (40 games) like Chris Partlow beat on Bug's dad in The Wire, but these aren't the same Redskins. No one has confidence in quarterback Jason Campbell, who led Washington to a win over Detroit last season. If this game were played in Washington, I wouldn't give the Lions a shot in Haides at winning.

Nov. 1 vs. St. Louis - This is the game everybody has circled as the game the Lions finally get a W. I know it's early, but through two games (20 offensive drives), the Rams have scored 7 points.

Nov. 22 vs. Cleveland - Cleveland has less playmakers than the Lions. Don't give me Braylon Edwards. The only way he may ever have another good game his entire career is if every team on Cleveland's schedule for the next decade or so signs Jaren Hayes week by week.

Dec. 6 at Cincinnati - I'd be willing to bet that by kick-off this game, at least 35 percent of Cincinnati's starters will be locked up somewhere.

That's four wins. Four more than last year.

Those four wins are difference between paying Russell Okung (Oklahoma State Offensive Tackle) or Taylor Mays (USC Safety) $65 million and $35 million.

I know because of revenue sharing, no matter if no one shows up to Ford Field, the Lions would still make money hand over fist. But you have to be able to field a team. Paying two number one overall picks hampers that process.

So start Daunte Culpepper and let Matthew Stafford sit and learn for a while.

Or watch the fans continue to revolt.

The announcement of the Sunday's Lions game vs. the Washington Redskins being blacked out locally has me thinking about something: is Fox gonna show The Neverending Story or Home Alone at 1 p.m.?

There's other things that announcement means, though.

It means The Stafford affect hasn't taken affect. His play in the team's first two games has been awful to watch. Matthew Stafford has the lowest passer rating (40.5) of any of the 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL. And I've seen blood-alcohol contents listed in newspaper police briefs that are higher than his completion percentage (barely 50 percent).

It means fans still refuse to pay for a putrid product. Despite what many people continue to believe, the economy has nothing to do with the Lions not being able to sell out games (about 10,000 tickets remain available for Sunday's game against Washington).

If the Lions were consistently in the playoff picture by the first snowfall, Ford Field would be on jam every Sunday. It's the same reason the Pistons streak of sell-outs was snapped in February and the same reason Tiger ticket sales took a dip after last season. People want to spend their hard-earned money to cheer a winner. In the last five years, I've gone to Lions games not to see the home team, but to see the likes of Clinton Portis, Terrell Owens and Jay Cutler.

Changes need to be made. They may not put butts in the seats, but they'll help the team stay afloat.

Part II coming soon.

It was brought to my attention recently that the Detroit Lions made an administrative hire this offseason that didn't include new Head Coach Jim Schwartz.

The squad brought in former Jacksonville Jaguars VP of Player Personnel James Harris, giving him the title of Senior Personnel Executive.

According to his bio on the Lions' Web site, Harris spent the past six seasons as the Jaguars vice president of player personnel. While directing the Jaguars player personnel area, he oversaw all player acquisitions, including: college draft, free agency, undrafted player signings and the scouting of players in other professional leagues.

If you take a look at the Jags' draft history during the time Harris spent with the team, you'll notice a similar pattern to one familiar to all Lions fans:

Picks: 49
First-round picks: 6
Starters: 8

Take a look at the Lions' drafts during that same timeframe:

Picks: 47
First-round picks: 7
Starters: 9

Why would a team that just got rid of a general manager who couldn't draft well bring in someone else with the same shoddy drafting record? That's like trading a Jack Haley rookie card for a Dwayne Schintzius. Sure, Matt Millen drafted Charles Rogers (drug addict) and Mike Williams (bum), but Harris, in the same time frame, drafted Matt Jones (drug addict) and Reggie Williams (bum).

This move hasn't been discussed as much as others, which may mean Harris' role may be a minor one. Maybe it's so minor that the team didn't mention what his role will be with Detroit in Harris' online bio (it doesn't).

So watch out for some of the moves that are made. If certain draft picks don't pan out, that blame will be able to be spread around, which is a (somewhat) welcome change from the past.

Detroit Lions Special Teams Coach Stan Kwan doesn't have his priorities in order.

I live near the Lions practice facility. A number of the players and coaches have homes in that area, and some of them frequent bars in that pocket of Wayne County. There's no problem with that, except for the fact that I've seen Kwan - several times - at one of those establishments hours before kickoff.

I've heard stories about players (Chad OchoCinco) and coaches (pick one) who live and breathe football. They're at the practice facility before everyone else. They even sleep there on occasion. Those are usually the greats. Stan Kwan is the Special Teams Coach for the team that nine months ago finished the first 0-16 season in the history of the NFL. Why are you at a bar when you should be breaking down tape and game-planning. Sure, I've seen Kwan jotting down notes at times, sitting his pad next to a tall Bud Light. But when you see how the unit he is responsible for plays each weeks, it's easy to assume someone knocked that beer over, causing it to spill over to his notes and kill his game plan in the process.

How is he still employed? The Lions Special Teams unit has ranked as one of the worst in the NFL since Kwan took over the position in 2007 (Kwan has been a part of the Detroit's Special Team's staff for 10 years in two separate stints). Never mind that his players on special teams couldn't cover Thanksgiving leftovers with Reynold's Wrap. Never mind that the team's long punt return in 2008 was 27 yards (it's possible that could have been better, but when you're defense only forces 21 points in 16 games, what are you gonna do), while the long for Lions' opponents was 80 yards and a touchdown.

How is he still employed? At this point - considering his unit's performance in Saturday night's preseason loss to the Cleveland Browns, where Special Special Teamer (I borrowed that from my boy, Ro) Joshua Cribbs ran a punt back 84 yards for a score and had a long kick return he took to the crib wiped out - Kwan is about as employable as those losers who appear in Real World/Road Rules Challenge after Real World/Road Rules Challenge.

I understand you're not supposed to take much out of a preseason gave (save the 3rd tilt, which just so happens to be against the Indianapolis Colts Saturday. Start the Death March.), but the Lions special teams hasn't been good for some time now.

Kwan has been apart of that unit for a decade.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what the team should do to remedy a BIG part of the problem.