First published in Sept. 2008 in the Oakland Post
I have been a Lions fan for a quarter of a century. As a fan I have suffered so many breathtakingly absurd losses that I feel that I should go to meetings to help get over my need to abuse myself or rather let a group of people continue to
abuse me. Some people may not think that football is serious enough to
warrant such terms, but football is my passion. Ever since I was old
enough to catch a pass I was obsessed. My dad has been a Lions fan his
whole life as well. He brought me into this world of emotional torture
that is the Detroit Lions. I thank him for introducing me to the
greatest game there is, but I wish he could’ve picked a different team.
But that is a fact that cannot be changed; I am stuck with this garbage
organization for life.
So, even after the devastatingly embarrassing loss against the lowly
Atlanta Falcons last week, my father, little brother (who also endures
the family curse of Lions addiction) and I spent our hard earned money
to go watch the Lions home opener against the Green Bay Packers on
Sunday.
When we first got there we weren’t sure if we were at Ford Field or
Lambeu Field due to the huge number of cheese heads stumbling around.
When the road team has almost as many fans as the home team, something
is very wrong.
On the way in, I bought a “Packers Suck” t-shirt and put it on with
optimism. It didn’t take long for that purchase to make me look like a
fool. The Packers were up 21-0 before I finished my second beer (and I
drink fast).
My brother and I mocked the Lions and booed as loud as we could while
my Dad sat there with a very familiar look of disbelief. Then it
happened, they did it again, they pulled us back in. The defense
started to shut down the Packers. Jon Kitna found the immensely
talented Calvin Johnson who scored a 38 yard touchdown. Then the Lions
were awarded a safety when a snap went through the hands Packer’s
punter Derrick Frost’s into end zone. We started believing again. We
were “believing in now”, just like the commercial told us too. The
stadium became electric. The defense made more stops, then Kitna found
Johnson again who made an incredible catch, touchdown! Lions take the
lead 25-24, I was thinking; this is incredible, what a comeback, if the
can keep playing like this the rest of the season we could make it to
the… oh crap he’s breaking away… Packer receiver Greg Jennings 60
yard catch and run. But it’s o.k. because the defense held them to just
a field goal they were only down by two points. The Lions can still win
there’s a lot of time left in the… interception. Next possession:
interception for a touchdown. Next possession: interception for a
touchdown (no that’s not a misprint).
The Lions were up by one point with less than six minuets left in the
game and lost by TWENTY THREE POINTS. It was absolutely crushing to
watch. I sat there silently for a few minuets after the game was over
then I jumped up and started kicking my chair and pointing my middle
finger towards the owners box until the rage simmered down. Fittingly,
on the way back to the car, it was pouring down rain.
This experience has made me furious. This team is awful. They have been
for decades. Throughout the years there has been so much said about the
problems of this organization. And there are many, from the GM to the
coaching staff, to the players, even the fans continuing to show up on
Sundays and not sending a message to the organization. Everybody has
taken blame, sometimes the faces change but the results never do;
people still keep coming to watch this team invent ways to lose. We
keep supporting or own torture. But it’s not fair. I love football and
my team is the Lions because I was born and raised here. It’s not fair
that I have to keep dealing with this every fall. When will it change
when will they start winning? This question was asked of Rod Marinelli
during the press conference that followed the game by Oakland Press
columnist and my sports reporting professor Pat Caputo. Marinelli
replied, “my timetable is next week.” Caputo pursued the question and
Marinelli became agitated replying that he doesn’t have a “magic wand.”
“I was just doing what I normally do which is ask the questions that I
think that most of the fans were thinking about who attended the game
and when he tried to bypass that question I pressed because it seemed
like he was sloughing off the question,” Caputo said.
The question I would like to ask is if you don’t have a magic wand what
do you have Mr. Marinelli do you at least have a plan? Because to me it
seems that you are no different than Steve Mariucci or Marty Mornhinweg
or any of the other losing coaches who got fired and didn’t get another
NFL head coaching job. But it is a lot more than just the head coach.
It starts with a losing atmosphere that goes back fifty years. The main
blame has to go directly to Lions Owner William Clay Ford Jr. It is as
if he does not care. He never talks to the fans, just steals our money.
Why hasn’t he fired General Manager Matt Millen. He is the worst GM in
the league. Terrible decisions are common and good ones are rare with
this man. It is mind boggling to know that this man is so incapable of
being successful at his job yet he still has it. It is even crazier
that defensive line coach Joe Cullen went through the Wendy’s drive
through naked and he’s still around. I believe Caputo was right to
press the issue with Marinelli since he is the only one in the
organization who speaks.
“(Ford and Millen) don’t make themselves available after games or
before games,” Caputo said. “Matt is by far the least accessible
general manager in town. Ford is rarely available to the columnists
once in a while he will talk to the beat writers but he rarely makes
himself available.”
We as fans deserve answers. We deserve to know what is being done to
turn this team into a winner. I wish I had I magic wand; if I did I’d
be rooting for the Detroit Steelers
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