The Detroit Lions

You know, I was born into this Detroit Lions thing. Oh sure, sure, I probably had a choice along the way. I suppose I never really HAD to get on the bus and I know for a fact that North American sports fans would have been sympathetic to me disembarking mid-ride. Of course this is normally a sporting no-no. Hopping from team to team leads to a general lack of respect from other sports fans. At least it does from me. If you're a "Team Hopper" I have no time for your sporting opinion. I mean, I'll listen politely, but I don't give a shit what you have to say.

Team Hoppers might be the shittiest type of sports fan out there. Opportunists with no loyalty whatsoever. Never sticking around for the lows. The soaring peaks of a Phish concert wouldn't be so epic without being built from the nadir of some jam. The mountain is always higher when placed next to a valley and the view is often much better too. The Detroit Lions are headed in the right direction and I am excited about everything. Especially the journey. I have suffered a long, long time with the only relief being blessed with the greatness of Barry Sanders. His early retirement will always be my Detroit Lion's low point, not the 0-16.

Nothing good came from Barry's retirement, but Oh-no and 16 has brought us young Matthew Stafford. I think we have a quarterback. We've never had a quarterback in my lifetime. Never. We've had players come in and play that position, but we have never had The One. What I saw yesterday from Matthew Stafford beyond his 400+ yards and 5 touchdown passes (to 5 different receivers no less) was leadership, guts and fearlessness. If he didn't have the respect of all his teammates before the game he certainly does now along with the entire NFL.

First he led the Lions back from a 24-3 deficit in the opening half and then he marched them down the field at the end of the game, took a huge hit that could have easily been avoided by just throwing the ball away and conceding the game to the Browns. No No No! He hangs tough and heaves one into the end zone right before getting CRUSHED. Pass interference is called on the Browns, but Stafford's shoulder is hurt and he comes off the field in obvious pain. Dante Culpepper, the back-up QB trots out to run the last play of the game from the 1 yard line. There's no time left on the clock, but the game cannot end on a defensive penalty for obvious reasons. So Cleveland calls a timeout to sort their shit and Stafford comes running back onto the field! He wants to finish what he started. Down 37-31 the Lions have one play to score a TD. Stafford completes the pass to Brandon Pettigrew (the Lion's other first round pick) and the Lions win the game on Jason Hanson's extra point.

I felt the feeling I forgot. Wow! And I know, I know. We beat the Browns who along with us and the St Louis Rams make up The Trifecta of Shittiness in the NFL. But you've got to start somewhere and the most perfect place to start for all the players, coaches and fans is belief in your quarterback. He's young, he has rookie stats, he will make more mistakes and he may cost us games over the next few years, but he's got a rocket arm, guts and a pure love-of-the-game that's lacking in a lot of big time pros across the sporting landscape.

I'm excited about the Lions and the journey ahead and hopefully football fans in general are too. The NFL will always be better with a good team in Detroit. You'll just have to take my word on that.

Here's a few links on the game:

Detroit Free Press

USA Today

Sports Illustrated

mrjackstraw