It is time for the Detroit Lions to purge and resurge!
In 2008, Hooters celebrated their 25th anniversary while the Detroit Lions celebrated their 75th. These pictures show some of the women of Hooters as they champion support for the Detroit Lions as they prepare to improve.
An open letter to Lion's owner, William Clay Ford, originally posted on My Fox 2 blogs on December 30th, 2008, after the Lions went 0-16 that year:Dear Mr. Ford,
I don't know if you're listening to what Detroit Lions fans are saying. You can hear it on sports radio and you can read it on the blogs. We are hurting because your $4.5million dollar baby purchased in 1964, is not worth its current value of $700 million dollars, based on the team's win-loss record to date. We, the fans, are in pain because your baby has just died as evidenced by the 0-16 season.
Some call you an aristocrat, a person who separates themself from the common person. I see you more as a human being. I believe the team's win-loss record bothers you as much as it bothers the typical fan.
Some say you may want to win, but don't need to win, based on being an aristocrat. Again, the human part of you must feel the pain the typical fan feels, most recently exacerbated by the 0-16 2008 season.
I think you have at least two choices as owner of the team, given the multiple decades of painful results the organization has produced on the grid iron:
•Anesthetize yourself from the pain so you don't have to deal with it.
•Lean into the pain to go past your comfort zone to make some positive decisions that will help to produce some positive results on the field.
Lions fans are rooting for you to resuscitate the Detroit Lions, your baby. I'm trusting you will show us your humanity by dealing with the pain rather than ignoring it.
You can start by talking about it with the fans so we can do this together. Nobody needs to experience that kind of pain alone.
The idea behind the banner is to encourage the Lions to free themselves from whatever has not been working since 1957, when they had their last championship year, so they can resurge to once again win like champions.
In 2008, I recommended something simple: Replace their logo, "Bubbles", with something more aggressive like the one they used during the 1950's. In 2009, the team modified "Bubbles" to make it look more lean and mean.
On the other hand, the purging may be as complex as beating the curse of Bobby Layne, or Barry Sanders, much like the Boston Red Sox beat the 86 year old curse of the Bambino to win the world series in 2004.
The solution to the woes of the Lions might even be found somewhere else on the continuum between the simple and complex.
If the Detroit Lions were on trial for being an NFL team-of-contention, when will there be enough evidence to convict them?
Lions players, Lions management and Lions fans will know when the purging and resurging process is beginning:
•When the team adds up more wins than losses.
•When the players are asking more questions than they are answering.
Professional Opine:
Jimmy Johnson, of Fox NFL Sunday, is so optimistic, one must question his credentials as a broadcaster. Aren't sportscasters supposed to be "critical" so that they can be viewed as "objective"?
Given Jimmy's "hopeful" comment about the Lions during the 3rd game of the 2008 season, when the Lions lost to the 49'ers, 31-13, coupled with my pattern of finding something positive to say about the Lions, I felt compelled to bring in some reinforcements. This time, it's Jimmy Johnson.
Why would Jimmy Johnson make an attempt to be empathic with Lions fans, who kept waiting for the 2008 season to do a 180 degree turn rather than just be "good-time Charlie" fans?
All I know, when Jimmy Johnson said the Detroit Lions are "playing possum", it had Terry Bradshaw rolling his eyes during their half-time show. Of course, we already know what Terry Bradshaw thinks about Detroit.
"Playing possum" (taken from Wikipedia) :
"Playing possum" is a phrase which literally means "to pretend to be dead".
It comes from a characteristic of the Virginia opossum, which is famous for pretending to be dead when threatened. This instinct doesn't always pay off in the modern world. For example, opossums scavenging roadkill may use its instinct in response to the threat posed by oncoming traffic, and subsequently end up as roadkill themselves.
"Playing possum" can also mean simply pretending to be injured, unconscious, or otherwise vulnerable, often to lure an opponent into a vulnerable position himself.
Mr. Ford, please do something different with the Lions organization if you don't want the possum to end up as road kill. Show Lions fans that the team is not really dead, and that it's just pretending.
It's your move Mr. Ford. Don't be the driver who runs over your own scavenging possum that's pretending to be dead, when it's really alive.
Religion And Sports:
When people talk about religion or politics, the conversation can get very heated because both subjects evoke very personal thoughts and feelings. What happens when a conversation combines religion and sports?
We all have a cross to bear. The cross is a symbol for something that can weigh us down. The weight of a cross can be the burden that immobilizes us so we cannot move forward. What cross does the Detroit Lions bear? How can the Detroit Lions embrace their cross so they can move forward?
Are the Detroit Lions a confused team? The team usually plays hard each week, but moral victories do not add up in the win column. This, I believe, is their cross to bear. This can confuse even the smartest squirrel trying to cross the road as it goes back and forth, working hard to make its destination. Sometimes the squirrel makes it; other times, it doesn't make it. Take heart. Confusion is the first step to wisdom.
I challenge the Detroit Lions to use their confusion (cross to bear) as something positive. Embrace the confusion and learn from it.
When someone is confused, the best case scenario is to start asking questions to get some answers on how to improve. Ask questions, get feedback and wise up!
Personally, I am embracing the Detroit Lions as my cross to bear. I have one request, though: Can my cross be made of balsa wood? I'm going to pray about it.
________________________________Megatron and Lois_____Quotable Quotes:
Winston Churchill said,
"Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm".
Lets remember the words of Henry Ford:
"Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success".
Kermit the frog once said, "It's not easy being green". People who believe the Lions are a different team each year, including me, have been saying, "It's not easy being optimistic".
My words of encouragement to the Detroit Lions:
It isn't the mountains ahead of you that will wear you guys out. It's the grain of sand in your shoes that will. Check your shoes before each game.
The Lions have lost their teeth, and their roar sounds more like that of a kitten's purr, based on their win-loss record since 1957.
For example:
I feel bad for the guys who get seriously injured during the season because the team record does nothing to offer them any relief.Detroit fans mostly come from a blue-collar, hard working town. We work hard so we can expect positive results from the fruits of our labor. So it is with our sports teams. When there's anything less than a winning season, because that's what matters at the professional level, something different needs to happen.
Some people want Mr. Ford to sell the team to increase their chances of becoming Super Bowl contenders. If those people were correct, I would agree with them. I've heard that argument before with the Detroit Tigers. I remember fans calling for the jobs of Mr. Ilitch (owner) and Mr. Dombrowski (general manager) prior to the Tigers playing in the World Series in 2006. Neither gentleman is gone, yet the Tigers were a team of contention for at least two years (2006-2008) under their watch.
Prepare to win, Detroit Lions. Prepare to smile, Lions fans!
Written by,
Mark Rogers, LPC.
Licensed Professional Counselor
(11/10) Post script dated March 9th, 2014: My condolences to the Ford family who lost William Clay Ford, Sr. today due to complications related to pneumonia. He was 88 years old. It is sad to know that Mr. Ford's team did everything they could to win a championship for him while he was alive, but always fell short of their goal. May you rest in peace, Mr. Ford.
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