2019 Detroit Lions

[rickbak]

I feel Ray's pain, to a point. Historically, pro athletes have always been mercenaries, way back to the 1800s. But realistically, if someone was to offer you or me 10x more to do the same job, why wouldn't we? [[Well, assuming someone's not looking for a drug mule.) More than entertainment, sports is a business. Always has been, as much as we like to think that those guys we pay gobs of money to watch are trying to win one for the greater glory of whatever city they happen to be playing in that particular season. As I get older I find myself rooting less for the home team---knowing that most players will flee for more bucks in a heartbeat---and just enjoying the athleticism of some of the players on the field.

I think what rubs some people the wrong way, especially older fans who can remember running into Charlie Ane selling sporting goods or Barney McCosky selling cars in the offseason, is the sense of entitlement modern athletes too often display. Over the years I've interviewed old Lions from the 1930s through '50s [[BOOK PIMP ALERT: I have a book coming out next year on the 1950s Lions), and they mostly shared the same disgust. The old-timers' attitude could be summed up as: "Just cash your check and STFU. You have no idea how great you have it."

For decades the NFL sold its product to college seniors [[and the public) as "post-graduate football." The idea was that a guy would graduate from Notre Dame or Michigan with a degree in engineering or education or whatever, play 3-5 years in the pros, and use his connections to obtain an offseason job and a toehold on a career beyond football. That still happens, of course, but not nearly to the extent as a couple of generations back. I'm struck by how bright the typical pro from that era was. Very few had the kind of bullshit degrees in sports communications or whatever that you see today. You went to class, you maintained a certain GPA, or you didn't play. For the most part, those guys truly were student-athletes.

OTOH, all those greats we old-timers love to rave about, those guys who played 10, 15, even 20 years in Detroit? Most stayed because they really had no choice. But that's a separate discussion about the reserve clause, etc.

Oh, the 2019 Lions? I was gonna say 6-10. Make it 5-10-1 now.

[gnome]

Thoughtful post RickBak.

Your point about mercenaries is true but not exclusive to players. Ask Cleveland or St. Louis or any other city that had their team pull up stakes and move.

It is a business and the owners know it too. They’ll hold a city hostage for a new stadium without batting an eye.

We see that with Ilitch and Co. Their promises for this or that are like ashes in our collective mouths. We paid for the arena, zero hope of ever seeing a dime in return; yet, taxpayers line up to gobble their swill.

The Fords are better but not by much.

[Ray1936]

If you are complaining about the money in sports, do I really need to point out that you live in Vegas?

I'm here for [[1) the weather and [[2) the desert scenery. I don't patronize the sports books at all. Yeah, I go to a casino once a week perhaps either to eat or to run a twenty throught the slots for entertainment. That's my entertainment money.

Oh, and I don't live in Las Vegas. I live in Henderson. Vegas is a suburb.

[[All that bullshit aside, good post, gnome, as always. You make good points.)

[rickbak]

Thoughtful post RickBak.

Your point about mercenaries is true but not exclusive to players. Ask Cleveland or St. Louis or any other city that had their team pull up stakes and move.

It is a business and the owners know it too. They’ll hold a city hostage for a new stadium without batting an eye.

We see that with Ilitch and Co. Their promises for this or that are like ashes in our collective mouths. We paid for the arena, zero hope of ever seeing a dime in return; yet, taxpayers line up to gobble their swill.

The Fords are better but not by much.

For the last year or so I've been researching a book about baseball in Detroit in the 1890s, just as the Tigers were making the transition from a minor-league to a major-league club. Actually, I'm ending the narrative in 1912, just as the team has abandoned Bennett Park for brand-new Navin Field. Everything was on a much smaller scale then, but in many ways not a helluva lot has changed in 100+ years. Greedy owners, fawning fans, celebrity athletes, even constant bitching about overpriced beer and lack of parking. Still, lotsa fun revisiting 1895 and 1907 and hanging out with the likes of George Vanderbeck, Germany Schaefer, and a bunch of other guys lost to time.

[softailrider]

I usually go to 3 or 4 Lions games a year. They lose most of the games I attend, but they lose most of their games anyway. I know pulling for them is futile, but I really enjoy going to NFL games at Ford Field, the tickets are sometimes a little pricy, but I think it’s a terrific venue and I always have a great time there.

[KJ5]

. Just imagine... the most baffling Lions season yet!

[Tig3rzhark]

Before the season started, my prediction for the Lions were generous: 9-7

After seeing the first game of the season, I think I was too generous.

The Lions could've won that game, but like they always do, they screwed up. This game wasn't some pre-season game that they could afford to screw up in.

Years ago, I was a Detroit Lions fan, like most members of my family.

But when I saw them went into an 0-16 season, that was the last straw for me.

I stopped being a Lions fan.

I had enough rooting for a NFL team that can't even get in to the playoffs, let alone win a Super Bowl.

I know that when Green Bay comes to Ford Field, the Lions are going to get a beating that they will never forget.

And if I ever go Ford Field, I will wear a cheesehead instead of a Lions shirt.

They have no one to blame anymore,

Not even the "Curse of Bobby Layne".

The 50 years is up.

They can only blame their own incompetence for failing to even get to the playoffs, and have never won a Super Bowl.

[p69rrh51]

Its the Lions, why does anyone care?

[Smirnoff]

Its the Lions, why does anyone care?

Its unfortunate, but misery loves company.....

[Danny]

At last a LIONS win 1-0-1. Two down 14 to go.

[rb336]

Why did you even bother looking at this if you don't?

Its the Lions, why does anyone care?

[Cincinnati_Kid]

They SHOULD beat the Eagles in Philly. Eagles have major injuries.

[Lowell]

For you old-old-timers, Howard [[Hopalong) Cassady passed away. A running back and receiver for the Lions for 8 years in the 50's I can foggily recall as a youth seeing him on my fuzzy TV set catch a TD pass in the Lions last NFL championship in 1957. The name as stuck as there was a TV star cowboy of the same name.

[softailrider]

They SHOULD beat the Eagles in Philly. Eagles have major injuries.

I agree but since the game is in Philly they'll probably lose.

[401don]

I agree but since the game is in Philly they'll probably lose.

Just listening to a preview show this morning, they said every single thing about this game points to a Lions victory - except that it's the Lions on the road.

[Danny]

Lions did something that haven't done since 1999 win two games in the row. 27-24 2-0-1 14 to go. It's about time but they still a long way to go.

[401don]

Lions did something that haven't done since 1999 win two games in the row. 27-24 2-0-1 14 to go. It's about time but they still a long way to go.

??????????

[gnome]

In the forth quarter I was mightily chomping on a huge load of gum. That blocked kick forced me to gag on the gum and I had to run outside to gak up the wad.

Those f-ing lions almost killed me today.

Quite literally I choked on another lions miscue.

I know they won, but have no idea what happened as I was bent over a holly bush.

[p1acebo]

In the forth quarter I was mightily chomping on a huge load of gum. That blocked kick forced me to gag on the gum and I had to run outside to gak up the wad.

Those f-ing lions almost killed me today.

Quite literally I choked on another lions miscue.

I know they won, but have no idea what happened as I was bent over a holly bush.

I get Philly was banged up, but a road win in the NFL is a road win, ugly or not. Philly is still a good team, and the Lions weren't good enough to ice the game, but the defense was good enough to deny Philly to tie or take the lead. Overall, I don't think the Lions are a great team, but they impressed me a little today [[I thought they were going to get crushed despite Philly's injuries).

[Cincinnati_Kid]

I get Philly was banged up, but a road win in the NFL is a road win, ugly or not. Philly is still a good team, and the Lions weren't good enough to ice the game, but the defense was good enough to deny Philly to tie or take the lead. Overall, I don't think the Lions are a great team, but they impressed me a little today [[I thought they were going to get crushed despite Philly's injuries).

The crushing comes next week, when Mahomes and the Chiefs come to town. But I give them credit, for winning a game, they generally lose.

[sirrealone]

But I give them credit, for winning a game, they generally lose.

They tried like hell to lose, but I guess the Eagles didn't feel like accepting charity.

The special teams coordinator needs to go. Agnew's runback doesn't negate the fact that this unit is an absolute mess. The level of disorganization points to poor coaching.

[Lowell]

In the forth quarter I was mightily chomping on a huge load of gum. That blocked kick forced me to gag on the gum and I had to run outside to gak up the wad.

Those f-ing lions almost killed me today.

Quite literally I choked on another lions miscue.

I know they won, but have no idea what happened as I was bent over a holly bush.

Me too. Fortunately us Lions fans, being cats, have nine lives. Otherwise Detroit would be a ghost town by now.

[gnome]

Me too. Fortunately us Lions fans, being cats, have nine lives. Otherwise Detroit would be a ghost town by now.

I’m trying real hard to not be the Charlie Brown to the Lions Lucy.

I have fell hard in the past. We all have. Every year the promise is made, the hopes are raised, the afternoons, evenings and weekends are planned.

Then disaster.

Moods altered. Tempers short. Plans ruined.

I want to avoid that; yet I want to believe. I yearn to walk tall and swagger because it feels good to back a winner.

Hence I’m faced of wanting to believe but knowing that belief can be a burden.

To believe or not to believe is not merely a question for fandomologists, but for suffering mortals who creep incessantly towards their eventual eternal sleep.

The “Once before I die” t-shirt was a wink towards the futility of being a lions fan; a joke if you will, but became unjokey when I saw that shirt at the funeral of a contemporary.

[Lowell]

To believe or not to believe is not merely a question for fandomologists, but for suffering mortals who creep incessantly towards their eventual eternal sleep.

The “Once before I die” t-shirt was a wink towards the futility of being a lions fan; a joke if you will, but became unjokey when I saw that shirt at the funeral of a contemporary.

A good friend of mine from Boston told me about fans who, after Boston finally overcame the 86-year Curse of the Bambino and won a World Series, poured celebratory beers on the gravesites of their friend and relations who never got to see one.

Our frustration is a mere 62 years and we have no curse to blame, only a succession of failed management, ownership, coaches, players and bonehead plays.

As for expectations, for me there's sort of a 'Skipper's rule' [no new Detroit building is truly finished until it has tenants] that says, no Lions team is for real until they win two playoff games. Wake me when that happens.

[pjbear05]

Goddamn referees. Handed that game to the Packers. Ford family better pay any fine Patricia gets for cursing out those striped shirted bastards.