Lions: Last of the pre-1970 merger teams not to make to the Super Bowl...

[smogboy]

Thanks jefferson78. I appreciate the compliment.

I just try to have an observation about this team. Seriously if we were to get too emotionally wrapped up over this team, it'd drive us nuts. That's not to say I don't care and want them to win, but I also try to look at our Lions somewhat objectively. I'm not a cheerleader for this team nor am I so down in the puss 24/7, I can't still see the few scant signs of progress.

If anyone here watches the Lions to see them fail to prove their own point, I'm always perplexed to understand why; do people like lingering in misery? Like you jefferson78, I loved the Barry moments- they were some of the best bits of Lions excitement in my memory. While there may never ever be another Barry Sanders to play for our team [[much less the NFL), I'm going to smile and remember those moments fondly. They were epic and were amazing.

I have to hold firm to the ideal that this team will improve and the players on this team will still have some spectacular plays. That's what fans have to believe in and hope for. We're not even at the .500 mark yet but I'd still like to believe that this team can achieve that at some point.

[Big Dog]

I hope they can be .500 in 3 to 4 years.

[smogboy]

I hope they can be .500 in 3 to 4 years.

Okay, that being said... what makes you think that the Lions will achieve that goal?

[firstandten]

Okay, that being said... what makes you think that the Lions will achieve that goal?

I'm going to look at this next draft hard. If I can see where the Lions are drafting, who they are drafting and the positions they are drafting for , then Big Dog might be on to something

[smogboy]

I'm going to look at this next draft hard. If I can see where the Lions are drafting, who they are drafting and the positions they are drafting for , then Big Dog might be on to something

Let's take it over to the 2010 Detroit Lions thread to discuss then!
http://detroityes.com/mb/showthread.php?t=4546

[Big Dog]

I hope they can be .500 in 3 to 4 years.

Well, even a blind squirrel, finds a nut, once ina while.

[smogboy]

Well, even a blind squirrel, finds a nut, once ina while.

Well, when Millen was here in charge our blind squirrel was deaf, dumb, blind and missing a few appendages to find any nuts.

[Big Dog]

Millen must have had ford, by the nuts

[Flanders]

When I watched the infamous Thanksgiving Day game vs the Bears in 1980, the Lions went from being 6 points up in the closing seconds, had to punt, and the Bears' returner ran it back and scored a TD to tie the game as time ran out...

Then the Bears won the coin toss and elected to receive in OT. The Lions kicked off right to the same Bears returner, who promptly ran it back for the winning TD...

Shortest OT loss in NFL history...

Unbelievable!!

I turned off the TV in shock, and considering how awful the franchise was even back then, it still took a LOT to make the Lions shock me. THAT was the day that I KNEW that they were destined to be failures for a VERY long time...

But even back in 1980, I would not have believed it, if I was told that the Lions would not even PLAY in a Superbowl for at least another 30 years, and that they would become even worse than ever in the first decade of the 21st century, culminating it with a 0-16 season record...

[The Dude]

Of all the NFL and AFL teams that were around when Super Bowl I was played, the Detroit Lions are the only team never to play in the Super Bowl. Altough the Cleveland Browns never made it , they did win it as the Baltimore Ravens.

[smogboy]

Of all the NFL and AFL teams that were around when Super Bowl I was played, the Detroit Lions are the only team never to play in the Super Bowl. Altough the Cleveland Browns never made it , they did win it as the Baltimore Ravens.

Uh, didn't you just repeat what this thread's been saying all along?

[firstandten]

Smogboy, TheDude feels we should be reminded from time to time on just how bad we have been. Y'all know what? I agree. I hope we never forget just how bad we have been over time.

[TenKGent]

Buddy Parker
Doak Walker
Bobby Layne
Leon Hart
Les Bingaman

My brother tells me, after the LIONS won in '57, Bobby Layne was TRADED, and he cursed the term, saying 'you wont win again in 50 years'....Detroit is a CityofChampions when we consider the Wings,Pistons, Shock and even the Tigers....but our LIONS are laying in a den somewhere since that run to the NFC in the 90's. Cleveland is STILL the 'mistake by the lake'.

[Al Publican]

Funny how so many teams in various sports come and go in regard to championship seasons. Some teams like, say, the Cowboys, go up and down and return to winning form. Not so with the Lions. Their last winning season was in 2000 with a 9-7 record.

In the late '80s and '90s the Lions had up and down seasons with 1991 being their best ever with a 12-4 record, though it was a rather weak schedule. The Redskins trounced the Lions in the first and last games of that season, you may remember.

The Pittsburgh Pirates broke the baseball record last year for consecutive losing seasons with 17 straight. What is the record in pro sports in the U.S. for that?