Hope?

I have been hearing the word hope being thrown about frequently when referring to the Lions. Perhaps those very fans throwing around that 4 letter word, so haphazardly, are the very reason "Hope Springs Eternal" is now a cliché. Perhaps...

But, perhaps it is that hope that is keeping a football franchise in Michigan...

There is always hope for a different result when you change the inputs in any system, and the Lions have certainly changed the inputs. They have "changed" management by firing Matt Millen and promoting Martin Mayhew. They fired Rod Marinelli, who (miraculously?) coached a team with Paris Lenon as a starting linebacker to 7 wins, and hired Jim Schwartz as their new coach. They have picks galore, money to spend, awful middle linebackers leaving, etc., etc.

The inputs are changing, and so are the external factors. Now, Lions fans' newest source of hope is the Arizona Cardinals recent success. As if shouting, altogether now,: "If they can do it, so can we!"

But with all this "hope," I stand pessimistic. Arizona's success hasn't created hope, it is just another scoop of dirt piling on the Lions' grave.

Instead of seeing the Arizona victory as the ignorantly hopeful Lions fan, the NFL might see it quite differently. Instead of a mantra shouted by a throng of Lions fans, Roger Goodell might actually shout: "If they can do it, WHY HAVEN'T YOU?!?!"

Detroit has a sports franchise representing all 4 of the major American Sports, something only 12 other cities can claim. They are also one of only 2 of those 13 cities that has a unique stadium for each of those teams (Phoenix being the other). As a result, all Detroit teams have high operating costs associated with them, and those same teams are surrounded by a dying economy. Consequently, as good friend of the blog Ryan Terpstra said it, Detroit will, more likely than not, lose a sports team in the next decade.

So why do I think it is the Lions? TV blackouts ring a bell? 0-16..? 50 years of losing? Plus there is that enormous NFL market named Los Angeles, just dying to steal a team.

But, would William Clay Ford, Sr. and his strong Detroit ties really move the team? No, but whoever he potentially sells the team to probably wouldn't hesitate.

So, while some Lions fans are hoping that the playoffs are just 2 years away, I am just hoping that in two years the Lions are still the Detroit Lions.


P.S. Hopefully, you all noticed and appreciated the blog redesign. It is still a work in progress, but hopefully everything works as desired.