Detroit Lions: Hoping For The Best and Getting The Worst

My first article for the Bleacher Report!

I've been a admirer of this site for a while and have become a fan of Oz Davis, who has some credible insight to the Lions.  I've written many a column on www.firemillen.com web site regarding Lion moves.  And since the website name will be going an overhaul, much like what the Lions need, I felt it time to branch out and hopefully people will like what I write.

Ah yes, the Detroit Lions.  I have followed them since I was a kid.  I remember watching them on TV during their days playing in Tiger Stadium where I would watch the epic battles between Dick Butkus and Charlie Sanders.  Then on to the Pontiac Silverdome where my wife and I would see Barry run wild and Herman Moore pluck passes out of the air from a myriad of QB's.

In all of those years, I would hope the Lions would turn a corner.  They came close in 1991, going 12-4 and beating the Cowboys 38-6 in their only playoff win since William Clay Ford, Sr. purchased the team.  But as the headline states, we hoped for the best (12-4 and the playoff win) and got the worst (next game, Redskins pounding the Lions 41-10).  Since that year, the Lions have posted double-digit win seasons only twice (1993 & 1995) while hitting double-digit losing seasons 9 times, soon to be 10 after the 2008 season.

But this is what being a Lions fan is all about, right?  Every year, you hope for the best and get the worst.  This season alone is paramount to that.  Lions got everyone excited by going 4-0 in the pre-season.  In the end, all that proved was that our 3rd and 4th stringers were better than theirs.

Firing Millen was the first positive step the Lions have made in nearly a decade.  Not much can be done to salvage the 2008 season.  However, with the great trade Martin Mayhew pulled off, getting a first, third and 6th round picks for Roy Williams, the Lions can get better in a hurry.  But that's providing they do the right thing with the picks.

That's all for now!