Detroit Lions: So What If They Go 0-16?

I have noticed that many people desire to have the Detroit Lions win one game this year to somehow save them from the embarrassment of being the first NFL team to ever go 0-16. 

With a record of 1-17 over the last 18 games, the worst in the Lions' 75-year history, one has to ask that if going 0-16 or 1-15 really makes that much of a difference.

Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press, displaying more gloom and doom than usual, indicated that no one should be surprised if Detroit loses one of their major league teams within the next 10 years. 

In nature, only the strong survive and it isn’t much different in the world of sports entertainment. The more successful the team, like the Pistons and Red Wings, the more likely the unsuccessful teams, like the Lions, could be plucked from Detroit and moved to a city in need of a professional sports team. 

Right now, Detroit is one of the few cities that have four pro teams, each with their own facilities. 

The NFL, for years, has wanted an NFL team in Los Angeles, the second largest television market in the United States. But local support is so weak, it may be a long time, if ever, that the LA area gets a team. Besides, there is a lot more to do in LA on those sunny Sunday's than waste 4-5 hours of time and money to watch an NFL team.

This brings us back to Detroit, currently ranked No. 11 as far as television markets. 

Teams rely on corporate support, but business is business. William Clay Ford, Sr. should know that better than anyone else. 

How can he expect support from Detroit area companies when Ford has continually put out a rotten product year after year? And let’s not blame the economy for this. Even in the best of times, the Lions were mediocre at best. Ford has never really invested in the team, despite having the means to do so, to make them a consistent winner.

Of the four teams that Detroit currently hosts, the Lions are the most vulnerable to being sold and moved to another city. I’ve been a voice in stating that it would be a long shot that the Lions would be sold and moved.  

The ball is now in the elder Ford's court. 

In order to survive in Detroit, the Lions must improve drastically and do it quickly. Detroit fans will spend money on tickets for a winning team. I don’t have solid numbers, but I’m sure "The Palace of Auburn Hills" & the Pistons are doing well and "Joe Louis Arena" for the Red Wings is at peak levels. 

Even last year, despite the downfall from the previous year, the Tigers had great attendance at Comerica Field. 

Each of these teams has life, they win on a consistent basis and people want to go see them. The product that has been presented to the fans at Ford Field for the last three years is lifeless. They lose on a consistent basis and people are just now figuring out the cost of supporting this team doesn’t give them much return as far as entertainment value.

As for this year, the Lions aren’t going to be sold and moved to another city within the next eight weeks. 

In fact, there really haven’t been any rumors that the Lions are up for sale. Besides, what city could justify the value of a professional team to their citizens?  They would more than likely be asked to vote on a tax increase to build a stadium, just what they would want in these tough times.

So let them go 0-16. Let them take hold of that title so we fans can shove it in William Clay Ford Sr.’s face and demand something better. Let them be so embarrassed that coaches, management, and players will be labeled as members of “that” team that went 0-16.

The reward for going 0-16?  Other than getting the first pick in the 2009 Draft: nothing. 

Which is what the Lions deserve. 

They deserve nothing from the fans because they have given us nothing. The players are playing hard, but losing is losing and the fans want more, much more, than just a good effort from players. 

I for one would like to see a GM with an iota of imagination and daring to get the players needed. I would also like to see a coach that goes against situational play calling that keeps defenses guessing and is ruthless when it comes to winning games. 

All of us need to call out Mr. Ford, Sr. and make him accountable, ask him why he hasn’t relinquished control to his son since anyone can see that he doesn’t have a clue what it takes to build a winner.