Restore the Roar? Why bother…

The Lions stink, as per usual. They’re clearly on their way to another 5-11 or 4-12 season. As a matter of fact I’d put the over/under on Lions wins from the 2006 through the 2009 season at 21. The smart money is on the under. It makes sense if you think about it logically, going point by point.

1. The Lions still don’t have a quarterback.
Kitna is clearly not the answer for the future and the Lions passed up Leinart and the chance to develop a QB in the last draft. The Lions aren’t quite bad enough to get Brady Quinn so they’ll settle for some glaringly flawed QB like Drew "when I’m not choking I’m talking trash" Stanton from the Michigan Agricultural Institute. This will begin the latest QB development project to add to the list of Chuck Long, Andre Ware, Scott Mitchell, Charlie Batch, Mike McMahon, and Joey Harrington. Yep, Stanton looks like a good candidate for that list.

2. The Lions D stinks.
They stink, and frankly, I can’t stand them. The LBs are very weak and often injured (besides
rook Ernie Sims - he’s actually played pretty well). The corners are about 5’6". The safeties are so bad they get beat deep by the neighborhood kids during the off-season. And the much lauded, aptly nicknamed "Big Baby" Shaun Rogers could be good, if he tried all the time.

3. The 3 M’s – Millen, Marinelli, and Martz
Millen is the talent evaluator, so were screwed there. Our coach is an old school D-line coach who is supposed to improve our defense (see previous point), so were screwed there. To wrap it all up our offense coordinator is recognized as an offensive savant who will inevitably torpedo the team morale and the head coach.

4. The Ford’s still own them and they’re still the Lions
The Lions will always stink because they have an ingrained culture of losing and they have owners who are seemingly unable to make the right move. Then again, if Ford doesn’t turn around financially pretty soon the family might be in a position to sell the team.

Which all adds up to right around 21 wins through 2009. 3-13 in 2006, 5-11 in 2007, 7-9 in 2008, and 4-12 and another rebuilding era. I guess they're going to win 19 games, so take the under.

Maybe it’s time to dump these losers. I live in Chicago and the Bears, a team that I’ve always held in high regard, has developed the team that I’ve always wanted the Lions to develop. The Bears have built a defensive juggernaut and now develop the offense that could put them over the top. I’ve always loved those types of teams, the 1991 Eagles come to mind, but was always a Lions fan first and foremost. I lived in Detroit and I grew up with the Lions. I even was lucky enough to have the Lions experience their greatest successes in the last 50 years at the peak of my fandom (late teens/early twenties). But now the team that I want to root for is close to where I have lived for 7 years, and where I will live into the foreseeable future. I wish I could root for the Bears, I really do, but in reality it'll be another year of Lion's ineptitude with me and my brethren cheering on the honolulu blue and silver.

FYI – While I wish I could root for the Bears I’ll never drink the Walter Payton Kool-Aid. Here’s the list of the 5 greatest running backs of all time, in order:
Jim Brown – not even close, that’s how good he was
Barry Sanders – the best pure runner of all time
Red Grange - he gets no respect, he was the Babe Ruth of football
OJ Simpson – double murder aside, the dude put up 2G’s
Gale Sayers – he’s superman, he could do it all, and he loved Brian Piccolo
Knocking at the door: LaDanian Tomlinson