A few days ago, one of my favorite posters at The Den - Atticus3 - posted that he needed a break from the Lions and he didn't know when he'd return. He was fed up with seeing the same things over and over again, and he just needed a break from the insanity of this team. I can completely understand his frustration. I have found myself taking longer and longer time between postings on message boards, not reading articles every day, and generally losing interest in the team.
Maybe it's just the monotony of reading the same posts over and over about "Fire Millen" or "Angry Fan March" or "Orange Out" for this coming game. Maybe it's realizing that it's time to look at the draft charts and figure out where the Lions will pick and who will be available again. Whatever it is, it's sucked the desire out of me to keep reading the drivel that's out there.
Honestly, this may be more damaging to the Lions and the Ford family than any banners or marches could ever be. When your most loyal and true fans get to the point where they are starting to not care about the team any longer, your team is in trouble. I've gotten to the point where I really don't care about the outcome in these last three games. I mean seriously, what's the point? If we win them all, Jauron may get the head coaching gig, and Millen may get less heat. If we lose them all, we may be in better position for a high draft spot. Truth is, neither of these items excites me right now. I really don't want to be discussing a search for our next head coach and potential candidates before Christmas. I really don't want to debate the merits of college linemen who may be drafted by the team in December.
I want the Lions to play in games that actually matter.
And now that is as far away from reality as any pipe dream I've ever had. So, I've been paying less and less attention to the goings on of the team. I've been a die-hard supporter of this franchise ever since I became interested in football. I remember being heartbroken when Eddie Murray missed the field goal against the 49ers. I pretended I was Billy Sims as a kid, diving over the imaginary goal line pile and onto my parents bed. I thought the "James Boys" sucked as an alternative when Billy twisted his knee and never came back. I remember the Chuck-n-Duck... err... the Run-n-Shoot as Wayne-O's first attempt to inject life into a moribund franchise. I remember the excitement when Barry took that very first handoff around the left end for 18 yards on his first professional carry. I remember the despair of Mike Utley laying motionless on the field - and then later Reggie Brown doing the same. I remember the one playoff win in the last 47 years, Scott Mitchell throwing for 4000 yards, Herman Moore catching 123 passes, and Barry running for 2053 yards. I even have been truly excited at times during the Millen years, expecting the team to do great things. And like always, they have let me down, but shown just enough to keep me coming back, thinking that with just a tweak here or a nudge there that they can finally turn the corner.
And then this season happened.
In a way, I knew I'd get to this point when they fired Mooch. That really was the admission that this season was lost - you don't fire a coach in the NFL in mid-season and expect a miraculous turnaround. And then when Jauron decided to keep playing Garcia, it just sucked any wind out of me that there was. There were a few things that kept my interest for a while. I was hoping to see if Joey could recreate the games he had at the end of last season when Olsen was calling plays. I wanted to see KJ get back on track. I wanted to see what CRog could do if he got the chance to play the Z again. And somehow, none of these things have happened. It's been the same boring, predictable football, only minus Mooch. And I'm just bored with watching it. There is no spark on the field, no energy, no excitement. The players are just going through the motions. And as a fan, I'm ready to do the same.
I'll probably keep watching and writing my silly little blog. After all, I am a fan. I'm just not too excited about being one right now.
No comments:
Post a Comment