The Millen Man March

Backus is a loser who has started every game since the Millen regime started in 2001.

 

No, the Lions have NOT sucked for the last 50 years.

They made the playoffs six times in the 1990s, had a couple decent teams with Billy Sims in the 1980s, were an OK team in the early 1970s, and actually were quite good in the 1960s (except roadblocked behind the Packers in their division, and in those days, only one team in the division made the playoffs).

For the last 50 years, overall, the Lions have been mediocre -- a little over .500 one year, a little under .500 the next year, a real bad season or so once a decade -- not great, but not horrible.

Until the arrival of Matt Millen, when the Lions went off the Precipice of Mediocrity into the Infinite Galactic Black Hole of Incomparable Utter Suckitude.

 

OK, 50 years of mediocrity it is. I stand corrected.

 

Well, the tempting thing is to say it's all the owner's fault, but you know what? The owner's only job is to find somebody who knows what he's doing to run the team, hire him, then sign the checks whenever he tells you to sign the checks. Then, if it turns out the guy you hired DOESN'T know what he's doing, FIRE HIM AND HIRE SOMEBODY ELSE.

The Fords' main failing is strictly in that last department. They held on to Russ Thomas, an idiot and a skinflint (back when the GM had the discretion to be a skinflint or not) about 15 years longer than they should have, they held on to Wayne Fontes about 132 games longer than they should have, and now they've held on to Matt Millen about five years, 11 months and two weeks too long.

Art Rooney owned the Steelers for 40 years and they never won a damn thing; they never even made the playoffs in their first four decades of existence. Never made the playoffs!! During the 1960s, the Steelers ran coaches and GMs through there like shit through a goose. Then, finally, Rooney hired a guy who knew what he was doing, Chuck Noll, and off they went to the Super Bowl.

All Ford has to do is fire Millen, hire somebody who knows what he's doing, keep signing the checks, and everything will be fine.

 

In defense of Fontes, he made the playoffs four times in five years. Whatever his issues are/were, he's by far the most successful coach they've had in decades, and it's not even close.

And I'm sorry, but a team that's won ONE playoff game in the 49 years since its last championship is far worse than mediocre. It's historically bad.

 

Isn't that a Smashing Pumpkins album?

 

Starman is correct. It's not hard to be an owner. Hire good people and get out of the way.

If the people turn out to be bad hires (and I think Millen went from the field to the booth to the front office, hardly a strong resume), fire them and try again.

Also, I believe some O's fans staged a similar walkout stunt late last season.

 

FOX-TV crew going to amazing lengths to avoid even talking about it. 8:57 mark goes by and the cameras remain focused tightly on the field.

 

I was waiting for them to show the crowd as well. Watch the Lions win this game and screw up the No. 1 pick. What a train wreck that franchise is.

 

That would be disparaging on the NFL; the Russians at the height of the cold war didn't control its own state-run media that tightly...

 

Why so shocked, Starman? Millen used to work for Fox ... could very well feel like they're protecting their own.