Off-Topic: 0-16 on the Way

by Ian Casselberry on Dec 28, 2008 10:00 AM EST in Detroit Tigers News

So when the Detroit Lions set an infamous NFL record by finishing off an 0-16 season today, do you think members of the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers will get together and have a champagne toast?

It would kind of be like what the 1972 Miami Dolphins do every time an undefeated team fails to break their record. (Although Snopes.com says that's a myth.) Except I imagine those '72 Bucs would be more than happy to get knocked out of the record books. (Unless they had a few Brian Kingman types on that roster.) Lee Roy Selmon and Steve Spurrier will surely gladly pass that baton of suckitude over to Dan Orlovsky and Cory Redding.

Just so you know where I stand, I've expressed my feelings about the Lions and 0-16 at my personal blog. I want to see it happen and resent anyone who says I'm not a true fan for that. Maybe it's delusional to think that fresh grass can only grow after the old, dry stuff is burned away, but at least that provides some hope.

Big Al at The Wayne Fontes Experience and our SB Nation Lions blog, Pride of Detroit, will be following the march of Detroit's gridiron heroes to the historic oh-fer, and I encourage you to chime in over there. But I'd also like to let you know that BYB is a safe place for you if you insist on putting yourself through this afternoon's game against the Packers. We have plenty of room to curl up in the fetal position and rock in place. Together, we can get through anything. Wasn't the Tigers' 2008 season proof of that?

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Sorry Lions fans

I’m a Tigers fan but not a Lions fan. At first I wanted to see the Lions go 0-16 for the historic nature of it. Its not my team so I won’t feel the pain associated with it. It’s be the perfect capper on the Matt Millen era.

Now, however, I’ll be rooting hard for the Lions to get the W today. I think back on the 2003 Tigers team and how mortifying it was to watch them. I had MLB Extra Innings that year. I tried to watch them, but I was busy and they were awful so I probably only saw parts of maybe 80 games. I didn’t watch a single game from start to finish that year that the Tigers won. I caught bits and pieces of wins, but every time I sat down and watched a game all the way through, they lost.

So like I said, I remember what it was like to root for a historically bad baseball team and how overjoyed I was that they managed to avoid the most losses in baseball history. I was used to them being bad, but being a historic laughingstock is something else.

Come to think of it though, I wear that 2003 season as a badge of honor these days, and it made 2006 so much sweeter. So either way, some good can come from it. Hey, they can’t be as bad next year right?

by ThaWalrus9 on Dec 28, 2008 10:45 AM EST reply actions

Footbal Czar needed

I turned in my Lions’ fan card about a two years ago. I’m no longer a registered fan, if that were to exist. I just don’t want to put up with the mental anguish that comes of seeing “your” team lose incessantly.

On a lighter note, maybe Obama can appoint a “football czar” along with the “car czar” he may appoint to oversee the bailout given to the Detroit automakers. Since William Clay Ford owns the Lions as well as Ford, I’d argue it’s entirely within the government’s authority to appoint someone to help the Lions restructure. I’d have to nominate Tagliabue for the job of football “czar”…

by Oost on Dec 28, 2008 5:31 PM EST reply actions