Detroit's Fair weather fans
Liz Klimas
Issue date: 1/22/09 Section: Sports
T-shirts were printed and chests painted with catch phrases like 'You can do it' and 'The perfect season.' These are the encouraging words of faithful fans. Unfortunately, for the team of the hour this encouragement was not necessarily positive.
Detroit Lions fans put their heart and souls into cheering on their team. They took team spirit to the next level in rooting for the team many have stuck with through thick and thin to put a big, fat zero in their season's final record. Clearly, whatever the fans were sticking to the team with got too thin. For this zealousness was not for zero losses, but zero wins. The Lions finished their season with a final 21-31 loss to Green Bay - closing their season at 0-16.
Losing game after game, it became apparent the Lions could become the second NFL team in history to have a totally losing record, with the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Fans' hostility to constant losses became support. While you may not have found them rooting for the other team per se, they were hoping the Lions could lose their place into football history.
But what did this do for the Lions' morale? Obviously, it did not result in a win.
Watching history unfold, I was left wondering if the fans chose the best mode of action. As Michigan became the state with the worst economy in the country, fans of the state (its residents) actually left. Michigan became one of two states with a declining population (the other being Louisiana, which is still recovering from a natural disaster). As residents and businesses leave, the state sinks further into economic trouble. And as fans dissed the Lions - a steadily growing trend as the team has not had a winning season for eight years - they gradually failed as a team and now find themselves at rock bottom.
Thought it's never fun to root for the losing team, even the constantly losing team. Fans need to decide where their loyalties lie. Ask any Charger football player about the extra boost a supportive audience gives their performance. You'll find it never hurts to hear the shouts of support, even while morale is low. Maybe fans supportive of a win to the end would not have helped the season's outcome, but let's put it this way - it couldn't have hurt.
Detroit Lions fans put their heart and souls into cheering on their team. They took team spirit to the next level in rooting for the team many have stuck with through thick and thin to put a big, fat zero in their season's final record. Clearly, whatever the fans were sticking to the team with got too thin. For this zealousness was not for zero losses, but zero wins. The Lions finished their season with a final 21-31 loss to Green Bay - closing their season at 0-16.
Losing game after game, it became apparent the Lions could become the second NFL team in history to have a totally losing record, with the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Fans' hostility to constant losses became support. While you may not have found them rooting for the other team per se, they were hoping the Lions could lose their place into football history.
But what did this do for the Lions' morale? Obviously, it did not result in a win.
Watching history unfold, I was left wondering if the fans chose the best mode of action. As Michigan became the state with the worst economy in the country, fans of the state (its residents) actually left. Michigan became one of two states with a declining population (the other being Louisiana, which is still recovering from a natural disaster). As residents and businesses leave, the state sinks further into economic trouble. And as fans dissed the Lions - a steadily growing trend as the team has not had a winning season for eight years - they gradually failed as a team and now find themselves at rock bottom.
Thought it's never fun to root for the losing team, even the constantly losing team. Fans need to decide where their loyalties lie. Ask any Charger football player about the extra boost a supportive audience gives their performance. You'll find it never hurts to hear the shouts of support, even while morale is low. Maybe fans supportive of a win to the end would not have helped the season's outcome, but let's put it this way - it couldn't have hurt.
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