To be fair, the Lions are easy prey. Well, maybe not the feline variety but certainly the football team.
It was a pithy blog post about how I’m sort of forced to be a Lions’ fan based upon my geographical location and the heartache through the years has certainly left plenty of scars. It was written as the HBO series, Hard Knocks, was finishing up its run profiling Coach Dan Campbell‘s squad during the preseason, but before the Laydowns (as I sometimes refer to them) got off to a horrendously awful 1-6 start.
That piece I wrote in early September seemed almost prescient a scant six weeks later.
But then something happened. Following a Halloween Weekend near-miss in Miami, the Lions won three straight, nearly upset the Buffalo Bills on Thanksgiving Day, and then won three more before an unfortunate hiccup in Carolina.
That the Detroit Lions are playing the final 2022 NFL regular-season game – repeat, the last game of all NFL teams save their opponent, Green Bay – is nothing short of miraculous.
Campbell and General Manager Brad Holmes seem to have built something that might have legs here. No one-offs, no smoke and mirrors, and while, ultimately, the game Sunday night meant nothing for the Lions it was important to play a meaningful game in early January as part of the maturation process for this team. Add to it the fact the team ran through the tape even after realizing they were eliminated from the post-season and … whoa … these just might not be the Same Old Lions.
With that, this is my mea culpa to the Detroit Lions. And, dare I say it, I’m looking a little bit forward to the 2023 season.
I’ll admit, I was rather looking forward to my hometown Detroit Lions’ game against the Carolina Panthers on Saturday. For a downtrodden organization that hasn’t had a whiff of the playoffs in half a decade, a meaningful game this late in December was, indeed, something to look forward to.
Yet, by the time our Christmas Eve (nay, my wife’s birthday) lunch was over and I finally tuned in, the Lions were heading into the lockerroom at halftime trailing, 24-7, having yielded nearly 250 yards rushing … in the first half!
Sigh, classic Lions:-(
The good news is that every team they’re chasing for the final wild card spot also lost.
The bad news is that those dastardly Packers won a game in Miami they weren’t favored to and are now very much alive in the playoff picture, meaning the Lions’ season finale at Lambeau Field might actually have significance.
So, what’s a guy to do? Live vicariously through his buddy, that’s what. My friend Wayne and his family are enjoying a holiday in England and he sent along this photo early Monday. It’s of his seats at South London’s Selhurst Park for the Fulham at Crystal Palace English Premier League match. The visitors from Fulham won, 3-0.
Selhurst Park, home of Crystal Palace. (Photo by Wayne Wilson)
As I prepare for another Thanksgiving Weekend filled with family, food, and plenty of sports spectating, I find myself recollecting one from nearly 30 years ago.
1995 was a memorable year for me for a several reasons, chief among them was my wedding Mother’s Day Weekend. But when it comes to being a sports fan, nothing in 1995 could measure up to Thanksgiving Weekend.
My friend Mike (heard here in Episode 9 of Conversations with Sports Fans) got married on Friday, November 24, 1995. A fellow sports fan, it should come as no surprise that a live sporting event would factor into his wedding weekend activities.
His wedding festivities included the following:
Wednesday Night – Rehearsal and rehearsal dinner
Thursday Morning – Buddies’ breakfast at my apartment
Thursday Afternoon – Bachelor party at the Vikings-Lions football game
Friday Afternoon – Wedding ceremony
Friday Evening – Wedding reception
A late addition to the weekend was my friend Josh from Fairbanks, AK, who was able to snag a good airfare and decided to come in for a long holiday weekend visit. I hadn’t seen Josh since moving back to Michigan from Fairbanks 14 months earlier so this was a happy bonus. Mike and his soon-to-be wife Sheryl and their families were gracious enough to allow Josh full participation in all of their wedding events.
And, because Josh was traveling close to 4,000 miles to visit, I figured I should do something to make it worth his while. So I reached out to a contact I had in the University of Michigan Athletic Department about tickets to The Game. I figured it was a bit of a longshot as Ohio State was a perfect 11-0, featured eventual Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George, and ranked No. 2 and Michigan No. 18 entering. Lo-and-behold, my man Paul was able to find a pair of seats at Michigan Stadium for Saturday’s game.
With that, the makings of an epic sports weekend were set … now if only the games could deliver.
Boy, did they!
By all accounts my breakfast skills were solid: The scrambled eggs were free of shells, the bacon and sausage was done to everyone’s liking, and the pancakes were plentiful. It was, in short, a great way to begin our Thanksgiving.
The Lions and Vikings apparently also fueled up appropriately, that morning. The Over/Under for the game was set at 46. The teams combined to score 52 points by halftime, with Minnesota leading 28-24.
Vikings quarterback Warren Moon threw for 384 yards and three touchdowns while the Lions’ Scott Mitchell finished with 410 yards and four touchdowns. Barry Sanders was, well, Barry Sanders. He rushed for 138 yards and a touchdown and Detroit’s big three wide receivers (Herman Moore, Johnny Morton, and Brett Perriman) all finished with over 100 yards and at least one touchdown.
In the end, Detroit led 44-38 after a field goal by Jason Hanson giving Moon and the Vikings the ball one more time. The final Hail Mary was interecepted by Sean Vanhorse.
Lions’ Herman Moore, Brett Perriman, Johnny Morton, and Scott Mitchell tear into John Madden’s turducken following their win. (Photo Detroit Free Press)
My lasting recollection of this game, aside from enjoying a wildly entertaining 44-38 Lions victory with a dozen or so fellas who got along famously, was Lions’ receiver Moore, who stood 6-feet-4, being on the field playing deep safety for Moon’s final throws.
My lasting recollection of the Michigan-Ohio State game – my first and only as an in-person spectator – was Michigan running back Tshimanga Biakabutuka aka Touchdown Tim.
He ran over, around, and through the Ohio State defense all day long. He had 18 carries for 195 yards … at halftime! Biakabutuka finished the afternoon with 37 carries for 313 yards and a touchdown. The more highly touted George, meanwhile, finished with a rather pedestrian by comparison 21 carries for 104 yards and a score.
Touchdown Tim running through an OSU defender en route to his 313 yards. (Photo by Cleveland.com)
In the end, Michigan took down the second-ranked Buckeyes, 31-23, thanks to an interception by then-freshman Charles Woodson as OSU was driving late in Wolverines’ territory late in the game.
Josh and I are still in touch and we talk about this weekend every so often. He repeated a Thanksgiving trip in the following year and, in an effort to complete a Detroit pro sports hat trick of sorts, we attended a Detroit Pistons-Vancouver Grizzlies game the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, the Lions-Kansas City Chiefs game Thursday, and a Detroit Red Wings-Florida Panthers matinee on Sunday.
