Monday, September 22, 2008

Detroit Lions @ San Francisco 49ers : The aftermath - We must destroy this team in order to save it

The Lions blogosphere has spoken, and they are PISSED.

The Detroit Lions Weblog is totally without hope...

I have never been more dispirited as a fan of this team. Everything you see and hear from the organization rings of total bullshit. At a time when I can barely afford to buy groceries, I am expected to pay even MORE than I did last season to support a team who is clearly worse. Forget it, I will still watch at home, with my mouth agape, rather than attending any more games at Ford Field, and I won’t be afraid to switch channels, either.

I once thought empty seats at Ford Field would be the one way to get through to William Clay Ford. But he's so dense, so clueless, so enraptured with Matt Millen, I honestly doubt even the end of the sellout streak, and the declining attendance that goes along with it, will be enough to get Millen fired.

Millen is so entrenched in the Lions' front office, an atomic bomb couldn't unseat him. When you think about it, you could call Bill Ford Jr calling for Millen's head today an atomic bomb of sorts. Junior wants him gone, and didn't mince words in saying so. That's definitely dropping a bombshell...and it won't accomplish a God damn thing.

As always, Eno has a well thought out post as to what he'd do if he was in Ford's shoes at Out of Bounds.

There's more time than you think, because the Lions are on a bye this Sunday. So there's 13 days until the next game, when the Bears visit for what should be another slaughter at Ford Field.

In those thirteen days, the Lions should:

1. Fire Rod Marinelli
2. Fire Matt Millen
3. Fire the scouting department
4. Fire the pro personnel people
5. Fire them all, really, except for the nice ladies in the front office, like the receptionists, secretaries, and the like. No sense punishing

Believe you me, there's much more here than just "fire everyone." The best suggestion in the "Eno Plan" is going to the league office for some much needed help and guidance, then treating this team as you would an expansion franchise. You have to tear it down, before you build it back up.

Greg, do us ALL a favor, and please send WCF your resume, OK?

The nuclear option is the only thing that could save
the Detroit Lions from themselves...

At Fire Millen, they, like us all, just want to blow the whole thing up.

This is a critical point for the future of the Lions. It is obvious that Marinelli is not the answer. The team needs to be blown up and start over. I know this is painful for the fan because it takes time to do that, but it is easier in the NFL than any other sport. And it is not like we are close to success right now. We have not even won a game - me might as well be working to the future while losing instead of playing a tired old quarterback and drafting wide receivers every other round.

I realize blowing up the franchise would be painful. There needs to be some sort of plan, like the "Eno Plan," in place when the destruction happens. Painful though it may be, it's also for the best. If enduring a few years of pain leads to this team no longer being an NFL laughingstock, I only have one thing to say. "Where's the pain pills?"

Gorilla Crouch
is also in the "you must destroy it in order to save it" camp.

The Vietnam-era phrase about burning the village to save it is apropos for a franchise that has been one of the most inept franchises in professional sports for as far back as that war. Matt Millen’s leadership of the Detroit Lions has been a complete failure and the sooner the Ford family realizes that and removes him from his position the sooner the team can move in another direction to try and alter the storyline of this pathetic franchise.

Any blogger who can use "apropos" in a post is A-OK in my book. But I digress...

Dave, we now know there's one member of the Ford family who realizes what has to be done, namely shitcan Millen. Too bad it's the wrong one.

In the Freep, Drew Sharp is surprisingly lucid, though what he says is obvious to even the most casual of Lions fans, this season is over. He does note there is one possible scapegoat left. The God Warrior, Jon Pickna Shitna Kitna.

Millen and Marinelli are out of scapegoats.

Can’t blame Mike Martz anymore.

He proved Sunday that he’s perfectly willing to run a more balanced offense when he has an excellent running back, such as Frank Gore, capable of establishing that equilibrium.

Don’t be surprised if Kitna becomes the next one scheduled for a horns’ fitting.

Benching your QB in order to buy more time from ownership? That's an old school move right out of the playbook of the patron saint of this blog, the Big Buck, Wayne Fontes.

When you find yourself fondly looking back at the Wayne Fontes era,
you know it's hit rock bottom

Actually, the Killer says the same thing at Mlive...
These desperate times call for desperate measures. The man Marinelli must emulate is ... Wayne Fontes.

Damn straight. Fontes could have Death himself knocking at the door, and within an hour he'd have a long-term deal cut with Death, and they'd be the best of friends.

Killer continues, saying Marinelli's channeling of Cocaine Wayne will have him playing his proverbial ace in the hole...Drew Stanton.
Marinelli has to go with second-year player Drew Stanton. The former Michigan State quarterback might not be good to start with, but he's going to be exciting. Marinelli has to quickly shift his focus to the future and let the fans and media chew on "what might be'' because if they concentrate on "what is,'' Marinelli's in big trouble.

If Marinelli were on the ball, he'd be on the phone with Fontes right this minute, and taking notes on crisis management and deflection techniques. I can just imagine what advice the Big Buck would impart...

"Rod! Did ya fire the defensive coordinator? Ya did?! Good, good, good! Did ya fire your offensive coordinator yet? After last season? Damn! Too soon, son. Too soon. Ya shoulda waited till da middle of da season, totally deflectin' da blame, then ya coulda easily bought a coupla more years from da old man. Did ya change QB's yet? NO! Well Hell son, you're set! Ya have yer Teflon! And yer on yer bye week? PERFECT TIMIN'!

Hey Rod, while I gots ya on da horn, ya needs a assistant? I has da time, ya know..."


Wayne Fontes, the Teflon Don of the NFL coaching ranks. We could all learn life lessons from the Big Buck. All the wrong lessons, to be sure, but life lessons all the same...

2 comments:

  1. Promise us all that under the nuke option the assholes that proclaimed "Fuck 'em" about the fans will also go. And the nice ladies at the reception desk should probably get fired for not calling security on millen.

    I seem to recall reading once that the late NFL commissioner Bert Bell decided once to intervene with a horrible franchise. It was the late 1950s, and he decided that fans in Green Bay had suffered enough. So he acted decisively and ordered a new coach out there. A guy named Lombardi.

    Sigh. We can always dream....

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  2. As nice as it might feel, shitcanning Millen, Marinelli, Barry and Colletto after three games isn't the answer. Who is Ford going to get to coach the team?

    I think we (the fans) should get a chance to see what Orlovsky or Stanton can do, but Marinelli will never do it because he knows it'll just be making life easier for the guy who replaces him next season.

    I'm hoping that the old man is just being prudent and has already drafted up walking papers for everyone to delivered on Dec. 29. I realize that's unlikely, but short of some kind of miracle that's the most realistic best case scenario for us.

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