A Long Awaited Arrival

I have finally arrived amidst a wonderful world of sports. In my first post I would love to speak of the great teams in our sports town, but the Pistons and Tigers are both in the off-season and I don't know enough about hockey to offer even a small bit of insight or a semi-convincing argument. As a result I suppose the Lions, off to a surprising 3-2 start, will provide the topic for this discussion.

Although no one likes to begin on a sour note I feel compelled to issue this warning to Lions fans:

Do Not Fall Into the Lions' Trap

Believe me I would like nothing more than to sit back and watch our football team finish with a 10-6 record and make the playoffs. However the disappointment of previous seasons prevents this idea from becoming rooted in my head. Not since the departure of Barry Sanders after the 1998 season and the 9-7 finish in the 2001 season have Lions fans had any real hope for their team. Each year since has been marked by disastrous records, poor coaching, and even worse management.
Every year we anxiously await the start of another football season, foolishly hopeful that our hometown team will return to the glory days of the 1950's. Instead, with overwhelming consistency, the Lions always find a way to lose and in doing so cause us the let down that so naively set ourselves up for.

Kool-Aid

Please do not start drinking the Lions form of this beverage, even with our above .500 record. Although the Lions are second place in the division and, as of now, competing for a playoff berth do not be fooled by the quick start. In the 2004 season the Lions began their year with a 4-2 record resulting in former coach Steve Marriucci(currently a contributor to the NFL network) and current general manager Matt Millen (formerly a contributor to Fox NFL Sunday[maybe there is some sort of trend here]) being hailed as heroes and franchise saviors. Following this audacious six game stretch the team preceded to lose 5 straight games and complete the season with a 6-10 record, resulting in many solemn vows to never fall into this trap again.
Yet here we are 3 years later and seemingly no more intelligent. We sit at the edge of our seat during each game, collectively sipping on our Honolulu blue flavored kool-aid in a vain attempt to rid ourselves of the one blemish on an otherwise flawless sports society. Trust me do not get your hopes up for the playoffs.

This Year's Lions (perhaps now some optimism)

Contrary to the opinion of Jon Kitna and Mike Furrey the Lions will not finish 10-6. Although the schedule is much easier than previous years the team is not nearly consistent enough to win ten games. That is the main problem with this team, consistency.
As we have seen thus far the team has yet to bring their best both offensively and defensively to any one game. The defense has been hurt largely by the defensive line, its key component, which has performed poorly and put very little pressure on the quarterback largely due to the inconsistent play of Shaun Rogers.
The offense, quarterbacked(I hesitate to use this as I am not sure it is a verb or a word at all) by Jon Kitna has shown much flash and the ability to put points on the board, however the lack of a running game has been exploited in the two Lions' losses and will continue to be a weak spot this entire year. A more pressing matter may still be the offensive line, if they cannot keep Kitna healthy it will be a very long season indeed with J. T. O'Sullivan at the helm.
All in all the Lions hot start should sputter to a halt. However as long as Kitna is on the field expect them to be in many games with the high powered offense.

Record Prediction 7-9 (this is the optimism)