Shutdown Corner - NFL

Shutdown Corner

Tue Nov 18, 2008 12:33 pm EST

Take the Lions. Please!

By MJD

For some people, running Matt Millen out of town wasn't enough. They now want to run the entire Detroit Lions organization out of town, and to do so, they're using the same tactics they used to oust Millen ... t-shirts and websites.

If you were born in Michigan, then you probably are cursed with being a Lions fan. One play-off win since 1957! As hard as you may try not to care, they still suck you in. So it's time to show the ownership what you think they should do to improve the team: Move!  At least then we could get an expansion team with new ownership and a new opportunity for fans that deserve better.

That's from LAtakeTheLions.com, which exists to promote that message and sell t-shirts. 

The city of Los Angeles does want an NFL team, or at least, some politicians who represent Los Angeles want an NFL team. And the NFL wants to give them one, too. There are a few fanbases out there that live in fear that it'll be their team that ends up as the Lost Angeles Whatevers. At least a small portion of Lions fans, it seems, live in fear that it won't be their team.

It would seem a shame to waste Ford Field, but I guess we could always just turn it into The Jerome Bettis Center for Admiring Jerome Bettis.

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121 Comments

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  1. Michael
    1. Posted by Michael Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:16 pm EDT

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    I am from Detroit and *just* moved out here to Los Angeles. And now someone is threatening that the Lions are going to follow me out here? NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
  2. Dad Zach
    2. Posted by Dad Zach Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:42 pm EDT

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    They may be bums, but they are our bums.
  3. kurt k
    3. Posted by kurt k Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:52 pm EDT

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    No worries Michael...not gonna happen...I think we all have come to the realization that Bill Sr. is as stubborn as child and will never move the team out of Detroit. All we can hope for is that the fans stop going to the games so that he is forced to either get "Football" people in charge, or, sell the team to someone who is passionate about putting a good team on the field (not just take the fans money). The only problem with that is that the fans in Detroit are DIE-HARD FOOTBALL FANS WHO NEED THEIR FOOTBALL SUNDAY'S!!!
    Still a fan...GO LIONS...GO AWAY BILL!!!
  4. First L
    4. Posted by First L Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:38 pm EDT

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    Michael We will send the Rams back instead !
  5. Mike P
    5. Posted by Mike P Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:23 pm EDT

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    I hate teams moving around the country. I hated it when the Houston Oilers became the Titans, the Cardinals moving to Arizona, the Colts making their move etc. What makes the fine people of Detroit think that an expansion team would get any better treatment than what the Lions get now. Detroit needs to stop crying, support their team. If they do, revenues will increase and just maybe the Lions organization can get the players they need to make the Detroit Lions a real threat in the NFL, and be back in the playoffs once again. Good Luck Detroit it's your decision.
  6. domenick2x
    6. Posted by domenick2x Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:46 pm EDT

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    It's not the support that's the issue in Detroit. It's the mismanagement.
    If Detroit had competent people in the front office and scouting departments, they'd be able to turn the team around in 3-5 years. As it is, they'll be lucky to EVER sniff the playoffs.
  7. Daniel
    7. Posted by Daniel Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:45 pm EDT

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    What would Detroit be without ONE hopeless, heart-break, miserable excuse for a sports team? It would be like living in Boston or something... awful. Like "Dad Zach" said, they may be bums, but they are our bums. Personally I love the drama, the building hope, the heart cut out and squashed... So keep the Honolulu blue and silver in Detroit. Think of it this way, if not for Detroit, MI would have been a red state!
  8. Michael P
    8. Posted by Michael P Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:19 pm EDT

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    Mike are you mad? We HAVE been supporting the Lions. Did you know that in the entire history of Ford Field, you can count the number of non-sellouts on one hand, and those all came this season? How is that NOT supporting your team?
    It's never been a matter of not having the money. We have the money. It's a matter of actually giving that money to players who will produce, rather than on a bunch of big name draft picks, one of which is still on the team.
  9. chris
    9. Posted by chris Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:01 pm EDT

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    can anybody say San Antonio Lions. we have been looking for a new sports team. we had the marlins come and some people from MLS, but football is what south texas is about. we supported the saints while they were here too. what would be some good names? i like the wranglers. it fits down here.
  10. The Thrilla in Vanilla
    10. Posted by The Thrilla in Vanilla Thu Sep 03, 2009 11:01 pm EDT

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    Anything short of a perennial playoff contender will be a flop in that bandwagon town. Move the Lions to LA for a couple of rebuilding years, they'll languish in futility, and BOOM, move them back to the Motor City for the feel-good story of the year.
  11. domenick2x
    11. Posted by domenick2x Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:46 pm EDT

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    San Antonio Tumbleweeds.
    Make it so!
  12. nate b
    12. Posted by nate b Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:59 pm EDT

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    lol the people from LA don't want to drive 5 hours to see oakland get beat. they want to rive across town to watch their team get beat....
    really Detroit could be a much better team if they get an offensive line and stop coughing the ball up 5+ times a game....Maybe they should stop getting new quarterbacks and try to keep one one his feet
  13. Erik
    13. Posted by Erik Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:21 pm EDT

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    NO LIONS in LA. WE need a new expansion team!!! Anyways...GO CHARGERS!!!
  14. mathesond
    14. Posted by mathesond Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:26 pm EDT

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    The entire history of Ford Field? You mean, all 6+ seasons?
  15. joshua s
    15. Posted by joshua s Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:25 pm EDT

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    I'm from Michigan and been a lions fan for 24 years. if the lions move i will be devastated. yeah they suck and they will probably never win but there is nothing i like more then sitting back on a Sunday watching the lions not even come close to winning. there is no way they can move. why don't they take a team like new Orleans that is in a city that will probably not be a city in five years after a few more hurricanes. why does LA need a team anyways. they couldn't keep the rams or the raiders anyways. they don't deserve a team at all.
  16. Steve B
    16. Posted by Steve B Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:42 pm EDT

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    God i hope not. Things are good the way they are! but if it where to happen St. Louis would move to the NFC North and Detroit/LA Lions would now be in the West.
  17. JohnnyFootballHero
    17. Posted by JohnnyFootballHero Thu Sep 03, 2009 6:57 pm EDT

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    In all seriousness, Toronto can support an NFL team, and if the Bills decide to stay in Buffalo, then Detroit's Lions (only 4 hours away) would be an easy fit there. It would also make more sense for the NFL to look into Canadian expansion since a team based in London just wouldn't work.
  18. Max_Powers
    18. Posted by Max_Powers Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:33 pm EDT

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    If Pittsburgh has to keep the Pirates, then Detroit has to keep the damn Lions. It's only fair.
    I mean, look at Ohio. It could always be worse Detroit. . .
  19. sam
    19. Posted by sam Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:30 pm EDT

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    no, please stay in Detroit!!! L.A's better off having no team, than having one of the worst teams in the Super Bowl era... I'll take the St. Louis (Los Angeles) Rams back any day...
  20. sportsnut888
    20. Posted by sportsnut888 Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:02 pm EDT

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    Doesn't sound plausible, since DET is such a big TV market, and the NFL would not want a team in a large market to move. JAX or NO, that makes sense to move to LA, but not DET.
    Besides, LA has a pro quality team year in and year out, it's called USC. Think they couldn't beat up on DET, STL, OAK, or CIN right now? I'd take USC in a game with any of those 4 teams.
  21. manorgod13
    21. Posted by manorgod13 Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:05 pm EDT

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    Hey i like the idea but, hmmmm...... i wonder, la texans???
  22. J-D
    22. Posted by J-D Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:31 pm EDT

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    "The Lakers moved to Los Angeles, where there are no lakes. The Oilers moved to Tennessee, where there is no oil. The Jazz moved to Utah, where they don't allow music."
  23. sportsfreak71195
    23. Posted by sportsfreak71195 Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:37 pm EDT

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    LA Take the Lions!
  24. Christopher
    24. Posted by Christopher Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:47 pm EDT

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    Well the problem is that Detroit is a huge market. The NFL doesn't want teams moving from big markets to big markets. They'd rather take Seattle, Jax, or another small market team if they were to put a team in LA without an expansion.
    People want the Lions to go because they are a horrible team. Before the cap is was ownership that knew Barry could fill a stadium and they didn't have to spend more. Since it has been horrible front office work. That doesn't change no matter where they are. The problem still exists to make them competitive. A non-competitive football team isn't wanted in Detroit, or LA.
  25. uefiji
    25. Posted by uefiji Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:27 pm EDT

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    then detroit will be an even more wasteland, ghetto, degenerate town than it already is. the government needs to put a big wall around that city and trap everyone in so they can't breed with the rest of the country.

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Shutdown Corner is an NFL blog edited by Matthew J. Darnell. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.

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