Sports can be overwhelming and over emphasized, but the magic of so many coaches and so many players who provide drama, the emotion of tears and laughter will probably never stop being compelling.
Dear reader, I started my blog in February of 2023. It has been primarily about politics in America. I'm going to be 88 years old in March of this year and I worry about the future of my children and grandchildren.
That's still my mission, but I need a sports break. The Detroit Lions are percolating like a first-class cup of coffee. The Michigan State University (where two of my kids graduated) basketball team has so many talented players they cannot all be starting at once. The Detroit Pistons under a new coach, have won six out of seven and the Detroit Red Wings under a new coach have just won their eighth game in a row. The University of Michigan beat Alabama in a bowl game and their basketball team is doing quite well. And last but not least, the Detroit Tigers have the best pitcher in all of baseball while having four or five stars who will be emerging this year.
Suddenly my sports calendar is getting filled up. I hope I can stick around!
But the stars of the show at this time in Detroit are the Detroit Lions and Dan Campbell the coach (and a great General Manager, Brad Holmes). Dear reader, at 20 years of age, I was a draftee coming home from 2 years of military duty in France. It was November of 1957, the Detroit Lions that year won the NFL championship against Cleveland. And after that? Nothing, nothing, nothing except Barry Sanders and no major titles anywhere to be found. They were drafting top notch players, many times in the top five of the country, but somehow coming to Detroit did no good, while many of them were gone within three or four years. They would lose games in a peculiar way. Within seconds of the end of the game, a New Orleans kicker broke the record for field goals at 65 yards. Then, Chicago would come into Detroit for the Thanksgiving Day football game and win in the last five seconds. The joke was there must be something in the Detroit River water that is infecting all of us.
In 2021 Dan Campbell came from out of nowhere, having past ordinary assistant coach jobs and only being a non-star in the NFL as a tight end. And his first year with Detroit was easily forgettable, with loss after loss as usual. He started his second year, not good, but about half way through the season he got before the cameras and started apologizing and saying he was "trying the best he could" and suddenly he started crying. I watched and something crossed my mind before God and all the angels. I thought oops! This guy might be a winner after all. Dear reader, don't forget George Washington, the Father of our country cried when he was made Commander In Chief of the Revolutionary War Army. And don't forget, seven years later he cried after being victorious over the greatest army in the world, Great Britain. The tears came in Fraunces Tavern in New York City where he was meeting with all of his generals to say goodbye. So what does this have to do with Dan Campbell? I'm not suggesting football and war are analogous or totally similar. But, Dan Campbell hates losing and he now teaches the players with a "we ain't going to lose boys" attitude. So, after 65 years and the sorrow of watching Barry Sanders quit the Lions early when he had a chance to break all NFL records for a runner, I now self congratulate my own patience with the Detroit Lions! Especially now with the Lions having remarkable "J" personnel. Three "J’s". Jared Goff, a quarterback who can throw five interceptions in one game and still come out victorious. How about Jahmyr Gibbs, a runner who just scored four touchdowns against one of the top three teams in the NFL. What about Jake Bates, a field goal kicker who was picked up last June from a brickyard job in California, now leading the league with 142 points derived from field goals and extra points?
Now look at the athlete with one of the best eye-catching names in all of professional sports: Amon-Ra St. Brown, who is sitting right now on 30 straight catches in a row thrown by quarterback Jared Goff. And don’t forget about the charitable side of St. Brown. A Detroit bakery made a life-sized cake of him that went viral. He turned around and wanted to have a customer drawing at the bakery, and the winner would receive two free Super Bowl tickets.
And dear reader, Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions players and all the coaches are known for their charitable nature. And right out of the Bible, they often give in secret without fanfare.
They allow few prima donnas, they really do know the Latin expression “E Pluribus Unum”, one for all and all for one. Their spontaneity and emotion has meaning that really cannot be explained properly. The magic just keeps coming; relentlessly. They will put in a bench warmer or a practice squad player with great confidence shown to the new guy. They really do care about their players, and build them up and build them up! No one on that team feels unwanted.
It reminds me of one of those sports peculiarities over coaching, and how the coach often performs emotionally. Vince Lombardi from the Green Bay Packers, years ago when asked about one of his greatest disappointments in coaching, talked about when he had to cut rookies after the summer workouts and tell them that they didn't make the team. He said as he sat in front of the youngster, the look on his face after years of being told in junior high school, in high school and college that he was a superstar. "Now I had to tell him he didn’t make the team". So, he said letting kids go was one of his toughest jobs as a coach. Don't forget Vince Lombardi was very religions and went to early Mass several days a week.
Sports can be overwhelming and over emphasized but the magic of so many coaches and so many players who provide drama, the emotion of tears and laughter will probably never stop being compelling.
Will I cry if the Detroit Lions don’t win the Superbowl? They have already given me the sports thrills of a lifetime. To all the players and to all the coaches on the Detroit Lions, the fans should already start clapping for their performance up to now, regardless of the future. They have worked hard and the results show it. The fun of it all will never go away.
God bless the Detroit Lions, God keep this group ready for any outcome. And they should all feel good that so many old-timers like myself have been waiting years to see a heretofore impossible dream beginning to come true. Don't forget, I can only stay awake when its the Lions playing on the West Coast!
A caring coach like Dan Campbell never forget, promotes his great assistants to move on, and to be a head coach somewhere else. Players on the practice squad and the bench are put on the field as if they're All Stars, because they need them immediately under special circumstances. Do they preform? Well, just turn on your TV and watch the kids replacing injured Lions as they play with so much rookie courage. They go all in with no weak links in the battle.
Anyway, I am just happy at my age to be witnessing such a great performance and a great show put on by the Hawaii Blue.
It is indeed a wonderful escape from the serious political matters and so many fires and hurricanes and chaos throughout the world.
A final thank you should go to the Lions principle owner and chair, Sheila Ford-Hamp. She stood by Dan Campbell the first two years and saw the magic coming that he was about to provide. Three cheers for her!
Go Lions, go Lions!
Opening Image: 4kwallpapers.com,
Comentarios