By H. Jose Bosch
For as long as I can remember December brings about more than snow and long, cold nights. It also brings an exciting free agency period. No, I’m not talking about MLB’s winter meetings.
I’m talking about Lions fan free agency.
Let’s face it: being a Lions fan sucks. I’ve met fans of the Browns, Bungles and Raiders who feel sorry for me. And it’s not like any of those organizations have been glowing examples of competence in the last decade. (Well, at least Cincinnati has been OK recently)
Even Bears fans have given me a hard time. Bears fans! That’s like Jaimee Grubbs calling Jaimie Jungers a skank (like that topical reference?) But there is one saving grace from following such a horrible team: You can pick a new team to follow for the playoff push.
It’s like becoming a fan free agent.
See, by this point in the season, the Lions have managed to completely stamp out my soul, leaving me to be just an empty shell of a human being anytime I watch or read about the latest game.
So to feel any emotion while watching an NFL game, which makes watching the games fun to begin with, I pick out one of the teams that seem destined for playoff glory and root for them until they lose or win the Super Bowl.
Is it bandwagon jumping? Probably. But switching allegiances briefly just so you can enjoy the NFL playoffs shouldn’t be a crime. What should be a crime is the amount of money the Lions steal from its fans when they claim that people are paying to watch a professional football team.
What they don’t tell the fans is that the professional football team is the opponent.
I know Detroit just came off a losing season and two wins is an infinite improvement mathematically (I think) but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. The Lions still suck … a lot. And by the time December rolls around there is no real reason to be that invested.
At least when the Tigers were horrible there was the possibility of seeing some prospects called up at the end of the season and you could convince yourself the future was bright. What I see now with the Lions is going to be pretty much what I get next season barring a miraculous turnaround.
The thing is I like Jim Schwartz and there’s something about him that makes me think, way, way back in that tiny little brain of mine, that he can somehow turn everything around.