A Fish Out of Water
By author
Hello Lions fans. I must say I’m very excited to be part of this great blog and the team we write about. I figure for my first post I will write about myself and how my passion for the Lions came into fruition.
My name is Chris Soran. I’m 24 years old. I’ve lived in Connecticut for almost my entire life. I graduated from UConn in 2008. I got married last fall and bought a house just outside Hartford, CT. I also write for my fantasy sports blog (Currently switching into fantasy baseball mode).
If you know me well you know I have an unhealthy obsession with the Detroit Lions. T shirts, Jerseys, bed sheets, and a Lions tattoo. You name some form of memorabilia I probably have it. Yes, I’m like the six year old that has every piece of Spiderman memorabilia ever created in their bedroom. My friends and family are still baffled as to how I became a Lions fan. They ask, “How someone who has never set foot in the state of Michigan become a fan of the Detroit Lions?” I always provide the same response, “Barry Sanders.”
On November 27th 1997 Barry Sanders ran for 167 yards and 3 TDs. I never saw anything quite like it. I quickly started to worship his running style and subsequently the Lions. The moves he displayed, the broken ankles left in the Pontiac Silverdome left me in awe. Madden ’96 supplied my Barry fix until Sunday afternoon. My Lions addiction quickly set in. Thanksgiving was the one day of the year I looked forward to because I knew the Lions game would be televised. Living in the Northeast we always get the Giants, Jets, and Patriot games. If you remember back to the mid to late 90s none of these teams were very fun to watch. Barry made the Lions exciting and electric. Two minutes of Lions highlights blew away any game from a Northeast team.
After Barry retired it was a rough couple of years until the Lions Drafted Joey Harrington. I thought the playoffs and possibly a super bowl arrived in Detroit with Joey. Could Detroit have finally found the franchise QB that has been missing for decades? I was pumped. I got his jersey as soon as it came out and anxiously waited for him to start turning into an MVP caliber QB. It took about three years to be completely wrong on my ambitious dream. Shame on me for believing a QB that the Lions drafted would turn into something mildly productive. Instead he broke my already fragile heart, brought devastation and another long rebuilding era.
Now in 2011 the excitement and hope is returning to the Motor City. I’m very anxious for the 2011 season to start so I can start watching the Lions again. I’m armed with Sunday NFL Ticket and plan to watch every game this season. I hoping this season brings more happiness and unexpected surprises rather than continually living on the edge of depression and disappointment. I’m hopeful for the first winning season in more than a decade. Hopeful that we get out of the NFC North basement. Hopeful that we might get a playoff berth. Hopeful that Matthew Stafford can be healthy for a full 16 game schedule. Hopeful that a Super Bowl win is a lot closer than it appears.
Now that I brought some nightmares back from the past decade I’m very excited to be apart of SLR. I love talking sports and hearing the different opinions on the same topic. It’s hard to stir up a sports debate in a corporate office where an NFL discussion is limited to the five minute walk to go get coffee. But SLR is the perfect medium to discuss the Lions and NFL stories. I can’t wait to get started and grateful for this opportunity. Feel free to contact me on twitter or at my email. As always GO LIONS!