How Detroit will feel after the Lions win the Super Bowl
By Jack Ozark
A month ago I moved to Chicago. I came here during a time of Chicago Cubs doubt. Fans knew that their team was good, but believed that the team was going to choke in the playoffs and that their spirits would break once again. It’s exactly how the Detroit Lions have made me feel my entire life. Well, last night the Chicago Cubs forgot about their curse and went on to win their first World Series in 108 years.
The streets were full of honking horns, and Wrigleyville was going wild until about 3 a.m. So much sadness was lifted. The fans, all of which had never seen the Cubs as world champs, could finally call themselves winners after hearing nothing but bad things about their franchise for their entire lives.
After the Cubs won FOX put a graphic on TV showing the longest championship droughts in major U.S. sports. And of course, the Detroit Lions were on this list.
The other teams on the list? All of them have had some success that even I am old enough to have seen. The Detroit Lions have 1 playoff win since 1957. Not only have they never even been to the Super Bowl, they have never even been close to tasting a championship. And it’s not fun to think about.
But the Cubs curse getting lifted gives me a lot of hope. First, it proves curses can be broken. And more importantly, it showed me how much the attitude of a city can change in one night. Last night, the streets were flooded with happy car horns, yells of joy and fireworks. The entire city was smiling. And what the Cubs are to Chicago, lovable losers, are exactly what the Lions are to Detroit.
And that curse being shattered means the Lions curse has to be one of the next ones to end. Just this season, I have a lot more hope in the future of the franchise than ever before. They finally are working like a business, constantly growing instead of going all in.
And WHEN the Detroit Lions are Super Bowl champs I know it’ll be just as if not more wild than it has been here. Having been a fan of the Lions since I was little, living through the thought that Joey Harrington might be “the guy,” and seeing superstars like Ndamakung Suh and Calvin Johnson leave this city with nothing to show for it, hasn’t been the easiest thing I’ve done. But the day they lift the Lombardi Trophy will be insane. So many years of angst will be lifted, just like I saw happen in Chicago last night.
Every Sunday that has been ruined by a loss, every moment of the 0-16 seasons that so many fans sat through, will be worth it. The highest of highs will always beat the lowest of lows. And the day I celebrate a Lions Super Bowl will be one of the best days of my life.