Analyzing the different types of Detroit Lions fans
By Mike Payton
The Out Of Towner
August 25, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Fans in the Black Hole cheer during action between the Oakland Raiders and the Detroit Lions in the fourth quarter at O.co Coliseum. The Raiders defeated the Lions 31-20. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
I can tell you right now, there’s nothing harder than being the out of town Lions fan. Many struggle on a daily basis. Living in a city where nobody else is a Lions fan and the only knowledge they have of the Lions is their troubled past. I have two stories to explain what this is like.
As I mentioned earlier, I went to college on California. In lived in the city of Mountain House which is less than an hour away from both Oakland and San Francisco. I can’t tell you how many times an Oakland Raiders fan has told me how much the Lions suck, it’s probably about the same amount of times a San Francisco 49ers fan has told me how much the Lions suck. It’s hard to get a word in edgewise with fans of other teams as it is, but when you’re on their turf, it’s even harder. I once had to explain to a Raiders fan that the last time the Raiders beat the Lions, Titanic was the number one movie in America. Of course the response was “how many Super Bowls have the Lions won?”
The other story comes from one of our readers Joe Pecora. Joe was lucky enough to grow up in North Chicago as a Lions fan. You think living near the Raiders is hard, try living in a city that constantly reminds you how good their team was in 1985. Too make matters worse, Joe lives close to the Wisconsin border, so he regularly reminded of how good the Packers are by shareholders of a stock that does not appreciate. It’s not all bad, Joe got to experience the 2011 Monday night game against the bears from behind enemy lines. According to him he was running around like he was five every time the Lions scored.
The Bears fans aren’t so bad. Just remember, their not hear to start no trouble, 30 years later they’re still doing the Super Bowl Shuffle.
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