When it comes to the city of Detroit, you would automatically think of Motown. It is a musical town filled with many great musicians for the last century. Then you think of the Pistons that brought a couple championships in the NBA. Then, you have the Lions that are part of the National Football League. They are owned by William Clay Ford Sr. That’s right the Ford family owns the Detroit Lions. William Ford Jr. for almost a century. The Detroit Lions fans had been sitting in front of their televisions watching their team annoyed and dissatisfied. The Ford family built the Ford Motor Company. That had been very successful for years but unfortunately their football team has just been a major let down and disappointment. He owns the most popular sport team in Michigan. Fans like to point out their finger on Ford Sr. for letting the organization become such a laughing stock. Lions have not won a championship yet and you count on both hands how many winning season they had overall under his ownership. What people don’t understand is that he actually doesn’t make decisions for the team. He lets his General Managers take the keys and run the Detroit Lions Franchise as their vehicle. He just watches the games and hopes the team brings wins and joy for pride to the city that is known for being the world’s largest automotive center. Unfortunately winning football games hasn’t been high and it has been bothering the Ford family because of the fans emotions and dislikes of the team’s performance for decades.
The Lions are known under the tutelage of Matt Millen who was a former General Manager, who brought the lions to stink bottom of the barrel of the NFL. They broke records in losses and even made it to Ohio Canton for Hall of Fame for becoming the first NFL team to lose all games in a season during the 2008 season. After that season, the lions clean up the mess that was left behind the regime of Matt Millen and started rebuilding by spending their first overall pick on Georgia Quarterback Mathew Stafford. The lions became a laughing stock under Millen and people in Detroit started to stop going to games which cost money to the Ford family. The lions in fact had the most blacked out games during the 2008 season than any other team. Ford Sr. son Bill Ford jr. stepped into the picture because he got tired of the loosing and wanted to see change in the organization after watching to team just clearly loose and loose under the Millen regime.
William Clay Ford is now 88 years old. Most of the Lion fans can’t stand him for a second. They are just mad and disappointed. There is no clue if there will ever be public sentiment that can ever change. Even with a Super Bowl appearance and win. Ford Jr is the next generation of the Lions when his father past. He cold be the enigma long after Ford Sr. is gone. He was actually the voice that got fans happy when he said he would fire Matt Millen if he was in charge of the Lions. A week later, his father fired Matt Millen after the third game of the 2008 season in which the Lions went 0 – 16. The Lions are doing better now. Since the 2008 season, they only had one winning season which was during the 2011 season when they went for a record 11 – 5. It seems like now the organization are making better decisions.Bibliography
Detroit Lions Website. "Administration." Audio RSS. N.p., 18 Apr. 2013. Web. 18 Apr. 2013.
Magee, David. "Detroit Lions Undefeated: Ford Motor Chairman Bill Ford Jr.'s Next Big Accomplishment?" International Business Times. N.p., 18 Apr. 2013. Web. 18 Apr. 2013.
Rosenberg, Michael. "Lions Fans Love to Hate Ownership, but the Ford Family Does Care." SI.com. N.p., 18 Apr. 2013. Web. 18 Apr. 2013.
No comments:
Post a Comment