Coatsville Linkblog

Link: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061016/SPORTS01/610160414/1049

A-Freakin'-men!

Article on the ineptness of Matt Millen (and the blindness of the Fords):

The worst kind of hangover is a champagne hangover. And the worst kind of champagne hangover is when you wake up, head throbbing, and realize you are a Lions fan.

Twenty hours after Magglio Ordonez's pennant-clinching home run for the Tigers, the Lions walked off the Ford Field turf with their first win of the season. Somehow, the atmosphere was not quite the same.

The Lions' 20-17 win over Buffalo was their first victory in six tries this season. When Lions President and CEO Matt Millen said Dick Jauron would help his team play better, I don't think this is what he meant.

Eleven months ago, remember, Millen fired Steve Mariucci and made Jauron the interim coach. And when he did, Millen made it clear that the Lions were ready to win consistently.

"The talent is there," Millen said then. "We have not played up to that talent."

Why fire Mariucci in midseason?

"We have five games to prove we are what we think we are," Millen said then.

The Lions were 4-7 when they fired Mariucci.

They are 2-9 since.

The Lions were optimistic after Sunday's win, and for good reason. It was their first win under coach Rod Marinelli, who seems to command the players' respect in a way that Mariucci did not. Marinelli got the game ball, but he kept talking about the "process," and the Lions know precisely what he means.

"We'll be back tomorrow with the coaches stressing the same things they did last week," left tackle Jeff Backus said, "Fundamentals and details."

Good for Marinelli, and good for the Lions. But I wonder if Bill Ford Sr. and Jr. even remember their conversations with Millen last season. Do they remember Millen pinning the team's failure on the coach? Do they see the team a year later, basically building from the ground up?

If you are a Lions fan searching for hope (and is there any other kind?), then you must believe in Marinelli. See, Marinelli was clear that beating Buffalo was nice, but it was just a small step. Millen argued last year that the team was close to contention.

"Quite frankly," Millen said last fall, "we have not lived up to our expectations. I believe we've underachieved as a football team."

The Lions have a first-year coach who deserves the benefit of the doubt and a sixth-year general manager who does not. Marinelli is 1-5, which is no big deal -- lots of great coaches have started poorly. But Millen is 22-64.

"I also believe we have not developed our younger players," Millen said upon elevating Jauron, "and that's bothersome."

Ah. The "younger players" defense -- it deserves its own chapter in the Failed Sports Executive Handbook. Sunday afternoon, designated young guys Kevin Jones and Roy Williams put on quite a show.

Jones ran for 127 yards. Williams contributed 10 catches, 161 yards and his requisite inane post-game comment: "I know the fans are disappointed in us because we're 1-5, which isn't very good. But they know what kind of football team we have. We have a good football team."

The Lions are in the middle of the NFL in total offense and near the bottom in total defense. A good football team? Are we grading on a curve?

As Williams and Jones showed, the Lions have some good young players. But six years after Millen took control, they still don't have enough of them.

And as long as we're flashing back to old Lions press conferences, let's go back to January 2001, when Millen was hired.

"We're about in the middle (of the NFL), 0-5 in playoff games," Ford Jr. said then, "and that's just not good enough."

Look at what has happened since Millen showed up: The Pistons won a championship. The Red Wings won a championship. The Shock won two championships. The Michigan State men's basketball team made two Final Fours and the women's team made one. The Michigan football team is contending for a national title. And now the Tigers are in the World Series.

For years, you could stuff the Tigers and Lions into the same Hefty bag. But now Comerica Park and Ford Field have only one thing in common: Fans in both buildings love to chant, "Fire Millen!"