Eric Thomas: Coping With Contentment
This is weird. I don't think any of us know how to deal with this right now. Here we are in the beginning of September, and we have no reason to complain. The Tigers have been casually putting division rivals away, squashing the dreams of a pennant chase in Chicago, Cleveland and (gasp!, no way!) Minneapolis. The optimism of Lions fans really doesn't seem delusional this year, what with the national punditry cooing about Stafford and Suh, annointing Martin Mayhew a model of how to turn around a disaster. The Lions are even getting healthy coming out of preseason! What gives?
You will have to forgive us if many don't know how to proceed. We feel a little bit like Bruce Willis' character from the movie "12 Monkeys". We are collectively out of our element. There is usually some crater left by a Detroit sports team at this point. We are trying to gripe about lackluster MSU and UofM performances but our hearts just aren't in it. Deep down, we all know that it's way to early and the first game of a college football season is always a horrible barometer (yes, especially Appalachian State).
We keep sticking to our self defense mechanisms. We wave our hands in front of the delusional optimists. "Bah! Remember 2 years ago when (insert horrible, embarrassing collapse that applies to both the Lions and Tigers)!? I fell for it then and I am not falling for it now!", but as much as the gruff Detroit sports fan says that, he or she does not believe it. This does look different. Both rosters have gotten talent upgrades, and the less talented players are playing well. In the last 5 games, Austin Jackson has a .550 average. I swear. I reloaded it twice. Yes, the same Austin Jackson that plays for the Tigers. Even the most hardened sports snob is slathering themselves with blue paint and getting ready to scream "Suuuuuuuuuh" among a sold out crowd of fellow suffering Lions fans.
I will admit I am not used to this either. Detroit has never been a city accustomed to a sunny day. It's just not like us to sit at a bar and say "Everything is so awesome!". I have been in many bars in Detroit and that has never, ever happened. I am far more accustomed to someone screaming about Leyland isn't aggressive enough, or how Matt Millen ruined their thirties. Sports conversation these days consists of phrases like "looking good" or "they really got a chance". Both active pro sports teams are garnering rave reviews with A+ talent! I keep checking out my window for other signs of the apocalypse.
This of course, can't last. The parity of the NFL demands adversity for every team, and the TIgers are not going to beat the Phillies. But for now we just have to live in this half life. We watch our teams turn in convincing, dominating performances. We watch Stafford and Verlander throw. We can watch Suh and Cabrera hit. We sit next to our friends and family awkwardly, saying "not bad" and "nice play" occasionally. Kinda nice, isn't it?
