Adiós Mornhinweg...


Marty Mornhinweg is not a smart man. No one doubts that. Judging him solely by the decisions he made on the field, he will go down as the worst and least bright Lion's head football coach in history, and with Wayne Fontes and Monty Clark on that list, that's saying quite a bit about Marty. A couple weeks ago when Millen assured him that his job was safe, I realized that the whole Lions franchise was in serious trouble for the next 5 to 10 years. Upon reaching this conclusion, I was left feeling somewhat content.

The Lions have always been bad. They've always made poor player and coach decisions. They draft terrible players and do everything they can to get rid of the good ones. And have you ever seem 'em melt down when they do make the playoffs? It's comical. It's a curse. But you know what?

I still love them for it. I settle in every September and watch them get blown out by good teams and bad ones. Expansion teams and dynasties. It didn't matter. That's what I had expected them to do and it was ok with me.


Marty epitomized everything wrong and right about the Lions. His play-calling and decision making this year was absolutely astounding. I heard his wife wouldn't even talk to him for a couple days after declining the ball in OT back in November. But you know what, that's we have come to expect from the Lions and from their coaching. Marty's not alone in this. I think the Fords have a special place in their heart for bad coaching and leadership. Honestly, who would put Matt Millen in control of their team? That's the equivalent of letting an 8 year old run a chocolate factory. Sure the kid may love him some chocolate, but that doesn't mean he knows how to run a company.


But I'm getting off topic here. Back to the point. I read story after story about the firing of Marty. How the players reacted. Why he got canned (as if we didn't know). I was really enjoying myself, until it hit me, and I read this article.


A lot of emotions ran through me all at once. It was bound to happen at some point. The Lions, dare I say it, would hire a real coach. Mariucci is a real coach. He's won games in the playoffs. He has emotion and fire. Players like him and respect him (absolutely unheard of in the D). We may actually be able to pull in free agents now who aren't head cases or walking injuries. His reputation as a coach will only guarantee that the Lions get better. And then the panic set in....


Mariucci could change everything that I have come to love about the Lions. Gone may be the days, when the Solomon men could drink lots of beer and Lion bash on Sundays. Gone may be the days, when we go 9 - 7, and get pummeled 42 - 7 in the NFC wildcard game. Gone may be the days, when I could say, great first round pick Lions, on draft day, and sure enough, two years later, he's been placed on waivers. Everything that I've ever known that could possibly be fun about the Lions, is in danger. I don't know if I could handle the emotion roller-coaster that wins and playoff talk could impose on me with a Mariucci-led Lion squad. I know the city of Detroit couldn't handle it. The Wings are always dominate. Joe Dumars has recreated the new millennium version of the Bad Boys. And now local boy, Mariucci, wants to come home and rebuild the Lions? I think I just wet myself.


Can Mariucci do it? Surely. Will it take a couple years? No doubt...he's not a miracle worker. The French Legion could drive us down the field for a score. But it sure is going to be fun to watch this one go down....or up...sorry, that's my old Lions attitude talking....