The Power of Hope.

Hope: the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best; a particular instance of this feeling; too look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence.

Hope, for this last decade, was a mostly meaningless word for Lions fans. There was no cause for hope, no reason to look towards the future; the present was bleak enough. That’s begun to change.

Yesterday, the Lions defeated the Minnesota Vikings 20-13 (I AM reasonably sure this happened) to take third place (aka NOT last place) in the NFC North for the first time since 2007. This firmly planted the seeds of hope in my sporting soul.

You see, I am a Lions fan, but I missed the Barry Sanders era. I personally don’t remember him running guys out of their shoes, twisting defenders into pretzels while striding towards the endzone. But I do have other memories.

Memories of guys like Bill Schroeder and Az-Zahir Hakim doing impersonations of #1 recievers. Memeries of Dre’ Bly’s antics, whether the Lions were up 7 or down 28. Memories of Shaun Rogers blocking field goals on one play and not giving anything remotely resembling a shit on the next.

But now, I have hope.

 

A Second Later, Delhomme was a splatter on the Ford Field turf.

There’s been reason to look forward with “reasonable confidence”. 0 wins to 2 wins to 6 wins. A clear identity on offense (get the ball to skill position guys in space) and defense (rush the hell out of the passer). A 3rd-and-15 conversion where before there was none. Never giving up at home. Never giving up on the road. Winning on the road. Winning TWO STRAIGHT on the road. Closing the season out strong. One can see the progress.

But now, I have fear.

I have dared to hope before. The Kitna-Martz era. The Drafting of Kevin Jones (yeah, I thought he was a game changer. Whiffed on that one). The day Rod Marinelli was fired. But because being a Lions fan means pain and suffering and INT’s and fumbles and punt returns for touchdowns and getting dreamcrushed on Thanksgiving on a yearly basis and bad drafting and KNOWING that God hates you on a weekly basis, I’ve had to abandon all hope like Dante on multiple occasions.

But no tunnel is endless; there has to be light at the end. The light starts small: A “SUUUUHHHH” chant. Jahvid Best turning the corner and heading upfield. Louis Delmas decapitating a guy over the middle. But the Lions looks like they’re headed towards that light. There looks to be reason to hope… so I will.

Lazarus Jackson is a writer and connoisseur of pro and college sports, especially Detroit-area pro teams. You can contact him at lazchancemsu@gmail.com or on Twitter at twitter.com/lazchance.