ESPN article on Lions owner Sheila Ford
The more attention this dogshit franchise gets the better chance there will be a change. I know they'll never sell though.
Side note this if my first time posting to the board so sorry if this link isn't correct.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/29945133/can-detroit-lions-owner-shelia-ford-hamp-life-experience-turn-franchise
September 23rd, 2020 at 9:46 AM ^
The pro sports franchise in the history of professional sports.
Fire everyone and burn it to the ground
September 23rd, 2020 at 12:12 PM ^
I wouldn't "burn it to the ground" but it needs drastic changes top to bottom. Sheila has big decisions to make and very soon. Don't wait until the end of the season, either.
September 23rd, 2020 at 2:10 PM ^
I'm always curious when people want change this way. What difference does it make whether they do it now or at the end of the last game? Let Patricia run it into the ground and then make a change. Knowing the way they do things, whomever they make interim coach will win enough that he gets to keep the job.
September 23rd, 2020 at 1:56 PM ^
Cleveland tried that already. They moved to Baltimore. Then Cleveland got another franchise and they still suck. Detroit could try that but it’s like shuffling a 52 card deck of 4s hoping to hit blackjack.
September 23rd, 2020 at 2:06 PM ^
I think you left out an adjective or two.
September 23rd, 2020 at 6:35 PM ^
Lol I didn't even notice.
September 23rd, 2020 at 9:47 AM ^
No argument on the state of the lions, but seems like a weird article to link to make that point.
September 23rd, 2020 at 1:08 PM ^
It's linked because we want to believe! In Sheila we trust! That Sheila is a saint among the living is what will put us over the top! I'm getting my season tickets as soon as I stop typing this...
No, I lied. I'm not lining up for Lions season tickets. One semi-serious thing however, Michael Rothstein should hang his head in shame over his linked article. It's like he spent 10 minutes writing it. I'm sure Sheila Ford Hamp is credit to the human race. And has done very good things for her community. But, uh...yeah...y' know ...football? Does she really know anything about running a pro football team? If she does she surely didn't learn it from her parents.
September 23rd, 2020 at 9:48 AM ^
As a fan, we need new owners.
However, owning and NFL team is extremely lucrative and they won’t sell the team anytime soon.
September 23rd, 2020 at 10:38 AM ^
It's because people still fill the stadium (when not in a pandemic) regardless of how bad the Lions are.
Detroit is clearly a football town. When the other 3 teams aren't good, people don't go. The Lions have no problems filling seats. Fine, there are only 8 opportunities each year, but still, make them less profitable and maybe the family will finally sell.
September 23rd, 2020 at 12:33 PM ^
The lions are perhaps the most hapless sports organization of all time.
After watching Ford vs Ferrari it became apparent to me that the Fords have enough money to buy success if they want it enough. They were pissed at Enzo and kicked his ass.
They just don’t care enough to work at building the football franchise - so I just can’t watch the wankers.
September 23rd, 2020 at 9:52 AM ^
This post seems really weird given that the article is about her inviting Henry Louis Gates Jr to speak to the team about racial justice and reconciliation.
September 23rd, 2020 at 10:31 AM ^
I'm not going to lie, that was actually a pretty glowing article about her approach to leadership and how she approaches challenges. I'm also like, "Dang, I wish I was on the purple Rampage. That team sounds sweet". I'd like to think the assistant coach she brought on was some recently retired international soccer star, like Fat Ronaldo, who she paid to come coach.
September 23rd, 2020 at 11:29 AM ^
I was on that team (my mom was the assistant coach mentioned) and it was really fun. Sheila is an amazing person.
September 23rd, 2020 at 12:45 PM ^
Your brother is the man.
September 23rd, 2020 at 11:41 AM ^
Yeah. After having a chance to read the article I thought it exposed some really interesting stuff and I appreciated reading it. I hope that she's able to bring that same focus on outcomes and success to the Lions.
September 23rd, 2020 at 9:52 AM ^
Sheila is an amazing person and has done a ton for the Ann Arbor community. She is WAY more qualified to be the Lions owner, compared to her father. I'm excited to see what she can do over the next 5 years.
September 23rd, 2020 at 9:57 AM ^
Wow. What an interesting article. I expected either a puff piece or an attack. Though it does tend toward happy-talk puffery, it's got enough details to suggest Sheile Ford Hamp might actually change the Lions.
The article's opening, about her support for athletes speaking up, is both a little off the point about Black rights and precisely what may make a difference about the Lions, that she's willing to shake things up AND listen to other people.
September 23rd, 2020 at 12:17 PM ^
Yup, she didn't just talk (actually, I'm not sure if she said anything in the press), she actually helped educate her players on racial justice and how they could enact change. Not only is that the right thing to do, it's a way to get her players and players on other teams actually want to play for the Lions.
Clearly, an article that shows that she's way in over her head???
September 23rd, 2020 at 10:00 AM ^
Purple Rose Theater in Chelsea, MI.
BTW, the article mentions her work with Jeff Daniels' Purple Rose Theater. If you're around Ann Arbor, it's a good little theater, professional productions of fun plays, like one about Yoopers and another about baseball.
September 23rd, 2020 at 10:11 AM ^
Can't believe I'm the first here to note this passage:
"The main thing that sticks out to me now is how much you would never know that Sheila was a Ford or a member of a family of that stature or was that well off," said Ace Anbender, one of the kids-turned-adults Hamp coached on her son Peter's team. "She was very much like your average soccer mom turned coach."
She sounds like a great person, and the complete antithesis of the stereotype of the entitled, spoiled rich kid.
Unfortunately, that doesn't mean she'll be any more successful at assembling a winning franchise than her Ford forebears were.
"After decades of watching, she spent five years at her mother's side. Part of it was apprenticeship, but she had input on massive moves, including retaining general manager Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia last year..."
The article doesn't say whether or not she personally wanted to retain Quinn and Patricia, although it implies she did.
September 23rd, 2020 at 10:15 AM ^
You just beat me to it! Do we have a channel now to ownership?? ACE- repeat after me- "Sell the team!" Make it you mantra, get it in her head by any means possible!
September 23rd, 2020 at 10:16 AM ^
You just beat me to it! Do we have a channel now to ownership?? ACE- repeat after me- "Sell the team!" Make it you mantra, get it in her head by any means possible!
September 23rd, 2020 at 10:16 AM ^
You're the only person who bothered to read the whole article
September 23rd, 2020 at 10:15 AM ^
Sell the team to Bezos.
September 23rd, 2020 at 10:16 AM ^
No thanks
September 23rd, 2020 at 10:19 AM ^
If she were going to sell the team, I'd much rather Roger Penske buy it than a Lex Luthor lookalike.
September 23rd, 2020 at 10:42 AM ^
He is halfway into his grave and who knows what the future will hold after he dies or steps down due to health issues.
Gilbert has his own health issues, and the Lions would likely put him in an earlier grave. Not sure of other potential suitors. But this all implies that the Fords are willing to sell, and I see no reason to believe that they are willing to sell. Lions the second least valuable team in the NFL behind Buffalo, and are still worth $1.5 billion, and that is likely only going to increase once you account for new TV rights.
September 23rd, 2020 at 10:29 AM ^
How about a bald man with real money?
September 23rd, 2020 at 11:09 AM ^
I second that idea.
Oddly enough, there is a connection between the Lions and the old USSR:
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1991-10-27-9102130548-story.html
September 23rd, 2020 at 12:55 PM ^
Thanks for the new Twitter avatar, Don! Looks great, and much better than the current one:
September 23rd, 2020 at 11:05 AM ^
Bezos would relocate the team. Don't want him as the owner.
September 23rd, 2020 at 12:08 PM ^
The NFL would never, ever approve that. I could see some other teams moving - maybe Jacksonville - and I could see them approving expansion teams. The Lions are not moving.
September 23rd, 2020 at 1:09 PM ^
Why wouldn't the NFL approve moving the Lions if it would make the league more money? They approved moving the Browns, the Colts, the Rams (several times), the Raiders, etc, etc. The NFL could care less about anything other than money. If they can make more, they will approve the Lions moving. The franchise is an embarrassment to the league and to professional sports entertainment generally.
September 23rd, 2020 at 2:05 PM ^
Exactly, hell yeah they would allow with a solid business plan. I would gladly go a year without Lions football if it meant we would be done with the goddamn Ford family.
How do you go 60 years without nothing? You should have at least played for a title on accident in that time span.
September 23rd, 2020 at 3:04 PM ^
The Lions make money and there would be an uprising if there was an attempted relocation. Ownership sale is more likely. The Fords aren't going to relocate the team voluntarily. The only way they relocate is if they're sold. What is the point of relocating them if they have been sold and where are you relocating them?
All the major markets have teams. Maybe Austin/San Antonio? I've heard Omaha and maybe Portland? None of those are bigger markets than Michigan.
September 23rd, 2020 at 10:04 PM ^
Zero chance the league relocates an original team with a large fan base in a large market. There’s a reason no Detroit teams ever get relocated.
September 23rd, 2020 at 3:21 PM ^
Jacksonville’s current owner is very vested in the team and there is zero talk of the team possibly relocating in the future. Unless Shad Khan passes unexpectedly the Jags aren’t going anywhere.
September 23rd, 2020 at 2:34 PM ^
Id personally be ecstatic if the Lions got relocated. Good riddance. Id take an expansion team in a heart beat. Or frankly no team is still preferable to the one weve got.
September 23rd, 2020 at 3:36 PM ^
I’m with you. Get this garbage ass franchise out of town. I’m more than willing to risk the NFL not returning to Detroit to be done with the Lions and their legacy of losing once and for all.
September 23rd, 2020 at 10:28 AM ^
I'm confused. This article seems to paint her in a very good light?
September 23rd, 2020 at 10:30 AM ^
Even Mother Teresa couldn't save the Lions.
September 23rd, 2020 at 10:33 AM ^
Can Detroit Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp's lifetime experience turn around the franchise?
lets see
Art History major. Check
In favor of social justice. Check
Played Tennis. Check
Coached kids soccer, and probably always had orange slices ready for their timeout. Check
Yes, it sure does look like she can turn this franchise around!
In all seriousness she sounds like a great person but this article just seems like they paid espn.com to write it.
September 23rd, 2020 at 10:41 AM ^
Agreed. I’m glad she’s a nice lady & that she was nice to Ace. Otherwise there is nothing in the article that suggests she has a clue. This absolutely comes across as paid puffery, albeit sophisticated & of the moment puffery, but puffery nonetheless.
September 23rd, 2020 at 1:56 PM ^
Her greatest accomplishment in life was sliding out of Martha Firestone's vagina.
Based on the article, her next great accomplishments were the ability to hire someone (through family connections) to turn around a struggling non-profit. Maybe she's the right person for the Lions.
September 23rd, 2020 at 11:08 AM ^
"Can Detroit Lions owner Sheila Ford Hamp's lifetime experience turn around the franchise?"
no. it can't.
September 23rd, 2020 at 2:11 PM ^
It can... as soon as we change over to Sarcastaball!
September 23rd, 2020 at 4:15 PM ^
i've never seen that gif before.
funny, i want to punch south park manning in the face every bit as much as i do real life manning.
September 23rd, 2020 at 11:32 AM ^
So this article seems to paint Ford in a pretty flattering light as a thoughtful owner who supports her players and their political positions. Like, you can point at the bad drafts and coaching but "hey, this owner wants to let her players know she recognizes that racism is a real issue and supports them protesting it" doesn't feel like a black mark against her unless your position is those are bad things to support. In which case, maybe want to make that more explicit.