OT: Ok, I'll do it. Lions-Cardinals open thread

I simply idolized Barry from age 7-18. I mean borderline worship between age 7-15, especially. I just realized when he retired that the love I had for the Lions was more Barry. The first Lions game without him was when I realized I was indifferent and didn't really like the NFL. I was just as much of a Lions fan as I was Michigan until I was about 14-15. Then, I just realized that the Lions didn't care about winning anymore because they had Barry. He filled the seats so they made their money. I was stunned by his retirement for about a single minute and then I heard his letter why and was understanding. He stopped loving the game because he stopped believing he was a part of a team that cared about winning and wasn't using him, IMO. I also remembered WHO Barry was and that's just how he's have gone out - no sobbing press conference but a quiet "My desire to leave is stronger than my desire to play". He owed the Lions and the fans NOTHING and it bothered me that many fans became so angry. He was why they watched the Lions so I think that's where the anger came from but I knew. I just stopped caring because it wasn't the Lions I thought I'd get that nervous pregame stomach for all those years, it was Barry. With Michigan it was MICHIGAN. With the Lions it was Barry. It took one game after his retirement to realize that. One game. Hence my overwhelming love of Michigan Football and my borderline indifference to the Lions/NFL. Finally, there has to be something about the Lions, Ford family or Detroit that keeps top coaches away. Think about the last hire: We have Johnson, Stafford, Suh and a supporting cast that a good HC could win with, IMHO. Yet, Caldwell was the only guy that wanted the job that wasn't completely unproven on his resume'. Wisenhunt was supposedly going to take it and left for a depleted Titan team the second they came calling! What does that say? Even when he had Barry Sanders and cap room, guys like Parcells and Johnson wouldn't even talk to the Lions. Maybe they knew the Fords wouldn't spend it or would meddle? I don't know but they have to be an issue because we had a window to win and nobody wanted the job, as usual. Calvin Johnson, Stafford, Suh and nobody wanted it. Why? Barry Sanders, Herman Moore, etc and nobody wanted it. Why? It has to be the Fords and they'll never sell because the Lions actually prop up the family wealth beside Ford Motor Company. It's a fallback. They've used football money in their other businesses. I'd love it if they sold to Illich or someone that cared about winning but you can't lose money as an NFL owner on a yearly basis. The NFL is designed that way, to share profits and players actually have to add to a fund to build stadiums, etc. Why would they sell a business that guarantees they'll never go broke? They're not Internet billionaires, Wall Street hustlers or "new money" owners but a family in a now volatile business that was once turning steel into gold. They'll never sell the Lions and, IMO, that's why the Lions will always have a star or two but never win big. They don't care and coaches know it. Those in the league know the Lions do the bare minimum required by the NFL so they can make their millions a year in profit, win or lose. They don't realize that they can make SO MUCH MORE if they win. Teams that win on a yearly basis (NE, PIT, GB, etc) make insane money and they rarely field bad teams for a reason. It's not an accident that the NFL has about 5 teams that are always assumed to be playoff contenders. They invest in the team beyond a few players and a new stadium every 40 years. I'll always say I'm a Lions fan but I don't care and haven't in over a decade. If they hypothetically won the SB this year (lol) I wouldn't start acting like I always cared, btw. I don't care. I'd just like to be an average fan again. I'd like to have half as much love for the Lions as I do Michigan but I don't think they'll ever let me. I won't even go deep into the 'sell sword', "I go where in paid the most" nature of the NFL that I hate. I just hate when a great QB or a player themselves are given a shot by one team - ONE team grabbed them as an UDFA or the like - and they go from nobody to a star. Then it's time to be a FA and they bolt to another team that offered $25k more per year on a $30M deal. Ya know? No loyalty, 100% business. Who could be a mega-fan of that? As Brian says: "those Lowe's commercials are a disgrace, especially on Saturdays". Who is so into the NFL that they do yard work on Saturday to sit at home wearing facepaint and root for guys that seemingly couldn't give a shit less once they make a team? Who could love that system where they're is no loyalty, everyone is a sell sword for their talent and they come back to the team that made them only after bombing out with the team they left for when cut after the 2nd year of their 5 year deal? Make money but was $25k a year worth leaving? I don't get who could love that. I'll end this novel. Sorry I couldn't format/space/paragraph on app.