Hopeful hearts

The average price for a gallon of gas when the Detroit Lions last appeared in an NFC title game was $1.19. Just under $3 a gallon in Michigan, our boys in Honolulu Blue could have used some premium high octane against San Francisco before they ran out of steam after blowing a 17-point lead at the half last Sunday.

The Lions came in as underdogs, but they sure didn’t play like it in the first half. Stagnant and stunned, the 49ers were behind 24-7 after two quarters.

But like that old saying about the month of March, Detroit came in like lions and went out like lambs. From roaring beasts to gentle giants.

Not something you want from a team playing in the NFC championship. Sadly, they lost, 34-31. Talk about getting stung.

Afterward, Lions head coach Dan Campbell rubbed his teary red eyes, wiped his nose and said: “You feel like you got your heart ripped out.”

Indeed. And so did those of us who believed this was their moment to live out the dream and play in Super Bowl LVIII on February 11 in Las Vegas. But the football gods were against us.

The last time the Lions were in this position was more than 30 years ago at the end of the 1991 season. Detroit had won their last six regular-season games, then trounced the Dallas Cowboys, 38-6, in their NFC division playoff game.

In the next round’s NFC title game, Detroit trailed 17-10 at the half against Washington. What followed wasn’t pretty: The Lions got battered as the then-named Redskins scored 24 more points to win 41-10.

Not much left to be said about that loss – or the one last Sunday against San Francisco. But it got me thinking about what I was doing 32 years ago when Detroit lost to Dallas on that fateful 12^th day of January in 1992:

I was 31 years old and working nights on the news copy desk at The News-Journal in Wilmington, Delaware. Professionally, I liked my job and colleagues. The dismal pay, shift work and midweek days off? Not so much.

It wasn’t exactly where I expected to be after a decade of newspaper reporting and copy editing under my belt. Plus, I was among a group of newsroom activists who had tried to organize a union at the paper, which was owned by Gannett Co. Inc. (they also own the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press).

The company wasn’t keen on negotiating with us and The Newspaper Guild, even though a majority of employees had signed authorization cards in favor of it. For eight years, Gannett refused to bargain a first contract, using every union-busting dirty trick and intimidation tactic under the sun to wear us down.

It worked. The stress of it all nearly broke me. I can still recall sitting across the bargaining table from the company’s labor lawyer in a fancy suit. We used to say he breathed through his eyes. All he ever said was, “No.”

Personally, life was good. I was still in my first long-term relationship and pretty happy. My partner and I had a medium-sized mixed breed dog and rented a modest suburban townhouse in Newark, a Wilmington suburb.

Who knew that four years later we would split up and I’d move back to Michigan for a PR job with the UAW to rebuild my life after living away from my family for nearly 13 years? Best thing I ever did.

I was such a hot mess that I could barely eat and weighed 135 pounds, thanks to the “breakup” diet. Works every time. Not recommended.

That was half a lifetime ago for me – and the Lions did not make it back to an NFC division playoff game until January 21, 2024, when they beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Ford Field in Detroit, 31-23.

Honestly, it was worth the wait. I even teared up after the victory.

Last Sunday’s loss to San Francisco was tough. We all rooted so hard for them. Kept the faith and trusted our guts that they weren’t the “Same Old Lions.”

They weren’t – aren’t – and gave us a magical season playing their hearts out, even if some of ours were broken in the process. I’m grateful I got to see it in my lifetime. But I shudder to think we must wait another three decades for them to make it to the Super Bowl.

I’d like to see them go all the way while I still have my teeth, you know what I’m saying?

I’m encouraged to hear the Lions head coach will be back, along with their offensive coordinator. Our quarterback’s contract is up at the end of this season.

Hope springs eternal.