Lions Uncaged

Lions fans waited....and waited....and waited for hours before the doors were officially opened. Last Saturday was the open practice down at Ford Field. The doors didn't open until noon, but fans waited outside the stadium at 8:30am that morning. What made it more interesting was the fact that it was raining hard non-stop the whole time. You would have never known that this team had finished 0-16 the previous year. It was like we had just won the Super Bowl. Fans ran to the pro shop to buy up anything they can lay their hands on. Yes, there was an autograph signing that more than likely led to the huge crowd(over 15,000 fans attended the practice). When the doors opened the fans immediately went to get player autographs. Stafford, Delmas, Coach Schwartz, and surprisingly Jon Jansen's lines were a few of the longer autograph lines. These fans came in soaking wet but looked like they were enjoying every moment of it, as long as they were getting their autographs.

More importantly was the sense of change in the atmosphere. To steal a line from President Obama, it felt like "Change We Can Believe In". In previous years the fans showed up, but it was more to see if Millen's latest draft pick will be a bust or not. This year it was more to see all the changes that had been implemented. Fans wanted to see 1st overall pick Matthew Stafford.(And when he came onto the field he received a huge standing ovation). They wanted to see how Coach Schwartz runs the team in practice. Yea sure the team still has holes, but at least the fans will be okay if they saw that Coach Schwartz was a real coach. The fans just wanted to see the change from the previous eight years of Millen. They wanted to see the new logo on the field. They wanted to see "Change That We Can Believe In".