So yet another team that joined the National Football League after the Lions -- in this case, 42 years afterward -- has made it to a Super Bowl. Fitting that it should be played in the Lions' own building. That's a slap in the face and a kick in the teeth, for good measure.
The Seattle Seahawks, born in 1976, qualified for their first ever try for Vince's trophy with a resounding 34-14 beating of the Carolina Panthers in the NFC Championship yesterday. It might be appropriate to mention that the Panthers, too, are one of those teams who entered the NFL long after the Lions but reached a Super Bowl long before them. In fact, in their 11-year history, the Panthers have already played in three NFC title games. The Lions, in 36 seasons of NFC play, have participated in one.
All the rage around town, as well it should be, is the homecoming of Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis. Detroit Mackenzie High School is about to be mentioned about 15,000 times between now and the Big Game, it being the alma mater of Bettis, who is soon to be 34 years of age and headed for almost certain retirement, whether the Steelers beat the Seahawks or not.
I'm very happy for Bettis -- I semi-boldly predicted this would happen in Saturday's post -- and he absolutely will be the story, at least around these parts, as we prepare for two weeks of mostly meaningless drivel. And you should be happy, too -- as long as you do realize you are going to be absolutely sick of the man by kickoff.
But it is the appearance of the Seahawks, I am telling you, that should be the issue. I think it is wonderful for Detroit to have two of its own in town for XL: Bettis, and the tough, blue-collar town of Pittsburgh. But to have the Seahawks here, with their 30 year-old, whippersnapper selves and their matinee idol quarterback and their incongruous history, isn't so wonderful.
When XVI came to the Silverdome in 1982, both teams were making their Super Bowl debuts: the San Francisco 49'ers and the Cincinnati Bengals. But the game was that much younger itself, so having two newbies wasn't all that big a deal.
But Super Bowl first timers, now that the game is XL years old, aren't as easy to come by. When you look at some of the squads that have actually made the big one -- Tennessee, Baltimore, Tampa Bay and, yes, Carolina -- you realize that a franchise has to be pretty cocked up for a pretty long time to not get at least one try at Vinnie's silver football.
The Buccaneers, for example, were about as slapstick as they come when they joined the league in '76, along with Seattle. But they made the NFC Championship Game in 1979, in just their fourth year in existence. Then they veered off into various other dryspells, before returning to glory in the late 90's, resulting in a world's title in 2002-03.
The Titans were the old Houston Oilers, a franchise known mainly for losing, save a few years of success in the late 70's and late 80's. The Ravens were the old Cleveland Browns and mostly miserable when they fled for Crab Country. The Panthers joined the league in 1995 and were already in a conference championship game in their third year.
The Lions, a member of the NFL since 1934 and the NFC since 1970, keep getting stranded at the station, watching train after train leave, their fellow league members hopping on an off.
And now another team, the Seahawks, who until two weeks ago hadn't won a playoff game in 21 years, gets to hop on that train after their own lengthy period of dysfunction.
So what happens when a train collides with a Bus, anyway?
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