THE FRONT ROW with BRUCE BOURQUIN, Nov. 28, 2014
Maybe hell has frozen over, at least this year.
The football gods may be taking a nap.
Because so far, my father and grandfather's favorite teams, the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns, each have winning records deep into November.
SINCE I can remember as a young boy, my family always paid close attention to the Detroit Lions, win or lose, just about every year.
You see, I was born in Cleveland, Ohio, while my dad was born in Lima in northwest Ohio, roughly 125 miles north of Cincinnati. He grew up in the 1950s and 1960s watching the Lions and the Cleveland Browns, with my grandpa watching on television and before the '50s, listening to them on the radio.
But just to be clear, I'm not a Lions nor a Browns fan. Never have been. I'm a St. Louis Rams fan, a team which has non-winning issues of its own I won't go into here.
In fact, during the 1987 AFC Championship Game known as "The Drive", I happened to be a pretty big John Elway fan, so watching him march the Denver Broncos 98 yards for the game-tying touchdown with 37 seconds left in regulation, in a 23-20 overtime win, was pure joy for me, total misery for my dad and uncle.
I BEGAN watching the Lions, especially on Thanksgiving, during the Barry Sanders era of the 1990s. I was pretty lucky, watching that little guy with an internal joystick avoid would-be tacklers, go back 4 yards, turn on a dime, go backwards another few yards and then burn everyone for a 50-yard touchdown.
Other times, he'd simply gain some of the most entertaining 2 yards in NFL history, running around like the Road Runner avoiding Wile E. Coyote on a Saturday morning cartoon. So the game's been part of a nice family tradition.
The fact I have an uncle who is a diehard Lions fan and sees eternally optimistic about them, despite the fact they've never won a Super Bowl nor a playoff game since 1991 - think about the NFL's version of the Chicago Cubs - adds even more passion to the whole pot.
Overall, the teams have been pretty poor. The last time the Lions and my family's true favorite team, the Browns, made it to the playoffs at the same time, was 1994. I'm turning 37 years old this February, so that was my sophomore year in high school and I had yet to learn how to drive a car. Yikes!
Both teams are in playoff contention this season, with the Browns in a three-way tie with Baltimore and Pittsburgh for second place at 7-4. The fam's other favorite team, the Cincinnati Bengals, are 7-3-1 and in first place. So naturally, my dad and uncle are happy, for now anyway.
WELL, hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving holiday as a whole, with or without watching a football game, or two ... or three.
And for those who follow the Lions, the Browns or even both, give them a hug. Chances are, that fan may need it, following those teams.
Bruce Bourquin is a sports writer at The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2013, via email at [email protected] or via Twitter @bourq25