They have Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson in Detroit, and their extra points will be easily converted.

The long leg and steady kick of longtime Lion Jason Hanson will be missed, I believe. He was my favorite Lion overall, because so many times, when the offense sputtered, he would at least get the three points, often keeping them in the game over the two-plus decades he played.

Two keys to his greatness. He made most of his kicks. And he could be counted on from a long ways off.

Good luck in your next career.

In one sense, say perhaps for public safety and common decency, selling vast amounts of alcohol to tens of thousands of passionate football fans is not a good thing.

But to football fans, eating fun foods and drinking loads of beer while riding the highs and lows of the NFL, or whatever sport you like, but especially the NFL, is a great thing. It is to live.

However, at this weekend's wild card playoff game, involving the Minnesota Vikings visiting their hated rivals, the Green Bay Packers, they will limit beer and other alcohol sales, ending them at halftime.

Officials site the propensity at night football games for people, fans really, to allow themselves to be over-served, let's say. I have seen in the news lately, these last few weeks of the season, a couple of stories from Deadspin about Vikings fans and their, let's again say, enthusiasm.

This Deadspin story has an interesting Lions angle as it reports the increased levels of violence when the Packers play the Vikings or the Bears, highlighting a man's arrest for punching out a Packer fan while he, the culprit, wore a giant purple sombrero. Violence is much, much lower when the Lions play in Green Bay, prompting Deadspin to note, "It's official, then — no one cares about the Lions."

I had to laugh at the idea of the fan trying to flee and hide but being easily caught due to his headgear. Football fans are traditionally easy to fill the role of idiot.

Here are a couple of Lions fans, though, proving that we can drink and act stupid and even violent, just like they do in Wisconsin and Minnesota. I particularly like the way the other fans ganged up on the gals, wanting them to and then singing "na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye" when the cops finally arrive. They blew great endzone seats.

So Mr. Fist Pump didn't like the excitement that Jim Harbough, winning coach of Sunday's Lions-49ers game, showed during their post-game handshake?

Perhaps, but I'm not one to listen to the rumors as to the why when it comes to Sunday's post-game on-field near brawl.

Perhaps a swear word was uttered, something that would shock even me. Probably not, though.

I'm guessing that Schwartz lost his cool when confronted by a guy he wanted badly to beat. But what does this mean for the rest of the season?


It's up to Schwartz to prove this was either planned, to get attention off his ailing 2-minute offense, or just an aberration that he will recognize needs to be corrected. He's a young coach, so he can have his moment. Jon Gruden had his drunken driving arrest. Wayne Fontes had the little cocaine question. It doesn't have to define a season, and this season has been a remarkable campaign so far for the long-lowly Lions.

If you're a Lions fan, you have to hope this is something out of the ordinary as the season has been going so smoothly. A few losses, though, and all that changes. But a hot head who can't back down from a slight....oh my. Just wait for the press conferences.

It would be better than the 'your daughter should have married a better defensive coordinator' (still the best comment to sum up the entire Matt Millen era). It would top, PLAYOFFS? It would outdo Marty driving off on his motorcycle. It would equal a drunken rant in a Southfield restaurant (Sorry, Gary, I had to go into your college career as your pro career's only blemish was a missed field goal.)

Let's just hope that Schwartz will keep the headlines for his quarterback, his defensive line and his team's won-loss record, and not on his short temper and his sensitive nature.

Ok, these two headlines active right now on the freep.com are bringing back painful memories.

First is the obvious kick to the gut of everything decent in public life: Sam Riddle, convicted of corruption and serving time for his role in a bribery scheme in Detroit and Southfield, will be teaching an ethics course in federal prison.

Second is one that hurts the heart, as Matt Millen — he who boldly led the Lions through their darkest decade in what has been a half century of mostly misery — is declaring that many NFL teams would be interested in Ohio State's troubled QB, Terrelle Pryor. Avoid him like the plague if Millen would be interested!

Oh well, at least I can read Kwame Kilpatrick's autobiography and fell better about myself as I watch society wash down the drain.

Yes, we Lions have finally made it.... to the second-tier level of popularity?

Everyone is excited about the Detroit Lions playing a real Monday Night Football game, in October and against the Bears. I'm afraid, though, the people who should be most happy are from Chicago, as they can travel a short distance to see their team. I don't know if the Bears will crush the Lions, but based on recent years, early bets are the Bears. As for the night of the week, it's not that big a deal anymore.

But hey, it's still a night game, so a little bit of primetime celebration is in order.

I was at the last Monday Night Football hosted by the Lions, back in 2001 when a young Marty Mornhinweg was 0-2 and ready for his first win. New team president Matt Millen was ready to reinvent team leadership. I didn't watch the game; didn't need to, it turned out. However, I covered the fans excitement over being on the real MNF on ABC. It was the team's last season at the Pontiac Silverdome, so I ended up covering a few finals .... final Thanksgiving tailgate, final night game, final game.

The Lions ended up getting smoked by Mike Martz and Kurt Warner, 35-0, I believe. They would lose 10 more games before Marnhinweg got to celebrate a victory as a head football coach in a professional league. He didn't ride his Harley to practice to celebrate after that eventual win.

Of course, Mornhinweg's inaugural season ended 2-14. He improved with a 50 percent increase in wins in 2002, the first season in Ford Field in downtown Detroit, ending his career with a 5-27 record for a .154 winning percentage - lower even than Rod Marinelli's .200 career record with Detroit (which included the infamous 0-16 record).

Mornhinweg went on back to Philadelphia, where he leads the Eagles' offense. The Lions went downtown, where they have wowed the world with losing.

And MNF, well, it went to cable, where it is now the second-tier NFL showcase. Not to knock ESPN, but, they aren't like ABC or NBC. Instead of all the rowdy friends coming over on Monday, they come over on Sunday's now, where NBC has led a successful reinvention of how America watches football. It's not important on Monday; it's Sunday that is "football night in America."

But like every Lions fan believes, this is a new season. This could be the year. However, MNF isn't any kind of 'making it' or show of respect. That comes if we're still playing in January.