Hurdle Compares Rockies to Lions

Colorado Rockies manager Clint Hurdle compared his team to the Detroit Lions.  He said the '06 Rockies were very similar to the '07 Lions in the sense that they did great in the first half of the season before quickly crumbling down the stretch.

"I felt the same way about the Rockies as I feel about the Lions, that they'd have their day, and then they'd be off and running," Hurdle said. "Rod and I talked about the common fabric of their '07 season and our '06 season. Because in '06, we were on top of the division after the All-Star break, and within a three-week period we had fallen to the bottom of the division."

As you may or may not know, the Rockies got all the way to the World Series in 2007.  So if the comparision holds true, that means we're going to the Super Bowl!  Okay, maybe for the Lions it would mean getting to .500.

I imagine Hurdle hopes the comparision holds true as much as anyone since he is from Michigan.  I'm assuming he's a Lions fan as he talked with Rod Marinelli during the Rockies' recent three-game series at the Tigers. 

"I told him we'd get together and share some of the lessons I think I learned from that ('06) season," Hurdle said. "You never know how close you really are."

That last sentence from Hurdle is very true.  The Lions could have kept their season alive in a few games last year had only one play or two been different.  For example, remember that near upset of the Dallas Cowboys?  Well, it would have been an upset if Paris Lenon could fall on a fumbled ball.  Remember the close game against the Super Bowl champion Giants?  If Jon Kitna didn't make a dumb pass or if Shaun McDonald didn't tip a ball to a defender that game could have gone the Lions' way as well.  In that sense, Hurdle is correct, the Lions truly could have been pretty close to the playoffs or at least .500.