Here we go again.  The Lions are facing off against what will likely be just their second win (so far) this season and only their third win since the 6-2 start during the 2007-2008 season.  Due to the NFL Blackout Rules a lot of you will be robbed of the opportunity to sit in your favorite game day chair and watch the game in crystal clear HD on your big screen TV that ironically enough you purchased mostly for watching football.  Some may not share my opinion, but frankly the NFL Blackout Rule is Bull$#!t and serves virtually no real purpose at this point.  Regardless, there are ways of seeing the game. 

Starting with the obvious, and the reason the NFL created their blackout policies, buy tickets for the game directly from the Lions.  The drawback to this method, and the reason why games end up blacked out, is that tickets are expensive...and chances are your team is not exciting enough (at least to the masses) that people will suddenly flock to your website or to the ticket offices to snatch up the remaining 10,000 seats before they run out! 

If you prefer to stay home, the internet is a fantastic tool.  Rather than waiting for the game to be available on NFL.com (oh and there are blackout rules on there as well), why not see what's out there around game time.  I won't go in to listing several places where the game may be available, but if you guys want to help eachother out I would suggest being careful about it.  The bottom line is, that in another short sighted move the NFL would prefer to spend more energy protecting their product than they would actually making their product available to as many people as possible (and then figure out how to profit from it).  I'll stop short of going in to a rant about the rest of my thoughts regarding the NFL and their blackout policies, but unlike the NFL I recognize that some simply won't go downtown for a football game on Sundays.  Regardless of your reasons, I don't see why they should prevent you from watching your team play one of only eight games they get to play at home every year. 

As I mentioned already, the internet is great.  For those of you who don't like watching grainy digitized reproductions online, you can still use the world wide web to find yourself tickets.  This may not be as inexpensive as watching the game from the comfort of your own living room, but as long as you're not trying to trade sexual favors for tickets, you may be suprised to see some of the deals on there.  I'm assuming since you're reading this that you've at least figured out how to use the internet a little bit, but in case you are looking for sites to search for tickets I would suggest Craigslist or StubHub.  Believe me, there are literally hundreds if not thousands of others but if you're dilligent you should be able to "steal" some tickets for a very reasonable price online.  One note about any site you are using: make sure you get an idea of what the face value of the tickets are before you start searching.  As many good deals as there are out there, there are just as many morons who think that they can actually get someone to pay more than face value for a game that they could literally walk up to the box office to an hour before the game.  If you are one of these morons, I apologize, and good luck selling your $60 seat for $75 because they are "ONLY FOUR ROWS FROM THE FIELD!!!"

My favorite method still allows me to watch the game live, but for games that literally have thousands and thousands of seats available it is by far the cheapest way to find tickets.  Not only that, but I feel like I'm giving the NFL my personal F.U. by still attending the game but doing nothing to further fill the overstuffed pockets of the already wealthy NFL owners.  I'm not sure what the actual rules/laws are about scalping tickets, but they are loosely enforced at best.  From what I can tell, the only thing they won't let you do downtown is buy/sell tickets directly outside of the stadium.  When I say directly, I mean "directly"...I've actually seen an officer tell a guy that he needs to cross to the other side of Brush Street to sell his tickets.  If you've never done it before, here are some tips to buying tickets downtown:

1)   The #1 Rule is to be smart.  By smart, I mean safe.  If you're hunting for tickets downtown, and something seems shady...just assume that it is.  Like I mentioned above, there does not appear to be much enforcement of any laws with regards to ticket scalping so if I guy is lurking in the corners of your parking garage you might wanna think about taking your business elsewhere.  Stay in populated areas, and its probably best to have someone with you. 

2)   Never, ever, ever agree to whatever price people first give you.  Maybe haggling, makes you uncomfortable, but I promise you that everyone always asks for more than they know they will get.  In fact, I would suggest just saying "thanks, I'm good" and walking away regardless of whatever price they first give you.  Chances are they'll be hot on your heels with a better offer.  Typically, when there are this many seats still available you shouldn't be paying any more than 50% of face value.

3)  Always ask to see the tickets before flashing your cash.  It would be great if everyone used the honor system, but in reality people selling their tickets downtown are trying to make as much money as you are trying to save.  If they smell sucker, you will probably get suckered.

4)  Either bring a seating chart with you, or have it memorized.  Your seating preferences may not be in line with the ticket pricing at Ford Field.  For example... I personally hate sitting close to the front row unless I'm between the 40's.  If you don't know what you're buying you're setting yourself up for dissapointment when you get in the stadium.  I've never had someone selling me tickets get upset because I'm checking a seating chart like a dork, and if they did...screw 'em I'll go to the guy standing right next to him. 

5)  The longer you wait, the better the deals (at least to a point).  Depending on how many tickets are available at the box office, this can be a risky play.  There is some sort of weird invisible threshold where even scalpers say "enough is enough" and just refuse to take a huge hit on their tickets.  I've actually had someone tell me they would rather tear the tickets up than sell them to me for too cheap when I waited until just before the game started.  I'm not sure I understand the philosophy, but believe me when I say that there is a point where there seems to be more people looking for tickets than there are people selling tickets.  My suggestion is to ask around until you get a price you like on some seats that you like and just pull the trigger.

So there you go, a few different ways you can still watch the game if you live in the blackout zone.  Unfortunately, I don't see those blackout rules going away anytime soon.  So if you're like me, and you're sick of not being able to see the team that you love, maybe you'll try some of these out this Sunday.  Now if I could only figure out how to get free beer while I'm down there...?!