You would think the Detroit Lions would treat each and every one of their season-ticket holders with great respect given the fact that they are, well, Lions season-ticket holders. Anyone that shells out money to pay for tickets to every Lions home game deserves a pat on the back for being such a loyal fan. Despite the losing seasons year after year and the overall lack of care that the organization shows, fans still show up to the games.
For one now former Lions season-ticket holder, respect was the last thing the Lions were worried about. After having issues with the location of his six season tickets, Kevin Furlong decided that enough was enough and canceled his plan. This stemmed from being told that he would have his seats moved to a certain location, but then found out on his ticket invoice that they were not moved at all. Following this whole ordeal, Furlong was offered better seats, but decided to stand his ground based on principle.
How did the Lions react to Furlong's decision to cancel his tickets? Pat Caputo explains:
When Kevin Furlong received an e-mail from an employee of the Detroit Lions ticket office, he did a double take.
"F--- 'em until next year," it said.
It was an inadvertent transmission, meant to be sent from one Lions employee, Matt Schul, to another, Lance Powser, about Furlong's ordeal with the Lions ticket office. Furlong felt compelled to cancel six season tickets worth more than $5,000 for the 2008 season. The Lions were trying to convince him to renew.
"It was extremely disappointing," Furlong said of his reaction to the e-mail.
Even though that e-mail filled with an F-bomb wasn't meant to go to Furlong, the very fact that it was written at all really shows you how much the Lions care about their fans. You can understand why Furlong was upset as he continued to have issues with his tickets, which were costing him an awful lot of money. On top of that, he wasn't able to get things worked out, so he rightfully decided to cancel his six tickets. Understandably, the Lions were upset as they just lost $5,000 a year from a fan. Even so, you would think the reaction of an organization like this would show more maturity. Again, even though the e-mail didn't go to the right recipient, the fact that the the F-bomb was said at all is pretty unprofessional.
To make matters worse for the Lions, Tom Lewand showed why he is so idiotic by threatening Pat Caputo, the author of the article that broke this story.
Lions executive vice president and chief operating officer Tom Lewand vehemently disagreed with my contention there is a correlation between the tone set by Ford and Millen -- and this incident.
"If you write that, it will be factually incorrect and bordering on slander," Lewand said. "And I will come after you."
For starters, it wouldn't be slander in this case, it would be libel. On top of that, to threaten a writer by saying "I will come after you" is about as immature as it gets. If you don't agree with what he is planning on writing, then just say that and nothing more. Simply tell Caputo that you don't believe that is true and move on. To threaten to come after him, though, well, that's pretty dumb.
I want to congratulate the Lions on having such a classy organization. From top to bottom, when it comes to the people behind the scenes of this franchise, it seems like every person involved in this operation is incompetent. Saying "F--- 'em" when talking about a fan and telling a writer that you will come after him simply are the latest two examples to back up that theory.