We Lions fans have been subjected to more than our fair share of losses over the years. You'd think that we would be used to losing by now. But some losses are much tougher than others. From the comments over the last few days, I can see that many of you noticed that I haven't authored any posts or been leaving any comments for quite some time. Well, it wasn't because I abandoned the site or finally gave up on the Lions. I was dealing with one of those tough losses. My wife of seven years lost her battle with cancer in early March. She fought valiantly for over two years, but in the end, the disease proved to be too much for her. She will be missed more than words can express. She was 32 years old.
I didn't write this post looking for sympathy, but to offer up a bit of perspective (and maybe a little self-therapy as well). Over the years, I have invested many, many hours in the Detroit Lions. Most of those hours spent resulted in a remote control being thrown somewhere in the direction of the T.V. I've spent countless hours blogging and talking Lions with anyone willing to listen to me drone on about "how next year is going to be different". I'm passionate about it. But last month, I realized how much I allowed it to affect my mood or simply eat away more hours than were probably healthy. Last month revealed to me what is truly important in life.
I know our comments can get heated on here as we are all passionate about our team. I've probably been the cause of a little of that heat. I like to ignite the conversation... what can I say? But at the end of the day, it's only football. Sure, the draft is important to all of us. We put a lot of stock in the Lions. But someday all of us will get a wake up call that forces us to put our lives in perspective. I've certainly had mine.
I love to talk about the Lions here on this site. I've had a blast getting back into it this past weekend with the mock draft. I'll slowly work back into posting columns again as time progresses. But I won't obsess about the Lions anymore. The only thing I'll obsess about is my two beautiful children that need their Daddy.
My intent is not to make anyone feel guilty about spending time on this site or to bring down the mood or the energy of the site. I struggled with whether or not I should even publish this post. But in the end, I thought it would be good thing to share my story and offer up my perspective. So don't be going easy on me when I post. I'm sure I'll be hearing it when the Lions draft Matt Stafford!