Detroit’s bet with America

Sometimes, when I don’t have anything to say, I just repost something from Facebook. This is one of those times. So, I want to start by apologizing to anyone among my friends may have already seen this. I just think it’s too good of an idea to be lost to the archives of Facebook. Anyway, it occurred to me last night, just after the Tigers got the two back-to-back home runs in the first inning, that the people of Detroit should get something special if their baseball, football and hockey teams all finished first across the board. (I left basketball out of the equation because I wanted for there to be at least some chance of success, however small.) Unless I’m mistaken, no other community has ever finished first in three professional sports, in three back-to-back seasons. And, if Detroit does it, I think that there should be some kind of trifecta jackpot on the other side. We can debate what it is that we ask for, but I think we should go to the American people and say, “If we do this… if we bust our asses and all of our teams win… can we have another shot?” At the very least, I’d have to think that everyone would send us a few bucks, right? Anyway, I think it’s an idea worth developing.

And, speaking of Facebook, if you don’t already officially “like” MarkMaynard.com, please click here. As of right now, 252 claim to “like” the site, and I’ve decided that I can’t stop hating myself until it gets to 1,016, which is what my friend Jeff’s site has.

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10 Comments

  1. Elf
    Posted October 7, 2011 at 11:02 pm | Permalink

    And if Detroit loses, everyone has to leave the city so that it can be leveled. Bets need two parts.

  2. 1923
    Posted October 8, 2011 at 12:33 am | Permalink

    If Detroit loses any one of the three, the every bit of land should be returned to the Indians.

  3. Posted October 8, 2011 at 7:48 am | Permalink

    If it makes you feel better, Mark, no one likes my blog.

  4. Anonymous Mike
    Posted October 8, 2011 at 8:04 am | Permalink

    I’m afraid that any hope of the Lions winning the Super Bowl will evaporate on Monday night. I predict that this will be a bad week for Detroit teams. If, however, we’re able to win all three titles, as you suggest, I think we should demand that everyone from Chicago move to Detroit.

  5. Posted October 8, 2011 at 8:53 am | Permalink

    I’m not sure what the connection is between the teams’ success and anything we might do, such that we ought to be rewarded/punished based on their success. We might as well be saying, “If the next planetary discovery reported in Nature is found to have signs of life, then the factories building the military craft sent to wipe it out shall be built in Detroit.”

    Maybe if we actually had some stake in the teams, like the community-owned Green Bay Packers, then we could start considering these deals.

  6. Posted October 8, 2011 at 2:32 pm | Permalink

    Murph, I don’t agree. I think there’s an intangible element. It’s like when the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl after Hurricane Katrina. I think Detroit is due for a resurgence, and I think that feeling is seen in the teams. It certainly comes out when team members are interviewed in the press. They say that they’re playing for the people of Detroit. Yes, I realize that’s just good PR to a large extent, but I think there’s something to it. I’m not naive – I known these guys are professionals, and they’re paid to win. And I know that, if they win, they’ll make more money in their careers. I know the bottom line isn’t doing something for the people of Detroit, but winning a ring, but I think that, if these three Detroit teams all happened to win this year, there would have to be something more behind it than just dumb luck. And I think the people of America would feel the same way. I think we’d have people rooting for us. Detroit is a symbol for what happens in America when everything goes wrong. It’s a black eye for our country. And we need to reverse it. I think having all three of these teams win would bigger shot in the arm than the Chrysler ad with Eminem, and I think we should leverage it for all that we can.

  7. CG
    Posted October 9, 2011 at 7:24 am | Permalink

    I can’t believe it. A mm.com sports post!

    Let me break down the odds of this happening.

    Starting with the Tigers: Down 1 game in ALCS, I’d put their odds at advancing and then winning the World Series at 3-1.

    Lions: They are off to a good start, but asking them to win the Super Bowl is way too much, considering they were only a 6 win team last year. Odds are still better this year than in the past 20 years though. 25-1.

    Red Wings. Should be a good year, and they’re always in the hunt for a Stanley Cup. 12-1.

    That gives the overall odds of a championship trifecta conservatively at about 1000-1. I think the odds of us actually getting funding for winning these 3 are about 10,000-1. So what is that, about a 1 in a 10 million chance? Still a chance.

    Fun post.

  8. K2
    Posted October 11, 2011 at 9:53 am | Permalink

    Detroit coach Jim Schwartz after last night’s win against the Bears, on the connection between the team and the city.

    “Blue-collar towns are the best sports towns. When cities are going through tough economic times, states are going through tough economic times, people look to sports as an escape. We have a responsibility to give people something to smile about,” Schwartz said. “We feel a very strong bond to this city. I think our work ethic reflects the city of Detroit’s work ethic.”

    http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/11/sports/main20118515.shtml

  9. Mr. X
    Posted October 16, 2011 at 12:44 pm | Permalink

    Well, so much for that plan.

    What do we get if all of the teams make it to the playoffs? I’d settle for a communal waffle iron. We could keep it under The Fist.

  10. Louka
    Posted November 14, 2011 at 11:42 am | Permalink

    How about this; can we get some Taco Bell coupons if the Lion’s can manage to pull off one more win?

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