denverdan Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051215/SPORTS0101/512150374/1126 Aiming at Millen Web frenzy helps stoke Lions fan revolt Ron French / The Detroit News Will the ferocious growth of fan outrage have any effect on Lions ownership or management? A Lions fan's sign, possibly referring to the Dec. 4 ejection of another fan at Ford Field, reflects the anger felt by many after the incident. See full image Michael McCune has been involved in his share of political campaigns and protests, but he's never seen a grass-roots movement spring up overnight before. Then again, his past campaigns didn't involve the Detroit Lions. "I'm surprised at how fast it has taken off from a grass-roots level," said McCune, 28, of St. Joseph, who runs the Web site firemillen.com. "It's amassed into almost a mob mentality now." A bad economy, bungled public relations and the echo chamber of Internet Web sites are fueling a fan revolt nearly unprecedented in American sports. Fans of losing teams often express their disillusionment. But the ferocity of this revolution, complete with organized rallies and elaborate Web sites, illustrates the extraordinary discontent of Detroit's football faithful and provides a template for the changing relationship between professional sports teams and their increasingly vocal fans. Thousands are planning rallies, printing signs and T-shirts and haranguing the team's management on freshly minted Web sites. The object of fan derision is president Matt Millen, under whose leadership the Lions have gone 20-57. Fans have chanted for his firing at a hockey game in Washington, D.C., and a football game in Green Bay. Doctored images of everyone from the pope to Bigfoot holding "Fire Millen" signs fly from e-mail to e-mail. The roots of the revolt reach back into Detroit sports history and forward into cyberspace. Detroit fans have always been "more invested" in their sports teams than fans in many other cities, said Dexter Jenkins of the Center for the Study of Sports in Society at Northeastern University in Boston. Fans in Philadelphia, Boston and New York are similarly frenetic over their teams, Jenkins said. In November, head coach Steve Mariucci was fired while Millen, the man who hired the coach, was given a contract extension. The fact that a failed team president is keeping his job probably doesn't sit well with autoworkers worried about losing theirs, Dexter said. Still, Sunday's protests would not be occurring if not for the televised removal of a fan from Ford Field on Dec. 4 who was holding a "Fire Millen" sign. McCune's Web site went from receiving 20 hits per day to 5,000 per day after that ejection. Another site, firemillen.net, received 14,000 hits Monday. "Millen's not very popular these days," said Don O'Neill, the 31-year-old Oak Park resident who runs firemillen.net with his brother, Tom O'Neill. "We love the city, we love the team and we think we can do a lot better." Jenkins believes the Lions fan revolt is a product of 21st-century media. The fan's removal from Ford Field caused an uproar after it was shown over and over on ESPN -- 20 years ago, far fewer people would have seen it. The reaction was amplified through sports talk radio -- one station is sponsoring an "Angry Fan March" around the stadium -- and Internet sites, where fans fed on each other's outrage. "With all the access to the Internet and ESPN and ESPN2, you have a climate where people can take these things over the top," Jenkins said. Tom O'Neill, 26, plans to join the protest Sunday out of both anger and curiosity. "We need to get rid of (Millen) as soon as possible," he said. "But I also want to see the atmosphere. I've never heard of fans organizing a protest. Is it going to be picket lines or a bunch of tailgaters, or is it going to be a circus that radio stations are making it out to be? "Even teams like the (Chicago) Cubs that have lost forever haven't done this," said O'Neill, who plans to wear a shirt to the protest that reads "Detroit deserves better: Fire Millen." "I've never seen a city so angry at a sports team. It really shows how passionate the city is." The protests come at a bad time for the city, which is straining to put on a good face for the Super Bowl on Feb. 5. Ken Kettenbiel, spokesperson for the Super Bowl XL Host Committee, said he's not concerned that the protests will cast a shadow over the big game. "Our fans are incredibly passionate and expressive," Kettenbiel said. "They're passionate inside the stadium and we would expect them to be passionate outside." Patrick Walmsley has been a Lions season ticket-holder since 1991, but wants nothing to do with the protests. "I think it's extremely negative," said Walmsley, 44, of Troy. "There are a lot of cities with bad football teams for a long time. I think marching around the stadium is juvenile." Walmsley worries what video will be shown over and over next week if drunken protesters get out of control at the game. "We're going to get another black eye if things escalate," Walmsley said. "It doesn't look good for the city or for the fans." McCune and O'Neill are encouraging protesters to behave themselves Sunday. "Part of the reason we can't stand Millen is that he's just one more reason for the rest of the country to laugh at Detroit," O'Neill wrote on his Web site. "Let's hope the fans don't become another." McCune argues that the protests are actually a positive for the city and the team. The protests, McCune argues, demonstrate how deeply Detroit fans care for the Lions. "I think Detroit sports fans are some of the most passionate I've ever seen," McCune said. "It's good to see the amount of interest in the Lions, because … it forces management and ownership to take notice. Fans are the ones who pay the fills. Any time fans can come together behind a cause, it shows that fans are still what the sport is about. It's not about money, it's about the fans." You can reach Ron French at (313) 222-2175 or rfrench@detnews.com. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tr1 Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 But the best part of this story is that it will show if an Internet community can affect a franchise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dweezel Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2264484&campaign=rss&source=NFLHeadlines I must give the Detroit fans credit for not sitting idly by while their team remains in the basement of the NFL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmchairRedskin Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 Millen: "I got the internet going nuts" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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