You will hear it quite often during a baseball season. As we see more things, it becomes harder and more difficult to do this. There are still many frontiers to uncover, there are still diamonds to find, and so on.
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It is essential to appreciate the Detroit Lions at the same level. There are many sports teams that can't seem to get it together, but the Lions are the only one trying to make new ground. The Pirates may not have won the division for eons but their evil owner keeps them from winning it. It's just a matter of routine. The Coyotes might occasionally be rubbed by hockey's Theranos family, and they constantly battle local townships to stay in Arizona. But we have seen it all before. The Clippers have been able to rise from the muck and become contenders in the playoffs. This is a common tale.
However, the Lions are determined to be different. Yesterday's field goal was the first ever made by Lansing. It would have been enough to win on a record-breaking goal, but the gods decided to add some spice by having it hit the crossbar. It's not enough without it. The Lions will win any yard that isn't gained on the Ravens' last drive, which was just three feet. If you're a Lions fan, you can touch that. It wasn't even victory that was presented to the Lions. Instead, it was the ball hitting the crossbar and falling in. A win in Week 3 is just another lost cause in the sands time. The possibility that the Lions might not live to see another historical indignity was what it was. Lions fans thought for a moment that leather had hit metal and they'd gotten it. They wouldn't lose on something they hadn't done before.
I'm sure every Lions fan believed Justin Tucker would make it when he lined up as Ravens kicker before the snap. They would have reached that conclusion after years and years of conditioning. It would have been confirmation if it had just passed through. To be welcomed with an understanding, if not dejected, nod. To give them even a glimmer of hope for avoiding their fate, their recent trip to stoogeville, but to yank it away before they even realized what was going on...there must be a higher power. It has given up on anything that is meaningful or beneficial for humankind. It is just determined to entertain itself. This I believe we all can understand.
