SEP 8, 23 .. IT’S OFFICIAL !!
It’s official.
At precisely 4:23pm Alaska Daylight Time.. and 8:23pm Eastern Daylight Time.. Thursday, September the 7th, 2023..
The 2023 – 24 National Football League Season began when the Kansas City Chiefs kicked off to the Detroit Lions at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.
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I was born in Detroit, Michigan. I was raised and I was educated in the Detroit Metropolitan area including Ann Arbor, Michigan. I am a “Detroit Boy!”
Sports!
Because I really don’t want a sporting event to affect how I am feeling, I have got to face facts.
“My Team” can’t possibly win every game they play.
Speaking only for myself, I have to carefully “pick and choose” which games I am going to really invest my energy into. I simply cannot, do not want to be of the mindset of “Really hoping and wanting my Team to win this game!” Because if, and when they lose, it can affect how I feel.
O.K. Now we come to a game, or games, that I am “Really hoping and wanting my Team to win!” Call them Special Games.
My Team cannot possibly win every Special Game.
The best that I can hope for is that in the Special Games that my Team is playing, my Team will be “in the game” with a real chance to win.
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In 1957, My Detroit Lions were the Champions of the NFL. My Detroit Tigers have won several World Series. My Detroit Red Wings have won several Stanley Cups. My Detroit Pistons have won several championships.
The issue here is the Detroit Lions. They have not won any championships since 1957. In fact My Detroit Lions now hold the league’s longest postseason win drought.
The Super Bowl Era of the NFL began with Super Bowl I, held January 15, 1967, when the Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs 35 – 10. Ten years after the Lions NFL Championship in 1957. League Champions in 1957, the Lions have never ever been to the Super Bowl.
Last year, the 2022 – 23 NFL Season, My Detroit Lions began the season losing six of their first seven games. Their record was : 1 win – 6 losses. Then they “came to life” and won eight of their final ten games of the season. But they did NOT get into the playoffs.
Why the NFL selected the Lions to play the defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs, IN Arrowhead Stadium, in Kansas City, as the very first game of this season, I haven’t a clue! Usually two “top teams” from the previous season play one another.
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Into Kansas City come The Lions for the Season Opener.
Disclaimer : I am not stupid! With their Super Star Tight End Travis Kelce out of the game with a knee injury, the Chiefs were seriously affected.
My attitude going into the game : I REALLY HOPE that the Lions play a good game. I THINK THAT MAYBE JUST MAYBE they have some chance to actually win the game because of how strong they finished last season (8-2) and because they were 2 – 1 in the pre season and because Travis Kelce is out!
First Quarter : Three minutes into the game, the Lions led 7 – 0. Looking good!
Second Quarter : The Chiefs scored two touchdowns and led 14 – 7 at the half. The Lions had their chances.. but!!
Third Quarter : On a Pick-6 interception, the Lions tied it up 14 – 14. The Chiefs went up 17 – 14 on a field goal.
Do you see? Going into the Fourth and Final Quarter, down by only three points, the Lions “were definitely in the game”. Hope she springs eternal.
Fourth Quarter : Chiefs go up 20 – 14 on another field goal.
Down by 6 points, but the Lions “remain in the game”. Hope she springs eternal.
With 7 minutes and 6 seconds left in the 4th quarter the Lions scored a touchdown and, with an extra point, led 21 – 20!!
So here the Lions sit : Ahead by one point but with seven minutes left in the game facing Patrick Mahomes and the Super Bowl Champion Chiefs.
In a absolutely “gut wrenching” tense final seven minutes of the game, the Lions held on!
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Patti and I were absolutely and totally “exhausted” after the game was over!
So There You Have It!
Who cares? For openers, Patti and I care, and maybe the entire State of Michigan cares.
Cap and Patti
My promise. Yes this Post “got away from me”! I DO NOT plan to go into this detail any more this season! But this was such a monumental game. Maybe this was our Super Bowl!
2 thoughts on “SEP 8, 23 .. IT’S OFFICIAL !!”
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I didn’t watch the game but it must have been a dandy, especially to a Detroiter. I, too, was born in Detroit but we left in 1948 for Alaska. Since Alaska has no NFL team, a lot of us adopted the Seattle Seahawks, another team that was barely competitive for many years.
I was stepping into a small aluminum boat on the Chobe River in Botswana, carefully watching out for crocodiles, when I heard my Seahawks had won the 2014 Super Bowl. I was gobsmacked the rest of the day.
Maybe the Lions will be the Cinderella team this year. Who knows?
Does “The Shadow Know” IF our Detroit Lions will be this years “Cinderella Team” Gullible. We shall see! Yes and No. Yes it was indeed a dandy game BUT, at the same time, it got so tense towards the end of the 4th Quarter we were exhausted. Nice memory from 2014 and the Seahawks winning the Super Bowl with an absolute 48 – 8 “blow out” of the Denver Broncos! Seattle’s score (a 2 point Safety) just 12 seconds into the game was the quickest to start a game in Super Bowl history. Memories! Cap and Patti