No matter what happens Sunday with the Lions and the Tigers, sport and its feel good messages have helped slowly recovering Detroit matter more to many again. The crash of the economy was reflected no more than in the downtrodden Detroit, where the auto companies fled for bailout money and the infrastructure of a once proud region collapsed upon itself. What would happen to sports, the lifeblood of the blue collar town and one of the few things the city had to draw to for hope.
The Lions collapse despite the beauty of Ford Field, the Tigers ills, the Pistons slide, the Univ. of Michigan’s ongoing sports issues, even the Red Wings lack of Stanley Cup luster as the rival Blackhawks took home a Championship, did not bode well. Along came a Mayor with deep sports ties, Hall of Famer Dave Bing, and maybe, just maybe things started to change to better reflect a Detroit on the rebound. Maybe one of the most important factors during the bleakest of days was that the sports teams did not abandon Detroit, they actually increased their outreach. The Tigers found tickets to get to the unemployed and extended the lives of sponsor programs at discounts or in some cases, chose not to remove a non-paying big auto brand for a short time. The Red Wings increased inner-city programs while the Pistons tried to find new groups to lure to The Palace.
On the field, each organization found its leadership core. The Tigers under Dave Dombrowski rebounded with a division title, the Lions are now back in the NFL mix after years of mismanagement, the Red Wings are again nearing the top of the NHL as the season beckons, and the Pistons, under new ownership and the front office of newly arrived Dennis Mannion, will look to again embrace a core fan base that probably can relate to hoops as much so or more than the other three sports. New companies have looked to take advantage of land and business space in Detroit, sparking more and younger fan interest around teams that are hungry and willing to find ways to accomodate those trying to find creativity in what was a stagnant economy. More importantly for those lifers in the city and the area, the ownership of the teams and the front office have seen the great value that sport can bring on the darkest of days for those less fortunate, with the lift of winning teams bringing even more than a distraction to those on the comeback. The auto industry, still based in the area and once the largest sponsor of athletic events in the world, has also found ways to re-engage in sport, and linking to those teams in the area has been a big plus for morale and for the teams who need the partnerships.
Now it’s not an easy road for either the economy or Detroit, and certainly it is not yet one that has a silver lining. The Lions are still in one of the NFL’s toughest divisions and remain a young team, the Tigers have their work cut out to try and overtake the Yankees, the Pistons, when the lockout is settled, have perhaps the toughest rebuilding task both on the court and on the business side of any of the teams at this point, and the Red Wings need to continue to find ways to grow a fan base that is still ethnically challenged despite being in such a hockey hotbed. However if the Detroit sports resurgence continues through the winter…including the Wolverines rise back in hoops and football…don’t be surprised if many draw parallels to economic recovery and that in sport. The President is after all, a sports fanatic himself, and rode the sports theme to garner casual voters in 2008.
We all love the comeback and the underdog in sport, so a Detroit success in sport fits in many ways with tough economic times, more so than any other city. Winning on the field matches winning in business and vice versa. Now more than ever. Go Motwon go.
