Mooch on his way out?

[BigEd76]

Attack! 

"If we'd had production on offense, in particular the quarterback position, Mooch wouldn't have been fired," Bly told the Detroit Free Press. "If Jeff Garcia hadn't gotten hurt, we wouldn't be in this position today. Mooch wouldn't have gotten fired."

"We're all at fault, but I just feel like Joey [Harrington]'s been here four years, and being the No. 3 pick in the draft, he hasn't given us anything," Bly told the paper. "He hasn't given us what the third pick in the draft should give us."

Garcia, who played for Mariucci in San Francisco, pointed to the Lions front office.

"You start to question whether the organization has the people in place who can go about making the proper selections," Garcia told WXYT-AM, according to the paper. "You really have to question that."

[MDS]

it sounds like a certain homosexual qb wants to get out of a certain riot heavy city

[Tomahawk]

Attack! 

"If we'd had production on offense, in particular the quarterback position, Mooch wouldn't have been fired," Bly told the Detroit Free Press. "If Jeff Garcia hadn't gotten hurt, we wouldn't be in this position today. Mooch wouldn't have gotten fired."

"We're all at fault, but I just feel like Joey [Harrington]'s been here four years, and being the No. 3 pick in the draft, he hasn't given us anything," Bly told the paper. "He hasn't given us what the third pick in the draft should give us."

Garcia, who played for Mariucci in San Francisco, pointed to the Lions front office.

"You start to question whether the organization has the people in place who can go about making the proper selections," Garcia told WXYT-AM, according to the paper. "You really have to question that."

Sounds like Bly wants to "Owens" his way off the team.

[henchmanUK]

Millen is the reason that team blows, NOT Mooch.

Yep.

This guy is the reason the Lions blow. Years and years of zesty football under that man's leadership and his bio says: "William Clay Ford continues to provide the Detroit Lions organization, its fans and the community with unwavering stability and sound leadership." Yeah, stability at sucking. Years of Daryl Rogers, Wayne Fontes, past-it Bobby Ross and the worst general manager in the NFL, Matt Millen.

[phattymatty]

Mooch will be the coach of Michigan State next year.  Apparently him and Tom Izzo are butt buddies from way back in the day.

[EJ72]

Mmmm...Mooch to Jauron.  There's a step in the right direction. 

Look at it this way. With Millen still around, they'll be in a prime position to draft Martin Nance, Santonio Holmes or Derek Hagan.

[MURP]

link

Anti-Millen signs rev up the crowd

December 5, 2005

BY SHAWN WINDSOR

FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER


Aaron Tobin spent a few minutes on his home computer in Roseville and changed the atmosphere at Ford Field.

Tobin's two-word plea put a charge into a frustrated crowd Sunday afternoon, led to a cat-and-mouse chase between security guards and dozens of fans, and ended with a tackle in the stands. It was the latest sign of just how much that Lions fans want to strangle their favorite football team.

"All I did was make two signs on a computer printout," Tobin said. "They were maybe three feet long. There was nothing obscene about it."

The offending scrawl?

"Fire Millen!"

Matt Millen is the Lions' president and CEO. The team is 4-8 this season (after Sunday's 21-16 loss to Minnesota), 20-56 since Millen was hired almost five years ago.

When Tobin, 44, got to the downtown stadium, he gave one sign to a friend and held the other one for the entire first half. Nothing happened.

But in the third quarter, after a dismal half by the Lions, the crowd began reacting to the sign, chanting "FIRE MIL-LEN." Security guards closed in on Tobin, a lifelong Lions fan sitting in the lower level not far from midfield, and told him to give up the sign or face ejection.

He passed it to another fan. Tobin said security told him he was lucky he wasn't kicked out on the spot. The guards then took off for the fan who had the sign.

But that fan passed it again. And another passed again. And each time security got close, the sign was tossed to another fan. This chase continued for several minutes before it was finally confiscated.

"We are very consistent about this," said Lions executive vice president Tom Lewand. "We don't allow signs and banners in the building."

Lewand said the cost of obstructing views and fan safety was greater than any enjoyment fans might have in holding a sign or getting on television.

"It has nothing to do with the message," he said.

Few signs are seen at Lions games. Fans must undergo a pat-down from security before entering the stadium. However, Lewand said more signs get past the checkpoints late in the season as colder weather leads fans to wear bulkier coats.

Lewand said that although security was trained to look for signs, he was more concerned about keeping alcohol and weapons out of the stadium.

After Tobin's sign was taken -- he said his other sign was gone by halftime -- fans around him pulled out markers and wrote "Fire Millen" on whatever they could find, including brown grocery bags and little pizza boxes.

Some fans in other sections started doing the same thing. In an end zone, a fan took his "We Want Wayne Fontes" sign and scribbled "Fire Millen" on the back. Soon after, security came to remove the sign.

Another "Fire Millen" sign in the vicinity of Tobin was passed around again. And the biggest chase of the day began.

This time, a fan grabbed it and started running through the seats, from section to section. The crowd grew louder as he worked his way around the lower bowl. The Fox TV cameras caught it. Even players began to notice.

Finally, as the unidentified fan got near the main stadium entrance, security caught, tackled and ejected him.

Many fans enjoyed the spectacle, even though many were irked by what they considered an infringement on obscene-free freedom of speech.

Some fans thought security's actions only served to further rile up the crowd. Others, perhaps thinking back to the rowdy fan behavior at the Silverdome, thought security's actions were necessary.

"A couple of fans get irate, the rest get going," said Brandon Alexander of Chesterfield Township, seated not far from Tobin's section.

Lewand said security did the right thing.

"I give a lot of credit to our event staff," he said. "What you condone, you endorse."

Lewand said he would review the dashing-fan incident today, and a decision would be made whether that fan would be admitted to future games. The Lions' final home game is Dec. 18 against Cincinnati.

"I understand the frustration and emotion of the fans," he said.

Tobin wasn't so sure.

"I've never seen the fans more charged," he said.

[Wingspan]

"We Want Wayne Fontes"

[MDS]

matt millen=dumber version of ed wade

[Sgt PSN]

"We are very consistent about this," said Lions executive vice president Tom Lewand. "We don't allow signs and banners in the building."

Lewand said the cost of obstructing views and fan safety was greater than any enjoyment fans might have in holding a sign or getting on television.

"It has nothing to do with the message," he said.

Few signs are seen at Lions games. Fans must undergo a pat-down from security before entering the stadium. However, Lewand said more signs get past the checkpoints late in the season as colder weather leads fans to wear bulkier coats.

No better way to keep the fans from displaying their disgust at the franchise then by not allowing them to express themselves at the game. 

[methdeez]

I still don't understand what that owner was thinking with the 5 year extension on Millen's contract. Did he think some other team was going to come snatch him away?

[PhillyPhreak54]

Supposedly Millen's "5 year deal" is actually one where he must be renewed after each season. So basically it is 5 one-year deals.

I bet he's fired after this year before he gets to hire another coach.