December 05, 2005

Fire Millen!: The crowd then started to chant "Fire Millen" and some fans began fashioning their own makeshift signs, using the backs of grocery bags and other items. Millen, who now has a 20-56 record in his four-plus years at the helm, was caught by television cameras laughing, presumably at what was beginning to unfold in the stands. A young fan, perhaps in his early 20s, made up a small "Fire Millen" sign and ran through the crowd, ducking and dodging security. He weaved his way through 15 sections of the stadium, alternately raising his sign, acknowledging the cheering crowd with fist pumps and high fives.

posted by the red terror to football at 02:02 PM - 23 comments

I'm not sure I'm big on the trend in front office sports to be so thin-skinned. This guy (described in the FPP) got gang tackled by rent-a-cops for running around the stadium (read - not the field) with a sign that simply said "Fire Millen". Besides being wholely accurate, the man was acosted and then turfed. Now I am fully aware that a stadium doesn't have to take your business and can kick you out when it feels like it, but c'mon. Show a little back-bone. Same thing happened at a Raptors game this year. I say let 'em chant. Millen's not upset because he has pictures of the Lions ownership doing something terribly illegal and has been blackmailing them for five years. At least, that's the only thing I can think of to justify his continued employment. My gut instinct is that it must be photos of them selling children. Or kilos of cocaine. Or kilos of cocaine stuffed into children. Nothing else makes sense.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 02:12 PM on December 05, 2005

I think millen is the least of that clubs problems, if you have ownership selling kids and cocaine, and cocain in kids, then they might need to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, like on ebay or something.

posted by steelcityguy at 02:23 PM on December 05, 2005

What Millen lacks in wins/losses, he compensates for in class and understated charm. Plus he can move lots of rock.

posted by Bill Lumbergh at 02:28 PM on December 05, 2005

selling kids and cocaine, and cocain in kids Plus he can move lots of rock. I thought i was pretty up tp date on scandals in detroit since most of my family is from there and one of my cousins works for Ford, but what are you guys talking about?

posted by timdawg at 02:36 PM on December 05, 2005

what are you guys talking about? And you call yourself up to date? /snorts derisively

posted by The_Black_Hand at 02:50 PM on December 05, 2005

It is absolutely imperative that we are aware of all the various drug dealers working in the NFL at all times! If Millen is breaking into the business, well, there's more job security there than with the Lions, no matter how far up the Ford Family's butts he is at the moment.

posted by chicobangs at 02:52 PM on December 05, 2005

I wish my boss would give ME a five year contract extension after performance like that. Oh well, back to the salt mines.

posted by Fade222 at 02:59 PM on December 05, 2005

Salt mines are notorious for their lousy contracts.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 03:01 PM on December 05, 2005

As ole Wild Bill himself would say, "tis times plague, when madmen lead the blind!"

posted by RedStrike at 03:13 PM on December 05, 2005

why would you fire a winning coach?????? I don't understand!!!! "not from detroit"

posted by Txwinner at 03:31 PM on December 05, 2005

why would you fire a winning coach?????? I don't understand!!!! "not from detroit" posted by Txwinner at 3:31 PM CST on December 5 What are you talking about? Millan is not the coach and nobody in Detroit has a winning record with Detroit.

posted by skydivemom at 03:48 PM on December 05, 2005

SORRY CONFUSED I AM!!!!

posted by Txwinner at 03:51 PM on December 05, 2005

So you're saying the Lions are behind this??? ebay link

posted by myshtigo at 03:59 PM on December 05, 2005

I don't think you're confused nearly as much as you just didn't read the article, which clearly states in the first paragraph, "Team president Matt Millen," then clearly states in leading off the fifth paragraph, "Millen, who now has a 20-56 record in his four-plus years at the helm." I'm just sayin'.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 04:09 PM on December 05, 2005

Am I the only one who was surprised Matt Millen was ever even HIRED as the Lions' president in the first place?

posted by dyams at 04:54 PM on December 05, 2005

I'm not so surprised he was hired; it was one of those "out of the box" moves that ownership feels it needs to make now and again to make sure the fans know they're actually paying attention. The Astros did something comparable when they hired Larry Dierker out of the broadcast booth to manage the team, although he had considerably more success than Millen.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 06:19 PM on December 05, 2005

txwinner, the coach (Mariucci) may have been a winner in SF, but he sure wasn't here. He walked into a pretty good situation in SF, light years away from what it was (and is) here. Yesterday's game was some validation that there's a lot more wrong than the head coach.

posted by philly54 at 08:17 PM on December 05, 2005

Kinda surprised no one has mentioned FireMillen.com where there are pictures and an online petition. Y'know, 'cause those work so well.

posted by geekyguy at 10:44 PM on December 05, 2005

Millen is at home right now reading these thinking all i need is one more top notch WR and were SUPER BOWL BABY!!!!!!!!!

posted by injury-prone at 03:22 AM on December 06, 2005

Millen is in good company. When was the last time someone performed extreamly poorly, and was then given a long contract extension??? Oh yeah, that's right, that would be the president.

posted by Fade222 at 11:27 AM on December 06, 2005

Oh, come on, Fade222, it happens every day. Never mind baseball or NASCAR or marrying J.Lo or all-you-can-eat buffets or hating on immigrants. Rewarding mediocrity is the true National Sport.

posted by chicobangs at 11:52 AM on December 06, 2005

Damn chico you're right. I either need to get with this mediocrity program, or maybe become Canadian.

posted by Fade222 at 06:16 PM on December 06, 2005

Mediocrity rules!!! I'm going for my food stamps tommorow. Better yet, I'll quit my job and collect my unemployment checks!! THANKS CHICO!!

posted by injury-prone at 04:00 AM on December 07, 2005

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