In A Nut Shell: The Lions Season

I do have interest other than civil rights, and black culture. I have been a Detroit Lions fan for as long as I can remember and today's game versus the Giants represented the assumed potential and the actual reality of the team. In one game, you could see the every emotion a Lions fan has had in recent years.
Down 16-3 in the fourth quarter, Kitna throwing two interceptions, we had written the game off. We turned the channel. We left the stands. But then we glanced just to see...To see that the Lions had the ball with under eight minutes left. So we watched, hoping but believing that this drive would end up just like all the preceding drives. Then to our astonishment, they scored. Thirty-five yard snag to rookie Calvin Johnson. But we still didn't believe. The Giants had the ball late in the fourth, score 10-16. We watched, just to see if the defense could actually get a three and out. We didn't know what to do with ourselves when the defense did just that. So we leaned in a little closer to the television, went back to our seats, and hoped, still pessimistic about a fourth quarter comeback.
So here we are, the fourth quarter...not willing to let ourselves believe that this win could happen, and after a few completions Kitna goes deep to Shaun McDonald. Why Jon, why throw a lob to your shortest reciever? Now we feel vindicated, because knew that they couldn't come back. But we feel cheated because we thought they could do it in the first place. Less than two minutes left, surely the defense will give up a first down so that I can turn the channel, so that I can beat the traffic out of Ford Field. HA HA, they don't. Just to make us watch til the bitter end the defense comes through and gives Kit and the O the ball back.
So here we are, fourth quarter, less than two minutes left...still not believing, not allowing ourselves to believe. After a Backus false start we think to ourselves, "That's it, too big of a hole, not enough time." Then the unthinkable happens. Kitna throws a long completion to McDonald that gets the O into Giants territory. This is when we start to think...Maybe we can, maybe we can do this. Maybe we are a legitimate team. Maybe we are a playoff contender. Maybe Matt Millen has come through as an executive. In the fifteen minutes of the fourth quarter we have been through all the ups and downs of being a Lions fan. Right now we are up, way up. We're already thinking ahead to Thursday...because if we win this game we will have a chance to get a part of the division lead with another win against the Packers.
Here we are in Giants territory with under a minute left, down by six and we are believing. You could hear the entire state holding its breath, waiting to exhale in celebration. Our hearts are pounding, our eyes wired, and our minds wondering. Just as we are all struggling to find space on the Lions ban wagon, McDonald bobbles a pass that ends up being intercepted. So we sit on sofas gasped, and exit Ford Field with an itch of dissatisfaction, asking ourselves when this roller coaster will ever see us on top.