The house of cards that is an exhibition win

What does a pre-season win mean?

On the surface, it means nothing. If 2008 taught us anything, it's that the pre-season win has absolutely no bearing on the team's ability to win in the regular season. Even in the 1st quarter, when starters are pitted against starters, most reams run ho-hum plays, preferring to save the real plays for when it counts. Yet, I won't go so far as to call the pre-season completely worthless.

If your starters regularly get pounded in the pre-season, it's likely they'll get pounded in the regular season too. So the pre-season can't identify actual talent, but it can expose weakness.

On Saturday, the Lions beat the Broncos. Folks in Detroit want to love the Lions but most have been burned too much to exhibit any true belief. Once bitten, twice shy no longer applies. For Lions fans, it's one thousand times bitten, permanently numb. So that's how we approach every season. We're happy that Matt Stafford looks like a capable, even occasionally good, quarterback. We're thrilled that Jahvid Best can outrun 300 lb linemen to the corner. We might even smile when Dre Bly picks off an errant pass and returns it 50 yards, juking and dodging like the poor man's Deion. But these are still the Lions.

Kyle Orton still had little difficulty finding an open receiver. The defense still collected a barrage of penalties. And, most importantly, they've still only won two times in the past thirty-two games. So, pardon me while I go puke in my mouth once again. Don't fool yourself that this team is any different than the historically bad teams that bore Bubbles on their helmets in years past. Don't fall prey to the foolish belief that the offense will be "explosive." Don't believe any hype until they prove it in the regular season. It's like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Once you fall asleep, the Lions will replace your body with the Spielman-jersey-wearing Slappie from Section 112. Don't fall asleep, nofrown readers. Stay awake. Even if you're the last man and woman on Earth who know the truth, don't give in!!!