It's undeniable how sorry we feel for ourselves because the economy around these parts and the Lions have so much in common.
Both are really bad.
All the hard work we put in on the job, we deserve better than to constantly be wondering whether we'll be the next one they tap on the shoulder.
And after nearly five decades of sticking with the Lions through what has been horrendous results — particularly the last six seasons — it's difficult not to think we merit much better based on sheer loyalty.
But one of the great lessons of life is that regardless of how bad it gets, it can always be worse. We may not be thriving, but at least we're surviving.
New Orleans is different. It's not about thriving. It's not even about surviving. It's about existing.
Barely.
How can anybody — without a hometown team remaining in the playoffs — not be rooting for the New Orleans Saints to win the Super Bowl?
This nation's been through a lot of struggles during my lifetime, but I still love my country with all my heart. The only time I can ever remember feeling ashamed to be an American was when all those people were stranded in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
How did we leave so many of our people so alone for so long after such a catastrophe?
The thing about disaster, a lot of times it just goes on, yet is out of the public eye because it no longer creates headlines.
Katrina, albeit in an awful way, was spectacular. The suffering caused curiosity the same way it's impossible not to glance at a car wreck. There is nothing, however, glaring about a cleanup.
Just two days before the Saints defeated Philadelphia to advance to the NFC Championship Game, more than 3,000 people marched on City Hall in New Orleans to protest violence in the city. During the first 10 days of 2007, eight people were murdered in New Orleans. According to several news outlets, police don't have a single suspect in any of the cases.
Much of New Orleans has been razed, but not much of it has been rebuilt. The police department has been stretched dangerously thin, and has been able to do little to quell the surge in crime, as a violent element has moved back into New Orleans, while much of the affluence has stayed out.
The Saints made a great free agent signing in quarterback Drew Brees, added a couple rookies in running back Reggie Bush and wide receiver Marques Colston in the draft and made several other astute moves — not the least of which was hiring Sean Payton as head coach.
The results have been the best team in the history of the franchise, dating back to its inception in 1967.
The Saints are kind of the Lions of the South. They have been a bungling franchise that mostly has had poor seasons.
Saturday was just the Saints' seventh playoff game and only their second playoff victory.
They would be one of the most improbable stories in recent NFL history anyway. Coming on the heels of Katrina and what New Orleans is still going through, the Saints are a welcomed gift.
A Super Bowl appearance or victory won't cure all that ails New Orleans, but there is little doubt it would help.
The 1968 world champion Tigers didn't solve all our problems. Yet, they did aid immensely in getting us pointed in the right direction after the devastation of the riots the summer before.
Let New Orleans be a reminder to be thankful for what we have. For while the fans around here certainly have paid their dues for a Super Bowl champion, they haven't paid a price quite like New Orleans.
The Saints' postseason run is about so much more than football.
It's about easing the suffering — the real kind.
One that is much more intense than that of the "long-suffering'' Lions fan.
Pat Caputo is a senior sports reporter and a columnist for The Oakland Press. E-mail him at pat.caputo@oakpress.com and read his sports blog exclusively at theoaklandpress.com.
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