Sheila Hamp Makes Tom Gores Look Like Amateur Wannabe

Lions are lucky ownership finally figured it out.

Detroit Lions fans are lucky their principal owner Sheila Hamp finally discovered the secret recipe to turning around the fortunes of an NFL team which has been dormant for several decades. 

Unlike Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores, who runs his basketball team like an amateur part-timer, Hamp has tapped into the cultural foundation needed to succeed, both on and off the field. 

After realizing the organization, from the top-down, needed to address its culture and establish a brand of football the fanbase can rally behind, ownership set forth a path to attempt another rebuild. 

Former Lions linebacker Chris Spielman embodies the gritty, no-nonsense, hard-nosed spirit of supporters. 

After seeking his guidance, the organization hired head coach Dan Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes, and forged a philosophy of collaboration and open-mindedness. 

When the 2022 Lions started the season 1-5, criticism ramped up to a fever pitch. 

Hamp appeared in front of television cameras, and addressed the fanbase during normal work hours, not waiting cowardly until a Friday evening to gather media members in a classic attempt at a news dump. 

Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores / © Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

The Pistons are the verge of setting the NBA record for consecutive losses (28), having been on a wrong side of the scoreboard for 25 straight games. 

"Even when it comes down to we should have won a few more games, but how many of those games? Maybe three, four? Who knows what that number is? But, we’re not set up the way we need to be set up," Gores told reporters, via Mlive. "So, nobody’s fooling each other that we’re there in any way.” 

Unfortunately for the Pistons and their leadership, confidence in their ability to accomplish anything meaningful, other than shooting t-shirts into the stands, has eroded to all-time lows. 

Gores clearly has a leadership group that produces little-to-no answers, and only responds after the damage is done and the building has collapsed. 

Addressing your abysmal franchise with fans when the team is on the verge of setting futility records is another example of an owner in over his head.

While changes have been promised by Gores, I have more confidence, at this point, in Orenthal James Simpson finally discovering who the real murderers of his wife are, than in the Pistons owner getting a clue. 

For the Lions, this weekend has the potential of being a watershed moment. With a win over the Vikings, the team can win its division for the first time since 1993.  

"This was a huge teardown and then turnaround," Hamp told reporters last year. "And, really, we’re only a third of the way through the season. We’ve got 11 more games to go. So, I just don’t want to push the panic button and give up the ship, because I think we’ve got the right people in place to pull this off. And, I truly believe that.”