[Mike Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Jack Jones

I don’t think the Lions situation is at all similar to that of an aspiring FIRST team. Their regular season does not entail being paired at random with two other football teams. Their playoffs do not consist of three wild card teams going up against two conference winners and a lesser team of their choice. They never see the Viking fans wearing cheese hats way early in the season to drive home the foregone conclusion that together the Vikings and Packers will dominate the NFC North.

You're right. The LIONS are not at all similar to an ASPIRING FIRST team, but this thread was not about the fact that football teams don't cooperate or cheer for each other. Professional sports teams are a good analogy to FIRST because the level of competition is high and there are teams that are very elite and blow everyone else out of the water. But you don't see them whining nearly as much as FIRST teams whine. I have seen some liberal interpretations of Gracious Professionalism this year; I'm not a fan.