America loves Cinderella success stories and greatness in all facets of life. But one thing this country may love more than greatness is complete, utter failure. 

There has been no greater failure of a sports team than the Detroit Lions for the past year and a half, and while it is nice to see them finally earn a victory after 19 straight regular season losses, I speak for most people when I say, I am sad to see the streak end.

No offense to the Lions, we want them to succeed. Of course we all do. It is sad seeing these players drowning in the own sweat of their jock straps. We just wanted to see them fail a tiny bit more, because for a couple years the Lions achieved something so pure, it is a shame to see it go to waste. The Lions brought the country together, for a common goal, for greatness, for love, for love of failure.

Detroit hadn’t won since Dec. 23, 2007 and its 19-game skid matched the second longest in NFL history. The Lions defeated the Washington Redskins at home in front of a crowd of 40,896, the smallest crowd at Ford Field and the fewest to watch a Lions home game in 20 years.

Matt Stafford, the Lions starting rookie quarterback, is now the savior and the future of the Lions. Stafford has now made the Lions record infinitely better than last season, only three weeks into the 2009 NFL season. 

So who is next to succeed the Lions for this covetous title of worst team in the NFL? Perhaps the Cleveland Browns, who are now 0-3, and certainly look like one of the worst teams in a long time. The Browns have not scored a touchdown in over eight regular season games. 

Nevertheless, it is going to be a number of years before there is a team to accomplish what the Lions have. For all the memories, we thank you Detroit.