Brian Manzullo

Detroit Free Press

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For those of you younger than 40, you don't remember Detroit sports being in a worse era than now.

Normally, with the Detroit Lions making their exit from the NFL season -- this time, a 26-6 wild-card loss at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks -- fans have the luxury of turning to their hockey and basketball teams. At the very least, Detroit fans can count down the days until spring training, when the Boys of Summer begin warming up the bats for the long baseball season.

There's just one problem. Well, actually, there are many problems.

Detroit's major professional sports teams haven't won a championship since the 2008 Detroit Red Wings. That's nine years since the last title, the longest drought for the Motor City since a 15-year stretch from 1968-83, snapped when the Michigan Panthers captured the first United States Football League championship.

And the worst part is that there's no end in sight.

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Let's start with our two teams in action. Entering tonight's games, the Detroit Pistons (18-22) and Detroit Red Wings (17-18-6) are in last place in their respective divisions.

The young Pistons were poised to take the next step this season, behind the pick-and-roll core of Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond, but have slumped because of a myriad of issues, starting with Jackson's preseason knee injury. They haven't won more than three consecutive games, they've had chemistry issues, they're struggling on defense of late and they're on a daunting road trip that could put them in a deeper hole as the All-Star break approaches next month.

And then we have the Red Wings -- the team that Detroit sports fans could depend on the past 25 years to contend for Stanley Cups.

They stink, too!

The team leader in goals -- Anthony Mantha, with 11 -- started the season in the AHL. They rank outside the NHL's top 20 in goals against (2.9 per game). Almost everybody is injured or has been injured this season. The team hasn't scored a power-play goal on the road since October. Yes, that's right. October.

In short, both teams are headed nowhere -- and it might cost the Red Wings their celebrated 25-season playoff streak. At least both teams get a new arena next season, right?

That brings us to the Detroit Tigers. To be fair, the roster sell-off expected by some people -- including general manager Al Avila, in his own cryptic way -- hasn't happened (yet). So it looks like the team will enter the season with many of its stars, such as Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander, Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez, as well as young up-and-coming players such as Michael Fulmer and Nick Castellanos. That gives the Tigers the best shot of the four teams (for now) to win the city's next championship.

But at the same time, reality is settling in on this group. They haven't won a postseason game in three years. The pitching was a mess last season and is uncertain, at best, for this coming season. The bullpen is a perpetual nightmare. Key injuries seemingly derail their momentum every year. Their stars aren't getting any younger. Management is done signing big-name players to big-name contracts, or at least says it is. And the division is getting more and more challenging, with the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians recently contending for titles.

Simply put, the Tigers' chances of winning the World Series aren't all that close to what they were in 2012 and 2013, when their rotation was full of Cy Young candidates and the lineup was potent from top to bottom. Now they'll need to rely on a few overachieving performances, a little injury luck and a red-hot September/October run to catapult to championship success. (Which basically places them among a group of 15-20 MLB teams, in all honesty.)

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That leaves Detroit sports fans with the Detroit Lions, the franchise that has only won one playoff game since gas cost 26 cents a gallon. Yes, they made the postseason this year, but their 9-7 record was propped up by improbable fourth-quarter comebacks against bad teams. They went 0-5 against playoff contenders during the regular season and got shellacked when they played a sixth in the NFC wild-card round. Let's face it: They're still quite a ways away from a Super Bowl.

So it's true. Life is tough for Detroit sports fans these days. But there are reasons for optimism.

First of all, a nine-year slump is nothing compared with some other cities out there. Fellow four-sport cities Minneapolis-St. Paul and Washington, D.C., haven't won a major pro championship in 26 years. Three-sports cities Toronto and Atlanta have waited more than two decades, as well.

The other thing to remember is the reason that most of us watch sports in the first place: Sports aren't scripted. Things change. The unexpected happens all the time. Every year, there are surprise teams that make runs that leave our heads spinning. Maybe the Tigers finally get a few breaks. Maybe second-year GM Bob Quinn is the real deal and quickly builds the Lions into a team that can beat playoff contenders. Perhaps the Pistons' 2016-17 season is just a blip in a trajectory toward the NBA's elite.

For now, though, Detroit sports fans will have to trudge on. That's what we've been doing this whole time, right?

Contact Brian Manzullo: bmanzullo@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianManzullo.

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