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Simple question: Would you wipe all the Barry Sanders memories out of your mind if it meant we had won a Super Bowl? Let's say we had your basic North/South runner. We made the playoffs with Scott Mitchell handing the ball off for 4 yard gains and hitting Herman Moore and Perriman on playaction passes. The Lions peaked one year winning the NFC Central and eked into the Super Bowl and come away with a 24-14 win. They certainly weren't the best team in the NFL, but they won when it counted. You're given this for at the cost of knowing who Barry Sanders ever was. Would you take it?

Assume everything post-Barry happened just as it had...

I think about this whenever I hear reporters mention how miserable the Lions have been as a franchise. Growing up watching him play year in and year out was an amazing experience. You knew he could go off any play and that just because he had three defenders on him in the backfield didn't mean the play wasn't going to be a 70 yard touchdown run. Virtually everyone my age emulated him, even if it was against imaginary defenders in the backyard.

I've experienced Pistons and Tigers championships, so I feel I can accurately gauge the feeling of excitement. While I usually appreciate team success over individual stardom, the Barry Sanders experience meant more than winning a single Super Bowl to me.

Do you think the Barry Sanders experience has the value of a Super Bowl victory?

I would possibly say Sanders, except for the way he quit on the team/fans/etc. Its one thing to retire, its another to basically just quit a couple days before training camp. His doing that is a big reason to why we were so bad over the past decade (Millen helped a lot too).

Millen helped AAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOTTT

super bowl and it's not even close

I would take Barry, he was magic, and so much fun to watch. He does lose a few points for leaving the way he did, but given the way the team was being run, I can't say I really blame him. If any of us were crapped on by our managers that much, we'd debate leaving too.

I'd rather say we had the best running back ever (biased statement I know), than the best team on a given year.

I would rather have the SB victory as that is the prime directive of the game. That being said, any team that has Barry has no business not winning. If you can't figure out a way to dominate, then you should trade the immensely valuable player to get the positions that you do need. WIth him or without him you decide which is best, but one of those ways is plenty to get a leg up towards becoming the best team in the league. The choice is to win with him, lose with him, or win without him. The only one that is unconscionable is to lose with him and that's all that matters, and that's the one we picked. Uggh.

TSE wrote:I would rather have the SB victory as that is the prime directive of the game.

Interesting perspective. If you had the choice, would you play chess to a draw on a sunny beach with a delicious buffet, open bar, and killer after party, or would you take the victory sharing a dungeon in subzero temperatures with an 84 year old woman in sexy lingerie and a pile of rotting onions? Bonus: After the victory, you get a trophy stating: Prime Directive Accomplished.

Do we have to take the board and the pieces onto the beach too, can't we just sit at the bar and play over a computer or something?