It's the?year of urban renewal

With rebirth of Lions and Bills (among others), it's a season of renaissance

Mike Segar / Reuters

With the Lions at 5-0, fans have hope for the team's first playoff berth since 1999, NBCSports.com contributor Michael Ventre writes.

OPINION

updated 10:02 p.m. ET Oct. 11, 2011

Michael Ventre

Call it the NFL?s version of urban renewal.

Imagine a city down on its luck, with more potholes than asphalt, weeds shooting up through the cracks in the sidewalk, scores of empty buildings. Buddy, can you spare a first down?

Then the league comes along, spruces up the place, restores its self-esteem and sends it back into playoff contention. It?s like ?It?s a Wonderful Life,? only without the Christmas decorations.

Well, the current scenario isn?t exactly like that. But it?s safe to say that because of the parity the NFL has in place, cities that used to have no hope whatsoever that winning football would ever be experienced inside their borders suddenly are giddy with success.

And for whatever reason ? the alignment of the planets, global warming, lucky drafting ? there seem to be more such revivals in more cities this season than in recent memory. It?s almost a golden era of tarnished boroughs brought back to a lustrous glow.

Such municipalities are led by Detroit and Buffalo, two rusted frigates in the NFL?s storied fleet that seemed destined for the scrap yard. Instead they float atop their respective divisions, all shiny and new. Joining them in their moment of glory are Washington, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Houston and Oakland.

Because of the way the NFL works ? with its draft, salary cap and revenue sharing ? a city doesn?t have to suffer from football depression forever. Now granted, in some cases it might seem like forever. And parity is no cure for a nitwit owner who continually keeps his franchise in the slums of the standings through his incompetence.

But generally speaking, hope always exists in the NFL because it is a systemic element of it. Because of the natural order of things, teams at least have a chance of being good.

Perhaps no city deserves a winner more than Detroit. The Lions haven?t been in the playoffs since 1999. They haven?t been past the opening round since 1991. They haven?t had a winning season since 2000, when they went 9-7. Just three years ago, the Lions went 0-16, the only bright spot being that it created a surge in sales of brown paper bags that fit over heads.

But now the Lions have a healthy Matthew Stafford at quarterback, a dominant defensive front led by Ndamukong Suh ? thanks to a draft designed to aide the downtrodden ? and they?re 5-0 for the first time since 1956. In the 1800s, if the railroad came through your town, it represented prosperity. This is the professional football equivalent.

The Buffalo Bills have been irrelevant for almost as long. They haven?t made the playoffs since 1999, although they haven?t been as pitiful as Detroit. They?ve had two 8-8 seasons and one 9-7 campaign in the intervening years. But they hadn?t made anyone forget the glory days ? and remember, the Bills were 0-4 in Super Bowls during that halcyon time.

Lately, Bills fans have put the Jim Kelly jerseys in the closet and replaced them with Ryan Fitzpatrick?s. Although there are still 11 games left, this early renaissance is a glorious payoff to all the waiting and suffering by Buffalo supporters. Heck, the weather has even cooperated; fans were able to wear short sleeves Sunday while making obscene gestures at the Eagles.

Imagine a nerdy rich kid repeatedly taking a toy back to FAO Schwarz and complaining, ?This doesn?t work,? and you have Daniel Snyder and his Washington Redskins. For most of his tenure as owner, the Redskins have been inert, with springs popping out and parts falling off. Now coach Mike Shanahan has them atop the NFC East with Rex Grossman at quarterback.

To give you an idea of the magnitude of change there, politicians have taken breaks from stuffing their pockets with lobbyists? cash in order to applaud.

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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/44867572/ns/sports-nfl/

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