Mailbag Follow-Up: Your Burning Question Answered

To close out 2023, we posted a final Mailbag for the year to find out what you guys needed to know most heading into 2024. Tjettzky hit that nail so squarely on the head with their question that it was the only one asked, so it’s obviously of dire importance that we answer this:

There\'s a lot of talk about how the Pistons had to be sacrificed in order for the Lions to have success. Could it be that when the Lions began to stumble around Thanksgiving, the Gods of Detroit also decided to jump-start the dark magic by also sacrificing the Wings in order to get the Lions back on track?

This is a deep one. Buckle up.

Who Are The Gods Of Detroit?

Going back to the founding of the city, Antoine de La Mothe Cadillac sits atop the Detroit Pantheon of gods as is right for the founder of the city. Joining him are the likes of Aretha Franklin , Henry Ford , Jimmy Hoffa , Mary Chase Perry Stratton , Ty Cobb , Carol Wald , Joe Louis , Casey Kasem , Gilda Radner , Gordie Howe , and other sons and daughters of the city both natural born and adopted that have transcended the mortal plane.

That Cadillac is at the top, though, is the root of the larger issue for the Lions (and for the city at-large). In a Zeus-like role, it’s the entities that Cadillac scoffed at during life that now come back to haunt the rest of us. Enter the Nain Rouge.

Sorry, The What Now?

The Nain Rouge . A short imp, demon, or otherworldly creature covered in deep red skin or fur with sable eyes and a penchant for mischief. A legend of the area, like Detroit’s own version of a Sasquatch or Chupacabra, sightings of it portend ill luck and disaster. Unless, of course, the hobgoblin can be appeased.

When Cadillac, his accompanying countrymen, and their Algonquin friends founded the city of Detroit by building Fort Ponchartrain, Cadillac was supposedly warned that the Nain Rouge would visit and need to be appeased. In Zeus-like fashion, Cadillac instead beat the imp with a cane until it ran away. That decision has aged well for the Lions.

What Actually Happened?

Obviously, the Nain Rouge has been focusing its attention on the Lions for a long time. Sometimes with sustained focus , sometimes popping up at the exact moment that would cause the most pain , but always on its radar. That seemed to change a bit once Dan Campbell arrived - after the kneecaps press conference, I’m sure even the Nain Rouge thought twice about messing with him. So the focus stayed mostly on the Pistons and Red Wings, with the Pistons falling heavily under its eye this season (those extra 10lbs of muscle from Lucas Raymond and another year of Michael Rasmussen obviously gave the Wings some breathing room).

But there’s only so long you can hold back an eternal supernatural entity like the Nain Rouge. And after a few years, it’s obviously grown bolder and is a little bit more willing to risk a confrontation with Dan Campbell just so it can feast off of more city-wide pain. The city needed a hero, or someone in the pantheon willing to go rogue and take the Nain Rouge head-on. This was clearly a mission for the spirit of Gordie Howe.

Where Tjettzky gets it wrong, with all due respect, is in claiming the Red Wings were sacrificed. Gordie would never let that happen and would have stared the Devil in the face to make sure it didn’t. Instead, he and his now-immortal elbows are facing the Nain Rouge head-on. And like in any fight, blows must be traded. But each strike by the Nain Rouge against the Red Wings is a bit of its attention that doesn’t fall on the Lions.

And so, the Wings suffer a bit in December as Gordie studies his enemy. The Lions try to get back on track as the gaze of the Nain Rouge shifts, and the Pistons… nevermind. But the spirit of Gordie will only allow this to happen for so long before he sees his opportunity. And when he finds his opening, he’s going to make sure his now-otherworldly elbows make Cadillac’s original cane-beating feel like an affectionate tickle.

Is There Something WE Can Do?

There is a way for us here in Detroit to help the spirit of Gordie Howe in this epic astral fight against the ethereal powers of the Nain Rouge. Each spring, the Marche du Nain Rouge is held to drive the creature and his misfortune from the city with floats, costumes, and some poorly-imitated French accents. This March 24th, you can participate in person in Midtown and the Cass Corridor or participate at home with your own demon-banishing and bad-luck-staving practices. There’s no Red Wings game that day, so what else do you have to do? Rien d\'important, alors aidez à combattre le Nain Rouge!

LGRW

WIIM Club

Mailbag Follow-Up: Your Burning Question Answered

Who Are The Gods Of Detroit?

Talking Points