Detroit’s professional sports teams have struggled in recent years, with long playoff droughts across multiple franchises and barely any championship seasons. The Lions hadn’t won a playoff game for thirty years, the Red Wings hadn’t been to the playoffs since 2016, the Tigers hadn’t been to the playoffs since 2014, and the Pistons hadn’t won a playoff game since 2008. Now, things have changed. The Lions just made it to the National Football Conference (NFC) championship, the Tigers just had a deep playoff run, and the Red Wings were just one game out of the playoffs last year and show plenty of promise this year. Excitement is running through the city of Detroit, and it is just beginning.

The Detroit Lions have been infamous for being one of the worst franchises in NFL history. They have won only three divisional championships in the last 50 years. The last time they won a championship was in 1957, which was the pre-Super Bowl era. Fast forward 67 years, and the Lions just competed for an NFC title last season and are now 4-1 and second in the NFC North this season. In 2021, the Lions went 3-13-1 and just two years later the Lions went 12-5. There is a lot of credit to go around for the Lions new winning culture, but most would agree that General Manager Brad Holmes and Head Coach Dan Campbell deserve a lot of that credit. Campbell and Holmes were appointed head coach and general manager in Jan. of 2021 and in just three seasons they took the Lions from going 3-13-1 in 2021 to going 12-5 and making the NFC championship. As Berkley High School principal and devoted Lions fan Mr. Meloche put it, “I think leadership is the main reason for the Lion’s turnaround. Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell drafted wisely, signed key free agents and developed talent which, ultimately, changed the culture of the franchise.”

Sports Illustrated writer Vito Chirco wrote, “Campbell and Holmes, since becoming Lions employees in 2021, have worked in unison to build a roster in Detroit capable of competing with the “big boys” on the biggest of stages. And, three years later, the duo has seen its tireless efforts result in Detroit advancing to its first NFC Championship Game in 32 years.” Leadership has proved to be the biggest factor of the Lions success because Holmes signs the right players and Campbell has them do the right things.

The Lions turnaround has had a huge impact on the city of Detroit. Mr. Meloche said “In a lot of ways, I feel like the city of Detroit has had a chip on their shoulders (for good reason). For years, the city was a punch line and so the turnaround is satisfying in showing that you can’t keep this city down.”

As of now, the Lions are 4-1 in the 2024-25 season and look pretty promising with great performances from guys like Jared Goff, David Montgomery, Brian Branch and Amon-Ra St. Brown.
The Lions show lots of promise and look like they will make another trip to the NFC championship and hopefully a trip to the Superbowl this time.

The Detroit Tigers past performance has been underwhelming; ten years of bad baseball and this year was looking no different. In the middle of the season, after a terrible June, they had a 0.2% chance of making the playoffs; this was frustrating for Tigers fans. Players like Javier Baez were producing nothing for the team. Tarik Skubal, the best pitcher in Detroit since Justin Verlander, felt like a wasted talent. Most would say he is the best in the entire league, but the Tigers offense is wasting him. It was another season with no success.

For some reason, this changed in August. Suddenly, the Tigers just kept winning. They went 34-17 through the last 51 games of the season. They looked like the best team in baseball for that stretch. But this wasn’t with Baez or Geo Urshela, this was with young players. 25 out of 26 players hadn’t had any playoff experience. They were enjoying themselves, playing loose, and looking really good. Skubal kept looking like the best pitcher in baseball, and before anyone noticed, they were in the playoffs for the first time in ten years. They swept the Astros in the first series, but fell to the Guardians in a heartbreaking game five in Cleveland. Although the Tigers came short of the world series, there is no question that baseball is back in Detroit.

Detroit, long known as Hockeytown, has struggled to live up to that moniker in recent years. It has been empty seats, no playoffs, and a terrible team. But in this past year, there has been a stream of light that has snuck through and is bringing back Hockeytown. Looking forward to the upcoming season, the Red Wings have some new young players who could make a difference: Lucas Raymond, a 22-year-old star, just signed an eight-year, $64.6 million contract. He had 31 goals and 21 assists last season. Another great, young player, Moritz Seider signed a seven-year, $59.85 million contract. He is the brick of the defense as well as the future. Last year, the Red Wings showed true promise. During the season, the Wings won six games in a row. The team couldn’t be stopped. Patrick Kane, Dylan Larkin, and all of these stars were thriving. But right after that stretch, they lost seven games in a row, putting them out of the playoffs and stopping all of the momentum of the season. This was a killer for the team and brought down morale.
A big player who helped the team out during this hard stretch was Dylan Larkin. He is on an eight-year, $69.6 million deal with the Red Wings and is the captain of the team. He was the highest scorer on the team last year, with 33 goals and the most assists, with 32 on the season. This season, Larkin should stay consistent and have another great season. Freshman Owen Roth, an avid Red Wings fan, said, “I am very excited to see Larkin come back for another season. He has a lot of experience, and he is a big part of the leadership in the team. I hope he will help the younger players succeed.” Larkin shared his thoughts which were similar to Roth’s, saying “I thought I saw growth in everyone and growth as a team, growth from young players. And then we made some adjustments, some new additions that I think will really complement our team.” While the future might be uncertain, everyone in Detroit is hopeful for a Red Wings playoff run.