http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stori...80516255.shtml
PUBLISHED: Friday, May 16, 2008
Does e-mail show how Lions really feel about their fans?
By PAT CAPUTO
Of The Oakland Press
When Kevin Furlong received an e-mail from an employee of the Detroit Lions ticket office, he did a double take.
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"F--- 'em until next year," it said.
It was an inadvertent transmission, meant to be sent from one Lions employee, Matt Schul, to another, Lance Powser, about Furlong's ordeal with the Lions ticket office. Furlong felt compelled to cancel six season tickets worth more than $5,000 for the 2008 season. The Lions were trying to convince him to renew.
"It was extremely disappointing," Furlong said of his reaction to the e-mail.
Cast aside the graphic language and examine only the meaning, and I find these words to be telling. In my opinion, they sum up the organization's attitude in its totality.
The Lions take their support for granted.
It's why owner William Clay Ford crassly, the rare times he speaks to the media these days, praises team president Matt Millen -- who has compiled a 31-81 record since being handed the keys to the franchise in 2001.
It's why Millen smugly passes off Lion fans as if they are a necessary evil, as he lives in what is essentially a football executive's fantasyland. He is the primary decisionmaker when it comes to the Lions' player personnel -- without culpability for a mountain of failings.
To believe there isn't a trickle-down effect from the top to throughout the remainder of the organization would be naive.
And I can't help but believe Furlong, a 49-year-old resident of Livonia, who works as a CPA in West Bloomfield, didn't feel the brunt of the Lions' attitude.
Lions executive vice president and chief operating officer Tom Lewand vehemently disagreed with my contention there is a correlation between the tone set by Ford and Millen -- and this incident.
"If you write that, it will be factually incorrect and bordering on slander," Lewand said. "And I will come after you."
Do I feel threatened by Lewand? No. Am I angry he said those things. No. They were said out of loyalty and emotion -- and I understand and respect that.
But it doesn't change my opinion. And I don't believe I'm exactly a club of one in this town when it comes to believing Lions leadership is inept and insensitive.
Furlong owned season tickets for three years. He had two in the club level the first year. The second year, he received two more in the lower level stands after being on a waiting list -- so he had four. The third season, they reduced the size of the club level, including a portion where his seats were located, which were on the aisle.
He said he wanted to keep those two seats, add two club-level seats and asked that two seats he had in the stands be combined with his seats from the club level that were moved to the stands. The Lions agreed. It gave him six season tickets.
But when he went to sit in his old seats, somebody else was sitting in them. He asked them to leave, but when he looked at his tickets, he noticed his seats had been moved.
"It was an embarrassing and awkward moment," Furlong said. "I was stunned."
When he contacted the Lions, he was told nothing could be done about it during the 2007 season, but he was promised aisle seats for 2008.
Yet, when Furlong received his season ticket invoice for 2008, it was for the same seats he had in 2007.
It was then that Furlong canceled his season tickets in an e-mail to Schul. Powser then e-mailed Furlong with an offer for more desirable seats, but Furlong said it was a matter of principle -- and he wouldn't accept the offer.
Then Furlong received the inadvertent e-mail from Schul.
The entire e-mail reads, "Lance...he is not talking about you here. Mark was asked to speak to these people and he said no. F... 'em until next year."
"Mark" is Lions ticket director Mark Graham.
Once he heard of the e-mail, Lewand called Furlong and invited him to a game.
"I did so before I heard from any media on this," he said.
Lewand offered no excuses for the incident, but absolved Graham from blame, although the e-mail in question indicates Graham refused to discuss the issue with season ticketholders such as Furlong, who had their seats unexpectedly moved for the 2007 season.
"It was an inaccurate characterization of a conversation held in 2007, not this year,'' Lewand said of Schul's e-mail.
Lewand said he was, "deeply disappointed with the e-mail and light it portrayed, and I have addressed it."
"There are a number of different levels this could have been avoided and we realize that," Lewand said. "One, with the invoice we sent out for this year. If it had been correct, none of this would have happened. We never condone our fans being discussed in that manner, whether it be in an e-mail or any type of discussion among members of our organization."
Furlong is not pleased with the Lions organization, but feels no animosity toward Schul. He was hesitant to make the e-mail public for fear Schul would be the fall guy for the incident.
"Matt was the one person who was trying to help us, and I feel for him, but it didn't sound like anybody else there cared," Furlong said.
His anger hit a head when the Lions started offering partial season ticket packages this week.
"When they came out with the partial ticket packages, I just couldn't take it anymore," Furlong said. "Evidently, the way they are treating fans isn't working out to well for them."
Leward said the Lions do appreciate their fans. "We care deeply about our fans and their support," he said. "That's not to make any excuses about this. I'm as upset as Kevin is about this, but it doesn't reflect the overwhelming way we treat our ticket holders or our fans."
There are two ways to look at that. One is a matter of customer satisfaction. Kevin Furlong was not a satisfied customer, but it seems to me the issue is deeper than that.
"F... 'em until next year." Where did that attitude come from?
We can only hope it isn't the unofficial team slogan.
Does Email Show How Lions Really Feel About Their Fans? 
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