Straight Cash Homie!

  "As long as the Lions keep winning so does the City of Detroit!"

In January 2005 Randy Moss was fined $10,000 by the league for pretending to moon the Green Bay Packer fans at Lambeau Field after scoring a touchdown. Later that week a local TV reporter Dana Thiede caught up with Moss as he was leaving the practice facility and here was the exchange:

Thiede: "Write the check yet, Randy?"
Moss: "When you're rich, you don't write checks."
Thiede: "If you don't write checks, how do you pay these guys?"
Moss: "Straight cash, homie."
Thiede: "Randy, are you upset about the fine?"
Moss: "No, cause it ain't (expletive). Ain't nothing but 10 grand. What's 10 grand to me? Next time I might shake my (expletive)."

Classic!

Well the city of Detroit is saying the same thing now that their beloved Lions are undefeated after beating the hated Chicago Bears 24-13 on Monday Night! The franchise is 5-0 for the first time since 1956 and that was the first Monday Night game for the city in a decade.

Oh by the way, the Tigers are in the playoffs too. For a city crippled by the collapse of the auto industry having two winning teams will at least help put some cash back into the city. Even though it continues to lead the nation’s areas of 1 million people or more with the highest unemployment rate of 15.4% any money generated helps the bottom line.

The corruption scandals that ultimately led to the arrests and convictions of democrats Monica Conyers and former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick wasn‘t at all welcomed either. The city is in financial ruin at this point but to have the Lions and Tigers winning is a blessing to a struggling area.

The 2010 census data showed a dramatic decline in Detroit's population. Over the past 10 years, the city lost a quarter of its residents, bringing it down to a size similar to the pre-auto boom numbers of 1910. The current imigration rate means one person left the city every 22 minutes between 2000 and 2010. That’s incredible!

I'm not a proponent of jumping on bandwagon's at all but in this case I'm holding the reigns for the Motor City. The more they win the more money the city makes and also the better the people of Detroit will feel about themselves. Don't get it twisted, winning builds confidence and confidence encourages! Detroit needs a whole lot of it right now.

If nothing else restaurants, hotels and street vendors are making money as a result of the two teams winning. When money is coming in it in turn gets spent and so on and so forth. How so? Let me break it down for you homie!

Now we're talking about Detroit right? Let’s follow the street vendor for example. He get’s paid on Monday, buys new “Gators”(shoes) on Tuesday because that’s what all the players wear in the “D”. The Gator man buys a Caddy on Wednesday, puts rims on it on Thursday. The car salesman pays bills, buys gear(clothes) and breaks his wife/girlfriend off with money to get her/their hair done by Friday. The club is packed on both Friday and Saturday night and the cycle starts all over on Sunday! Classic!

Now with all kidding aside, winning really does translate into revenue for the city. If you don't believe me look at Cleveland. After they drafted LeBron with the first pick of the 2003 NBA draft and started winning the local economy brought in more than $150 million annually.  Don't sleep on what a professional team can do for a city!

After the win on Monday Night quarterback Mathew Stafford said, "It was electric! "Our fans came out and did an unbelievable job." Well Matt, just keep winning! I’d love to see you guys do what the Saints did for city of New Orleans a couple of years ago. Winning is therapeutic and in all seriousness Detroit needs a big spoon full. Go Lions!

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Twitter:@jaygravesreport