Fans like Chad Sweet sour about Detroit's failure, demand change

A local sports talk radio station sponsored a pregame anti-Millen march.
DETROIT (AP) -- During Chad Sweet's 33 years, the Detroit Lions have rarely given him anything to cheer about.
So on Sunday, he drove more than 60 miles from his home in Tecumseh to a downtown bar to join a pregame march demanding that the Lions fire president Matt Millen.
Like hundreds of others, he dressed in orange like fans of the Cincinnati Bengals, who beat Detroit 41-17 in the Lions' final home game of the season.
And like the rest of the crowd, the bar and the rally became an outlet for watching years of lousy football.
The problem
"All of my life we haven't had a whole lot to root for," Sweet said. "We never really get over the hump. A lot of it seems to be ownership related or management related."
The march, sponsored by a local sports talk radio station, drew about 500 people at its start, but the crowd grew to about 1,000 as the fans walked the five blocks to Ford Field.
Along the way, they chanted "Fire Millen" and "Ho-ho-ho, Millen must go." Many wore "Fire Millen" T-shirts and orange hunting gear. They carried signs that said "Commitment to Ineptness," and "Fed Up." One wore a hat reading, "Blame Ford First," a twist on one of the automaker's slogans.
Many urged the Ford family to sell the team, but few thought the march would have an impact.
"I don't think this is going to change anything, not the way the Fords are," said Rich Lebert, 24, who carried a Millen doll hanging in effigy from a stick. "But we have to do something so that they know we care."
Lions chief operating officer Tom Lewand said before the game he wouldn't comment on the march. "I didn't see it, and it wasn't part of our gameday operations," he said.
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