The story of Connor Stalions continues to have its twists and turns.

Stalions, the former Michigan staffer who is the focus of an NCAA investigation concerning an alleged sign-stealing scheme involving UM, has been a volunteer assistant coach at Detroit Mumford High School.

Now, Stalions has been elevated to interim head coach, after William McMichael suffered a minor stroke last week, according to Jay Alexander, executive director of athletics at Detroit Public Schools Community District.

Stalions has been working as Mumford’s defensive coordinator, but he’ll have some extra responsibilities while McMichael recovers.

Mumford (0-1) faces Flint Hamady on Friday, after it lost its opening game, 47-6, last week to Redford Thurston.

“The bums will pick it up.”  

I’ve been fuming about this since December, when a playoff-crazed Lions tailgater chose those words to explain why his family was leaving their trash on a grassy strip of public property close to my home.  

My wife and I live on the edge of downtown, less than a mile from Ford Field. We first moved to Detroit in 2006, leaving twice for career opportunities, but always coming back, and always living in the vicinity of downtown.

We love the easy access to concerts, sports and events, and feel joyful about the bigger, steadier crowds of people who live, work and visit the core city. It’s just fun.  

Sometimes, when the Red Wings or Pistons are at home, I go for a run along Woodward just to immerse myself a little bit in the pregame excitement. I have, in particular, long enjoyed the loyalty and enthusiasm of you long-suffering Lions supporters, and am happy for you now, despite being a lifelong Chiefs fan.  

These crowds make great people watching, and it’s easy to get caught up in the spirit. 

As the new Lions season begins, I welcome tailgaters back to our neighborhood. I’m merely asking that you treat it as you would like your own neighborhood treated.

Focused on Harris, Trump? Look at abortion, immigration, Michigan politics

The hard work of being poor

Living where I do, fans and concertgoers aren’t the only people I watch. I also see how difficult it is to be poor — much more work than simply picking up after yourself ― to wait for the bus in predawn cold or midsummer heat, to pull a little cart home from the grocery store over icy streets, to curl up on a corner of sidewalk to get some sleep.  

I don’t judge. My birth family was far from well off, and some of us, including me, have experienced the ravages of substance abuse. In the “bums” our Lions fan expects to clean up his mess, I see people still awaiting the unbidden grace that lifted me. 

When you are poor, for any reason, the heat is more oppressive, the cold is colder, the distance is farther.  

So when I see people trudging to work in the dark, I think about how much work it is to be poor, just as when I see folks schleping empty cans and bottles for return. And that does happen, so at one level, the tailgater was right – the bottle bill works as an incentive that cuts down on at least some kinds of litter.  

But that doesn’t make it right to leave a mess — which included this family’s paper plates and napkins — because you think Detroit is your garbage dump, or that the less fortunate should clean up after you.  

It may be that this Lions fan — I think this is common — doesn’t come into the city very often, and has an outdated conception. When I moved here in 2006, just after Super Bowl XL led to a hurried makeup job, litter was common. Streetlights were out. Bike riding was frustrating because of broken glass in the street.  

That’s changed for a variety of reasons, but it boils down to investment and sustained effort, along with a much-needed step-up in city services that made it possible for longtime residents to hold the line against disrepair.

No city is pristine, but significant parts of Detroit proper are undeniably neater than they were 20 years ago.  

That Detroit of two decades ago showed its poverty more sharply wasn’t an excuse to act like a pig back then, and it sure isn’t an excuse for littering now.

AFL-CIO president: Union workers are powerful. We will decide this election.

Let’s not disrespect Detroit

I, perhaps unfairly, assume our littering Lion lives in some nondescript suburb that would barely exist were it not for the brawn and innovation of Detroit. It’s Dee-troit basketball, not Birmingham Hoops. He cheers for the Detroit Lions, not the Warren Kittens or the Southfield Whatevers, and no doubt takes pride in saying he is a Detroit Lions fan now that they are succeeding.  

So he and his family — he had elementary-school age children with him — would do well to be polite visitors. I merely ask that they pick up after themselves, and maybe not teach the next generation to disrespect Detroit.   

I’ll do the same if I ever have reason to park my vehicle on some suburban street, pitch a tent and have a little party.

Randy Essex is an editor at the Detroit Free Press. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters and we may publish it online and in print.

The Detroit Lions’ impact and fanbase reach far beyond the city limits of their town.

Detroit has generated plenty of fans since head coach Dan Campbell took over, as he has helped lead the team from the bottom of the NFC North to a legitimate Super Bowl favorite.

One of the groups of people who will be following the Lions’ 2024 season quite closely is the third-grade class of Mary Crippen, a teacher at Pinecrest Elementary School in the Miami area who has conducted several football-themed lessons in her classroom.

Dan Campbell Epic New Applebee’s Commercial Released

Last year, Crippen used Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill’s quest for 2,000 receiving yards to teach her class math. This year, for her math lesson, Crippen has elected to use the combined receiving yardage of Hill and Jaylen Waddle to help teach math.

Additionally, students in Crippen’s class each drafted an NFL team to help learn geography. One student chose the Lions, and the student had a special surprise in store from the team recently in class.

Crippen posted a video on social media of the heartwarming moment, in which she reveals to the lucky student that the Lions had sent a package of memorabilia.

Each student received a Lions magnet, a One Pride bracelet and sunglasses. The student who picked the Lions, Maxine, also received a bobblehead of the team’s mascot, Roary, and a signed football.

Crippen used the opportunity to explain to the students the kindness of the gesture from the team.

“The biggest thing here that I’m learning (is) sportsmanship. They didn’t have to give you guys things, you didn’t draft their team. But, they wanted to be what? They wanted to be kind, right?” Crippen said.
“So, as you’re going throughout the season and you’re playing other teams, should you wish bad luck on other teams? Should you wish for other teams to get hurt? No, you should always wish for the best for others. You should always be kind. The Lions didn’t have to give you anything, they didn’t have to give us anything. They didn’t, but they did, and that was a really cool and kind thing to do.”