The announcement of the Sunday's Lions game vs. the Washington Redskins being blacked out locally has me thinking about something: is Fox gonna show The Neverending Story or Home Alone at 1 p.m.?

There's other things that announcement means, though.

It means The Stafford affect hasn't taken affect. His play in the team's first two games has been awful to watch. Matthew Stafford has the lowest passer rating (40.5) of any of the 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL. And I've seen blood-alcohol contents listed in newspaper police briefs that are higher than his completion percentage (barely 50 percent).

It means fans still refuse to pay for a putrid product. Despite what many people continue to believe, the economy has nothing to do with the Lions not being able to sell out games (about 10,000 tickets remain available for Sunday's game against Washington).

If the Lions were consistently in the playoff picture by the first snowfall, Ford Field would be on jam every Sunday. It's the same reason the Pistons streak of sell-outs was snapped in February and the same reason Tiger ticket sales took a dip after last season. People want to spend their hard-earned money to cheer a winner. In the last five years, I've gone to Lions games not to see the home team, but to see the likes of Clinton Portis, Terrell Owens and Jay Cutler.

Changes need to be made. They may not put butts in the seats, but they'll help the team stay afloat.

Part II coming soon.