HOLLAND, Mich. — The Detroit Lions are just one win away from playing in their first Super Bowl. For Hope College Assistant Men's Basketball Coach Tom Davelaar, it's even more unbelievable than a buzzer-beating full court shot.
"I try to be very forgiving of coaches because I know how they're criticized for decisions and so on. I realize what goes into it. I realize, as a fan, I didn't know the inner workings, but it doesn't mean I don't question things from time to time," Coach Davelaar told FOX 17. "But...it's been a lot of fun."
Coach Davelaar knows what it's like to be in big games.
He has been coaching at Hope College since the early 1980s, and has been a fan of the Detroit Lions since the team was sharing its field with the Detroit Tigers.
"My first game was at Briggs/Tiger Stadium on Monday Night Football," Davelaar recalled. "They lost to the Vikings on the last second kick. Think that was in '71. Graduated here from Hope in '72. I went to many games at the Silverdome in Pontiac, but became a season ticket holder when they announced that they were moving to Ford Field."
That was back in 2002. Since then, Davelaar and his wife, Anne Bakker, have seen lots of ups and downs as Detroit fans.
"For many years, I'd get that invoice at the end of the season. Do I want to renew my tickets? And I always told my wife, my son and others, 'if I don't renew, this will be the year they do something,' so, I kept my tickets," Davelaar said. "This kind of made it all worth it. The last couple of weeks, being at Ford Field and just seeing, you know, the exuberant fan base finally gets to let loose and enjoy, of course, a couple Lions victories."
Davelaar said, during the last few games, the crowd has gotten so loud that his wife started wearing hearing protection.
"It gets exceptionally loud and, which is great, I mean, so many people, like myself, have waited so long just to let loose. It's just kind of cathartic," he added. "Now, all of a sudden, it's here and you have...to pinch yourself. This is something we always dreamed of. We weren't quite sure it was going to happen, but I should know better. I coached at a place called Hope, Hope College, and there's always hope. I tell our players, our staff, our recruits that there's always hope...It doesn't get much better than this."
