Lions help to lift Michigan up

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - Mary Ann Badge sees life in exclamation points.

She wrote "LIONS FAN!" on her Facebook page, and often uses multiple exclamation points when posting about her favorite teams.

"That tells people how I feel and gets the message across," she told 24 Hour News 8. "I get very vocal when watching a game."

Like most sports fans, she started watching the games with her Dad as a little girl. "I was an only child and he was a big sports fan. Tigers fan, Lions fan."

In the state of Michigan, it's been a long, tough road. Unemployment skyrocketed. The Big 3 were in trouble. Home values plummeted.

But then there was a spark, a glimmer of hope.

The unemployment rate began to fall. The Big 3 posted a 26% gain in sales in 2011. Home values stabilized. The Tigers came within a whisker of the World Series. The Spartans and the Wolverines each won 11 games, including a bowl game.

And the Lions made the playoffs.

After years of watching the Lions fail so many times, their turnaround - like the state of Michigan's - is the result of a lot of hard work and faith that will eventually be rewarded with success.

Michigan may not be ready to describe our future with exclamation points, but we may be done with the question marks. And we can use a period to define our success.