Detroit celebrates

The long, long nightmare is finally over . . . Matt Millen has been fired:

Matt Millen was used to success in his life.

He won Super Bowls as a linebacker. He gained acclaim as a TV analyst. He had reasons to be proud as a husband and father.

As the leader of an NFL team, however, he was a failure by any measure.

The Lions fired Millen seven-plus years after hiring him as team president.

"Matt worked tirelessly during his tenure to win, and he would be the first one to tell you that you have to win in this league," team owner William Clay Ford said in a statement Wednesday. "It just didn't work out."

The Lions were an NFL-worst 31-84 since 2001 with Millen in charge, but his boss refused to get rid of him.

Of course, the other teams in the division (Minnesota, Green Bay, and Chicago) may be less happy: it's been nice for them to always count on two easy wins per season . . .