The election this November will undoubtedly be a referendum on experience. The McCain camp will argue that, in these troubled times, we must vote for him because he has experience in Washington, foreign affairs and in the defense of our nation.

The Obama faithful will argue that such experience is what erroneously lead us into Iraq. Furthermore, it is that aforementioned Washington experience that has lead to the “good ol’ boy” environment and the “business as usual” atmosphere that pervades all of Washington. This leads us to the fundamental question: how important is experience?

I am a fan of the Detroit Lions, a perennially losing team in the National Football League. Wait, I have not switched subjects. The Lions are a perfect case study of experience. The Lions have one of the most experienced general mangers in the entire National Football League.

Matt Millen was a Pro Bowl linebacker who played with the 49ers, Redskins and most notably the Raiders. He was a part of two National Football League championship teams. Upon his retirement he went on to become one the most highly respected color analysts on NFL broadcasts for both CBS and Fox. In 2001 Matt Millen accepted the job of CEO/GM of the Detroit Lions.

It is now 2008 and Mr. Millen has 8 seasons of experience under his belt. Let’s run down his accomplishments:

As of today (9/18/08) Millen is 31-83. That is a 27% winning percentage.
He is 52 games below .500 for his career.
He has fired 2 head coaches and hired 3. His latest coach has a record of 10-24.
Assuming undefeated championship seasons (i.e. 19 wins/season) it would take almost 3 seasons for Millen to reach .500.
Millen’s draft picks (2002-2005) are as follows:

#3:     Joey Harrington        Out of the league
#2:     Charles Rogers        Out of the league
#7:     Roy Williams             Pro Bowl
#10:     Mike Williams        Out of the league

Experience is a great buzzword yet it has no correlation to performance.  Mr. Millen, if not by pure randomness, should have been capable to construct a competitive team. The Lions have not been, nor will be in the immediate future, a legitimate team.  They are either the laughing stock of ESPN or ignored completely.

The Lions lack a great many things yet one thing they do not lack is experience. Vote as you wish but please use this tome to put experience in its correct place.