It’s already November and there are so many intriguing sports stories to talk about here in the DMV.
-The Capitals are 9-2 BBQ Sauce Bruce benched OVI at the start of OT the other night. (Bigger story here is that the CAPS are looking goooooooood!)
-The Hot Stove just got turned on and the heat is starting to crank up. The Nats are going to be big players this offseason. How does B.J. Upton and C.J. Wilson sound? Maybe they will go after J.T.T. or R.L. Stine too!
-The Orioles are balls deep in the quest for their new General Manager and candidates have been coming in and out like the line at Chipotle at lunch time.
-And maybe the biggest crime is that the Washington Warthogs are still disbanded!
However, in this town the Washington Redskins are king. It does not matter whether it is November 3rd or July 3rd, the Skins are the top story in the DMV and are the most dissected franchise in the area. With that said, I have got some thoughts concerning the Redskins and I’ve got to get a load off my chest like Lisa Ann after a full day’s work.
Let’s be honest with ourselves Redskins Nation. In the words of the round, mound of sound bites, Denny Green, the 2011 Washington Redskins are who we thought they were. They entered this season with no real playmakers on offense, a patchwork offensive line, and a two headed monster at quarterback that even the Seattle Seahawks were not jealous of (Cut to Tarvaris Jackson and Charlie Whitehurst A.J.-Hawking me). If your expectations for this season were any better than say 7-9, then you are nuttier than an 8 year old’s poop the morning after Halloween. Those unrealistic Redskins fans (of which there are many) got teased by the Redskins 3-1 record worse than they were by their date at junior prom. It was then that the injuries began to pile up like Big Mac’s on a lunch order by Albert Haynesworth. We lost the entire left side of our offensive line, we lost Santana Moss (our only “playmaker” at wide receiver), Tim Hightower (who was really looking like a beast in the running game), Chris Cooley (the fan favorite who was clearly playing on one leg), and lately O.J. Atogwe and Fred Davis (the emerging animal) have been hampered by lower body injuries. Train Rex was absurdly terrible as a starting quarterback, which is exactly what we expected. I’ll admit, I was begging for John Beck at the start of the season and the crow I’ve been eating the past two weeks tastes exactly like you would think. But what do we have to lose by starting John Beck, aside from another 10 games? We know Rex Grossman has a habit of how do you say…shitting the bed. At least with John Beck we didn’t know exactly what we were getting which left the door open for anything better than Rex. Either way it’s not a great situation to be in as a franchise or fan base, but such is life as a passionate Redskins fan.
The Redskins sit at 3-4 and appear destined to go 3-13 the hard way. Now before you go jumping off the Woodrow Wilson you need to put it in perspective. Yes we as a fan base are very impatient, and rightfully so because we have endured one terrible decision after another under Dan Synder’s reign of ineptitude. However, he has let go of the reins a bit and handed them over to Bruce Allen and Mike Shanahan who have had success in the NFL. It was pretty obvious that the focus of this past offseason and the draft was on improving the defense and I think overall it was successful. Adding O.J. Atogwe, Josh Wilson, Barry Cofield, Ryan Kerrigan, and what could have been with Jarvis Jenkins were great moves. One can only assume this upcoming offseason will be focused on improving the offense. We will have a top 10 pick in the draft and will likely have an opportunity to select either Matt Barkley out of USC, or Landry Jones out of Oklahoma. Upgrades at wide receiver and running back will be essential, and continuing to sure up the o-line is also a key task.
It was pretty obvious that the team Shanahan and Allen were inheriting last year was going to take some time to revamp and improve. Year 1 of the new regime was business as usual at Redskins Park as our beloved team resembled more of a circus than a football team. The Ringling Brothers were spotted at Redskins Park taking notes. Mike Shanahan’s decisions at quarterback resemble Jayson Werth’s all too familiar box scores, 0-3. The quarterback is obviously the most important position on the field, so the Redskins NEED to get this right and the 2012 Draft will hopefully cure this problem. Mike Shanahan is no dummy; his son on the other hand is a horse of a different color. I honestly do not have the time or patience to write about the nepatimistical (real word?) clown who calls draw plays from the 8 on 3rd and Goal.. All in all, it’s time to relax Redskins fans. No one likes losing and watching this team every Sunday has become about as fun as watching Gigli. It’s time to accept that this is a truly mediocre team with a lot of room to improve. It’s time to take the foot off the pedal and stop expecting this team to compete for the Lombardi trophy this season let alone a .500 record. Let’s lower this season’s expectations and continue to be patient. I know you’re frustrated, hell so am I, but if we continue to trust in Shanahan and Allen, we will be rewarded. Wow, I am totally living up to the title of this article; folks we are in full on rambling mode. I will try to clean it up…
This week on The Lavar Arrington and Chad Dukes radio show Chris Cooley had some choice words for the fans of the Redskins.
“Our fan base hates our owner because he can’t ever keep a coach, he’ll never keep players, he’ll never keep guys around, he changes it and it’s like a fantasy football team to him. But then everyone calls in and says we gotta get rid of Kyle Shanahan, we gotta get rid of Mike Shanahan, we gotta trade Chris Cooley. I hate it, what we’ve got to do is keep consistency over a period of time and continue to try to build.”
As a fan base we have been begging for some consistency after Snyder has spent the past decade firing coaches and overpaying players who are incapable of holding Graham Gano’s jock. While Cooley is right, we need to show patience and believe in the system that is in place, but this is not the sole reason why we hate Dan Snyder.
Hey Chris, here are just a few reasons why we hate Ol’ Danny Boy:
1) It costs $90 to sit in the upper deck.
2) Beers cost more than one semester at Virginia Tech.
3) He sues local papers for expressing their freedom of the press at his expense.
4) He charges for parking at training camp. Read that sentence again.
5) He’s friends with Tom Cruise.
6) He hired Vinny Cerrato.
7) He meddles with football affairs of which he knows nothing about, and he has mismanaged every coaching search he has ever been involved in.
I’ll stop there because my blood is boiling thinking of each and every way Dan Snyder has raped this fan base of our once proud franchise!
Chris Cooley has been a fan favorite ever since the Redskins drafted him in 2004. He has played his heart out for the franchise and he has played through broken ankles, broken fingers, concussions, and ill-fitting equipment. I love how candid he is when he is on the local radio and I truly hope he is back with the team next year. But come on man, we don’t hate Snyder just because he has mismanaged this team worse than the CEO’s of Enron. He is an uberrich fanboy, yet he has totally forgotten about the fans and makes his decisions based solely on the all mighty dollar.. That is not an owner I want running my favorite team.
My final rant is directed at Carlos Rogers. This week the 49ers come to town and while Carlos Rogers may be returning to D.C., its pretty obvious he left his hands back at Auburn a long time ago. This guy has dropped more interceptions than the amount of times DannyTanner had a heartfelt sit-down-with-one-of-his-daughters–with-background-music. Carlos never had more than 2 interceptions in any season with the Redskins and yet he already has 3 for the Niners. Rogers has always been a very good cover corner except for when a receiver runs a double move…Seriously, though Kate Gosselin has a better chance of getting another reality show than Rogers has at defending a double move. I can’t stand the people who are sticking up for him by saying that he played poorly the past couple of seasons simply because he was unhappy and he just needed a change of scenery. Oh boohoo dude, you were unhappy playing for a franchise steeped in tradition, with an avid fan base, while being paid millions of dollars. Do you think everyone loves his or her jobs? Hell no, but we all do them and go about our business. You signed a contract and were still receiving pay checks therefore it is expected that you will play up to your abilities no matter what your mood is. Punk.
Keep you heads up Redskins Nation, our patience will be rewarded. Stay the course, and never forget to HAIL!
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