November 2009 Archives

In the turmoil that might be the worst season in recent Redskins history, new lows are being achieved. The Wall Street Journal wonders if the team is losing Washington. In short yes. It's hard to judge. Real fans don't drop their teams because of a bad season. But a bad decade could set the fan base back a bit. I have been a Redskins fan for a long long time. But the Snyder ownership era has worn on me. Once upon a time, season tickets were the coveted treasure of the fan base. But now? I had my opportunity to buy regular season tickets the past two seasons. Ultimately I declined, and now I go to the end of the wait list. And that's OK, something likely I would not have said just a few years ago. Maybe it's the increase in capacity of the stadium, or the rising price of tickets, but the drop in interest in the team has something to do with the lack of urgency for tickets.

In other great news, in a Harris Interactive poll from October, the Redskins are the 17th most popular NFL franchise, dropping 8 slots from the last poll. Also a sign of Snyder? Living in the Washington Metropolitan area my entire life, it's hard to understand how team popularity exists for other towns, other teams. But I know die-hard lifetime fans. I consider myself a big fan. That should not waver. It's not like we are the Cleveland Browns. What about the NFL teams who still have yet to win a Superbowl? The Redskins have three championships. Yet the popularity is dropping?

In the end, you wonder what causes the drop. Winning and losing seasons are cyclical, especially in the salary cap era, so that should not really affect fandom. There are teams in more dire straits (re: Oakland Raiders). Ultimately the owner is responsible. I don't question Dan Snyder's fanatical spirit. I question his ability to lead and guide the team and the fans. Look at Bud Adams, with the Tennessee Titans. He's so fanatic, he flips the bird at games. Sure it cost him $250,000, but I'm guessing if you ask the average Titan fan, they are proud of their owner. You ask 99% of the Redskins fans about Snyder? Let's not go there.

So what does Dick Jauron have to do with the Redskins? Nothing much, except that when he was dismissed as the Buffalo Bills head coach, that has affected the Redskins non-search for a new coach.

We have known for weeks, maybe even since the beginning of the season that this was Jim Zorn's last as Redskins Head Coach. Along with QB Jason Campbell, they'll be swept out the door shortly after Week 17. Dan Snyder's obsession with the big name coach has never ended. He was thrown offguard with Joe Gibbs suddenly retired and was left to find a new coach without the weeks of wooing he, Vinny Cerrato, and the private jet offered.

Now with Bills owner Ralph Wilson actively recruiting new coaches, the pool of candidats may be shrinking. They have made no attempt to hide the fact that Mike Shanahan is at the top of their list. Shanahan is high on Snyder's as well. So what happens if Shanahan goes to the Bills before the Redskins even fire Zorn? The pool suddenly shrunk as Jon Gruden has already re-signed with ESPN for a few more years of Monday Night Football. Jim Haslett has been spurned twice by the Redskins, Mike Holmgren will probably want a Team President role instead of coaching, and it's been long rumored Bill Cowher is waiting for the Carolina Panthers. This leaves the Redskins with a large shortage of qualified, experienced candidates.

We'll have to see how it plays out, but the Redskins can not afford another Zorn hiring incident and the team has to change their colors to "Maroon and Black".

After surrendering a quick 40 Yard TD to Marshall by cornerback Carlos Rogers on a double move, the Redskins came back to tie the score with a Campbell to Yoder 2 Yard TD. Orton came back to Marshall again for a 75 Yard strike for a TD due to poor communication in the secondary between Hall and the safety.

Hunter "the punter" delivered another impressive offensive performance as he threw a perfect strike to FB Mike Sellers for a TD on a fake FG to even the score at 14.

The defensive line began to pressure Orton and eventually a tackle by Orakpo led to Orton leaving the game. Orton twisted his body during the tackle and was also fallen on. The defense appeared much sharper in the second half and was aided by the rust of QB Chris Simms who replaced Orton.

The OL improved during the game and eventually settled into a groove as Betts began to find open lanes to run through especially on the left side where LT Levi Jones saw his first action of the season. During the summer The DC Sports Page mentioned that Jones should be signed to compete for the open RT position. His release from the Bengals wasn't due to performance but the inability to stay healthy as his contract expired last season. Jones performed well in pass protection and pancaked defenders on the run.

Surprised as many fans were to see the Redskins defeat the Broncos 27-17 at home; many fans were left scratching their heads why yet again in short yardage and 4th downs the Redskins chose to run wide/sweep play rather than run north south or use Sellers to obtain the first down. Later in the game Yoder was used as the FB rather than Sellars for Betts lone TD of the game.

The Redskins held their own with the exception of a few lapses on defense. A trick play, a solid Redskins running game and the short passing game kept the chains moving. The offensive play calling has more of a rhythm than earlier in the season, but still lacks the execution and consistency necessary to win many games. Campbell is still inaccurate with throws as well as indecisive. Devin Thomas drops almost as many balls as he catches and Stephon Heyer is still overwhelmed as a starter on the offensive line. The unsung hero of the game belongs to Levi Jones. Little did anyone hear his name called, but the steadiness and he brought to the OL provided the Redskins an opportunity to be more successful. The Redskins know what they have in their young receivers and quarterback for better or worse, but the stability and high level of play of Jones should garner greater attention with any future success along the OL and in the offense.

Is same as the old. Well, more concisely, the interim no more. Jim Riggleman was announced as the Nationals permanent Manager tonight, Veteran's Day. As The Sports Freak just commented in our discussion of this minutes ago, it's almost appropriate as Riggleman seems like the grandpa that will tell you war stories.

Initial reaction is why Riggleman? Rumors had little, if anyone really looked at by GM Mike Rizzo and the Lerners. Former Mets and recent Japanese league manager Bobby Valentine was considered. Maybe Valentine cost too much? Or maybe he turned it down. Riggleman was a good choice to fill the interim role. But he showed little in his time to prove that he deserves the job on the permanent basis. Is it his fault? Not entirely, as former manager Manny Acta lost his job for the same reason...non-production from a team that CAN NOT produce, thank you Jim Bowden.

Well, positively for Rizzo, at least the Nationals didn't go through the debacle that the Redskins had hiring their leader until settling for Jim Zorn.

OK, I'm not an NBA fan. Really haven't been since the Showtime Lakers and basically stopped watching after Michael Jordan left the Bulls. But in looking at ESPN 980's website, this article caught my eye. Can someone explain to me how players can be nominated as All Stars when the season is only 10% over?

One of the few things I remember about the NBA is that the season is 82 games long. As of this morning, the Wizards are 2-6. 8 games into the season, they have a losing record and Arenas, Jamison, and Butler are nominated to the All Star Game?

I don't discredit them for their talent. I discredit them for their relative talent to the rest of the league. Especially Gilbert Arenas. The former Agent Zero was less than zero last season because he was injured most of it. So on this short 8 game losing season, he gets nominated? WTF? I enjoy a good All Star Game or Pro Bowl, but leagues need to do one of 2 things. Either nominate on merit, or just assign players for the best game/entertainment value. I'm not sure the NBA has accomplished that here.

Anyone?

Yes, the World Series is still going on. But the Nationals season has been done for about a month now and one could argue has been done since June, but there has been little talked about the next manager. Is Mike Rizzo doing anything about it?

We have to believe Rizzo is making the rounds, and checking out potential candidates. But this isn't like the NFL where you might be waiting out an assistant to finish his current team's playoff run. Maybe, but there are great candidates out there. Why have we heard little about it? The only thing I've seen is a small comment in an article about the front office changes. Riggleman as the permanent? Really? He's done OK, but is this a great improvement over Manny Acta? BTW, congrats to Acta for getting interviewed in both Houston and Cleveland and landing the Cleveland job.

The Lerners and Rizzo need to pound the pavement. Eventually all these high draft picks may produce a great major league team. The right manager would help too. One early rumor who is still available is Bobby Valentine. He's a great analyst and may end up permanently at ESPN, but he could be the right man for the Nationals. Will the Nationals be the right team for for him?