January 2010 Archives

So in the span of about a month, I have given up season tickets to both the Redskins and the Nationals. Before I continue, I should define what I mean by season tickets. To me, it means a plan that includes several games over the course of the season. In the case of the Redskins, it was the entire season. In the case of the Nationals, it was a 20 game plan. There were a number of issues that came up to help to make these decisions. Economy and the performance of the team were common in both, but there were others specific to the teams and sports.

Over the course of my post-college adult life, I have owned or been part of a group that owned tickets to the Redskins, Nationals, Orioles, Capitals, and Terps Men's Basketball. I'm down to just the Terps now. My alma mater holds a great place in my life, and they could be in a losing season...I'll still watch them anytime.

For the Orioles and Capitals, it came to distance and time commitments respectively. Baltimore is not that far, but committing to every Sunday game (and for awhile, several weeknight games as well), just wasn't great. The nail in the coffin for the Orioles was when the Nationals arrived in town. The Capitals are a great ticket to have, but my work got in the way and I just could not commit to any games ahead of time to justify keeping those tickets.

The Nationals was easy. The 20 game plan was not onerous. We even actually split the tickets so I was only obligated to about 10 games a season. But in reality, why should I prepay for games they decide I should buy when I can show up on virtually any gameday, 10 minutes before first pitch to buy the exact same seats and probably have a 90% chance of getting them? It sounds harsh, and I'm becoming what the team does not need...a fan who barely spends money on them. Note to the Lerners, I'm probably not the only one.

The Redskins was much tougher, yet was easily justifiable. I once had season tickets in the upper level for a couple of seasons during the Norv Turner era. Then I had given up until a friend decided he was interested in getting premium seats (lower level). So for the past few seasons, we have been 20-30 rows from the field, in the end zone, cheering on those fans. This past season, we were upgraded to the club level to test out the seats there. But ultimately, it was not enough to keep our interest. Besides some personal issues, the Redskins simply don't have the draw any longer. The price was not justified and while the fan experience there is great, watching games on TV is almost as good as being there. After you weigh in parking, getting there, and the simple hassle of possibly not sitting an entire half, it was too easy a thing to drop.

One day, I hope to reacquire some of these tickets. I may sound like a fair weather fan, but a dozen or so Terps games is plenty. Add in the occassional ticket I'll be purchasing as a one-off game for all these teams, I'll still end up going to 25 or so sporting events live each year. Which means I'll essentially creating my own season plan.

The Terps battled hard to beat 19th ranked FSU 77-68 at Comcast Center Sunday evening. MD lead the entire game over the Seminoles. With support by all players, Grevis Vasquez lead MD with 22 points.

Vasquez started off the game slowly, ending the half with only 2 points. Surprisingly, Landon Milbourne had a solid first half, driving to the basket, taking shots, and rebounding. In the second half though, things turned around. Vasquez was on fire, cutting through FSU's defense, and shooting three point shots, including following Eric Hayes after he hit his own three, to extend the lead after the Seminoles cut the lead down to single digits.

In the end, the Terps won by only 9 points. It could have been even closer, but inexplicably former Wizards and current Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton, down by about 10 with about 1:30 to go, only sent his team to foul Terps twice. At the game with The Sports Freak, I commented that Hamilton is deluding himself if he thinks his team is as good enough to come back at the last minute not fouling. But Hamilton's mistake is a win the Terps will take, bouncing back after a loss at home to William & Mary and a win over UNC-Greensboro. Starting off the ACC with a win is a positive.

Next up for the Terps are road trips to Wake Forest and Boston College. If they can go 1-1 on this trip, it will set them up good for a return to home against non-conference Longwood and ACC rival NC State.

Mike Shanahan signs a 5 Year deal as Head Coach and EVP of Football Operations of the Washington Redskins. He becomes the seventh head coach for Washington in the last ten years. Adam Schefter, of ESPN, reports that Shanahan will have ultimate authority on football operations.

The recent signings of GM Bruce Allen and Head Coach/EVP Football Operations Mike Shanahan signal a change in the front office roles and responsibilities and thereby limiting some of the influence Snyder may have in personnel decisions. How much Dan Snyder relinquishes influence in personnel decisions remains to be seen and will not fully be known until April's NFL Draft and the ensuing free agency period.

The Redskins had complied with the Rooney rule by interviewing Secondary Coach Gray while Zorn was still head coach of the team. It appears that Allen and Snyder had a plan in place as the team pursued Shanahan quickly rather than waiting game and what other coaches would be available.

Now Shanahan must help rebuild a front office and team with only a handful of young talent. Shanahan's best years in Denver coincided with Hall of Famer John Elway. Handing over final say of personnel decisions to a head coach with a track record of choosing Brian Griese and then clamoring for Jake "the snake" Plummer at QB leave much to be desired. The years following Elway's retirement weren't as fruitful even with Shanahan's choice at QB. It's difficult to replace a HOF and Shanahan found duplicating the early success quite the challenge while HOF Coach Gibbs was able to lead four Redskins teams to the Super Bowl with three distinctly different quarterbacks.

Most head coaches rebuilding a team seem poised to stamp the team their own with a young face of the organization most notably a quarterback. With Shanahan's propensity to filling the role a top priority will he, Allen, and Snyder be able to assess the draft properly with the #4 overall pick in the draft and defer taking a QB until the 2nd Round and another QB next year while rebuilding this year? Will the Skins look to improve in other areas during the draft in what's considered a weak year for OL and potentially a better group of franchise QB's declaring for the draft next year? Both QB and OL are positions of need for the team. Do the Redskins choose to rebuild from stockpiling the best talent available or force a pick out of need from a position that could be stronger in next year's draft?

There's plenty evaluating between now and the end of the NFL Draft for the Skins and by fans. What the change in the front office structure and coaching staff boils down to is how the group works together to make sound rational decisions that pan out. Shanahan has proven he can coach, but much like other head coaches that have assumed some of the role as a part GM it doesn't always work out successfully. Fans will have to wait until April to see how much this administration in Washington differs from past ones and how this five year plan differs from any of the previous plans.

Only 2 days after ending a 4-12 season, Redskins players are taking shots at each other. Let's hope they don't do that literally and help the Wizards Gilbert Arenas out by taking one of those guns he does not want in the house.

Seriously, running back Clinton Portis started off by calling Jason Campbell an ineffective leader on ESPN980's The John Thompson Show. The Post summarizes it here. It seems #26 is trying to position himself to return next season, even though it will be to play for a head coach that gave him up a few years ago.

Quarterback Campbell fires back via an interview with the Post's Jason Reid. At first, you think it's frustration from yet another bad Redskins season. But the more you think about it, Campbell is probably frustrated for all the antics Portis has put the Redskins through.

No doubt Portis was a star. He came from Denver because Joe Gibbs wanted him as an essential cog in the offense. But production and his attitude, has come far below expectations. Did anyone expect him to be a model citizen? Not really, but his cocky attitude has only grown. So much to the point earlier this season, when he asked to have fullback Mike Sellers benched. Portis seems to forget that without Sellers, he'd get less than the pathetic few yards on average he achieved.

This seems to be the final straw. A couple of weeks ago, we wondered whether Campbell or Portis would return to the Redskins. Now, with reality setting in, Bruce Allen and the rest of the Redskins management has to figure out how to fill those roles. Campbell may not be the best quarterback, but he's the best available to the Redskins to start week 1 of the 2010 campaign. Portis is possibly past his prime. With Ladell Betts and company, there are already capable backs on the Redskins roster. It's time to cut Portis loose.

Redskins Head Coach Jim Zorn was fired early this morning. According to Lindsay Czarniak at WRC Channel 4, Zorn told her he was dismissed after the team returned from the loss yesterday in San Diego. The team arrived around 2 AM and he was told when he went to Redskins Park after landing.

This comes as absolutely no surprise. I would say it was cruel to fire the man in the middle of the night, but in this case, everyone saw it coming. It would have been torture to wait a day or a week, just because they hadn't finalized the contract with the new head coach. Which now brings the question, when will Mike Shannahan be unveiled? Also according to Czarniak, the team had not finalized the contract with him as of game time yesterday. Wonder if it could turn into the debacle that put Zorn in the head position when Joe Gibbs retired again.

To Zorn, thank you for 2 decent season. Going 8-8 and 4-12 may not look stellar, but working under the constant scrutiny of Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato, you managed to get wins out of dysfunction. You may not have been ready for the job, but you did the best you could.