50 Senators Push Back On Redskins Name

Considering the senate, I'm actually floored it was this many:

Fifty senators are teaming up to call on the National Football League to change the team name of the Washington Redskins, declaring that "racism and bigotry have no place in professional sports."

The senators wrote a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell -- led by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), and co-signed by 47 others -- invoking the racist comments by NBA Clippers owner Donald Sterling as an opportunity for the NFL to follow suit and take action.

"The despicable comments made by Mr. Sterling have opened up a national conversation about race relations," the senators wrote. "We believe this conversation is an opportunity for the NFL to take action to remove the racial slur from the name of one of its marquee franchises."

The NFL's Anti-Union Tactics Backfired, So They Punished the Only Owners That Didn't Play Along

If anyone hasn't been following this story, this summarizes it well, and it drives me a bit nuts that people either aren't giving it enough attention or covering it in the right way. Thankfully, ESPN's Dan Graziano has had this thing nailed from the beginning and has been willing to call a spade a spade with respect to the league's behavior. Here's his summary:

The league's owners agreed on a collusive plan to restrict spending in a season that had no salary cap, knowing they were going to lock out the players the following offseason in an effort to break their union and grab a larger share of league revenues for themselves, and then in retrospect they decided they didn't like the way two teams deviated from the backroom deal. It's big-money corporate scheming at its worst, and the Redskins are right to be angry about the way they were treated. Common sense would dictate that they could get some of the cap money back. 

When the NFL negotiated their last CBA, the uncapped year was a "get" for the players in negotiations. The players wanted this because they were betting that an uncapped year in the final year of the deal would drive up salaries, which would be enough of a deterrent for the owners to start bargaining in good faith rather than locking them out.

What happened in reality is that all the two owners decided to play by the rules and treat it as an uncapped year. What happened with the rest of the league? Well, they colluded to pretend that the uncapped year didn't exist. This is not legal. We have a word for it. I think it's called "collusion". When the lockout ended, and the owners had had their asses handed to them in every way possible, they decided that they would extract revenge from the two owners who refused to join in their illegal activities. Dan Snyder and Jerry Jones were also apparently two of the owners most opposed the lockout, which I'm sure is a huge coincidence. (Another coincidence is that the person giving out these penalties, John Mara, is the owner of the Giants, and  a division rival of both the Cowboys and Redskins.)

If you're asking why the players union didn't fight more on this, it's because the NFL told them that if they didn't sign off on these penalties, the salary cap wouldn't go up next year. I don't know how that's legal either, but that's never seemed to bother Roger Goodell before, so why would it now?

Anyhow the skins are making noises about suing the league, and I hope they do. This would freak everyone the fuck out, because I can't look at a scenario where the NFL isn't at least guilty of colluding during the uncapped year. And then that could screw with the NFL's anti-trust exemption  which is the one thing they really care about. If for no other reason, they should sue to further humiliate Roger Goodell, because getting rid of him would be a huge black eye for all the asshole owners who led the lockout last time, and would maybe force them to think twice about doing it again.

RIP Sean Taylor

Hard to believe it's been five years. My all time favorite Redskins player.

Heroes

The term hero gets thrown around a lot, but if I can't use it for this guy who appears to be pissing on the Cowboys logo in Dallas stadium, I don't know what the word even means anymore:

(Via hogs haven)

Not Holding

Apparently. (Via TBD)

And the Caps lost 7-0 to the Rangers. Not good times for DC sports.

Never Been To Dallas

So, so true. (via Sports Bog)

1-0

Wooo suck it Dallas

(Via chad dukes' twitter)

Down Goes Cerrato!

If you would have asked me yesterday what chance there was of the Redskins firing Vinny Cerrato, I probably would've said 5%. Maybe I would go as high as 10% if this season had ended and the Skins failed to win any of their final three games. This was a man that was immediately disposed of when Marty Schottenheimer came to town, then instantly brought back and promoted when Schottenheimer was fired. During Dan Snyder's decade of futility, Cerrato was present for nine years, acting as a puppet GM which allowed Snyder to make all the personnel decisions.

I didn't think there was a snowball's chance in hell that Cerrato would be gone after this season.

This is why today isn't just a wonderful, joyous miraculous occasion, it is hereby a Redskins national holiday. Today is Vinny Day; enjoy it, Redskins fans. My franchise has hope once again.

All of Snyder's sins are not forgiven, and in my book, the Burgundy Revolution is not over. What this does, though, is pave the way for an actual legitimate coach to come here to replace Jim Zorn, not some suck-ass yes man who'll defer to the owner.

Danny Boy also didn't hurt his standing with Skins fans at all by naming Bruce Allen the new General Manager. Yes, his title is actually GM, and he is the son of Skins coaching legend George Allen. He grew up in the Washington area as a Redskins fan, and he has spent his entire life working in football. He didn't have the greatest success when he held the same title in Tampa Bay from 2004-2008, but he did a great job of using the salary cap efficiently in that role.

Judgement is still reserved until we see how the rest of this scenario plays out. But, I gotta say... today was a good day. I'll let Ice Cube take it from here...

Getting Back on the (Band)wagon

I wish I were strong enough to refrain from getting all giddy once the Redskins win one measly little game. I honestly wish I could sit here and tell you that I wasn't as pumped as I've ever been for our matchup with our arch-rivals, the Dallas C*wb*ys. I really do.

Unfortunately, being extremely weak-willed is part of being a sports fan. Also, things like "logic" and "reason" normally go out the window, too. The thing is, the Redskins are just in my blood and I can't quit them. I can get fed up with them, be embarrassed by them, hate their ownership and their decision-making, but I cannot give them up. The Redskins are a part of me and in my delusional brain, I'm also a part of the Redskins.

So, as I do nearly every Dallas Week, I've suspended any rational thought and remain in high hopes that we can defeat the C*wb*ys, even if they are the better team. Any win over hated Dallas is sweet; but if we were to beat them in our first game at their sparkly new gargantuan stadium with this wretched lineup, it would be downright mortifying for them. And while I'm only hoping against hope here, Dallas Week is Dallas Week and as a devoted Redskins fan I gotta do what I always do: hype myself into a frenzy and hope that the Skins do the same, whipping Dallas's ass in the process.

So Skins fans, go forth into this weekend, and get hyped.



WE WANT DALLAS!
WE WANT DALLAS!

Only Thing Left for Skins Fans To Do: Stay Home

I know it's long, long overdue, but it's time for me break my silence regarding the utter travesty that is the 2009 Washington Redskins. As bad as things have become recently, it's been hard for me to find a unique perspective to add to what has been an overwhelmingly negative backlash from fans and media alike to the mismanagement of this team by Dan Snyder. It may sound shortsighted to say this, as I haven't really been alive for that long, but this is undoubtedly the lowest point in my lifetime of Redskins' fandom.

Yes, lower than starting 0-7 in 1998. Lower even than going 3-13 in 1993, two years removed from winning Super Bowl XXVI. That is because even though the Redskins fielded some horrible teams throughout the 90's, the franchise still resembled somewhat of an actual football organization.

Therein lies the problem with this season; the Redskins are no longer an organization, we are a dictatorship. I don't have time to go over all the reasons that Dan Snyder is an egomanaical, self-interested, cold individual. Again, I know I'm young, but even I thought I'd seen it all until he actually banned fans from carrying signs into games.

With this being the bye week, I'll take this opportunity to announce that I'm officially done with the Redskins this season. I'm through with them. At least, as they are currently constructed. This past Monday's loss to the Philadelphia Eagles was the first game I can remember which I didn't feel any emotion at any point. Win or lose, I really would not have felt anything. Each time the Eagles scored (usually in spectacular fashion), I felt absolutely nothing.

Now, I'm not saying that I'm renouncing my fandom; I will forever root for the Washington Redskins football team to win. However, I'm declaring this season over and urging all of my fellow Skins fans to do the same until major change is enacted within the team's structure. So here is my plea: as hard as it may be to do, just stay home. Please do not support Snyder's egotistical regime any longer. I want to see empty seats throughout FedEx Field. Anything less will fail to register any significant message.

Watching this version of the Redskins is like watching a loved one die. There is so little you can actually control to help the situation improve, except helplessly watch as things get worse. The only difference, aside from the obvious fact that football is just a game & isn't life or death, is that there is one thing we can do as fans.

Just stay home.

Why I'm Nervous About This Detroit Game

All ridiculous histrionics about a Redskins player's Twitter updates aside, I've been apprehensive about Washington's Week 3 match-up against the Detroit Lions. Seriously, it's like folks forgot how big of a football town the greater DC metro area really is. I know people have been overreacting to the Skins' lackluster 9-7 over the lowly St. Louis Rams, but when have we as a fanbase ever NOT overreacted to stuff?

Poor Robert Henson should have probably done more homework on how fanatical Redskins fans can be, though I'm not mad at what he wrote. I just wish that instead of condemning his outburst after the fact, some team veterans had helped fill the rookies in on more of the do's and don'ts and get them better acclimated to being a professional athlete. On the other hand, every rookie's hand cannot be held at all times. Yeah, he messed up, but I don't now hate him forever and want to see him cut because he wrote some silly things on Twitter.

Predictably, this week's palpable tension between fans, the players, the coaches and the front office has been endlessly talked about by local and national media. This fabricated and blown-out-of-proportion firestorm has made the Redskins look vulnerable, making them the fashionable pick to end Detroit's 19-game losing streak over the past two seasons.

In my opinion, we are not as vulnerable as everyone is making us out to be. However, the actual reason for all this bullshit hoopla is what has me worried about Sunday's game -- the Skins' stagnant offense.

The longer the offense continues to bog down, the more you can expect a lack of confidence to seep in. Coaches become scared to take chances and take the safe route too much, while players become so scared of messing up that they fail to make big plays. This lost confidence could potentially give way to self-doubt and anger within the ranks, which is a very dangerous prospect when facing a team as desperate for a win as the Lions are.

Yes, I admit that the offense has not executed well enough within striking distance of the goal line, but the sky isn't quite falling, either. For all the talk of how the Redskins failed to score a single touchdown on five tries from inside the 20, further analysis paints a somewhat less grisly picture. The truth of the matter is that two touchdown passes were dropped by Devin Thomas and Mike Sellers, respectively. Yes, these players still have to make these plays in order for that to count for anything, but at least the opportunities were there to be had. Also, the fifth drive inside the red zone was when we kneeled out the remainder of the game; not exactly the same as failure to score a red zone TD.

Still, the Lions are not only desperate, they are also not nearly as shitty as they were last year. Even if we play well, expect Detroit to be competitive at home, as they have been in their first two games. If the Redskins do not get in the end zone early and often, they will likely lose this game.

Going on the evidence of the first two games this season, there is little reason to expect the Redskins to perform significantly better than they have so far. Maybe I'm being a homer, but I think we have the talent to do exactly that. It's up to the team to decide whether it will happen or not.

Surprise, Surprise...

ESPN's Matt Mosley, on defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth's Redskins debut:

Sorry, but when you make $41 million guaranteed, one tackle for a loss doesn't cut it. Haynesworth is supposed to be a disruptive force in the middle of the defense but for the most part, Giants guard Rich Seubert did a nice job on him. I just kept watching Haynesworth limp off the field. Not a great debut.

Some of you may recall me flipping my shit when we acquired the face-stomping, pole-wielding player this past February. The main basis of my concern was that having landed a once-in-a-lifetime contract with the Skins, Haynesworth's motivation to play his hardest in every game might disappear. It's a scene we've witnessed time and time again and if his first game is any indication, then we might have to add Haynesworth's name to a lengthy list of high-priced failures.

As for the game itself, it was pretty much what I expected. The 23-17 scoreline in favor of the New York Giants was probably a poor reflection of how the game actually went; it was never really that close. The Redskins' next three games set up pretty favorably, you'd have to say, as we face the Rams at home, followed by the Lions on the road and the Buccaneers at home. Although we struggled against bad teams last year (losing to the Rams & Bengals and narrowly winning against the 0-16 Lions), if we look bad against St. Louis this Sunday, we'll have a real cause for concern. While it sucked not to win the first game of the season, the loss was in no way an indictment on the rest of the extremely-young campaign.

Just How Good is Brian Orakpo?

I am willing to admit it right here and now: I officially have a man-crush on Brian Orakpo.

The rookie defensive end the Redskins selected 13th overall in this past April's draft seems like exactly the type of player we need at the moment. He reminds me of the type of impact player on defense that LaVar Arrington was before his dip in form, then his ultimate decline. The Redskins plan to use Orakpo as a linebacker/d-end hybrid, dropping him back on most first and second downs and rushing him at the QB on third down. With early reports of him routinely beating experienced veteran and near-perennial Pro Bowler Chris Samuels on drills early during training camp, one has to wonder if he is already that good or if we're reading into things too early to know for sure.

The concern here is this: what if Samuels is just that bad? I've thought for a while now that he was named to his last couple of Pro Bowls on reputation alone and that he really hasn't played to the level he once did for a few seasons. Of course, he's battled multiple injuries and played through them, which I'm sure has affected his abilities, but the simple truth is that he isn't getting any younger and that's what generally happens to old aging football players. At some point, they start sucking.

Ultimately, I feel that the answer lies somewhere in between. Orakpo may be very good and this may not be a total indictment on Samuels, either (ooh, maybe indictment isn't the right word. Sorry, Plaxico). It's just very hard not to get excited for the defense this season after hearing so many positive reports, having him healthy, signed and participating almost from the get-go, and especially after seeing videos like this. Upon seeing it, my roommates bought chains, a tire and a sledgehammer, and I'm not joking.

I admit that the roster is still full of holes and that the 2009 Redskins may be undone in the end by a crappy offensive line. But it's possible that Orakpo could turn out to be one of those X-factor performers that help get the Redskins over the 8-8 hump. I'm very encouraged by what I'm hearing about him, as well as Chris Horton, Albert Haynesworth, and even... (*gulp*) Devin Thomas. I said before that it's going to take people from within the organization stepping up in order for us improve at all. That includes, but is not limited to Jason Campbell. While there is a lot of uncertainty as to whether or not that will actually happen, adding smart, likable guys like Orakpo makes me feel better about our situation.

And Awaaaaaay We Go...

With another NFL (pre)season now officially underway, you can now expect the return of Washington Redskins coverage to The Train (otherwise known as the Redskins Ranting & Humiliation Station). With so many other credible sources for Redskins news and updates, I really have no business even trying to discuss the events and goings-on associated with the team. While I'm better served just directing you to better posts and articles than I could provide through links, this blog will occasionally read more like the diary of a frustrated, know-it-all Redskins fan so I want to thank you all for bearing with me. Now it's time to sit back and watch the rage flow freely as the season progresses.

When we checked in on the first day of Redskins training camp last year, the team was already in full-scale shitstorm mode. We had lost our starting left d-end for the season on the very first play of the very first 7-on-7 drill of the very first practice (... I'll calm down), as well as a key reserve for the exact same position. Nevertheless, we got off to a flying start, only to come crashing reasonably back down to Earth, where we probably deserved to end up all along, and then I became enraged several times during the offseason.

I have given up on the business of making predictions for how I expect the Skins to fare. I am so very wrong so much of the time that I'd rather not embarrass myself, plus with the Redskins, one truly has no clue what to expect heading into any given season.

With so many variables and plot lines affecting our upcoming campaign, what I will do is list which ones to watch for:

1. HOW WILL JASON CAMPBELL PROGRESS? -- Our owners publicly undermined their faith in him twice by trying to acquire Jay Cutler, then later USC QB Mark Sanchez. Hell, we may even do it again! The fact is that there is a lot of pressure on Campbell to perform, especially since his contract is up after this year, and how he plays will dictate most of Washington's success this year. Since, you know, he's the quarterback and junk.
2. WHAT, IF ANY, PLAYMAKERS WILL EMERGE ON OFFENSE?-- Everybody already knows our holy trinity of Clinton Portis, Santana Moss and Chris Cooley can make plays. The problem is that we got squat in terms of production from literally anybody else. Without making any major additions to our skill positions, we will need someone to step up big time from within or we'll likely face the same issues of last year's offense, which grew more stagnant as the year went on.
3. HOW WILL JIM ZORN FARE IN HIS 2ND YEAR? -- I thought Zorn did extremely well in his first year as an NFL head coach - considering he had never even been an NFL coordinator. But after teams got film on his offense, the big plays dwindled down the stretch of the season. Will he be prepared for a new season with any wrinkles to the offense? Will he continue to grasp the dynamics of keeping peace and chemistry in the locker room? All of this remains to be seen.
4. WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM OUR DEFENSE? -- In terms of yards allowed, we had a solid top-five defensive unit. We've made that corps stronger with the additions of Deangelo Hall, high-prized free agent Albert "Hey-Hey-"Haynesworth and standout rookie Brian Orakpo. However, we weren't able to generate many sacks or turnovers, which generally causes momentum shifts in games, or be truly dominant. We looked good on paper, judging by averages and other stats, but failed to snuff out teams when games were really on the line. These moves were made to address that, but no one knows for sure if they will actually work.
5. IS OUR OFFENSIVE LINE REALLY ANY BETTER? -- The play of the offensive line is so overlooked by football fans and analysts. I can't emphasize enough just how shitty our o-line was last year and how much that affects what you can do with both the running and passing game. Again, we made one significant upgrade by signing former Redskin Derrick Dockery, but the rest is left to aging stars, inconsistent project players and huge risky gambles that may or may not work. It bears repeating that we have failed to address adding any real depth along the line, so the instant anyone gets injured, and they will get injured, it's back to drawing board, or relying on unproven players to step in and get the job done. While I'm ecstatic that we drafted Orakpo and think that it was pretty much a no-brainer to take him, we may look back at a 2009 draft class that featured three potential franchise left tackles and have it bite us in the ass for not making a move on any of them.
   

So there you have it. We'll check back in tomorrow and find out who we've lost for the season, or that we've signed Jeff George to a conditional contract after failing to sign Michael Vick. Or, we won't. But through all the anger and cynicism and doubt and sarcasm and masochism, it truly is an exciting ride for all NFL fans and the opening of training camp really does feel like the first day of Spring.

Just Say No! (To Whiny Douchebags)

The Washington Redskins are trying to make my head explode.

If the mess surrounding the whole Albert Haynesworth thing wasn't bad enough (oh, and look! It just got messier!), reports are saying that the Skins are now actively pursuing disgruntled Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler.


Anyone with half a brain that has watched the Redskins with Jason Campbell at quarterback could tell you that he is not to blame for the team's offensive struggles. The people who say he isn't good enough either aren't paying attention or don't understand football.

That being said, I do think that Jay Cutler is a better quarterback than Campbell (I almost said JC, but look at the initials for both... that's funny). But will Cutler make the Redskins a better team? No. It's a matter of the personnel we put around him. We have made an upgrade at one spot on the o-line, but still have depth issues. And our wide receivers simply are not getting it done. As much as I love Santana, he is likely a No. 2 receiver on most NFL teams. Randle-El is at best a 3rd or 4th WR. Devin Thomas needs to improve so teams can stop keying in on Cooley and taking him out of the game. Basically, teams around the league figured out that if you double Santana and deny Cooley aggressively and make the Skins beat you with somebody else, we can't do it. Until someone steps up or another weapon is added, I'd expect Cutler to have the same problems.

The Player Hater's Ball shares my sentiments, and what I hope are the sentiments of most Redskins fans:

If the 'Skins get that double-chinned, crybaby douchebag, I may have to reconsider my support of the team. (And they're likely going to. When's the last time the Redskins didn't get a player they wanted? Lance Briggs?) He's a whiner. He's a child. He looks like a goober. His defenders says he's a great quarterback with a shoddy defense, but I'm pretty sure Denver's defense didn't throw those 18 interceptions last year. And the gaudy numbers (4,200 yards, 24 TDs) he put up last year came, in large part, to an offensive line that only gave up 11 sacks. With the 'Skins front-five, Cutler would surpass that number by October.

Finally, what does this say about our priorities? Jason has responded to these reports with the utmost class and professionalism. We're willing to pull the plug on him after 4 years (a guy hand-picked by Joe Gibbs himself) in favor of a guy who cried when he didn't get his way, requested a trade and refused to return Josh McDaniels or Pat Bowlen's calls for 10 days & running now?

Again, the PHB says it better than I ever could have said it myself:

More importantly, Cutler is a sulking whiner who pissed and moaned his way out of Denver because he was too immature to understand that sometimes NFL teams try to trade players. Sure, Josh McDaniels handled himself equally as unprofessionally (I'm sure he learned that from Bill Belichick), but Cutler is supposed to be a man. He's supposed to be a leader. And a man doesn't stomp his foot and refuse to play simply because there was a business decision made that he doesn't like.

So, Skins fans, Who Dey Revolution much?

UPDATE: (5:54pm) Oh thank god! Cutler traded to the Bears for a rather foolish hefty amount. Whew! That was a close one! Jason Campbell, you'll get your chance to prove the haters wrong next year in a Redskins uniform, where you belong.

What Do You Know From Stupid?

Ladies and gentlemen: the top ten dead
money contract* salary cap hits of the 2009 NFL season:

1. Terrell Owens WR DAL $9,675,000
2. Dre' Bly CB DEN $9,450,000
3. Ken Lucas CB
CAR $8,330,000
4. Cory Redding DT DET $7,333,334
G5. ibril Wilson S OAK
$7,000,000
6. Marvin Harrison WR IND $6,400,000
7. DeAngelo Hall CB OAK
$5,833,334
8. Derrick Dockery OG BUF $5,400,000
9. Anthony Weaver DE HST
$5,400,000

I was actually reading this list, thinking to myself "Oh my wonder! There aren't any Redskins on this li-" until I saw number 10. Brandon fucking Lloyd. $5.3 million.

And yes that's right, Brandon Lloyd is still accounting for $5.3M against the Redskins cap, despite not being on their roster since the 2007 season. This results from the salary cap rule that applied the signing bonus acceleration from a termination to the next year's cap, if that termination occurred after June 1 or was designated as a post-June 1 termination despite occuring prior to that date. For example, if a player had $4M in total signing bonus proration left on the remaining 4 years of a contract (meaning $1M of proration in each year), and that player was released after June 1st, then $1M of proration would remain as dead money in that year and then the remaining $3M would accelerate into the next year.

Due to 2009 being the final capped year, this post June 1 rule is no longer in effect; therefore, when a player is released this year all of their proration in future years accelerates into the current year.

Is it any wonder, then, that our team is owned by the same man whose "business management" skills ran Six Flags into the ground?

You have got to be shitting me

Tushara knocked on my door this morning to bring me the news that the Redskins had signed former Tennessee Titan Albert Haynesworth to a seven-year, $100 million dollar deal in the first few hours of NFL free agency. This had to be a bad dream, right? Wrong. The Redskins front office has learned nothing. The team is doomed to be mired in a salary cap crunch year after year after year once again, and we are back to being the reigning champs of the offseason. FML.

This comes after last night's signing of cornerback DeAngelo Hall for six years and $54 million. Where is all this money coming from? We just had to restructure four veterans' contracts to get to a measly $10-12 million under the cap (unofficial numbers, somewhere in that ballpark though). This is before signing any of our four draft choices, one of which includes a number 13 overall pick. This all but tells us that we are going to wave bye-bye to that first round pick, in exchange for multiple shittier picks in later rounds (with our scouts & talent evaluators, I can't wait to see how many receivers & punters we can draft in the fourth round!).

Even in a year in which the Pittsburgh Steelers just won the Super Bowl, which should serve as the quintessential blueprint for consistent, long-term success, Snyder and the Skins have reverted to form. Making a "big splash." But for what? I mused last year that the reason we didn't make any flashy signings may have been because there weren't really any prized free agents on the market (see the second-to-last paragraph). Now that theory has been thusly proven.

I'm actually amazed how stupid Snyder and Cerrato are. Does no one remember Dan Wilkinson? Dana Stubblefield? Hell, did anybody pay attention to the deal Cleveland gave Shaun Rogers last year and how little it paid off for them? LAST YEAR?! There was a cautionary tale on why bringing in big money free agents doesn't always bring instant success, but that means nothing to these clowns. They have no plan. They see every year as a year the Redskins can win the Super Bowl. Rebuilding? That's for suckers.

They take advantage of Washington's unusually loyal fan base and give us an inferior product to root for. They don't develop. They don't plan. The real life Redskins serve as Snyder's team on Madden year in and year out. And he actually wonders why Steve Spagnuolo passed on the job last winter?

They refuse to try to lock up Jason Campbell at quarterback, probably in case they decide to go after Vick, or some other as-of-yet undetermind star quarterback, flying in the face of everything they said about valuing continuity last year. So, make JC feel disrepected and under-appreciated, then pay for it when he's lighting us up in a few years wearing a different uniform.

The one tiny positive out of all of this is that Haynesworth is a very good player. However, it's human nature to perform when you have something to prove. Athletes play for that "big pay day" and once they get it, it's hard to play with the same level of intensity. It happens in sports all the time.

My dad once threatened to stop rooting for the Redskins if we hired Steve Spurrier as our coach. He didn't like Spurrier's arrogance, his temper tantrums, his inability to take any blame on himself and his knee-jerk reaction QB substitutions, among other things. We ended up getting Spurrier, but my dad's overarching allegiance to all things burgundy and gold overpowered him; he remained a fan. This is why I can never stop rooting for the Redskins. It's just how I was raised. All I've ever known has been rooting for them, that's the way it will always be whether I like it or not. But now I understand how my dad felt.

Our team is being used and abused by an egomaniacal owner who doesn't care what people say or think about him. He has the money, so he gets to make the decisions. No matter that he has zero football experience and doesn't know what he's doing.

All that being said, I sincerely hope that I have to eat these words. That's one of the reasons I'm writing this; to have it cemented into the interwebs for all to see and when we check back this time next year, I can see whether I was right to be angry about this or not. There's a possibility that this move works out for us and I'll look quite the fool for all these mean things I've said. The thing that worries me, though, is that we've all seen this show before and we have an idea of how it ends. Woo hoo! 8-8, here we come!

Case of the Mondays: Fun with ukuleles

I cannot even begin to describe to you how depressed I am over the Skins' hapless 20-13 loss yesterday to a 1-11-1 team, a loss which effectively ended our playoff hopes. I am even sadder still that my eerie premonitions of a collapse turned out to be true (that was supposed to be a reverse jinx, dammit! Stupid accute sports knowledge!!!)

So, in order to juxtapose my audible weeping at my desk at work, here's a guy playing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on the ukulele. Someone please pass me a kleenex.

Case of the Mondays: I feel foolish

I can't help but feel partly responsible for the Washington Redskins' 14-10 loss to arch-rival Dallas last night. I guess spending the whole week hyping up the contest meant an epic potential for a letdown if things didn't turn out the way we would have liked. This is exactly what happened.

However, my lack of foresight pales in comparison to that of the Redskins organization, who pretty much guaranteed a loss with two unbelievable acts of bad karma. The first was to hand out "Redskins Rally Rags," this coming after our last game against the Pittsburgh Steelers was basically overrun with opposing fans and their long-standing tradition, the Terrible Towel. As a response, we straight-up copied one of the most original aspects of a very die-hard fan base with a lame attempt at a gimmick. Very stupid.

But if that wasn't enough to ensure defeat, we also picked last night to honor former greats Art Monk and Darrell Green, both of whom were inducted into the latest class of the NFL Hall of Fame. This was a setup for failure from the very start, as one of Washington's most famous victories in the history of the rivalry came in 2005 in Dallas when the C*wb*ys honored Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and the Throat Cutter. Trailing 13-0 with less than four minutes left to play, Mark Brunell threw two touchdown passes to Santana Moss, giving the Skins an improbable 14-13 win. Of course, the football gods would punish us for idiotically trying to get away with viturally the same thing!

Yes, maybe it's true that what happened on the field was more responsible than what happened off the field. But it's always more fun to find a scapegoat than to admit to yourself that perhaps your team is not very good.

Beating Dallas would have effectively ended their season. Not too many chances come along to bury your rival, so to blow this chance is especially tough. In no way is our season over, we've just left ourselves with a lot more work to do. Next week, we travel to face an awful Seahawks team, but keep in mind how we've done against horrible teams earlier this season. Plus, in recent history we have played terribly in Seattle. Even though this year's Seattle team is not as strong as those recent ones, our record in that stadium is still very poor. Games like these are exactly what I was worried about and until we actually go out and take care of business, I will still be worried about our ability to make the playoffs.

Swagger like us

Oh yeah, you better believe there will be (at least) one post on this subject per day until Sunday...