Archive for October, 2009

JT: Monday is now the worst day of the week.

Skins fans used to be much happier

I know this is a shocker, but Monday has somehow turned out to the be the worst day of the week. For years we’ve all hated Tuesday, Thursday, and the dreaded Wednesday, but now we all have Monday to fear. This is mainly because Monday is now the day we all have to return to work, school, and social circles and undergo the brutal and ceaseless torment from our coworkers, classmates, and friends who are fans of teams other than the Redskins. Even Lions fans are talking smack. Its merciless.

To quote a longstanding rival of mine and Eagles fan, “Its not even fun to make fun of the Skins anymore. You guys can’t even talk shit back.”…..I don’t know if the losing is more painful, or having mercy granted on you by someone you told only 2 months prior that their team sucked and Haynesworth would grind McNabb’s bones to bake his bread. This is bad news bears.

As painful as Monday is turning out to be its not as painful as being at the games these days. So far I’ve made it to each home game and each time I’ve come home with a wicked hangover (that would happen anyway) and heartburn, or in this weekends instance I came home weeping.

So considering the tourment we’re all going through its hard for me to feel sorry for the players because we boo them at home, or because they lose, or because they “don’t know what’s going wrong”. Look: I go to the games, I cheer, I boo, and I will continue to do so regardless of the situation. I’ll take my ribbings from my friends and I’ll rub it in when they’re good again. We all do this because we’re fans. Booing or cheering doesn’t matter to me, what matters is that I’m there and I care.

If my child sucks at piano I’ll tell her so, but I’ll still go to the recital and deal with the awkward “its OK” glances from other parents and kids. In the same way I’ll boo my favorite football team when they’re god awful, but I’ll be there for them anyway. To me there is no reason to sugar coat this thing. I take my lumps with pride. We Redskins fans demand better play from our team, but we don’t make excuses for them (unlike Ravens fans who always blame the refs for a loss). Yes they’re bad, but they’ll turn it around, and we’ll be here until the end.

Big Play! WTF Do We Do Now?

photo via D.C. Sports Bog

Stripping Jim Zorn of his play calling duties was the right choice to make; his offense has been terrible to this point. The Redskins have played 5 of the 6 worst defenses in the NFL and have averaged 12 points a game against those opponents. The games have been plagued with bad play calling and I have the data to prove it. Once again, I’ve had to enlist the services of Fatpickle’s crack research staff to produce the stats, but I got them. For those of you that don’t know my research staff consist of two key individuals…Bud Light and Google…and they always step up and deliver.

Cheers and Hail

NFL Week 6: Pickin On The NFL

If I were playing out my picks on an actual football field, I’d be getting booed off said field. A once promising season is now floundering as last week saw me go 8-6 SU and 5-7-1 ATS. I’m now below 70% for the year SU and below 50% ATS. My underdog pick of the week (Skins) lost for the 2nd week in a row, however my lock of the week was good again. Here are my year to date numbers:

Cheers and Hail

Part Of The Solution

Earlier this week I started what was supposed to be a series of posts documenting the issues of the Redskins front office. I realize now that I was starting to become part of the problem, not the solution. Oh, believe me, I’ve got major issues with Dan and Vinny…and the next post I had planned was to focus on bad draft picks, free agent moves, etc. I mean I’m still pissed we are going to go into this game against KC with an offensive line that features a bunch of non-drafted guys and a guy who was out of football for three years. Everyone knew the O-line was an issue, it lacked depth and was getting old…but the front office ignored this. But, I’m not a journalist and it’s not my job to break down information that most of you Skins fans already know. What I am is a huge Redskin fan who happens to blog about them. It’s time to be a fan.

Cheers and Hail

Dumb And Dumber

The hiring of Jim Zorn

Dan and Vinny were like a “monkey f’ing a football” during the entire process of hiring a head coach after Gibbs left. What should have been a swift and efficient process turned into a month long soap opera that ended in a…WTF? Here’s a look back at the decisions that brought Jim Zorn to the Redskins.

Ignoring Gibbs

After Gibbs decided to retire after the season, it was said that he (as well as many players) endorsed Gregg Williams for the head coaching position in a meeting with Dan. Of course Dan let that endorsement from the most influential figure in Redskins history go in 1 ear and out the other. But why would Dan listen to the old man? Well, one good reason would be that Dan was still paying Gibbs his 6 million a year as a “consultant.” Another great reason was the fact that Gibbs just led the Skins to the playoffs 2 out of the last 3 seasons…and knew the team better than anyone. Or maybe because Gibbs won 3 Super Bowls and has forgotten more about football than Dan will ever know. Of course Dan strung Williams along for 10 days or so before not only not hiring him, but giving him his walking papers as the D coordinator as well (although Williams would have never stayed, Dan still has to maintain the power.) Dan was wrong not to hire Gregg Williams as the head coach. Not because he was the right man for the job (I’m not sure that he was and not sure he would have been successful either,) but by not listening to a great football mind like Gibbs…something Dan refuses to do. FAIL #1

Promoting Vinny

The next step to finding a head coach was to take a moment and…promote Vinny to Executive VP/Football Operations. The Redskin’s official press release announced that Vinny “will assume responsibility for all aspects of the team’s football organization - including personnel, the team roster, scouting and salary cap management.” This is a great way to lure the “cream of the crop” of head coaches…let them know they’ve got to report to Vinny and defer to him on all personnel decisions. Now that’s got to sound attractive to a Cowher-type doesn’t it. FAIL#2

Meet your staff Coach

Next came the revealing of the “mystery candidate,” Jim Fassell. This would end up being the 2nd time that Dan left Fassell at the altar. Dan and Vinny strung him along while they were supposedly trying to assemble his coaching staff, which would feature Rex Ryan as D coordinator and Jim Zorn as the O coordinator. Ryan never had an interest in joining the Redskins in this capacity, but Zorn was hired as the O coordinator, based upon the fact that Dan and Vinny were “blown away” by his interview. Dan and Vinny then inked up Greg Blache as the D coordinator and now basically have an entire staff for their still unknown head coach. Just a quick recap, the incoming head coach now basically has his entire coaching staff already decided, and must defer all football decisions to Vinny. FAIL#3

Suit it up, Jim

Zorn was not a “hot commodity” for O coordinator positions around the NFL; he had never advanced past QB coach at any level in the NFL. He wasn’t the “young, sexy pick” to be a head coach in the NFL…that would have been Josh McDaniels, whom I believe the Skins never interviewed. Zorn was 54 years old and basically was only know for his “quirky” training methods. He had never called plays; he had never devised a game plan. He was never in charge of more than 3 players. But Dan and Vinny were blown away. And as the candidates began to dwindle…the job was now the equivalent of going out on a first date with a girl who’s 6 months pregnant…Dan and Vinny invited Zorn to interview for the head job. “Suit it up, Jim.” FAIL#4

Cheers and Hail

Giving The Redskins Some Tough Love

The sites been quiet the past several days, quite honestly I’ve been pretty numb about the Redskins. For the first time in forever, I don’t have a positive spin to put on the situation. I’ve been an eternal optimist in regards to the Skins, but I no longer see a light at the end of the tunnel. After some hard thinking and long analysis (otherwise known as drinking heavily) I have come to one conclusion…it’s the front office’s fault. I hate to write negatively about the Redskins, but sometimes you have to sit down and have a talk to those that you love, give them a little “tough love.”

Cheers and Hail