Haynesworthy

What if the Haynesworth bet pays off? He's a sack monster, attacks QBs, forces interceptions, etc. Well, obviously that's an exciting propect, which I'm skeptical of. But I do have a catch phrase ready in case fate finally blesses the Redskins.

"Wait till we get our Haynes on you!"

The stadium fans will chant this while swinging boxer briefs above their heads.

Pretty cool, right? ... no???

Champions of the Offseason!!!

We won!!! We are the victors! Triumphant!

Once again, we rule the offseason. A big splash aquisition, a huge paycheck, and even larger dreams.

But we've all heard this before.

As a San Francisco (almost RIP) Chronicle sports writer puts it: "Owner Daniel Snyder's list of free-agent blunders reads like a Bernard Madoff balance sheet: Jeff George, Brandon Lloyd, Andre Carter, Adam Archuleta, Antwaan Randle El."

She wonders: How well will Haynesworth play in a non-contract year?

And as the Post pointed out last week: How well will a freelancer like Haynesworth work under a disciplinarian like Blache?

I wonder what will happen when a prima donna player who is the apple of The Danny's eye gets special status? How will that affect morale? Team unity?

Oh yeah, hello Clinton Portis.

"I love Mr. Snyder. Mr. Snyder loves me, that's my man. He kept me around."

Yeah. Champs of the offseason again.

Collapse

No other word for it. The Redskins are as bad as the economy. They are the Lehman Bros. of football; the stock market of sports teams. Cash out! Cash out!
It's sad, really. And we should blame ourselves for getting too excited at 6-2. I watched Sunday's game like a rubber necker on the highjway, just pure schendenfreude (yes, I speak bad German).
Not enough fingers to point at all the problems. Vinny? Danny? Zorny? etc. I just keep thinking one more season, one more season. But reality is we are far away from becoming an elite playoff team.
Merry Christmas.

We lost

I almost made an early exit from the game last night ... then two turnovers ... then two scores ... then ... we lost again. I don't want to be too down on the team, but I guess after feeling excited by the first half of the season, it's harder to face reality. It was also hard to watch the Steelers beat the Cowboys and Philly beat Giants. I mean, I cheered on both winners of those games, but watching the teams move the ball, actually score more than one touchdown, and fight with heart, I realized how far the Redskins need to go.
May be next year? May be a year after that?

Sandy, Baby's New Mancrush

Allow me to steal Minor Thread's thunder and start up this blog's next mancrush.

Rey Mauluga:



The first 2 minutes of the above video is from the Rose Bowl last year, where he almost single-handedly destroyed Illinois. He had three sacks, including my personal favorite where the running back picks him up on the blitz and he still knocks over Juice "Not the One doing 6-18" Williams. With one arm. While being blocked. And Williams weighs 235 pounds.

He had those three sacks and an interception, and a helluva lot of of tackles. IN THE FIRST HALF.

So yeah, he's pretty beastly.

#21

I was a little let down with the loss to the Giants today. I really expected the Redskins to remain competitive against a tough team with the emotion of the anniversary of Sean Taylor's murder. (I also though the Palaxico distraction wouldn't hurt either.)
I didn't really expect a win, but a tight, close game would've been nice. Instead, we got the same old stuff -- lack of offense and a failure to execute. I thought our secondary would play a lot better. I still think we can end the season well, may be even win three of the last four games. But I think playoff hopes are unrealistic at this point.

Ball Hawkin' the Sea Hawks

Thanks Goodness our secondary develop some hands against Seattle. It helped turn an ugly game into a win. At 7-4, I am still hopeful that the Redskins can make it to the playoffs. But man, I am still not sure they deserve it.

I mean, they fight hard, play well (at times), but when will they dominate?

Ouch!

A gimmie victory, huh? Well, the Redskins got overconfident Sunday against the atrocious Rams and went down in the closing seconds. Sure, fluke fumbles and weird plays contributed to the loss (Pete Kendell -- YOU ARE NOT A RUNNING BACK!!), but it was primarily a case of expecting to win, instead of playing to win.

Now, I've been enjoying the Skins's new-found swagger under (All Hail) Zorn, but it went too far last week. I mean what were Chris Cooley and Clinton Portis thinking when they dressed up to go -- I kid you not -- Ram hunting last week in a video featured on #47's blog?

I guess the answer is, even with swagger, Stay Medium.

The Spoon-Fed Receiver

Now that B. Lloyd be gone, I have to have a new target. And you know, while this Redskins season is going great, I really don't have to look too far .. DO I DEVIN THOMAS!?!

Listen: You may be more talented than Lloyd and even a more profound rapper than than the lyricist who brought the world "I Get the Chedda" but damn, man, quit with the interference calls!

On the Wash. Post Redskins blog (All Hail) Zorn said about Thomas: "He's a tremendous talent. But he's not ready, really, to take on any kind of responsibility, to be honest with you. We're having to spoon-feed him there."

Yes, spoon-feed! Devin, before we dub you the Spoon-Fed Receiver, play in a game and don't break the rules!

And for those out of area bloggers, are we all keeping up with the latest Eastern motors ads -- discussions between CP and Randle El about ligers and Chris Cooley in his short-shorts. I tell ya, we got a team with swagger now.

Karate Chop YO!

We all know Santana Moss is the king. So far this season, he is second in the NFL in yards receiving and tied for third in receptions. After running cold for a while, what's the deal?

Better connection with QB Soup? Being healthy? More motivation?

Sure, may be. But I think it's -- hiiiii-yah! -- his new embrace of the ancient Asian martial arts. (Cue gong and windchime)

According to this AP story, Master Moss took up Tae Kwon Do in the off season (because, like, running, swimming and lifting weights wasn't enough). The Korean fighting style perhaps gives him more poise, center, focus -- and straight up badassness!

Undoubtedly he will follow in the footsteps of Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Jet Li, Bolo Yeung, Sammo Hung, Sonny Chiba (uhm, perhaps I should stop here ... ). And of course, the best of them all -- Jim "Black Belt Jones" Kelly.

The Adventures of Zorno

Well, it's time for some Hardcore Zorn.
Not the best choice in my mind, but not the worse. I like that he comes from a well-managed team and has helped coach up young quarterbacks. And The Post mentioned that Zorn and Campbell have hit it off when they met.
But what about running a West Coast offense now? And are Vinny C-word's fingerprints all over this decision? And how many seasons -- if any -- until we expect results?

Right on, Sister

I like the idea of the Giants defensive coordinator being the new Redskins coach. But for all the reasons stated by Sally Jenkins in her Post column, I am afraid Snyder will screw it up. Again.

Open Letter to Daniel Snyder

Redskins Park
Landover, MD 28902

Dear Mr. Snyder,

I know we've never had the best relationship. I've derided you as The Danny, the owner who pays too much for over-the-hill players like Bruce Smith, fired Norv Turner in the middle of the season, and only seeks coaches who make you giggle like a school girl during a Brad Pitt movie.

But I've always known you're a passionate Redskins fan and I praised you when you raised Joe Gibbs from NASCAR purgatory. I thought such an act washed you clean of your previous sins.

Now with the decision to bypass Gregg Williams as head coach let me be absolutely clear with where I stand: f#!k you.

Never in a thousand years should you have passed over Gregg Williams for the top job. Never. The team is still recovering from a roller-coaster season, needs stability, and Gregg is the man. You apparently did not even heed the advice of your idol Joe Gibbs. I know technically Gregg departed on his own, but only after you treated him poorly.

Who knows what the future holds. Perhaps you'll find a great coach (not Fassel!). Perhaps we'll do well next season. But from here, it seems you have destroyed the team chemistry built under Gibbs and have made the team a mockery in the league.

If I'm wrong, I'll admit it here. But I am tired of you and what you have done to my hometown team.

Sincerely,

Lil Bro

We all go down together

This was a tough one. I don't think I've been this defeated since Super Bowl XVIII.
I watched the game in a bar with a pack of Seattle fans in front of me. One had this whistle-holler yell he let out each time his team put Collins on his back or scored. I got so sick of it.
So in those glorious few minutes in the second half, when the Redskins did seem to have a charmed life -- or at least a guardian angel looking out for them -- I was thrilled to have silenced the Seahawk fans. When we appeared to score our third touchdown on the kickoff, I was out of my seat, high-fiving other 'Skins fans, Hail to the Redskins started to come out ... and then it was called back ... and then Suisham missed a gimmie field goal ... and Landry's second interception didn't do anything ... and then the whiny joy of that Seattle booster returned.
At this time we usually start the What-the-Team-Needs-in-the-Future chat -- should Gibbs stay, how do we improve the O-line, do we keep Collins?
But instead, for now I'll just marvel that the team got this far. And honored their friend so well.

Taking a bow

Yes, that is Chris Samuel's taking a bow to the enraged Giants fans. Given that we have immediate family who are fans of the New York team, I will refrain from gloating too much. In fact, I really just wanted a new photo online to start moving on.
Not really interested in debating the playoff speculation for the Redskins (do they really deserve?) and Toddball (great storyline -- second string veteran leads team to victory after crisis -- but it seems a bit forced). And I am also waiting to hear more intelligent observations than mine on the baseball report last week.

Sorry, I'm Just Not Done with This.

Eugene Robinson, who I know from personal experience is a pretty nice guy, but whose writings I'm typically not a big fan of, has a pretty good take on the media/societal reaction to Sean Taylor. I appreciate the fact that he's one of (if not the first) major media figure to take on Wilbon's inappropriate and asinine comments that he is defiantly still sticking by the notion that, as Robinson puts it, Taylor's "suicide-by-bad-attitude".

There's also a little well-written article about Jason Campbell and his friendship with Taylor. Campbell speaks a little bit to the fact that the best tribute that the Redskins can give Taylor is to win out this season. I hope it doesn't sound insensitive, but it will be interesting to see how they play with his death hanging over them the rest of the season.

Still want to write one more thing about this (at least).

Further Reading

Cause I can link now and I don't feel like putting a whole new post up.

Sumo great calls it quits.

The Redskins are 5-6, and critics are saying they're dead in the water, everyone was convinced Gibbs was over the hill. Hmmmm, when was the last time this happened? Oh yeah, two years ago, when they went 10-6 and made the playoffs.

Yeah, Bill Cowher can suck my balls.

Yikes

We're not going to comment on the Sean Taylor incident right now. We know, everyone's been anxiously awaiting Sandy, Baby's take on the entire situation, but we're going to hold our official comment until the situation is more clear cut.

But really, it's too serious for the snarkiness that sports blogging typically entails, and we really don't know what's going on for sure. Nor, it seems, do most of the other Redskins (this is where I'd hyperlink the text to Jason La Canfora's Redskins Insider for the latest info, but the 11 year-old iMac my "job" provides me with won't let me...just click on the link to the side).

I was going to talk about how it was dumb to call the season over when the 'Skins are only a game behind Detroit and to dissuade any further talk of Chin/Colbert with a hard "t" for coach/GM in 2008, but it seems kind of dumb to talk about right now.

One thing "we" (I) do take issue with, though, is Michael Wilbon's snap judgement of the situation, witout having any knowledge of the details about what happened. In his usual Monday afternoon chat on washingtonpost.com, somebody asked him for his comment about the entire mess (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/11/20/DI2007112000544.html?hpid=topnews)

"I've known guys like Taylor all my life, grew up with some. They still have shades of gray and shouldn't be painted in black and white...I know how I feel about Taylor, and this latest news isn't surprising in the least, not to me. Whether this incident is or isn't random, Taylor grew up in a violent world, embraced it, claimed it, loved to run in it and refused to divorce himself from it. He ain't the first and won't be the last. We have no idea what happened, or if what we know now will be revised later. It's sad, yes, but hardly surprising."

Typically, we here at Sandy, Baby have the utmost respect for Mr. Wilbon, even if he is an ally of the Salieri, and even though he has made some ridiculous statements (he once criticized the Patriots for hiring Bill Belicheck instead of a black coach, with the inference that race was a factor. Now we know that Belicheck just got the job because he sold his soul to Beelzebub....he also said he was certain that Michael Jordan wasn't coming back to play for the Wizards (yeah, that actually happened). Uh, oops?) and despite the fact that he co-authored Charles Barkley's debacle of a "book".

But, in the words of GOB Bluth, C'mon! Like you know how the guy is living his life more than his teammates? The general consensus seems to be that (1) This was an armed robbery. This was not Batman rounding up a posse to go get his ATVs back, and (2) His teammates have said that he had matured a great deal in the past 18 months (which is a subjective judgment) but clearly he can't be that married to a "violent world" when he moves to the other side of town and the typical statement of each one of his teammates and coaches was that he's actually not a bad guy and WAS distancing himself from the people he'd been around when he was getting in trouble. AS Jason La Canfora, who actually covers the team and is with them on a day to day basis reports:

"Also, just to clear something up - this is a different house in a different part of South Florida than where Sean had the ATV incident two years ago and was arrested on firearms charges. He was in his old neighbrogood near his mom's house when that incident occured, he has moved to a nicer part of town since starting his family and, according to teammates, had stopped hanging around a lot of his former associates after his last legal problems."

Of course, all of this seems trivial since the latest headline on Redskins Insider is "Sean Taylor "Clinging To Life"".

We Just Can't Catch A Break

I'm not going to comment (too) much on the Redskins perfection of the proverbial art of shooting one's self in the foot today. If not for the Patriots game, they'd be undefeated. They've beaten six teams this season. Five were opponents, but they've managed to beat themselves three times so far...and we're only 10 weeks into the season. Today's game was not about coaching; Gibbs, Saunders, and Williams did a great job gameplanning for the Eagles, and thoroughly outcoached Andy Reid from what saw. Buges did a great job on the offensive line, which had been offensive in more ways than one earlier this season (after being decimated by injuries). What the Redskins staff didn't know, however, was that Andy Reid had given access to his "Drug Emporium" to several of the Redskins' players (Chris Cooley, Ladell Betts, Casey Rabach, among others).

Meanwhile, the Wizards are pretty much embodying the above picture. Mike Wise, who despite past shots this blog has taken at him, is actually an excellent basketball writer, gave me a pretty good idea of how the season has gone so far in one column. I just wish he would stick to basketball and hilarious, mindblowing 'incites' into the personal lives of our favorite Redskins players, instead of writing "hard facts" Redskins columns that are written like he just got off the Amtrac train from New York and desperately wanted to fit in with the local sports scene by writing the safest, most obvious columns possible ("Wait, the Redskins have beloved old player doing their radio broadcasts? No way, I didn't know that!"). But hey, I'm trying to give the man his props, as Wilbon has said in the past, he really knows his stuff when he's talking hoops, and he's hit the 'Zards debacle of a season (so far) on the head. I agree (Ed. Despite the win today over a talented Hawks team) that they should shut Arenas down. He's not himself right now, and his knee is clearly hurting him. This is a situation where it's both in the team's interest and the player's to have him shut it down for at least a couple of weeks. If they can't win when he's toughing it out there's no point in not taking a more longterm perspective on the season and letting him rest up and come back at a later date. He won't like it because he's a baller/shotcaller and it's a contract year for him, but it's worth it for both parties in the long run. Arenas' next contract goes down anywhere from $500k to $1 mil everytime people see him hobbling off the court with his knee packaged more securely in ice than a transplant organ, so why not take a few weeks off and start dropping thirty or forty on people when you come back?

Sorry for getting serious for a minute, please accept this entertaining video evidence of how Rugby is much more manly a sport than Soccer, via Deadspin, as my apology. (Lil Bro, I know you have plenty of time to enjoy it....I expect an 800 word response by tomorrow).

If you have tears, prepare to shed them now....

Brothers, friends, Washingtonians, lend me your ears! Hear me for my cause; and be
silent, that you may hear: believe me for mine fandom, and have
respect for my fandom, that you may believe: censure me in your
"wisdom"; and stop talking out of your asses.

So let it be with J. Gibbs.
He is our coach, faithful and innovative,
Yet Minor Thread says he is senile,
and wants the Chin to assume the position,
because Joe is over the hill,
and the Chin reclines in a heated studio.
Joe hath brought many Lombardis home to Ol' DC,
for whom doth he win these trophies of inconceivable
value? Dost this seemeth anachronistic playcalling?

See the wounds that the Wide Receiver rendeth,
Missing important team meetings with "shin splints",
A thousand curses upon B.Lloyd and his "Euro-cut"!
Lo, how quickly the hurts of Burgundy and Gold faith
full turn on he who brought us to the promised land, not
once, not twice, but thrice.

Et tu Minor Thread? Et tu Lil Bro?