Monday, October 19, 2009

John's Monday Washington Post column:

Here is my column this week for The Washington Post -----


There are certain defining moments for sports franchises: John Riggins's fourth-down touchdown run in Super Bowl XVII for Joe Gibbs's first tenure with the Redskins, Joe Montana's touchdown pass to Dwight Clark in the 1981 NFC championship game for the San Francisco 49ers' Super Bowl era. There are moments like that for individuals too: Tiger Woods's 12-shot victory at the 1997 Masters; John McEnroe's first victory over Bjorn Borg at Wimbledon in 1981; Bob Beamon's long jump in Mexico City in 1968.

Then there are those moments that define futility: Bill Buckner's error in the 1986 World Series symbolizing the Boston Red Sox' World Series drought that didn't end until 2004; Scott Hoch and Doug Sanders missing three-foot putts that would have given them major championships they never won; the Portland Trail Blazers choosing Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan in the 1984 NBA draft.

For the Washington Redskins under owner Dan Snyder, that defining moment came late Sunday afternoon before no more than 10,000 fans left from an announced crowd of 79,572.

Click here for the rest of the article: For once-proud franchise, the saddest of sacks


9 comments:

Unknown said...

Spot On!

Unknown said...

My question. Did Danny teach Peter Angelos how to ruin a billion dollar franchise? Or vice versa?

Anonymous said...

Kyle Orton was DOA after he was unceremoniously shipped from Chicago to Denver. No one, I mean NO ONE, thought that he could be a half-way decent quaterback in Denver or anywhere.

Now people in Denver (with whom I have spoken this evening) are calling Josh McDaniels "god" and Orton "Jesus." Orton has been accurate and has enjoyed copious amounts of time to go through all of his progressions to find an open receiver. On MNF, there was not one Charger within 5 yards of him the entire night. The same could be said (more or less) about the protection he enjoyed during the Bronco's previous 5 wins.

I am sure that sports writers - as well as fans - will be doing a post mortem on the career of Jason Campbell when the season is over. I just hope that, after this town has spit out Campbell after three years of mastication, he lands with a team, gets a chance, and really shines. QBs are only as good as their O lines, which pretty much means the Skins' QB will never be good as long as our O line is the worst in football, regardless whether his name is Campbell, Collins, or Brees (we wish).

I hope Campbell goes somewhere with competent management, competent coaches, and players that show their talent rather than talk about it. I hope he then becomes the next Kyle Orton - and comes back to DC and rubs our face in a 300 yard, 3 TD performance. We collectively deserve it.

Paul said...

Your article is the most concise on this topic I have read so far. Many of your colleagues at the Post have touched on things a bit but nothing wrapped it quite as well as you did here.

The question is, how can the Redskins as an institution of the greater Washington, D.C. area get out of this mess? Can we have Snyder arrested for "abuse of a loved one", that loved one of course being the Redskins organization?

Vince Spence says that "we deserve it" but I don't think that's true. You could argue we've enabled The Danny (maybe he needs an episode of Intervention) but we're suffering with Jim Z., JC and the rest of the high character players that don the burgundy and gold on Sundays.

The only person who deserves anything is Dan Snyder. Unfortunately, our power to hold him accountable is almost nil (short of a mass campaign that defies every instinct we have as Skins fans).

Anonymous said...

I root for the financial demise of the Redskins - I think that is the only "wake up call" that Dan Snyder would ever hear and that probably wont happen...The more the world clamors for change at Redskins Park, the more aberrant the DS decisions are. Being #347 on Forbes Richest obviously clouds both the frontal and the temporal lobes!

Anonymous said...

Suggestion: have the City institute condemnation proceeding against the team, that it constitutes a public nuisance and a health hazard to its quarterbacks as well as its fans. Pay Mr. Snyder the required just compensation and offer the the stock of the team to the fans. Strongly suspect that the sales would be oversubscribed. Once in adult ownership, the team like the Packers, would belong to the community and fans. Then it could be managed intelligently and in the interests of the fans and team members.

Anonymous said...

From three thousand miles away in the Bay Area, I read about the deplorable situation in DC and am vastly entertained by the ineptitude of the bosses. I'm just glad I'm not a fan of your team. The 'Skns have become the laughing stock of the nation.

Ed said...

I think you have hit the nail on the head. But, it will do no good as long as there is money to be made in D.C. Once that is gone than maybe we will get a serious owner who will make the right football decisions that are not totally money related.

Or bring in a GM, leave him alone for five years and let him set the franchise on the right track.

Other teams have done it but it won't work with an owner and a GM with big egos. There are plenty of examples of both styles in the NFL.

Anonymous said...

The Italian's have a saying "fish stink from the head", perhaps the fans should send Mr. Snyder a fish. Mail on Friday and send regular mail. Perhap he would get the message.