The Burgundy and Gold Mood Around Town
Not having been sated by the previously mentioned 7,825 words of Redskins coverage in this morning's paper, I figured I'd ride the Metro around for two or three hours in random directions and try to figure out what's going on with this team. I discovered that there are several schools of thought.
1) The Bench Brunells. This is the easiest school to summarize; Mark Brunell is too old, too weak-armed, too plodding, too 20th century for this offense, and Jason Campbell deserves a shot.
"How are you going to have a high-powered offense when your quarterback specializes in screen passes?" asked Stephen Cooke at the Anacostia station. "The man crumbles under pressure, he can't see from his blind side and he throws short passes. He sucks. The way Gibbs coaches, you don't need a bench, because he doesn't use it. All he really needs is 22 men. Make it 24; give him a punter and a kicker. That's it."
"Give the young boy a chance," Calvin Truesdale agreed.
2) The Faithful. It's mid-October. The weather is marvelous. The sun is shining. The Skins have two three-point losses, all kinds of talent and a Hall of Fame coach. The Faithful have Faith.
"They've got a fantastic coach," longtime fan Joan Good said in Crystal City. "What's wrong with the team? They'll figure that out....He's the best coach they ever had, that I can remember, but he better start winning or else he's gonna go back to managing race cars."
"Everything she said I agree with 100 percent," agreed Patricia Kennedy. "Joe Gibbs, he's just about the best coach....He's a fair coach and he's from the old school, that's why I like him."
"I'm a little disappointed, a little worried, but they still have time," said Sidique Taylor en route to King Street. "The man can do no wrong. As far as I'm concerned, he can do no wrong. He's already given me one Super Bowl."
(More importantly, I used to work with Sidique at the Whole Foods P Street cheese counter. Haven't seen him in years. I helped train him in the wonderful world of cheese, and he's now in the process of being promoted to assistant specialty team leader, a stature I never reached. I'd be lying if I didn't say I was insanely jealous. Plus, he gave me a few cheese and beer recommendations to pass along to Whole Foods Old Town patrons. They have some nice Epoisses, and also Sidique's standby, the lovely Le Chevrot, which was "the first cheese that ever really made it pop for me," he said. His standard recommendation for customers who'd like something more interesting than pre-sliced cheddar remains Manchego.
On the beer side, he's been enjoying the Dogfish Head 60-minute IPA, although he's convinced it's stronger than the 6 percent alcohol-by-volume listed on the packaging.
"Write this down; I think Dogfish is lying about the percentage," he said. "I can't finish a six-pack of that stuff, and according to their percentage it shouldn't be that hard." Maybe you're getting older, Sidique.)
3) The Doubting Gibbses. These characters are slowly losing faith in the coaching staff, for a variety of reasons: too much delegation, questionable play-calling, the LaVar departure, the amorphous identity, no one else to blame for the 2-4 record, etc. And so they're contemplating the unthinkable: turning on Joe.
"They always come up with these crazy expectations, and then as soon as there's one little disappointment it all falls apart," Patrick Vailes said in Petworth. "Be more realistic about the whole situation. Gibbs is a good coach, but he's not God."
"Make Clinton Portis the focus of that offense and it'll turn the whole thing around," Darrell Mack said. "He needs at least 25-30 carries a game."
"They need to get rid of that [bleep] offensive coordinator and that [stronger bleep] defensive coordinator and let them play," C. Roach said in Anacostia. "You can't bring no passing offense to no running team. We're a running team. We ain't going to the playoffs, not with that [bleep] they're doing. Just go ahead and let them play. This ain't Kansas City; this is Skins country. This is running country."
4) The People Who Don't Care. There were a lot of this type, at Metro stops near and far, on the trains and waiting on benches, men and women of all races and ages, who either told me they weren't football fans, or that they don't follow the team close enough to comment, or that they weren't Redskins fans at all, or that they rooted for the Steelers or Vikings or Giants or Colts or Raiders. Plus some people looked the other way when I approached. Ok, a lot of people.
(Btw, I can't tell you how many people e-mail me and say they're glad I don't focus on the Redskins, because they already get too much coverage. Really? Is there a lot of this sentiment?)
I stopped outside a CVS because I saw a bike messenger wearing a Redskins cap go inside. "I didn't even know I had this on until someone told me," he said. "I don't even know who Michael Jordan is, that's how bad I am about sports."
I told another guy I was searching for Redskins fans. "Wrong year for that," he said.
No wonder our circulation is declining.
By Dan Steinberg |
October 16, 2006; 4:01 PM ET
| Category:
Redskins
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Posted by: RAC | October 16, 2006 4:21 PM
It's not so much the quantity of Redskins coverage that gets to me, it's the quality. I'm surprised the bandwagon hasn't fallen over with so many people (reporters and otherwise) jumping on and off every week. Not two weeks ago Gibbs, Brunell, & Co. were saviors after two wins, one being the pounding of my beloved Texans and the other a thrilling OT defeat over the Jags. Yet here people are two weeks later ready to totally throw in the towel and give the franchise over to an undrafted, second-year QB who hasn't taken a snap in a real NFL game. Why can't someone come out and just say that this year's team (like last year's and the one before) is streaky and difficult to predict. They might make the playoffs and they might not. This sort of knee-jerk reporting is low-grade analysis at best and hackish reactionism at worst.
That being said, if half the reporters thinking about writing a Skins piece changed their mind and instead focused on another Washington area pro sport or the growing college basketball battleground that is the DC area, you certainly wouldn't hear me complaining.
Love the blog by the way, keep up the good work.
Posted by: Adam | October 16, 2006 5:17 PM
Nah, it's the quantity. Too much talk about a bad team that's going nowhere fast. Who cares anymore when there's other, more interesting/better teams to talk about?
Posted by: DC Sports Chick | October 16, 2006 7:56 PM
What fans need to understand is that this football team is not a team anymore. It is a franchise and there is a difference.
There used to be a perception that a team's financial fortunes were dictated by how well that team performed. The Redskins are not like that anymore. Regardless if this franchise goes 2-14 or 14-2, this franchise still generates money. Joe Gibbs is not a coach; he's a figurehead, helping this franchise make money. As soon as the fans realize that, they will be better off.
Posted by: Gary | October 16, 2006 9:06 PM
Sure glad I didn't take public transportation today with a Bogger on the loose-ha!
TWP-more columns on the WIZ.!!!
Thanxxx...
Posted by: Wise Girls DC- | October 17, 2006 12:56 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.
When it comes to not focusing on the Redskins, I couldn't agree more. Where's the fun in writing about a team that's awful and then having a bunch of people, all fans of that team, debate why it's awful?
If you ask me, it's time to focus on college basketball.
Let the Twerps chirp about how great they're going to be, the Hoyas can bark about their resurgence and the Colonials can pound their chests and go on about their three-loss season. Bottom line - they all took a backseat to the Patriots last year and they're going to have to do so again. Get used to the fact that the D.C. area is slowly becoming a part of Mason Nation.
Now that's the type of stuff that gets the juices flowing. I can't wait to see what you have to say once the season gets going about Maryland's schedule.