Go Home Already: Shouts and Murmurs
Man Stops Traffic at 17th and K to Demand $200 Million
Compromise Uncertain on Same-Sex Marriage Law
Morning Roundup: Second Helpings Edition
Fire at 17th and L NW Forces Evacuations
Over the past few weeks, many a Redskins fan could surely be spotted muttering that this, this! would never have happened with Joe Gibbs at the helm. But if circulating rumors hold any sort of accuracy, he might not be far from the team soon enough. Pro Football Talk is reporting that the legendary head coach might be returning to the team in a football director role. The whispers are that Gibbs would fill a role similar to that of Bill Parcells in Miami. Gibbs would be responsible for hiring a new coach and general manager, and generally getting the train back on track. It's not so crazy, really: Dan Snyder already consults with Gibbs regularly, most recently having dinner together before the 'Skins loss at Carolina, and Gibbs is probably one of the few people on Earth to whom Snyder would probably cede some control.
Could the Passion of the Gibbs resurrect this team's pathetic prospects? It'll surely take a miracle.
UPDATE: Hardly surprising: a source told ESPN 980 that a Gibbs return to the Redskins organization is "unlikely", since he is too busy with "NASCAR, Motocross, grandchildren, and his ministry" to take the position. God, kids, and professional motorsports -- the man's obviously got a full plate.
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Gibbs is the only person who can get The Danny to keep his tinkering hands off of the team (a process that includes firing Vinny and replacing him with a real GM). So, yeah, Gibbs could help. Not with this particular Lost Season, mind you, but some.
Hell, even old, lost-his-fastball Gibbs 2.0 made the playoffs 2 out of 4 years...which beats the crap out of anyone else's record with this team since Gibbs 1.0.
A fact often lost on everyone!
Snyder take his grubby, incompetent fingers out of every aspect of the Redskins suckfest? Don't bet on it.
Gibbs would have to take a position above GM (since that wouldn't be his cup of tea) and he's not going to coach again. If he came in, found a no nonsense GM who could help him find a young, hungry head coach... great.
I'm not holding my breath.
Thing is, this would make sense in every way for Snyder. He's gain tradition points (again) with Gibbs. The fans would instantly go nuts. Then they would spend a fortune on Skins gear.
Snyder is an arrogant and self-serving tool. But that's putting it nicely. Do you know how hard it is to be a Redskins fan while projectile vomiting everytime Snyder's name is mentioned? OMG ... I need a towel.
Is Gibbs so powerful that He could talk the Danny into selling the team?
The game has long since passed Joe Gibbs by. It happens.
By the way, tell me which free agents would be excited about coming to Washington to play for clueless Jim Zorn, old man Sherm Lewis (who was a disaster calling plays in Green Bay and Minnesota), and Joe "West Coast Offense? Wildcat? Never heard of them" Gibbs.
Has it ever occurred to anyone that beyond the douchitude of Snyder + Zorn's difficulties, the team itself might just suck in general???
It has to me. But I think you can trace that back to the incompetence of Snyder and Cerrato.
Point taken, and you're 100 percent correct. But the team is a product of draft picks, trade and free agent signings, all of which are orchestrated by Mr. Snyder by way of his little ventriloquist's dummy, Vinny the Wonder Schlub. The team sucks because they have made it so.
One can hope that the right coaching staff could shine up that turd of a team and help them to play to their best and surprise a few people, as Mike Singletary has done in San Francisco...but Jim Zorn is no Mike Singletary. There are plenty of examples where good owners draft, sign and/or trade for good players who receive good coaching, but just suck.
This is not one of those instances.
This is a case of an inept owner in the Donald Sterling school of thought, thinking that you can put whatever product you want out there on the field and still make money--win or lose. The stories of the Skins suing their season ticket holders for not honoring their contracts (and in some cases, actually defrauding their season ticket holders by altering their sign up forms to extend their contracts without consulting them) have become so pervasive that it wouldn't surprise me in the least for the Skins to fall into the blackout zone within the next decade if things keep going the way they are. A regime change is needed for this team to return to greatness.
I've proposed this idea in this space a few times. Mr. Snyder, with all due...okay, with no respect at all, please sell the effing team to someone who wants to win. I got $40. Let's talk terms.
Sell to Ted! Sell to Ted!
I hope to god you mean Ted Leonsis, and not Ted Lerner...
A local sportswriter suggested that Leonsis buy the Skins, since they would benefit much more from his hands-off management style...and that Snyder buy the Nats, as they might benefit more from his Steinbrennerian tendencies. I'm all for it.
Oh God - Leonsis yes, Lerner NO. I meant Leonsis.
The Redskins are forever doomed until Snyder divests all ownership of the franchise.
LET'S GO DC UNITED! WOOOOOOO!
Snyder is not the worst owner the NFL has ever seen. The Brown family in Cleveland or Davis in OAK probably still firmly hold that distinction.
I'm amazed at continual rebirth of some moribound franchises, yet the Redskins seem largely stuck in neutral the past decade. Before the Lions in 2008, the Dolphins were nearly winless in 2007. Two years ago the Falcons were humiliated by the Vick scandal and had a coach quit midseason without any prompting from management. Teams turn it around all the time. The Skins can do it too. My God -- even the Rams have a Superbowl victory in the last decade. Skins faithful should be grateful this isn't MLB, where even the success stories are tempered with disappointment (Milwaukee, Oakland, TB). Teams can turn things around in the NFL. It's proven time and time again.
As much as Snyder is rightfully villified, I don't see how Gibbs 3.0 is the solution. Bring in neutral impartial football people and let them operate. Gibbs just feels like another emotional hire to appease fans in revolt. Hiring a top VP and/or GM is where Snyder's money is a real asset if he can stomach ceding control of footbal decisions. Lose the personal attachment to 'star' players and coaches and honestly assess the talent level of all the coaches and players. Get a football-independent GM and let them hire a coach with a clear plan for success and draft and develop the right players to fit that system. Be patient with that system when (not even if) success does not come immediately. Let the GM turn over the roster as much as needed. The Skins are getting a huge break with the uncapped year -- fix the cap headaches and commit to some fiscal austerity to keep the innevitable future cap from being an impediment or saddling you with declining players.
I hate to break it to the Skins faithful, but your next competitive team will not feature Cooley, Clinton Portis, Fletcher, Haynesworth, Moss, Springs or Hall. The good news is that it could come sooner than currently seems possible.
correction -- Browns in Cincinnati - duh!
Indeed...but at least the Brown family's put together a little something this year in Cincy, but I don't trust him...chili should not be sweet!
And your point is well taken as well...I don't see how Randy Lerner (no relation to our beloved Ted Lerner, as I've found) in Cleveland sleeps at night.
The chili sucks, but that's only part of the problem with the Nati.
The Bungles only kept Marv Lewis because they were too cheap to fire him and owe him $$. Over the last few years he was one of the few things right about this organization. They were also dumb enough not to extend him (not even team option), and I expect him to be a sought after coach for 2010 if their success continues (big if).
The Redskins could very well be consistently competitive again before the Bungles. That's no paradigm.
A Sad Story
Cleveland, OH (AP) - A seven-year old boy was at the center of a Cuyahoga County courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him... The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with child custody law and regulation requiring that family unity be maintained to the highest degree possible.
The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her.
When the judge then suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried and said that they also beat him.
After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him.
After two recesses to check legal references and confer with the child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the Washington Redskins, whom the boy firmly believes are not capable of beating anyone.
WIN!
Sure, their on-field performance may suck, but the Redskins are still the second-most profitable franchise in the NFL. I'd say the chances of Snyder making the decision to sell or hand over control of the team to anyone else are slim to none.