Gasping for air

Apathy has finally set in like Rigormortis (However you spell that). If Dan Snyder's goal after buying the Redskins has been making as much loot as possible, and killing the fanbase. I'd say he's well over 50% to goal.

Who really cares anymore what happens this season? If anything, people should want to see them lose the rest of their games, exposing the awful job Vinny Cerrato has been doing over his time in Washington.

Piss poor OL Depth? Check

$100,000,000 for a DT who isn't in shape? Check

Worn down RB? Check

No WR's of quality? Check

No DB's of quality? Check

Well done Vinny, you Jerk.

I can't wait till sunday. The Burgundy Revolution is coming back to Raljon.

The Tao of Snyder

We continue our Redskins meltdown 2009 season with a review of Dan Snyder's greatest hits.

1. July 24, 1999 - Snyder just gains control of the Franchise and Charlie Casserly finds out that's going to be replaced by Vinny Cerrato. Sept 3rd of the same year is when Casserly formally is no longer the GM of the Washington Redskins.


2. April 10, 2000- Snyder signs NFL Universal Jerk, Jeff George to a 4 year, 18.25 Million Dollar contract to mess with the weak mind of starter Brad Johnson.


3. June 26, 2000 - Snyder gives Deion Sanders a seven year, 56 Million Dollar contract to fumble punt returns.


4. 2001 - Snyder makes a smart move....hires Marty Schottenheimer as coach and defacto GM. Marty kicks Vinny out of the process, quickly lets go of Jeff George. Deion "retires" in fear of Marty also. After starting 0 and 5, the Skins finish 8-8. Martyball is in DC and this look bright.


5. January 12, 2002. Snyder fires Marty to regain control of the front office and hire a new coach. He brings back Vinny to complete the crapfest.


6. January 14, 2002. Snyder hires Steve Spurrier and gives him a 5 year, 25 Million Dollar contract to get QB's killed with his new Min Protection calls.


7. December 30, 2003. Spurrier quits from a golf course. Leaves 15 mil on the table. Decides the NFL is too much work for him.


8. Various Dates in 2003- Snyder decides to go the RFA route to add to his already stupid FA strategy. The Jetskins are born with Kicker John Hall, PR/KR Chad Morton, WR Lav Coles, and Guard Randy Thomas. Only Thomas stuck around to make a difference.


9. January 7, 2004. Putting a rabbit out of his ass. Dan Snyder gets Joe Gibbs to come back as Head Coach and Team President of the Redskins. Same deal as Spurrier but with a minority ownership offer also. Gibbs gets the Skins to the playoffs twice, wins one playoff game. Carries the team through the murder of Sean Taylor. Is major fault was not letting go of Vinny Cerrato right away.


10. Early 2005. Snyder threatened Coles when the receiver's refusal to accept the trade without a contract extension thwarted the deal last month. "He said that if I stayed in Washington, he would turn me into another Terry Glenn," Coles said. (Glenn, now with the Cowboys, missed most of the 2001 season with New England as his public feud with head coach Bill Belichick resulted in various fines, suspensions and ultimately Glenn's benching). "He said he would send a flat-screen television to my home because I'd be better off watching the games there. That was his way of saying I'd be sitting for the next couple years until they cut me."


11. 2006. Snyder spent $45 million in guaranteed cash on Archuleta, wide receivers Antwaan Randle El and Brandon Lloyd, and defensive lineman Andre Carter.


12. January 8, 2008. With one year left on his deal. Joe Gibbs retires. Can't blame him. The team is in shambles. Though, the way he kept them together after Taylor's murder might have been as impressive of a job ever.


13. Early 2008, after nobody appears to want the gig. Snyder promotes already hired OC Jim Zorn to HC. Zorn was the QB coach in Seattle for awhile. Never called a game before.


14. February 27, 2009. After an offseason where it appears the Skins figured out that you can't thrown money at everything. They sign fatboy Albert Haynesworth to a 7 year, 100 Million Dollar contract.


15. September 3, 2009. The Washington Post exposes the Redskins for suing fans for season ticket money. Meanwhile the economy is a mess, and they brag about this waiting list. I know, I know. The List is for non-club level seats, and non-box seats. But still, like you don't have enough bad PR as it is.


16. Here we are today. The Skins just lost to the Lions who were on a 18 game losing streak.

That was fun.

*Random information, dates and quotes from CNNSI, CBSSPORTSLINE, The Washington Post, WTOP.com, and whoever else I forgot. Thanks

Perhaps we've reached the Tipping Point. (The post I wanted to put up yesterday)

Today on ESPN980 (Snyder owned station), host of the midday program Kevin Sheehan, basically laid everything out there that needed to be said.



Its not working. Its just NOT working.



For a guy who I guess could be fired by the Owner of the team he was blasting. Kevin didn't pull any punches.



The bottom line was that Dan Snyder has just one card to play, and firing the coach right now isn't it. That card is getting up at the end of the season, saying that what he's tried to do hasn't worked. Then, handing the team over to a new GM and that GM's pick for coach. Basically getting out of the way.



The second point Kevin made that I agree with is this...........the FANS do have a better read on the team than the coaches and players. We saw this coming in week 1 of the preseason.



This isn't a Jason Cambell or Jim Zorn problem. Its a Dan Snyder problem. Its a Vinny Cerrato problem.



When you are building a house, you start by planning it out, and building your foundation. You don't go out and install a hot tub and new pool for the backyard before the walls are up.



Coaches have changed. QB's have changed. RB's have changed. WR's have changed. OL has changed. DL has changed. LB's have changed. DB's have changed.



The results really haven't changed.



Two other things haven't changed either.

Big Up's to Hot Toddy, and the Holbay Clan

End of 2008.....the last time I've actually had a chance to take anything to looked like a vacation. That changes this week.......thanks to Todd, Mike and the Holbay's who will be down in the OBX.

Can't wait to get to the Sandbox.....and attempt to relax for 4 days.

Two of the most hated men around Washington

If Dan Snyder was a smart owner, he would do the follow.

1. Fire Vinny Cerrato right now. Not at the end of the season...RIGHT NOW. You're dying for some good will with the fans, this is how you could get it. Well, it would be a start.


2. Hire a Football Guy to be your Team President. This isn't a GM Role. This is that GM's boss. This is the boss of the folks who handle the awful parking situation, the awful game day experience, the awful PR mess.


3. Let the new Team President hire a Football Guy to be GM. There are plenty of strong front offices out there like New England and Pittsburgh who have Assit GM types that are probably ready to be a full time GM


4. Go Away. Right now Dan Snyder is as popular as AIDs and Cancer combined. Get away from DC, get away from the team. Fly in on Sunday's for the game, and then leave.

Sadly, Dan Snyder isn't a smart owner. He patterns himself after Jerry Jones, who hasn't won a thing since Jimmy Johnson left Dallas. Its not by chance that's the situation in Dallas. Its not by chance they lost their final game at Texas Stadium, and their 1st game at the Jonesplex.

Dan.....you're losing the fanbase this year faster than all the previous years combined.

I don't think you understand this.

Farmville Owns Me

The value of having a Facebook page I supposed can be measured in various ways. How many friends do you have? Who posts on your wall? What apps are you using?

For me, its 99% Farmville.

The hours put into planting crops, harvesting crops, turning soil, buying fences, sending gifts to your neighbor.

So, here I am. End of the Universe. Got the biggest house (as of now), lots of groovy black sheep, and a stone mailbox.

My question is......if they aren't going to add more stuff I can do. Is there a crop that takes 3 months to grow, so I can stop caring about this?

VENUS

Venus is the second-closest planet to the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6. Because Venus is an inferior planet from Earth, it never appears to venture far from the Sun: its elongation reaches a maximum of 47.8°. Venus reaches its maximum brightness shortly before sunrise or shortly after sunset, for which reason it is often called the Morning Star or the Evening Star.

Venus was a major Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty and fertility, who played a key role in many Roman religious festivals and myths. From the third century BC, the increasing Hellenization of Roman upper classes identified her as the equivalent of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. In this way Venus was the consort of Vulcan. Virgil, in compliment to his patron Augustus and the gens Julia made Venus, whom Julius Caesar adopted as his protectress, the ancestor of the Roman people by way of its legendary founder Aeneas and his son Iulus.

Somebody PLEASE explain Lady GaGa to me.

No long post or anything. I just don't get her at all. She's what Christina Aguilera would look like if beaten by a iron frying pan, right?

On Leadership

The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it.
-Theodore Roosevelt

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Here we are again. Only one week into the 09-10 NFL season, and there is already a crises of confidence in Washington. It would be unfair to say there hasn’t been gloom and doom in regards to the Redskins before week 1. But, this opening loss simply reinforced the concerns that already live within our minds.

What makes an organization “strong”? Most will say that there isn’t a single source of strength when it comes to huge businesses. Rather it’s a mix of quality talent, quality leadership, and even some good old fashion luck. However, there is an order to how you put together these pieces so it fits. We’ll come back to this in a second.

Robert Kraft, Dan Rooney, Bud Adams.
Kevin Colbert, Mike Reinfeldt, Nick Caserio.

These are the names of owners who are amongst the strongest in the NFL. The second row are GM’s (by title or not) who are the strongest at their rolls. Do you recognize those final three names? Who ever hears about Kevin Colbert? He’s been the Steelers GM for the past 10 years or so. He might not have that title of GM, but he is that guy. You never hear of him, but his team almost always is in the playoffs. They are getting the most out of so many mid-round and later players. Most of all, they are growing their own talent.

The strength of a NFL team comes from the top down. Not the other way around. From Dan Rooney to Kevin Colbert to Mike Tomlin, you can see a clear chain of leadership with three guys who all have football experience. Even when people were shocked that Tomlin got the job after so little NFL coaching experience. I think he was the DC in Minny for one year. It worked out. Why? Because the strength from above. Strength doesn’t come from opening your wallet. It doesn’t come from owning radio stations. It doesn’t come from making the most money off of your franchise. It comes from stability, consistency, and the belief that you can roll with anybody in the league, and win.

The Washington Redskins haven’t had a strong leader since the final years Jack Kent Cooke was in control of this franchise. In interviews with the likes of Joe Gibbs, Charlie Casserly and Bobby Bethard, they all acknowledge who was in charge, as if he’s still alive today. I don’t know this for a fact. But my gut says that even a wildcard like Riggo didn’t have a direct line to Mr. Cooke. That Mr. Cooke wouldn’t be taking rookies to dinner before the draft. Mr. Cooke was the boss. Mr. Cooke knew what it meant to hire the right people with the right skill sets for their roles.

Mr. Snyder appears to have NOT learned this skill in his years of owning the Washington Redskins. Just because you don’t have a strong NFL background doesn’t mean you can’t be a strong NFL Owner. It just means that you need a strong GM more than ever. This is where Mr. Snyder’s largest failing has taken place. A GM doesn’t just draft your players, and reside over your cap guy. Your GM fills out your scouting dept, your training team, and your coaching staff.

Two winters ago, before hiring a head coach, Mr. Snyder and his GM (I’m going to just refer to Vinny as the GM) hired their OC before even hiring their HC. That alone should be a sign enough of trouble. Then when their search for a HC wasn’t getting them the results they wanted, they promoted this OC who had never been a full OC before, to HC. This is a pure example of the disorganization within this franchise. Not a single player has been mentioned here. This is all front office talk. Nobody has really explained why they didn’t just hire him at HC in the 1st place if they were so impressed. What changed in those weeks when you didn’t have a HC, that make Zorn your guy? Pride?

Speaking of Pride, this is where I have only questions. Is it pride that stops Mr. Snyder from fully stepping back and hiring football guys to run his football team? Is it pride that has the united messages from this team to be about ticket waiting lists, and 4th ranked defenses? Is it pride that perhaps has held back this owner from really growing at all?

Now, the Skins might still turn into something decent this year. They might even find a way to get into the playoffs. With Snyder run rosters, its happened twice (I don’t count the year he took over). Then again, it was the will of Joe Gibbs the coach that carried them in, not Dan Snyder the owner. Regardless of what happens. I wonder out loud, what will it take? Is there anything that can happen where all the sudden a light goes off in Mr. Snyder’s head and he says “I’m in over my head…..I need a real GM, a real team President…..and to let them handle everything else. Its time for me to act more like Robert Kraft and Dan Rooney…..and less like Al Davis and Jerry Jones.”?

and in the end.

And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to the love you make.

Just some of my favorite pics

THE SADNESS OF THE MOON

THE SADNESS OF THE MOON by Charles Baudelaire
THE Moon more indolently dreams to-night Than a fair woman on her couch at rest, Caressing, with a hand distraught and light, Before she sleeps, the contour of her breast. Upon her silken avalanche of down, Dying she breathes a long and swooning sigh; And watches the white visions past her flown, Which rise like blossoms to the azure sky. And when, at times, wrapped in her languor deep, Earthward she lets a furtive tear-drop flow, Some pious poet, enemy of sleep, Takes in his hollow hand the tear of snow Whence gleams of iris and of opal start, And hides it from the Sun, deep in his heart.

Lenny

Just seeing if this works also.

Taking RFA mobile

So.....we are back.

Between posting thoughts on job hunting and randomness. We will see if I can keep this up.

1. NBC canceled "Life". Horrible move.
2. Tony K. is leaving MNF. I hope he gets a radio show in D.C. again.

Stay tuned for more.

It's quiet around here

Where is Radio Free Andy?

"Realistically, they get along fine." Hey Andy, realistically, how do you feel about Dan Snyder?

Drew Rosenhaus, assclown to the starts, on the alleged conflict between T.O. and Tony Romo. My favorite part:

Drew: I think everyone in the NFL would agree, you need to open up this offense. It can't just be Romo to Witten. It has to be Romo to Terrell, Romo to Witten, Romo to Roy Williams, Marion Barber. You've gotta have all the weapons involved.

Talking Head: Drew, we've run the numbers. The ball goes more to Terrell Owens than it does to Jason Witten.

Drew: Great. Then that's perfect. But right now, it doesn't appear that there's anything wrong with Terrell Owens except that he has the hands of an autistic kindergardener.

Your words, not his.

Philly loveshates Terrell Owens.

I'm listening to Ron Jawarski's segment on the Howard Eskin show from last week. Why last week? Because it's all what do we do about this QB every week so it took me five minutes to realize the podcast hasn't been updated.

Anywho... We love to beat on Terrell Owens up here, and who's arguing? That guy is a major assclown in all the ways you can't be a major assclown in Philly. We also love Ron Jawarski up here. Here's what Jaws had to say, when Eskin tries to rally Jaws to bash T.O. after Owen's latest hissy fit after a Cowboy's win...

I'm glad you gave me a laugh. Just mention T.O. and I chuckle. [Eskin: He can't be there next year, can he?] He's a Jerry Jones guy! You got T.O., you got Pacman, you got all these guys! It's the lifestyle down there in Dallas. [...] Absolutely he'll be there next year - these are the guys that Jerry Jones loves.

Eskin further embellishes his Terrelladiction, asking Jaws if maybe Owens has "lost something."

Yes, he's very limited in the routes he runs. He does not run one-on-one type routes. In other words, you're getting matched up against a corner and you're gonna beat that corner. The majority of the routes now are crosses, drags, underneath routes, coming off play action and taking it across the field.

Fair enough. So how does Jaws go to PTI this week and explain Owens taking Nate Clements to the woodshed this week? Who accounts for the two million yards of domination T.O. pulled in this week, the receiver, or the defender? "No, I believe a lot of it was Tony Romo. [...] What Romo can do is allow his receivers to uncover. T.O. is great at that."

Okay fine these two statements aren't exactly contradictory, but I want to talk QBs and WRs and, well, I'm in Philadelphia, and we have none of those things right now.

How Clinton Portis "IS" the Redskins season

Lets start with some stats.

1206 Yards on 244 attempts, 4.9 yards per carry, 109 yards per game. Longest run was only 31 yards, 7 TDs and only 1 fumble.

That doesn't even tell half of the story.

The dude is banged up with his knee and hip a mess.

Meanwhile, he's the best pass blocking RB in the NFL and is throwing his body into every play.

If he keeps this up for the rest of the season. He should be MVP....and not because a Skin never wins it. The dude is a warrior and has this team on his back right now.

Call me a homer, but I'm still sweating #5

Why am I still sweating #5?

Joe Flacco, proud son of THE University of Delaware.

He would be an instant success story at The Linc, because we wouldn't need to get new #5 jerseys... just a little Sharpie action... and the proximity of Delaware to Philly means endless endorsements for the kid - I'm thinking Wawa... Pathmark... I-95... Endless possibilities. All what has to happen is we trade for the guy (would it be the first time Baltimore sold out their future) or we could merge, a la the Wartime Eagles-Steelers teams (I'm thinking Rav-gles?) and move the team to Newark, Delaware.

One month till Peru

In honor of an upcoming trip to Peru. Here are some some Peru facts.....from Wiki,. So, it must be true.

Peru (Spanish: Perú, Quechua: Piruw, Aymara: Piruw), officially the Republic of Peru (Spanish: República del Perú?·i, IPA: [reˈpuβlika del peˈɾu]), is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.
Peruvian territory was home to the Norte Chico civilization, one of the oldest in the world, and to the Inca Empire, the largest state in Pre-Columbian America. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century and established a Viceroyalty, which included most of its South American colonies. After achieving independence in 1821, Peru has undergone periods of political unrest and fiscal crisis as well as periods of stability and economic upswing.
Peru is a representative democratic republic divided into 25 regions. Its geography varies from the arid plains of the Pacific coast to the peaks of the Andes mountains and the tropical forests of the Amazon Basin. It is a developing country with a medium Human Development Index score and a poverty level around 40%. Its main economic activities include agriculture, fishing, mining, and manufacturing of products such as textiles.
The Peruvian population, estimated at 28 million, is multiethnic, including Amerindians, Europeans, Africans and Asians. The main spoken language is Spanish, although a significant number of Peruvians speak Quechua or other native languages. This mixture of cultural traditions has resulted in a wide diversity of expressions in fields such as art, cuisine, literature, and music.