So I said that I'd have a post-game wrap-up after the Skins played the Eagles; yes, I could break down what happened at FEDEX on Monday night, but I don't have to. You have eyes! The defense played pretty good but gave up too many big plays, Campbell is regressing behind a subpar offensive line, and the whole team just makes too many mistakes to win. Watch ESPN, NFL Network or Comcast Sports Net and you'll get some form of the former in the next few days.
But an interesting idea struck me as I was watching all the postgame shows on the above channels; what would I say to Snyder right now if I had the chance? What would my plan be if I was one of his trusted advisors? Of course in the real world (because it wouldn't happen) I'd say, "Sell the Team" or "Fire Cerrato and get a real General Manager". But, if I had to come up with a course of action for "Mr. Snyder" for the rest of the season, with those two plans not an option, it would be the following (though it would take some guts and some humility - which reportedly the Skins owner is in short supply of)
Step one - Fire Jim Zorn Tuesday Morning. I know this would contradict Vinny's proclamation about the Z-Man's job security on his radio show Friday, but I would present it with the following words; "After listening to Jim after last night's tough loss to the Eagles, I decided that he just didn't have what it takes to lead us out of our current situation. I do not know if this team is talented enough to compete with the best the NFL has to offer. But I do know this; our team's execution is not up to par and that falls on the head coach. I have decided that we would like to move forward in a new direction" That’s it, that's all you have to say.
Step two - immediately hire Defensive Secondary Coach Jerry Gray as the interim head coach. You can tell the press this; "Jerry Gray has played and coached in the NFL and has learned from some of the best in the business. We believe he will bring some toughness, and attention to detail that our team has lacked over the past few years" Gray makes the most sense, as he's been a defensive coordinator (under Gregg Williams in Buffalo) so he's used to running the show, he's sought head coaching jobs before (which means he'll be interested in doing it to show future employers what he can do), and there's no one else that’s a realistic choice (Greg Blache doesn't want the headaches, special teams coach Danny Smith is a bit too loose of a cannon, and Sherm Lewis has been out of football too long and just got here 3 weeks ago).
Step three - hold an internal meeting on Wednesday morning in the Auditorium at Redskins Park with players, staff and coaches and give the following speech. "Fellas, this is your new coach, Jerry Gray. You've known him for a while; came to us when Coach Joe took over in 2004. The reason I picked him to be the new head man is simple; he's tough. He played at Texas, played in the NFL, coached in the NFL. HE DOES NOT TAKE CRAP! And that's a good thing, because all I've seen over the last few weeks is CRAP (I'm trying to keep this PG so replace crap with the expletive and jazz it up - feel free)! Your execution sucks, the effort has sucked at times. It's not good enough! Don't know if you guys know this, but it looks like we may be headed for an uncapped year next year. I can cut you all at the drop of a hat, and while I'll still have to pay you your money, none of it will stay on our salary cap. So I'm going to let Jerry do what he has to do to whip you all into shape. And if I hear you're not "interested" in following his lead, rest assured you won't be here next year." While I still think the talent (especially on offense) needs to be upgraded significantly, I also think this is the best way to evaluate what we really have in Ashburn.
Step four - stick to your guns. Let the staff work their magic and let the scouting department see who should be kept and who should be sent packing in 2010. With the murderer's row of a schedule coming up, we know Zorn might ride that baby to 3 and 13. At least give yourself a chance to win.
Step five - Then fire Vinny.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Not too appetizing
Random Huber Thought of the Day
Maybe its just me, but how could you ever eat something with the word spunk on the package? Obviously plenty of people do as this company is still in business www.spunkmeyer.com
The wedding post will have to wait, as we're less than 24 hours away from the "debacle at fedex" tm. If I'm bored at work, I'll offer a few words of preview, but I'll definitely make sure I have a post-game wrap...preferably soon after its over; so that the venom is fresh.
Maybe its just me, but how could you ever eat something with the word spunk on the package? Obviously plenty of people do as this company is still in business www.spunkmeyer.com
The wedding post will have to wait, as we're less than 24 hours away from the "debacle at fedex" tm. If I'm bored at work, I'll offer a few words of preview, but I'll definitely make sure I have a post-game wrap...preferably soon after its over; so that the venom is fresh.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
A Sweet Dee Moment
So I'm back. Got busy with Geaneas Wedding stuff, and just got plain lazy. I'll have an update on that in my next post.
I've been quite lax on my updates as this Redskins mess continues, but something struck me after the announcement that champion Bingo caller Sherm Lewis would take over play-calling duties against the Eagles on Monday Night. Skins fans were finally having their Sweet Dee Moment. Bear with me while I explain...
I'm sure many of you are familiar with the show "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia". It's quite hilarious and you haven't seen it you need to check it out. Anyway, in one of the best scenes of the show's 4 1/2 season run is called Middle Man http://www.hulu.com/watch/18050/its-always-sunny-in-philadelphia-middle-man . In it, the put upon female of the crew Sweet Dee, goes to the reading of her mother's will along with her brother and father and the three of them get more and more incensed as the see the wealth that they expected to come to them being given to someone else. After Dee gets insulted from beyond the grave by her mother (the lawyer reads the following "you were a disappointment and a mistake" - keep in mind Dee and her brother Dennis, who the mother likes so much she gave him her house, are twins) she tries to salvage the situation (for herself) by asking what is being done with Mom's jewelry. They lawyer tells her that the mother's wish was to be buried in it, to which Dee replies "G*dd**n it, Oh G*dd**n it!" and kicks the air in a most pissed off manner.
I thought about this scene when I heard the Skins were turning over their offensive play calling duties to a guy who hasn't been in the NFL for 5 years and has been working in a senior center. You see much like Sweet Dee getting beaten down by her mother's insults over the years, Redskins fans have been beaten down by a poorly run, clown show of a football team that can't seem to get out of its own way. And while the fans have been completely embarrassed by this season's team (including Sunday's pathetic performance against the putrid Chiefs) folks were seeing a silver lining; Zorn was going to get fired, Snyder would admit his mistakes (both in picking his coaches and players) and things would actually change in the offseason.
But instead of that, we get the following; Zorn is kept on, but has most of his responsibilities taken from him in an effort to get him to quit (foremost, taking play calling and giving it to the bingo caller). Of course there’s two schools of thought on this; number one, Snyder doesn't want to pay the rest of Zorn's contract (only 4 million bucks - I say only in comparison to Fat Albert Haynesworth getting 41 mill guaranteed), or number two (this is the more likely scenario) Snyder is still clinging to the idea that what plagues the team isn't the ill fitting scheme, or the terrible offensive line, or the broken down running back, or the receivers that can't play or the quarterback who probably isn't that great, or the General Manager (Cerrato) who has presided over this mess (as Snyder’s lackey) but instead it’s the plays being called. Oh G*dd**n it, indeed.
I've been quite lax on my updates as this Redskins mess continues, but something struck me after the announcement that champion Bingo caller Sherm Lewis would take over play-calling duties against the Eagles on Monday Night. Skins fans were finally having their Sweet Dee Moment. Bear with me while I explain...
I'm sure many of you are familiar with the show "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia". It's quite hilarious and you haven't seen it you need to check it out. Anyway, in one of the best scenes of the show's 4 1/2 season run is called Middle Man http://www.hulu.com/watch/18050/its-always-sunny-in-philadelphia-middle-man . In it, the put upon female of the crew Sweet Dee, goes to the reading of her mother's will along with her brother and father and the three of them get more and more incensed as the see the wealth that they expected to come to them being given to someone else. After Dee gets insulted from beyond the grave by her mother (the lawyer reads the following "you were a disappointment and a mistake" - keep in mind Dee and her brother Dennis, who the mother likes so much she gave him her house, are twins) she tries to salvage the situation (for herself) by asking what is being done with Mom's jewelry. They lawyer tells her that the mother's wish was to be buried in it, to which Dee replies "G*dd**n it, Oh G*dd**n it!" and kicks the air in a most pissed off manner.
I thought about this scene when I heard the Skins were turning over their offensive play calling duties to a guy who hasn't been in the NFL for 5 years and has been working in a senior center. You see much like Sweet Dee getting beaten down by her mother's insults over the years, Redskins fans have been beaten down by a poorly run, clown show of a football team that can't seem to get out of its own way. And while the fans have been completely embarrassed by this season's team (including Sunday's pathetic performance against the putrid Chiefs) folks were seeing a silver lining; Zorn was going to get fired, Snyder would admit his mistakes (both in picking his coaches and players) and things would actually change in the offseason.
But instead of that, we get the following; Zorn is kept on, but has most of his responsibilities taken from him in an effort to get him to quit (foremost, taking play calling and giving it to the bingo caller). Of course there’s two schools of thought on this; number one, Snyder doesn't want to pay the rest of Zorn's contract (only 4 million bucks - I say only in comparison to Fat Albert Haynesworth getting 41 mill guaranteed), or number two (this is the more likely scenario) Snyder is still clinging to the idea that what plagues the team isn't the ill fitting scheme, or the terrible offensive line, or the broken down running back, or the receivers that can't play or the quarterback who probably isn't that great, or the General Manager (Cerrato) who has presided over this mess (as Snyder’s lackey) but instead it’s the plays being called. Oh G*dd**n it, indeed.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Oh no, we suck again!
Video of the day
I might try and sneak this into the rotation at Geaneas' wedding this weekend...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exOxUAntx8I
So now to the Redskins...
Boy was that bad on Sunday. Just f-ing pathetic. A gift wrapped 14 points to take 17 to 2 (TWO! - Casey Kasem tribute) lead and they still can't hang on. An ultra-pathetic offensive line (now with the injuries) and a defense that hasn't stopped anybody in a key situation for years now, brought another loss to D.C. And while I'm hoping for them to keep losing so folks wise up and come to their senses about Snyder, part of me was rooting for them on Sunday. So that meant I was extremely pissed about DeAngelo Hall's "attempt" (and I use the term loosely) at a tackle at the end of the game.
You all know the play I'm talking about...3 and 8 with 2 minutes left. Skins stop the Panthers, Campbell gets a chance to lead them down for a tying field goal; Panthers get a first down, game is over. Carolina runs a naked bootleg with no receiver in the pattern. THIS, is a give up call. John Fox and company were saying, we'll let our slow assed quarterback fake a handoff, roll out, and if half the Skins defense has had their feet amputated, MAYBE, we'll get the first down.
So what happens, our newly Brinks truck paid corner (the same one the Raiders - THE RAIDERS FOR GOD SAKES - cut halfway through the season last year) executed the triple crown of defensive ineptitude. First off, Hall was the contain man on the play. He's supposed to let no one get outside of him, and he certainly isn't supposed to try to make a tackle on a run to the other side of the line. Then, after Jake Delhomme fakes, and starts to bootleg back to the right (slowly plodding by the way) Hall recovers just in time to try and arm tackle him, instead of making a solid form tackle (shoulder in the ribs, wrap up, the whole nine yards) or at least diving at his knees to at least take out his legs. In the final insult, Hall gets dragged 5 yards (yes, I just watched the video) before Jeremy Jarmon got over there to actually get Delhomme on the ground, a yard past the marker. Three strikes and you're out buddy...at least that's what should be said this week; but it's not. No, folks will continue to point to another tipped ball interception and proclaim Hall a playmaker, this is spite of the fact that an 11 year old could make that play (in fact one of my 11 year olds made a better play on an interception this year and took it back 60 yards for a touchdown). I was told a fan actually said the following somewhere; “Hall isn’t paid to tackle, or cover, He’s here to make plays”. I’m sure that moron’s I.Q. compares closely to Forrest Gump, but anyway, I think a tackle to get the ball back with under two minutes counts as “a play”.
But while I bash DeAngelo, I know he's a symptom, and not the disease. That's Snyderitis. A player who's already "been paid" and doesn't need to follow the scheme or play his hardest has become all too common for the Redskins over the last few years...or should I say since 1999.
I might try and sneak this into the rotation at Geaneas' wedding this weekend...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exOxUAntx8I
So now to the Redskins...
Boy was that bad on Sunday. Just f-ing pathetic. A gift wrapped 14 points to take 17 to 2 (TWO! - Casey Kasem tribute) lead and they still can't hang on. An ultra-pathetic offensive line (now with the injuries) and a defense that hasn't stopped anybody in a key situation for years now, brought another loss to D.C. And while I'm hoping for them to keep losing so folks wise up and come to their senses about Snyder, part of me was rooting for them on Sunday. So that meant I was extremely pissed about DeAngelo Hall's "attempt" (and I use the term loosely) at a tackle at the end of the game.
You all know the play I'm talking about...3 and 8 with 2 minutes left. Skins stop the Panthers, Campbell gets a chance to lead them down for a tying field goal; Panthers get a first down, game is over. Carolina runs a naked bootleg with no receiver in the pattern. THIS, is a give up call. John Fox and company were saying, we'll let our slow assed quarterback fake a handoff, roll out, and if half the Skins defense has had their feet amputated, MAYBE, we'll get the first down.
So what happens, our newly Brinks truck paid corner (the same one the Raiders - THE RAIDERS FOR GOD SAKES - cut halfway through the season last year) executed the triple crown of defensive ineptitude. First off, Hall was the contain man on the play. He's supposed to let no one get outside of him, and he certainly isn't supposed to try to make a tackle on a run to the other side of the line. Then, after Jake Delhomme fakes, and starts to bootleg back to the right (slowly plodding by the way) Hall recovers just in time to try and arm tackle him, instead of making a solid form tackle (shoulder in the ribs, wrap up, the whole nine yards) or at least diving at his knees to at least take out his legs. In the final insult, Hall gets dragged 5 yards (yes, I just watched the video) before Jeremy Jarmon got over there to actually get Delhomme on the ground, a yard past the marker. Three strikes and you're out buddy...at least that's what should be said this week; but it's not. No, folks will continue to point to another tipped ball interception and proclaim Hall a playmaker, this is spite of the fact that an 11 year old could make that play (in fact one of my 11 year olds made a better play on an interception this year and took it back 60 yards for a touchdown). I was told a fan actually said the following somewhere; “Hall isn’t paid to tackle, or cover, He’s here to make plays”. I’m sure that moron’s I.Q. compares closely to Forrest Gump, but anyway, I think a tackle to get the ball back with under two minutes counts as “a play”.
But while I bash DeAngelo, I know he's a symptom, and not the disease. That's Snyderitis. A player who's already "been paid" and doesn't need to follow the scheme or play his hardest has become all too common for the Redskins over the last few years...or should I say since 1999.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
It's funny how that works...
Leesburg Cardinals Update
Cards beat the Giants 21-6 to improve to 6-0. Yours truly doin' work with the play sheet again. It’s fun to outwit 10 and 11 year olds.
In a discussion with friend on IM yesterday, I made the comment that it's sad that the only way I take a liking to a song anymore is if I hear it on a commercial, or a TV show. That's not exactly true, but I can say I discovered Brandi Carlisle through a Joe Paterno tribute http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQDlaWFeilE and got my first listen to Ray Lemontagne through an insurance commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G7bGBUlx2M .
But when I think back on it, very rarely have I "fallen in love" with a song by hearing it on the radio; something else usually lights the fuse. Case in point; early in my high school career, I was at a friend's house playing ping-pong and he put on the CD from "Philadelphia" (the movie with Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks where Hanks is the lawyer dying of AIDS, and Denzel is representing him). One of the songs on the CD was a Spin Doctors tune called "Have You Ever Seen the Rain". I really liked it and tried to find out more about it. Little did I know at the time, it was a CCR song, and my mom had it on vinyl. The more Creedence I listened to, the more I liked it, and they became one of my favorite bands.
Fast forward to today and the formula still works. After seeing the Travelers "Dog" commercial, I liked the song and wanted to find out more about it. Of course that leads me to look up the lyrics and find out that they're from "Trouble" by Ray LaMontagne (a song that actually came out 4 years ago-who knew). Now I can't stop listening to it.
But the more I think about it, these "media chains" can get pretty long after a while. Consider this; last year for a tournament down in North Carolina, the producers that I work with on the PGA TOUR Network played the song "Wagon Wheel" by Old Crow Medicine Show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G7bGBUlx2M as a bumper during our coverage. The tune was catchy and eventually I started playing the YouTube video at home. In time, I got curious about the song and wiki'ed it. Turns out, that the author from OCMS actually took a refrain from an old Bob Dylan outtake (Rock Me Mama - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2aaojdq3jw ) and wrote verses to it, and then eventually worked it out with Dylan giving him a co-writing credit. I love the Dylan song, even though you can't make out half the words (which make it like most of his songs after 1980). And after YouTubing it, looking for different versions, I found one set over the movie Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Turns out the outtake was from a recording session for the movie, as Dylan wrote the score - the most famous song from it would be "Knocking on Heaven's Door". The singer actually had a part in the film alongside James Coburn (Garrett) and Kris Kristofferson (the Kid). The movie at the time was panned, but that's reportedly because of overzealous editing, as the director's cut has been hailed as a lost classic. I'm thinking about Netflixing it.
So remember the next time you see a commercial, it might be the spark for something pretty big...or you might just end up looking up stuff all night in the internet; your choice.
Cards beat the Giants 21-6 to improve to 6-0. Yours truly doin' work with the play sheet again. It’s fun to outwit 10 and 11 year olds.
In a discussion with friend on IM yesterday, I made the comment that it's sad that the only way I take a liking to a song anymore is if I hear it on a commercial, or a TV show. That's not exactly true, but I can say I discovered Brandi Carlisle through a Joe Paterno tribute http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQDlaWFeilE and got my first listen to Ray Lemontagne through an insurance commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G7bGBUlx2M .
But when I think back on it, very rarely have I "fallen in love" with a song by hearing it on the radio; something else usually lights the fuse. Case in point; early in my high school career, I was at a friend's house playing ping-pong and he put on the CD from "Philadelphia" (the movie with Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks where Hanks is the lawyer dying of AIDS, and Denzel is representing him). One of the songs on the CD was a Spin Doctors tune called "Have You Ever Seen the Rain". I really liked it and tried to find out more about it. Little did I know at the time, it was a CCR song, and my mom had it on vinyl. The more Creedence I listened to, the more I liked it, and they became one of my favorite bands.
Fast forward to today and the formula still works. After seeing the Travelers "Dog" commercial, I liked the song and wanted to find out more about it. Of course that leads me to look up the lyrics and find out that they're from "Trouble" by Ray LaMontagne (a song that actually came out 4 years ago-who knew). Now I can't stop listening to it.
But the more I think about it, these "media chains" can get pretty long after a while. Consider this; last year for a tournament down in North Carolina, the producers that I work with on the PGA TOUR Network played the song "Wagon Wheel" by Old Crow Medicine Show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G7bGBUlx2M as a bumper during our coverage. The tune was catchy and eventually I started playing the YouTube video at home. In time, I got curious about the song and wiki'ed it. Turns out, that the author from OCMS actually took a refrain from an old Bob Dylan outtake (Rock Me Mama - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2aaojdq3jw ) and wrote verses to it, and then eventually worked it out with Dylan giving him a co-writing credit. I love the Dylan song, even though you can't make out half the words (which make it like most of his songs after 1980). And after YouTubing it, looking for different versions, I found one set over the movie Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Turns out the outtake was from a recording session for the movie, as Dylan wrote the score - the most famous song from it would be "Knocking on Heaven's Door". The singer actually had a part in the film alongside James Coburn (Garrett) and Kris Kristofferson (the Kid). The movie at the time was panned, but that's reportedly because of overzealous editing, as the director's cut has been hailed as a lost classic. I'm thinking about Netflixing it.
So remember the next time you see a commercial, it might be the spark for something pretty big...or you might just end up looking up stuff all night in the internet; your choice.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
So my blogging ambition has started to wain...
I still can't figure out how people pop these things out every single day. The last 4 or 5 days, I've said to myself, "maybe I should update the blog" and then I refuse to do it.
Big game tonight...the B League Leesburg Cardinals trying to run their record to 6 and 0 on the year. We take on the Leesburg Giants coached by long time youth league coach Clyde Sexton. To show you how long Clyde has been around, I played against his teams...20 years ago, and he was on the sidelines long before that. The matchup tonight is at Freedom Park, on Clyde Sexton Field (my grandfather has a baseball field that's named after him right in the same complex). Now let me ask you this...how is it, that we can be playing on a field named after a man, against a team coached by said man, and our squad is the home team. Something's not right about that!
No Favre outrage today, though it may surface later in the week. I don't know if I can take anymore of the constant "Favre is great, Farve is God, Farve cured me of my leprosy" talk that the announcers spit out, EVERY...SINGLE...WEEK. Hopefully we'll see him go out the way he deserves; throwing 5 picks against the Giants/Eagles/Saints to lose a shot at the Super Bowl. Come to think of it, that would be a lot like the last time he went out.
Big game tonight...the B League Leesburg Cardinals trying to run their record to 6 and 0 on the year. We take on the Leesburg Giants coached by long time youth league coach Clyde Sexton. To show you how long Clyde has been around, I played against his teams...20 years ago, and he was on the sidelines long before that. The matchup tonight is at Freedom Park, on Clyde Sexton Field (my grandfather has a baseball field that's named after him right in the same complex). Now let me ask you this...how is it, that we can be playing on a field named after a man, against a team coached by said man, and our squad is the home team. Something's not right about that!
No Favre outrage today, though it may surface later in the week. I don't know if I can take anymore of the constant "Favre is great, Farve is God, Farve cured me of my leprosy" talk that the announcers spit out, EVERY...SINGLE...WEEK. Hopefully we'll see him go out the way he deserves; throwing 5 picks against the Giants/Eagles/Saints to lose a shot at the Super Bowl. Come to think of it, that would be a lot like the last time he went out.
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