DC Landing Strip

Exorcising the Capitals 2010 Playoff Demons

2011-04-12T21:53:00.000-04:00

I have waited almost a full year to do this. After last year's playoff debacle, I stashed my 'Rock the Red' towel specifically for the purpose of lighting it on fire before the 2011 playoffs. The time has come.

Here is the mint condition towel from the 2010 playoffs:

Here is the burning in action:

And after the exorcism:

Now that we're through that, it's a new year................LETS GO CAPS!

DCLS Exclusive Eric Fehr Interview - Part 4: Playoffs and Peng#^%*

2011-03-31T01:08:00.000-04:00

In case you missed parts 1, 2, and 3 of our interview with Eric Fehr of the Washington Capitals, they are right below this article on our site. Here is the 4th and final installment of the interview (yes, I shrunk it from my original plan of 5), with Eric waxing about he Caps thoughts going into the playoffs.

Still Trying to Black This Out

Jon Kelman: How comfortable are you all feeling in the new defensive system at this point?

Eric Fehr: We are a little more responsible defensively, but when we get the puck we still feel like we can go and are not restricted in making plays. As much as it is more defensive, we still feel like we can score just as many goals as we have in the past. It was a bit of a struggle in the middle of the season, so we changed our game around and I think it's for the better.

JK: How do you feel heading into the playoffs this year versus the past couple?

EF: Well last year we were feeling unbeatable when we went into the playoffs and I think part of our problem was that we got taken by surprise. I think this year we understand how difficult it is going to be and we believe in our system going in, so overall are feeling real confident about this year. I think we realize anything is possible in the playoffs and you need to play every game. I think last year when we were up 3-1 we might have thought the series was over, but in reality we had a long way to go, so hopefully we can learn from our mistakes in the past and be better for it.

JK: What do you think needs to improve on the powerplay?

EF: I don't think we need to improve anything, I think we've made the changes we need to in the past couple games and we've been scoring more regularly. Wideman on the point is helping us big time.

JK: What team would bring you the most satisfaction to beat?

EF: Oh I think that one is pretty evident.

Crosby Diving...Yawn....

JK: Would it be a successful Caps Stanley Cup if you did not get to beat the Penguins in the process?

EF: If we end up winning the Stanley Cup, it doesn't matter which teams we beat, it will be a success. At the end of the day, if you're the champion and you're the best team in the league, then it doesn't matter who you face, you're the best. We've got a long ways ahead of us, we'll see what happens.

(Images courtesy of life.com and nydailynews.com)

DCLS Exclusive Eric Fehr Interview - Part 3: Nicknames, Jersey Shore, and 24/7

2011-03-29T20:18:00.001-04:00

In case you missed parts 1 and 2 of our interview with Eric Fehr of the Washington Capitals, well it's right below this article on our site. Here is the 3rd installment of the interview, with Eric telling all about being his personal life, nicknames, and being on HBO's 24/7.

Jon Kelman: Who are your best friends on the team?

Eric Fehr: Karl Alzner, John Carlson, and Jeff Schultz. They're around my age and we have a lot in common. We like playing video games, ping pong and just hanging out.

JK: Who usually wins?

EF: Karl is probably the best at the video games right now, but I'd say I'm the top ping pong player right now.

JK: Favorite place to go out in DC?

EF: I like Spider Kelly's in Clarendon, that's one of our favorite spots.

JK: Favorite place to eat in DC?

EF: Ray's the Steaks in Clarendon, and I like Cap(ital) Grille.

JK: Since you play DJ Pauly D in the locker room, please tell me you listen to that in your free time.

EF: I can honestly tell you I do not listen to that in my free time, I'm more of a country guy. I do like some techno, but Pauly D isn't on my iPod quite yet.

JK: What are your favorite hobbies? What would you do if you didn't play hockey? By the way, I Wikipedia'ed you, and it says you are an actor in a real movie, which I know is not exactly the case.

EF: That was just a little thing I did for fun over the summer, just a movie made out in town. In my free time I enjoy playing video games, board games, and playing a lot of different sports including beach volleyball, baseball, and golf - something competitive that gets the juices flowing.

JK: You have any nicknames you want us fans to know about?

EF: Guys on the team call me Frank, which is my Dad's name, and Fehrzy, but that one's pretty boring. I know that some of the bloggers and reporters are trying to make F16 stick, so you can take that however you want. (F16) is fine, but it's not like a quick nickname to throw out, it's long to say. Frank's fine, because some people say I'm a lot like my dad.

JK: Speaking of fans getting to know you, how distracting was it being on 24/7?

EF: I always knew when the guys were around and at times it was kind of annoying when you want to talk to somebody about something private and they're hanging around. For the most part, they did a really good job of staying out of the way and doing what they had to do to make the film. At the end of the day though, I really enjoyed having them around.

JK: Did you guys give Bruce a big pat on the back for stealing the spotlight?

EF: I don't know if that was his game plan or not but it worked. I'm not sure whether he's happy about it or not, but he did steal the show.

JK: Have you guys all watched it?

EF: Yeah I watched every episode as it came out. I was really interested to see what they could make with all the filming and everything. It was cool and I'm waiting to see if they can win a few Emmys with it.

JK: So what did you think about Bruce having a condiment on the face during an interview?

EF: I talked to the producers about it and they said that was just the camera lighting, I think a lot of people had it actually. I dunno, I'm staying out of that one.....

(Image courtesy of sports.gunaxin.com)

DCLS Exclusive Eric Fehr Interview - Part 2: Matt Cooke and Picking a Fight

2011-03-28T20:26:00.001-04:00

mIn case you missed part 1 of our interview with Eric Fehr of the Washington Capitals, well it's right below this article on our site, but here is the link. Regardless, here is the 2nd installment of the interview, with Eric telling all about teammates past and present.

Jon Kelman: What did you think of Matt Cooke's hit and suspension?

Eric Fehr: I really didn't like the hit and thought the suspension was good. You know it's one thing if it's the first time a guy's done that, but because he's a repeat offender I think it's good they gave him a bunch of games.

JK: How would you feel playing with Cooke now?

EF: It's different when you have a player like that on your team as long as he's staying out of the box and creating energy for your team, but when you're taking dumb penalties and putting your team in a bad situation, you don't want that. He did a pretty good job for our team when he played here. You know it's tough to keep those guys out of the box, but there's definitely a use for guys like that if you can keep them contained. I think you have to give everyone a fair shake. You look at guys around the league and there's a lot of hatred for guys like that, but when they're on your team maybe they're good players so you have to give them all the benefit of the doubt.

JK: If you could fight one player in the league, who would it be?

EF: I dunno, I'm not really a fighter so I can't really say anything because I might end up getting beatup or something. I'm trying to think of somebody I think I could take but I don't want to throw out a bad challenge. It's a real lose-lose situation for me, I'm a big guy so if I fight a big guy and get beatup I lose, but if I fight a little guy and beat him up, it looks bad. So, I would have to go after a pretty big guy if I wanted to fight someone.

JK: Who are your favorite guys to play with?

EF: I enjoy playing with Jason Chimera just because he is so fast and he's a good physical player. I would really like to play with Nick Backstrom one day, he's a really good playmaker and controls the puck so well.

JK: What has Jason Arnott done behind the scenes as a leader?

EF: I just think he's brought a lot of maturity to the room. He's done a great job of making sure guys are doing the right things and following the team system. If I step out of it, he's right there to remind me of what I need to do, and he's not shy to do it, which is what is needed in that case. He's not there to embarrass anybody, he's just there to help guys along and help guys make good decisions. It's more of a 1-on-1 thing off to the side where he's not making a big show in front of everybody. He wants to help everybody out on the team as individuals, so it's more of a 1-on-1 thing.

JK: Is Arnott the definitive leader in the locker room now?

EF: Well we've got a few guys, Knuble, Hannan, and Arnott are all good leaders in the room right now.

JK: When Knuble was brought it, a lot of people saw it as a guy you could learn from and possibly be the type of player you could grow into some day. What have you learned from him?

EF: Yeah, he's definitely helped me. I've learned from him about working the corners and making the simple play. It's better for guys like us who are more shooters and play in front of the net to not take too many risks and get the puck off our stick to guys that can make plays.

(Image courtesy of life.com)

DCLS Exclusive Eric Fehr Interview - Part 1: Caps Superlatives and Global Warming(?)

2011-03-27T23:04:00.001-04:00

I ventured out from the comfy confines of DC about a week ago for a night on the town in Virginia . Amidst this strange land, and after a variety of adult beverages and one busted NCAA bracket, I found myself hanging out with several members of DC's sporting pride, the Washington Capitals. Long story short, I somehow roped Eric Fehr into an interview, following in the proud DCLS tradition created by Nick Young.

Good Times

This exclusive interview has been broken into 5 parts, with this first part being Eric's votes for team superlatives.

Jon Kelman: Who is the best dressed guy on the team?

Eric Fehr: Nick Backstrom. He's got the Swedish style, so it's a little different but I like it.

JK: Worst dressed?

EF: Tom Poti. (Editor's note: no hesitation on that one)

JK: Nicest House?

EF: Nick Backstrom once again. I'm pretty sure Backy has a sauna. It's either that or a steam room.

JK: Most intense?

EF: Right now that would be Jay Beagle or Matt Hendricks, I'd say both of those guys.

JK: Most laid back?

EF: Probably Jeff Schultz

JK: Hardest shot?

EF: I'll give it to Ovie for now. It used to be Jurcina and I'm trying to think of somebody else but no it's probably Ovie. Wideman can shoot pretty hard but Ovie's a safe bet.

JK: Hardest hitter?

EF: Ovie's a real hard hitter, I'd probably give it to him, but Bradley's a good hitter too.

JK: Who has the dirtiest mouth aside from Bruce Boudreau?

EF: That's a tough one. There's no one that really sticks out. There's a couple guys that are all bad, but I don't want to name too many names so I'll say no one really sticks out.

JK: Craziest stick doctor or equipment freak?

EF: Ovie is pretty crazy about his stuff, he likes it to be perfect.

JK: Who has the nicest car?

EF: I really like Ovie's batmobile. I don't even know what it is, but it has a matte black paint job on it like the batmobile. Mike Green has a really nice Bentley that I like as well.

JK: How much fun do you make of Mike Green for driving that Vespa?

EF: Well you can't really make fun of him when he's got a Bentley, Escalade, and a Maserati, so if he wants to ride a Vespa, he can feel free. I don't think he uses the Vespa very often, I honestly haven't seen it parked at the rink once (Editor's Note: Crushing). Maybe he does take it around though, I know Greeny's worried about the global warming thing, so maybe he's trying to save the environment.

JK: Who is the biggest and best bachelor on the team? It has to be Ovie.

EF: I dunno, I don't pay attention to that kind of stuff because I'm married so I have to go no comment on that.

JK: Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know your wife was standing next to you......

EF: Haha, no comment.

(Image courtesy of infosport.onsugar.com)

Everyone Hates Duke.......

2011-03-06T21:14:00.000-05:00

.....which is why this sign is not just awesome for University of Maryland fans:

Even us Hoya fans can say: well played.

John Wall's Excitement Rating

2011-03-01T22:16:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the blogging break, but I had a semi-sudden death in the family and have been away from computers for a week. Back to business.....

I posted on this a little over a month ago, but the website Thuuz evaluates the amount of excitement an unbiased fan would get from a game. I provided a little consulting for them and they have now come up with individual player ratings for excitement. This is awesome news, because it will allow for a lot of individual player evaluation using Thuuz's metrics.

Also, we can shove it back in Charles Barkley's face that the Wizards are indeed worth watching because we've got John Wall.

Here is the report from Thuuz. Here is the take from Thuuz, "In summary, John Wall crushes it. He's the top rookie and the #7 player overall, even higher than Blake Griffin. We know this rating system works because 'jumpshooter' Ray Allen and 'Mr. Fundamental' Tim Duncan, are two of the lowest ranked All Stars."

Top Twenty Most Exciting Players of the 2010 – 2011 NBA Season (through the All-Star Break)

Player	Excitement per Game	Excitement Rank	Impact per Game	Impact Rank
Williams, Deron	90.9	1	44.7	8
Nash, Steve	85.7	2	40.8	14
Love, Kevin	78.8	3	48.1	2
Rose, Derrick	78.5	4	45	5
James, LeBron	77.8	5	50.1	1
Westbrook, Russell	75.8	6	44.5	9
Wall, John	72.5	7	36.4	29
Paul, Chris	71.6	8	44.8	7
Ellis, Monta	69.8	9	40.8	13
Durant, Kevin	68.9	10	46	4
Felton, Raymond	68.8	11	39.8	19
Griffin, Blake	68.7	12	43.3	12
Calderon, Jose	67.8	13	31.3	64
Wade, Dwyane	66.4	14	43.7	10
Curry, Stephen	64.8	15	36.6	28
Stoudemire, Amar'e	64.7	16	44.8	6
Rondo, Rajon	63.6	17	40	16
Randolph, Zach	62.7	18	39.9	17
Bryant, Kobe	62.4	19	39.7	20
Gordon, Eric	62.2	20	38	24

Additional NBA All-Star Starters not in the Top Twenty

Anthony, Carmelo	61.7	22	39.8	18
Howard, Dwight	59	26	46.5	3
Ming, Yao	21.7	225	21.5	143

Additional NBA All-Star Reserves not in the Top Twenty

Horford, Al	57.5	27	38.9	22
Nowitzki, Dirk	57.1	29	38.1	23
Johnson, Joe	56.6	31	34	45
Gasol, Pau	56.4	33	43.7	11
Ginobili, Manu	49.8	51	36.2	31
Pierce, Paul	49.3	56	34.6	38
Bosh, Chris	45.2	69	33.8	47

As I noted before, a problem with the system is that players from bad teams generate more excitement, but a good way to account for that effect is to compare impact to excitement. Impact measures basic stats such as points, assists, rebounds, etc, so by comparing both, one can see who is generating the most excitement per play, sort of. Jimmy is only 29th in impact, but 7th in excitement. Jose Calderon and Steve Nash also fare well when comparing both numbers.

Fine, Blake Griffin should be #1, but the system has a hard time measuring 1 dunk against another. You must also realize that while waiting for Griffin's highlight reel dunks, watching the rest of his game is not as exciting.

Whatever, just let us Wizards win something this year other than the draft lottery.

(Image courtesy of probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com)

Orioles Will Not Suck Next Year - I Still Will Not Care

2011-02-21T00:52:00.000-05:00

Respected baseball analyst Rob Neyer wrote an article for SB Nation last week stating that the Orioles could win 82 or 83 games next year. Yes, Rob freaking Neyer thinks the Orioles could legitimately win more than half of their games.

The fantastic news is that for the first time in way too long we can all watch the O's and expect them to win most of their games.

The bad news is that I still don't care.

83 wins is a big jump from last year's 66, but would still have only put us in last place in last year's AL East. A few of those wins over Toronto would certainly lead us to the promised land: ahead of the Blue Jays, but the O's have a long way to go before they challenge for the playoffs.

An 83 win Oriole season might make them the 4th best team in the American League, but unfortunately this franchise plays in the same division as the best 3. In addition to playing many games against the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays, the O's have to pass at least 2 of those 3 to compete for the playoffs, and at least 1 of those 3 to be relevant.

The win total is a nice step forward, but until this team is in playoff hunt, I just won't care.

(Image courtesy of weblogs.baltimoresun.com)

Cam Newton Rises, Redskins Fans Rejoice

2011-02-17T21:15:00.001-05:00

Yes! Yes! Maybe.....

Mel Kiper's mock draft 2.0 has some finally amazing news, Cam Newton has remarkably shot up to his projected #3 overall pick. Which, if close to accurate means something amazing: the Redskins won't even have the chance to draft the bust-in-waiting. I never rule out anything with this team, like trading up, but realistically if Cam Newton goes in the top 9 picks, he will not be a Redskin next year. Buffalo taking another bust is also hysterical.

Here is Kiper's new Redskins pick:

Record: 6-10

* Blaine Gabbert, QB, Missouri

Gabbert might be more ready than Newton to read defenses at the NFL level, and as a quarterback with very good accuracy, instincts and size, he could come into a franchise in Washington that might need him early. Gabbert is a guy whose stock rose a lot this year and will be under the microscope during the workout process. But what he doesn't give you is a quarterback who elicits a wide range of opinions or the boom-or-bust concerns many have with Newton and Ryan Mallett.

I'm still not happy, but this is progress. The key metrics on QB prospects are games started and completion percentage. His career completion percentage is 60.9% and he has started 26 games in college. These are solid numbers, but not spectacular, and not worthy of the #10 pick. If he played 1 more year at Missouri and continued his upward trend in completion %, Gabbert would be worth that #10 pick. I know this sounds ridiculous to non-stat people, but it's a law or something. As a comparison, he has pretty similar numbers to Ryan Mallett right now. In short, Gabbert is an NFL QB, but not a star, and definitely not worth the money he would get at the #10 pick. In other news, Andrew Luck is going to be an absurdly good prospect next year.

Who do I prefer? Of the choices available in Kiper's mock, I like Robert Quinn and Julio Jones as possibilities, but my preference is still for this team to trade down. Not only could we use the extra picks, but the biggest needs for this team are on the interior of the o-line. Once workouts start, hopefully the Redskins will tip their hand, showing they are not interested in a QB. Tipping their hand may be bad for business with other teams, but the anxiety reduction for us fans is more than worth it.

(Image courtesy of isportsweb.com)

Redskins 2011 Starting QB Options Are Horrifying (Courtesy of Football Outsiders)

2011-02-15T21:49:00.000-05:00

There may be something awesome going on with the Redskins this offseason. There has been plenty of bad news with Brandon Banks getting stabbed, Cam Newton lined up as our projected pick (twice), and Fat Albert Haynesworth becoming completely untradeable.

But letting Santana Moss's contract void, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent, sends a clear signal that this team may finally be ready to fully commit to rebuilding. I'm not holding my breathe, but Tana is still a good player and letting him walk will hurt the team next year, so this move can only be seen one way. As much as the Redskins have done their best to destroy every ounce of rational hope in me, I still have my optimism.

This brings us to the QB position. Football Outsiders (FO) has been writing a 'Plugging the Holes' piece on espn.com covering each teams' offseason, and yesterday the article covered the NFC East (Insider only alert). As they point out, Sex Cannon was not impressive, posting a -19.4 DVOA, whereas Donovan McNabb managed a 0.1 DVOA. 0.0 is average, so yeah.....

They also note that Shanahan has never started a rookie QB, so even if we take Cam Newton (I feel like my kidney is being twisted), he will almost certainly not start next year. McNabb looks like he is on the way out, particularly if the team is rebuilding, so who are the options out there? FO presents three options:

"One is Kolb, but it's hard to imagine the Redskins trading more draft picks for yet another Eagles quarterback after the McNabb failure.

The second is Matt Hasselbeck. His contract with the Seattle Seahawks is up, and Seattle will likely choose to go with Charlie Whitehurst or a drafted quarterback of its own. Hasselbeck had a -9.8 percent DVOA last year while struggling with injuries, but the Redskins would provide him with the best offensive line he's played behind since the halcyon days of Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson.

The other candidate with significant experience in the West Coast offense? We hesitate to say his name for fear that he'll appear again. Let's just say he holds a lot of records, is really fond of one particular brand of jeans and recently retired again. Few organizations would be willing to take on the sort of circus that he brings to the table, and even fewer teams would actually get an upgrade from his likely level of play. The Redskins are perhaps the only organization that would fit in both categories, and with Brett Favre, retirement is just a state of mind. Oops."

So to recap, we have awful Sex Cannon, never going to be good Newton, overpaid mediocre McNabb, ~~reasonably paid mediocre Jason Campbell~~, costly to obtain Kolb, washed-up Hasselbeck, and, well......'ooops'

(Image courtesy of www.examiner.com)

The John Wall Is On the Billboard Charts

2011-02-15T00:03:00.000-05:00

I already posted this on Bullets Forever, but this news is just too awesome.......

So Blake Griffin has completely overshadowed John Wall, and even Landry Fields has more Rookie of the Month awards. Little do most of us realize that our man John Wall has spent the past 7 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. Don't worry, Wall is not going to pull a Ron Artest and ask for a month off to promote the album (or only sell 343 copies), because he is not the artist, but rather the subject of Troop 41's Do the John Wall.

The group is from Wall's hometown of Raleigh, NC, and judging by their Twitter account and MySpace page, they generally only perform around the Carolinas.

The song has reached as high as #76 on the chart, and currently sits at #92. Here is a sampling of the lyrics:

"Everybody clear out, hand me the rock Time winding down 3 seconds on the shot clock Break the defense homeboy I can't be stopped All about my money so you know I'm hitting bank shots I'm trying to tell them, boy you can't guard this Beast on the court homeboy I play the hardest."

Kind words are welcome, although I don't I agree with, "Jump shot deadly, you know that we kill on them." Something to aspire to maybe for Jimmy Wall.

And finally, the video:

Say what you want, but the song is growing on me.

.....to ball like Wall, well you gotta do the dance....

DCLS Favorite Brandon Banks Stabbed in DC

2011-02-12T14:05:00.001-05:00

News is out this afternoon that Redskins KR/PR Brandon Banks was stabbed last night outside of the club The Park. Doing a little investigative reporting with his Twitter account, it appears Banks started the night at Bar 7 with Vontae Davis and Darnell Docket, then was goaded into attending The Park by a very good looking woman if not others as well. A fight then occurred and Banks and a friend were stabbed.

The good news is that although his buddy is still in the hospital with 'Serious' injuries, Banks has been released. The 'stabber' has been arrested, and combining that Bank not being in custody, one can assume that he is not at fault other than being dumb enough to get into a big fight at a nightclub. We can only hope that this was a fluke isolated incident and not indicative of Banks as a person.

I personally am going to hold off on ordering my Brandon Banks T-Shirt until we learn more.

(Image courtesy of content.usatoday.com)

A Knee for A Knee

2011-02-10T22:05:00.000-05:00

For those of you who haven't heard, Wizards traded for more (less?) than a bad contract and an over-the-hill player in in Rashard Lewis. Nagging tendinitis is not the worst thing in the world, but Rashard's contract is looking heavier than ever.

The good news is that Rashard sitting might actually be a good thing to let the young Wizards play and improve our draft position. The even better news? Gilbert Arenas' knee is ruined.

The man formerly known as Agent Zero already had the worst contract in the NBA, and we knew he lacked the explosion of his pre-surgery days, but the confirmation that the knee is giving him trouble, even in limited minutes, is sad. Stan Van Gundy wants him to rehab the knee, but seriously, the guy played about half a season's worth of games over the past 3 years - he has had plenty of time to rehab. It appears that Hibachi/Zero Hero/Agent Zero is no more.

When the Lewis-Arenas trade was made, my feeling was that we had to get rid of Gil and his contract any way possible, so it was a good move. My only hesitation was that I thought Gil would get a little healthier, play a little better, and improve his value. The news of the condition of his knee reveals that the Wizards actually sold high.

This is a sad revelation for all of us who enjoyed Zero Hero in his glory days. Perhaps it is only fitting that the aftermath of Gilbert Arenas in DC is bittersweet.

(Image courtesy of blogs.orlandosentinel.com)

Crosby Puts a Dagger Into Pittsburgh!

2011-02-07T02:47:00.001-05:00

This is actually a football post, kind of. For any of you who missed the Super Bowl (crickets), Mason Crosby's late FG sealed the 31-25 Green Bay Packers victory. So yes, a guy named Crosby helped finish off Pittsburgh.

Words Not Really Necessary Here

A few other quick bullets on Sunday:

Hooray Pittsburgh didn't win, and this time I am talking about both the football and hockey games today.
Pittsburgh sucks.
Dallas had a terrible Super Bowl hosting performance by all accounts.
It is terrible that Charles Woodson and Donald Driver, who has waited their entire careers to play in a Super Bowl, get hurt and on their way back to the locker room in what has to be a deeply personal and traumatic time for them had to run through a gauntlet of fans in a bar because of Dallas' ridiculous stadium.
If the weather in Dallas was such a huge problem, I have a hard time seeing how DC gets a Super Bowl. Our only chance is if the 2014 game in New Jersey does well despite a snowstorm.
Matt Cooke's hit on Ovie today courtesy of SB Nation DC. I watched this a few times and Cooke definitely looks like he sticks a knee out intentionally and did not just 'click skates' as the Pens said.

Still 3 points behind Tampa and 4 behind Pittsburgh, but those were not only 2 huge wins, but huge performances. Tampa claimed it was their fault they came out flat, and the Pens are without Crosby and Malkin, but the Caps showed some fire. I was about ready to jump ship on these guys, but count me as a believer. Let's see if they can keep the intensity for any other game now....

(Image courtesty of tengossip.com)

Reflections on the Caps: How Should We Feel Going Into the 2nd Half? - Part 3

2011-02-03T20:11:00.001-05:00

With the 2nd half of the Washington Capitals season kicking off, I thought it would be a good time to get a little DCLS survey of thoughts on the team. The Caps entered the break as the #5 seed in the East, aligned for a first round playoff matchup against the Penguins - yikes. Here are the thoughts of DCLS contributor ResidentOslo.

For starters, GOD F***ING DAMNIT!!! I bother to watch these games a day delayed half way across the world and a little piece of me dies every time I do so. Is Backstrom carrying cinder-blocks in in his pants? Did Ovie get a penis enlargement procedure in the off-season that is now causing his wang to interfere with his stride and acceleration? I don't know, I'm not a doctor. But what I do know is that I'm sick and tired of grasping on to my fading optimism as it gets slowly beaten to death on an almost daily basis. I'm actively embracing the other end of the scale at this point: Despair here we come!

Power play looks to me like paralysis by analysis. Too many offensive guys on the ice at the same time all worrying about whether or not they are hogging the puck or shooting too much, or passing too much, or not shooting enough, etc. Put Ovie on the half-wall, put Green and Carlson on different PP lines, actually run two completely different lines, and just be more decisive and aggressive. This is a coaching failure of the highest magnitude since it is mental, BB has failed to instill the proper mentality in his players. BB does not define the culture and mentality through sheer force of will, as a good coach should, and instead should be delegated to a position concerning tactics, not leading or coaching a team. This extends further into the the overall play and mentality of the team which is best characterized as flaccid. If Laich doesn't think they're coasting then that is simply an indictment of the standards to which they are holding themselves to (Editors note: this refers to an interview this week Brooks Laich gave to WFAN in which he took offense to the idea that the Caps are coasting). No more excuses, you are mediocre and weak willed, accept it and deal with it.

The problems with this team is not something a mid-season trade will fix........let's not turn into the Skins here. BB, as much as I like him and appreciate the success he has been apart of the past 3 years, has got to go (although most likely won't). He is like the Charlie Weiss of hockey, great offensive mind but not head coach material. A good coach would've gotten Ovie to adjust his game now that D-men shut him down with ease and regularity. A good coach would've figured out how to get such a "talented" and "skilled" team to enter the zone more consistently without resorting to just dumping the puck in every time. It is uninspired.

All that being said, I still think we've got a good shot at getting to the cup if nothing else based on the defensive nature of the playoffs and the overall crapshoot that is small sample sizes. As bad as we are, we're still performing better than half the league. Good goalies and PK enough to take us through the playoffs? Luck eventually turning our way? Or maybe we're just the Jim Kelly Bills: destined to fail on the main stage. Time to take my schizophrenia meds.

(Image courtesy of sportsillustrated.cnn.com)

Reflections on the Caps: How Should We Feel Going Into the 2nd Half? - Part 2

2011-02-03T15:15:00.003-05:00

With the 2nd half of the Washington Capitals season kicking off, I thought it would be a good time to get a little DCLS survey of thoughts on the team. The Caps entered the break as the #5 seed in the East, aligned for a first round playoff matchup against the Penguins - yikes. Here are the initial thoughts of DCLS Editor Red Rover.

Watching this year's Caps is like being in bizarro netherworld. Last year, I watched games with comfort. I knew no matter what the score or time remaining, the offensive machine would produce more more more goals. I reacted to goals against like an elephant would to a fly hovering over its arse - I barely noticed. Goals came cheap both ways. Just like Crosby's mom.

Now, I watch games with the stress of a thousand game 7s. Every goal is CRITICAL. I jump to my feet in eager anticipation at even the crappiest of 25-foot Eric Fehr wristers. This way of watching games is an awful, horrible shock to the system that shouldn't be happening. I was given no warning and no transition period. I understand now why they have methadone clinics; if there were an equivalent for recovering "spoiled fans of historically dominant offensive juggernaut"-addicts, Caps fans would overflow such a place.

The optimist in me says: this is good preparation for the playoffs! They play defense consistently and reliably! They are getting more reps in close games! They are in the playoff race instead of their own spoiled pressure-free bubble!

The realist in me watches and says: these guys don't give a baker's fuck. Offense - defense isn't a zero sum game. The lack of offense is from lack of effort. They're the NHL's procrastinators: they don't get motivated until the last minute, then the adrenaline rush kicks in and they try - but alas, too little too late. So many games are a microcosm of this mentality.

And when I think about this, it's hard not to conclude that this is a fatal flaw. Though the goals came easy last year, it was the same. The more I watch Ovechkin and Backstrom float around, make predictable moves, circle back (NYLANDER'S CURSE REMAINS), get called offsides, awkwardly fumble the puck on the power play, glide slowly through the neutral zone, stay to the perimeter in the attacking zone, whiff on one-timers and rebounds, the more I worry that these are the guys that I'm staking my emotional well-being in. CARE. CARE LIKE I DO YOU FUCKS. SKATE HARDER. PASS CRISPER. SHOOT WITH A PURPOSE. STOP GOING OFFSIDES FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!

And it all comes back to Boudreau. Was anyone surprised that NHL players think Boudreau is the easiest to play for? You can't fault his hockey smarts, his (recent) willingness to adjust, etc. But it's clear that on a night to night basis, these Caps are as uninspired as the dog days of the Fall 2007 Glen Hanlon Caps.

Are there personnel holes and injury bugs? Of course. Are there positive signs of improvement in key areas? Yes. But when Matt Hendricks and Jay Beagle provide the most consistent efforts on your team, you are fucked, plain and simple. That, more than anything else, is what scares me, and what must change. Unless things turn around in a few weeks, I don't see how you keep Boudreau behind that bench.

(Image courtesy of espn.go.com)

Reflections on the Caps: How Should We Feel Going Into the 2nd Half?

2011-02-02T21:14:00.000-05:00

With the 2nd half of the Washington Capitals season kicking off, I thought it would be a good time to get a little DCLS survey of thoughts on the team. The Caps entered the break as the #5 seed in the East, aligned for a first round playoff matchup against the Penguins - yikes. Here are the initial thoughts of DCLS Caps Correspondent Iafrate's Baldspot.

Here's what's good: It literally does not matter one ounce of shit where the Caps finish in the standings, and ironically, I actually feel better about their odds against the Penguins than I do about some of the other teams in the conference. It's almost as if this team has been indoctrinated with the singular purpose to compete with Pittsburgh, ignoring the fact that there are 28 other teams they have to face. Maybe the two best games this team has played since Thanksgiving have both come against them, with a whole bunch of shutouts and stinkers the rest of the way. We looked hapless against Tampa when we played them down there, and not being able to muster an effort against your division rivals speaks to the motivation issue that has plagued this team since, well.......forever.

IF the power play ever comes back to operating at some semblance of respectability -- a big IF considering we're not verging on a full calendar year where it just hasn't clicked properly -- this team can still compete.

We need to make a move, but Jason Arnott isn't the guy, and I'm not sure the guy is out there. Dallas not sucking is a huge blow to our roster. Stephen Weiss is another guy being floated as trade bait but he'd cost a fortune since he's under contract at a reasonable number for the next 3 seasons. Say goodbye to one of the kid goalies (assuming they move Vokoun) plus a roster/advanced AHL forward.

(Image courtesy of www.offwingphoto.com)

Georgetown Doesn't Need (All Of) Run DMV

2011-02-01T01:30:00.001-05:00

This season is not like last year.

Bouncing back from a 1-3 start in the Big East to win 3 consecutive games? Color me as impressed. Remembering those 3 wins were over Rutgers, Seton Hall, and St. John's? Ehhhhh.....moving on......

Going on the road to beat a #7 ranked Nova team? Intriguing.
Winning that game while getting 0 points and a horrendous contribution from your 2nd best player? Hmmm...

Following that huge road win by defeating #13 Louisville 2 days later? Fully revitalizing.
Winning that game while getting 2 points from your 2nd-leading scorer? I'm back on the bandwagon!

This should have been a letdown game, a chance for the Hoyas to reveal that the Nova game was a fluke. Not so, and a solid statement against a team that has been playing well. The win puts the Hoyas a measly 0.5 game back of 2nd in the messy Big East standings. Beating Providence on Saturday to cap a perfect week should move Georgetown into about a 4-seed.

Once again, the story was that Run DMV did not need to be firing on all cylinders to beat a top-15 team. This was an ugly contest with turnovers galore, but the fact that the Hoyas can survive a night when Run DMV is just Run DM/DV/MV means that this team will be really dangerous come tourney time. Not only will teams be unable to focus on stopping one of Jason Clark, Chris Wright, and Austin Freeman, but I previously thought a minor injury or even foul trouble for any part of Run DMV could derail this team's season.

Looking ahead, the Hoyas have 8 games left before the Big East tournament, 3 of which are against ranked opponents (twice against Syra****, and once against UConn). The way the Hoyas are playing though, I would actually feel confident in every one of those games, even as tough as C*** is at home.

The fact that I can look ahead with excitement is a dramatic change from just 3 weeks ago when this team was seemingly in a black hole of suck. The Hoyas brought us to the brink, but it have got me fully back on board.

(Image courtesy of usatoday.com)

Hoyas Bounce Back - Don't Sleep on 'Em

2011-01-29T18:07:00.000-05:00

This blog has been devoid of Georgetown Hoyas posts for a bit, but that is understandable given the team's 1-4 start to Big East play, including losses to St. Johns and West Virginia (at home). Call me crazy, but after a loss lopsided loss to then #5 Pitt, this was looking a little too much like last season, when the Hoyas completely collapsed against Big East foes.

I think it is safe to say that the 1-4 conference start was a blip.

The boys have rolled off 4 consecutive wins, culminating in today's gritty win over #7 Villa-no-fun.The Wildcats may be down right now after losing big to Providence, but the Hoyas were on the road, held the lead for most of the game, and won despite an atrocious performance from Chris Wright in which he had 0 points(!), 4 assists, 4 turnovers, and generally looked unsure of himself while getting trapped by the Nova D several times.Good thing his teammate is Austin Freeman.

I can give you all sorts of fancy analysis, but today was all about the Big East preseason player of the year. Freeman he scored 30 of the Hoyas' 69 points, while shooting 10-19 from the field, a perfect 8-8 from the line, and took over the ball handling duties when Wright struggled. This was a slow-paced, low-scoring game, but the fact that Jason Clark's 10 points made him the only other Hoya in double figures should be all you need to know. Julian Vaughn played a great game, as did Nate Lubick, but Freeman carried the day.

This win puts the Hoyas right back in the Big East mix thanks to several other upsets in the conference. A big test comes Monday night, when the Hoyas host Louisville. One can only imagine what a win would do for this team's confidence, let alone Big East ranking and bracketology. Joe Lunardi had the Hoyas as a 7-see d coming into this week, but they should be solidly back on the 4-5 line after a perfect week, and beating Louisville and Providence next week.....I'm getting ahead of myself.

I think the greater takeaway from this game game is that if Freeman is on top of his game, this team can survive a poor performance from at least 1 member of Run DMV and beat a good team. That 'depth' will be extremely dangerous come tourney time.

(Image courtesy of abcnews.go.com)

Better Than Watching The Caps and Wizards at Home - SB Nation Viewing Party

2011-01-29T13:39:00.000-05:00

All you SB Nation (Bullets Forever and Japers Rink) readers may already know about this, but SB Nation is hosting a Wizards and Capitals viewing party at Mad Hatter near Dupont Circle on Tuesday. This is a great chance to watch both our teams with fellow fans, meet fellow bloggers, and tell me in person that I everything I write is idiotic. If that isn't enough, there are drink and food specials.

The Wizards will be playing the New Orleans Hornets on the road that night, and the Caps have Montreal at home. We'd love for you all to come out, get some discounted drinks and talk shop with your fellow Wizards and Caps fans.

Here are the details:

What: Wizards/Capitals viewing party, sponsored by SB Nation D.C.
Where: The Mad Hatter (1321 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC 20036)
When: February 1, 7 p.m. (The Wizards play at 8)
Price: Free
RSVP HERE
Specials: From 7-8 p.m.: $3 Rail, $3 Bud/Bud Light/Alice Amber Draft (the house ale), $4.50 house wins, buy one appetizer get one free. From 8-closing: Half off all draft beers.

I look forward to seeing many of you all there!

Is Nick Young A Long Term Building Block for the Wizards?

2011-01-28T00:57:00.001-05:00

The Washington Wizards are trying to win a championship. No, not this year, but maybe three years down the road. To that end, the only thing that matters this season is evaluating the current talent on hand and putting the pieces together for this dreamy future championship run.

My personal opinion is that this current roster has 3 guys possibly worth keeping for the long-term: John Wall, JaVale McGee, and Nick Young. I can now hear you singing, "one of these things is not like the other, not like the other one...." Young Sushi is more than a DCLS favorite though, and his improvement this year has been more than enough to convince me that he is a keeper.

This post was triggered by an article from Kevin Broom the WaPo's Box Seats that calls Sushi "Fool's Gold." I was going to write a long rebuttal with tons of incredible research and witticisms, but Rook from Bullets Forever beat me to the punch.

The basic argument revolves around the following:

Whether his style of play could fit on a good team
Does he contribute anything outside of scoring, such as rebounds and assists and does he need to?
Defense
Whether Nick will still improve

1. Rook nails this on the head: Nick's current game is very similar to that of Rip Hamilton and Reggie Miller. He is scoring efficiently enough right now, and if Rip and Reggie could play on great teams as catch and shoot players, then so can Nick. As a matter of fact, Sushi's numbers since becoming a starter compare favorably to those of Rip's career, and do not look out of place next to Miller's.

2. With that in mind, Nick is clearly not a great rebounder or playmaker, but those facets of his game are improving. However, he is currently a slightly below average rebounder, but not an atrocious one, and recent evidence indicates that he may improve enough to be at least an average rebounder. He may never be elite, but he is at least acceptable. Although Nick is a historically bad passer, playmaking is a similar story to rebounding. He will never even be an 'average' passer, but his assist rate has risen recently to over 2 per game, which is not far behind the 3 apg of Reggie Miller and 3.5 apg of Rip Hamilton.

I actually think Nick's catch and shoot style is a good fit for him, because it removes playmaking responsibilities from him.

3. Nick's defense is great and while gaining some recognition, is still underrated. Everyone needs to stop being colored by his facial expression and demeanor and watch him play 1-on-1....he is excellent. Sure, his team defense is not amazing, but his defensive impact for every season of his career has been measured as excellent by metrics. To continue the comparison to Rip and Reggie, this one is no contest....Nick is the far superior defender to either of those guys.

4. Nick will definitely still improve. Rook astutely makes the point that Nick has only had a decent coach for about 2 years, and now has only gotten consistent minutes for about 20 games. I will go even further and say that Nick remolded his game from a slashing to catch and shoot, and is really only in his 2nd season of playing this new way. The jump from last season has been incredible, and it hard to see him not getting better when he is still young, and has only 20 starts under his belt. The only counterargument I can see is that he is taking bad shots but making them at what appears to be an unsustainable level. Even though he has kept this pace up for 20 or so games, Nick may revert back to making fewer of these tough shots. On the other hand, Nick may also learn to pick and choose his spots better, and take more efficient shots.....

The bottom line is then whether Nick is worth keeping, and I say yes. I think we have a rich man's Rip Hamilton on our hands, and although Rip won a title on an oddly constructed team, it is pretty clear that a player approximating Rip is a keeper and building block. Coming into this season I thought an improvement in Nick's ability to catch and shoot, coupled with his already great defense, would make him an excellent 6th man. It is safe to say that Nick has now surpassed those expectations and shown he can indeed be a starter on a very good team.

(Image courtesy of truthaboutit.net)

The Redskin Defense is Star-Studded, or So I'm Told

2011-01-25T22:36:00.000-05:00

I can't stand it, but the Redskins seem to dominate the news with their absurdity, even in their slowest time of the year. Today's news is that Brian Orakpo and London Fletcher will be joining D******* Hall at the Pro Bowl. Usually I would say 'La dee frickin da!', but instead I am just confused, and not the only one to notice that this doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

For those of you who stomached the Skins this year (or maybe wised up and just read the stats), you know we had the #31 ranked defense in the league, and the #18 offense: that is a horrendous defense and a mediocre offense. Sure, there are no obvious big names on the offense who probably deserve to 'go to the Island', but 3 guys from an awful defense? Are we the most underachieving unit ever and Jim Haslett is the anti-christ? Are the selections on name recognition to blame? Remember, Laron Landry played like a stud too before getting hurt, so could be a 4th selection with a couple more games under his belt.

I actually have an explanation....

You already know my feelings on Hall and I shouldn't need to tell you that his Pro Bowl selection is absurd, so I will skip to Rak and Fletcher. Just look at the Pro Bowl rosters, I count 26 guys who have been selected but are not playing! LFB as a Pro Bowler sounds great, but he has actually only been designated as one of the top 6 middle linebackers in the game. There are maybe 40 starting MLBs in the league, and only maybe half (total guess) play close enough to a full season to be considered for 'the island.' So LFB in the top-6, sure, and really not that impressive, he is better than mediocre, but certainly not being judged as elite.

Along the same line, Rak is gaining recognition as one of the top 9 OLBs in the league, which is slightly more impressive given that there are 64 starting OLBs (not including however many missed significant time with injury).

So 3 players from the 31st ranked D is crazy, but don't look at the Rak and Fletcher selections as the source of the absurdity. You should look at the 3rd guy, who is completely undeserving, but overall, these selections are not as prestigious as they sound, and if you remove Hall, having 2 guys as late additions to the game from an abysmal D is not insane, even if you want to include Landry as being recognized for a fantastic season.

Though the recognition should be mooted, this is a direct reflection of the lack of a supporting cast and the greatest issue that has plagued the Skins for years - going after big names and players at the expense of depth. The Skins should take this to heart, but probably will just chase Carson Palmer and Herschel Walker(!). At least Herschel's comeback would entertain me for what is shaping up to be another rough season DC.

(Image courtesy of goslingphotographyblog.com)

Todd McShay's Mock Shows Redskins Fans No Mercy

2011-01-24T21:36:00.003-05:00

Here we go again with Todd McShay's latest (first?) mock draft. This has been out a few days, but I just found it:

Cam Newton, QB, Auburn

This is another reach for a quarterback, but the Redskins have parted ways with Donovan McNabb, and Rex Grossman is clearly not the answer. There's no doubt Newton has the physical tools, and coach Mike Shanahan and his staff believe in their ability to develop quarterbacks, but he's still a long-term project as a pro-style passer.

Stop, it hurts.

When has a developmental QB actually developed? Tony Romo is the only guy I can think of.......At least Newton isn't Jake Locker. I made my thoughts on the Heisman winner at #10 clear already, so won't rant endlessly. To be clear, I support keeping Sexy Rexy for at least another year while we build the offensive line and other parts of the team.

The other train wreck we all can see coming stems from Carson Palmer demanding a trade. I guess the Skins constitute an upgrade over the Bengals at this point given we had a better record last year, but Carson is finished. If one good thing comes of the McNabb trade maybe it will be that we don't trade for Carson Palmer.Someone needs to step in and stop the madness, so consider this my application for the Redskins common sense/voice of the fan. Here's an opening letter:

Dear Bruce Allen and Dan Snyder,

I can give you extensive notes on an offseason plan, but here are some basics:

-Don't draft a QB at #10
-Don't trade for Carson Palmer.
-Try to trade down and draft one of the 3 best interior linemen available (Pouncey, Hudson, or Wisniewski)
-Also stop, just stop

Yours truly,

Disgruntled Redskins Fan

(Image courtesy of voice.regisjesuit.com)

The State of the Capitals - A Discussion - Part 2

2011-01-24T14:10:00.004-05:00

Here is the 2nd half of a lengthy email chain's discussion about the state of the Caps that I decided to turn into a blog post (2 actually).

Red Rover: I'm calling it right now (I actually was convinced of this in December): Jason Arnott will be a Cap by March.

Future Capital? Picture this but with a Caps Jersey

Bushwood Bushwacker: Yeah, you made that point before and I meant to agree. We are definitely playing a strategically different and more conservative game, even if Ovie and Semin still float and we are slanted towards offense, and of course the PK has been (magically? luckily? BB influenced?) tight. These are clearly changes for the team, and you could say they are playoff-y team skills. It's hard to disagree. At the very least it's trading some offense potency for defense... might as well change it up since the old style couldn't get it done.

RR: Green and Ovie need to be benched on the PP. Put in Carlson instead. The power play has gone from once-in-a-generation to absolutely unwatchable in 8 months. I don't understand.

BB: The pp is mystery/shit show. Ovie on half wall with Semin on the point? Who knows maybe BB just sucks and can't fix them.

Polish Sausage: I definitely concur with the idea that our overall more defensive game makes us better built for the playoffs, but star output is worrisome. Aside from pp, which needs Ovie on the short boards, I think we are coming into our own and set to peak at playoff time. Mojo has been very good I think, better than meh. Hannan has been meh, Carlzner is awesome. That said, how do we acquire Arnott?

RR: Since he's a UFA end of season he can probably be had relatively cheap, but a bidding war could drive up his price. Worst case scenario: we lose Perrault, but ideally 2nd rounder would do it.

PS: Sounds like a perfect move, I like Perrault and his scrappiness but his contributions are limited in the long term. It would be great to pull a Flash type trade and grab up a solid dude like Arnott.

(Image courtesy of devils.nhl.com)

The State of the Capitals - A Discussion - Part 1

2011-01-24T02:10:00.000-05:00

I was privy to a lengthy email chain last week that started with some basic mockery of the Islanders drawing 9,000 fans, which quickly moved onto remembering attending an Orioles-Tigers game on a rainy Wednesday night at Camden yards maybe 7 years ago when the Tigers were historically bad - the game went down as the lowest attended in Camden Yards history until last season, but the actual attendance due to the rain has to make it the lowest actual attendance. We sat in centerfield and when we yelled, the batter could definitely hear us. Oh memories..

Anyway, the email chain turned into a serious discussion about the state of the Caps, so I decided to turn everyone's thoughts into a blog post. This was a long email chain, so I am breaking this into two posts and haven't edited almost anything.

Polish Sausage: Who else likes this years team for the cup more than last (aside from the fact that Bruce continues to strand Ovie on the point during the PP...)?

Red Rover: I vascillate (Ed. Note: we use dictionary words in our spare time). On the one hand, we are not a very good team right now, like, at all. Not good on the power play, not good at possessing the puck, not outshooting the other team, our best players are not our best players right now, and there is a general feeling of flatness/malaise that feels like it's rotting this team from the inside out.

On the other hand, when I thought we were dominant last year, we crapped out in the playoffs, so it would appear that nothing in the regular season matters at all, and i mean nothing. Also we are now able to execute boring, ugly gameplans, where you can win without high-flying goal scoring, and we've seen a few games (Winter Classic, for example) where when you couple that boring defensive gameplan with 100% effort you can win 3-1 and look good, and that's what the playoffs are like and i don't see anything less than 100% effort happening come playoff time, but i've been wrong before about that. And we now have a shutdown D pairing that can also score (Carlson and Alzner) which is quite a luxury, plus if (knock on wood) Varly remains healthy, he's absolutely awesome. Then there's the hope that the law of averages damn will break come April and Ovi, Backstrom, Laich and Semin will all start scoring again in bunches, when it counts.

Then I watch a game again and I'm like goddamn, this team is not very good.

Bushwood Bushwacker: I had basically the same thought process the other night watching the Isles. I thought, "this team HAS to be better than the team we put on the ice last year - there is no way around it. there's no way the core did any worse than maintain, and all of the younger guys MUST have improved (plus obvious steps forward for Karlznerson, though you could say Carlson was really pretty nasty down the stretch last year, and this is just the continuation...) and we replaced Flash, Belanger, Theo and Corvo, with Hannan, Nuevlamoth 2.0, and Perrault/MJo. granted those guys minus the goalies have all been pretty meh, but all we really lost was Flash. and then i thought, well... this isn't the playoffs. maybe these guys have been burnt so badly by the overachieve-in-season/flop-postseason shitck that they just can't do it again. they are playing like an old, veteran NBA team, pacing themselves. Plus, there's the fact we did get pretty lucky last year looking at our shooting %. Maybe this is closer to the true talent of the team. But, I'm guessing not, since a lot of the missing production is Ovie/Back/Green, and those guys are sure as hell going to bounce back.

I have the feeling that as soon as the hockey world counts these guys out of the playoffs, and puts them outside of the circle of serious contenders, is when this team is going to play the best hockey they've played.........ever. Kind of a microcosm of that feeling is how often we come from behind and win games. For whatever reason, this team is a bunch of slackers who probably turned their theses (if they ever went to college...) in 30 seconds before the deadline.They just are built to perform best when they have the fire lit under their asses.

Gotta love being the underdog when you really shouldn't be, those teams are always dangerous.

I have hope.

RR: I do too, but the issue of course is WHEN that fire lights their asses. There will come a point when it's too late.

But like I said, the defensively oriented style is better built for a playoff series because it's more likely to lead to victories when they're not playing their best or when the other team is. The playoffs tighten everything and every team together in performance and ability; last year that meant the Caps' death knell because when their power play went bankrupt they had nothing else to lean on. So with this foundation in place now, we just await that give-a-shit spark to ignite (and the stars to pick it up, which we're all assuming is an inevitability).

*****

The 2nd half will posted soon...thought you might need some time to digest....

(Image courtesy of dcprosportsreport.com)

Let Me Show You How Exciting John Wall Is

2011-01-20T21:41:00.000-05:00

While you were waiting for the posting to pick back up, I was busy doing some work with the website Thuuz (pronounced like I am en-THOOZ-iastic about Nick Young's 'Thriller' hair) on excitement statistics - you're damn right I just used excitement and statistics in the same sentence.

The site has developed an algorithm to measure the excitement of a sporting event. The main idea they have now is to let you know if a game you have DVR'ed is worth watching (without telling you the score), and when the best time is to start watching. The algorithm takes into account factors such as the game's pace, novelty, and how close the score is. The output is supposed to be the excitement an unbiased individual would get from the game.

They approached me back in November, after I wrote about the Wizards-Pistons game in Detroit for Bullets Forever. The game registered a perfect 100 score in the Thuuz system and it turns out that these guys can do a lot with the algorithm and statistics. I got them to do a breakdown of each player's contribution to the game's excitement. They have done their best work with basketball, but measure the excitement of other sports as well.

For the table below, the only heading needing explanation is 'Impact.' This is a measure of the number of plays a player makes that contribute directly to the game's outcome - I believe this is something close to points, assists, rebounds, etc. The reasoning behind this measure is that the excitement rating would not highly rate a player on a good team, because a team that increases their lead is boring, not exciting, so a measure is needed for these types of players. I hope that makes sense. Without further adieu, the numbers for the Wiz-Pistons game:

		Washington vs. Detroit			11/21/2010
Player	Play Time	Impact	Excitement	Impact/Minute	Excitement/Minute
Arenas	42.80	43	35.32	1.00	0.83
Hinrich	39.40	25	-2.95	0.63	-0.07
Thornton	31.32	17	-3.94	0.54	-0.13
Blatche	43.88	37	-19.97	0.84	-0.46
McGee	42.27	39	-42.98	0.92	-1.02
Armstrong	10.63	4	-14.10	0.38	-1.33
Young	30.68	20	5.92	0.65	0.19
Booker	9.15	4	0.99	0.44	0.11
Martin	14.67	9	-9.43	0.61	-0.64

Not surprisingly, Gil was the Wizards most impactful and exciting player. The interesting thing about this game though, is that John Wall did not play. So what happens when you add JWow to the mix? Fortunately, the Wiz played another game just 2 days later that also was a 100 on the excitement scale, this time with the Future. Here are the numbers:

		Philadelphia vs. Washington			11/23/2010
Player	Play Time	Impact	Excitement	Impact/Minute	Excitement/Minute
Arenas	41.98	21	114.67	0.50	2.73
Hinrich	34.85	21	58.08	0.60	1.67
Thornton	8.17	0	6.28	0.00	0.77
Blatche	42.70	37	62.35	0.87	1.46
McGee	45.85	61	22.88	1.33	0.50
Armstrong	5.45	1	-8.99	0.18	-1.65
Wall	35.93	33	135.84	0.92	3.78
Martin	6.40	1	12.74	0.16	1.99
Young	31.75	27	74.61	0.85	2.35
Booker	11.87	9	7.30	0.76	0.62

Granted, it was a huuuge game for JWow, but look at his excitement rating! This is only 1 game, but the bottom line is that Wall was the most exciting player from any team in either game. This also gives a nice little comparison of how the team looks in terms of impact with Wall on and off the court. I obviously sat on this data way too long, and any comparison with Gil Arenas is now moot with him off the team. If you are wondering why the Wizards have more total excitement in the 76ers game, it is because the rest of the excitement is accounted for by the opposition, so the Wizards drove the excitement in game #2.

Thuuz is starting to do a lot more with all of their data, so I just wanted to give you a taste of what they do as I begin to post their data more regularly. I have discussed with them what types of stats and metrics would be most interesting and useful, so let me know any and all ideas. The next step is for Thuuz to get larger sample sizes for individual players so we can truly track who is exciting over the course of a season........that way we'll have proof when John Wall becomes the league's most exciting player.

Mel Kiper Thinks The Offseason Dynasty Will Continue

2011-01-20T00:42:00.000-05:00

I first of all should say that the break in blogging was because I was swamped by a lot of personal 'stuff', but am back and refreshed or something like that.........

I can't say I didn't see this coming, but Mel Kiper's first mock draft came out today and, well, I can't say I didn't warn you:

10. Washington Redskins
Cam Newton, QB, Auburn
A gifted athlete, Newton has good arm strength and size, has developing accuracy and continues to show that the more you ask him as a passer, the more he'll develop. This spot might be a bit high based on his current grade in the eyes of scouts, but Newton's skill-set is such that personnel people are going to become more enamored, if they already aren't. Newton has character questions that need to be answered, but the Redskins have a long-term need at this position and the prospect of developing Newton is a tantalizing one.

Pleaselordno.

I could give you the whole whole running QB thing being a bad idea, especially while our offensive line is a gaping hole of suck, but let's look at this more rationally and use some metrics. Football Outsiders has found a way to predict college quarterback performance in the pros with 2 simple stats: games started and completion percentage. I understand he put together the best individual season in recent memory, but for metrics, well he only started 1 full season. 66% completion rate is great, but that figure is relative to others in the same school supposedly in a relatively similar system, and the immortal Chris Todd managed over 60% in 2009, so 66% is not that impressive. The overall metric indication on Cam Newton is: pleaselordno.

Soooo, what should the Skins do? Ryan Mallett actually has terrific metrics thanks to starting 2.5 years and would be a better QB pick. Even better though? Well, I have some bad news. I am a nut about the NFL draft, and Kiper's mock highlights the fact that there is a big dropoff after the first 9 players - and guess who picks #10!

Clearly, the Skins should trade back, take an o-lineman, Ryan Mallett, or just about anybody not named Cam Newton, even if we get to call him 'Killa Cam.' On the bright side, drafting the controversial Heisman trophy winner would continue the offseason dynasty that almost no team can take away from us.

(Image courtesty of mobilephoneunlimited.com)

Better Than The Capitals Power Play

2011-01-11T22:04:00.002-05:00

This sound.

Yea, I'm completely fucking frustrated.

/Throws Ovechkin bobblehead against the wall which, coincidentally, is WHERE HE SHOULD BE ON EVERY SINGLE MAN ADVANTAGE.

Start Your Office Pools: When Will the Wizards Get Their First Road Win?

2010-12-28T01:05:00.000-05:00

Oh and fifteen

0-15

Zero for 15

29 games into the season, the Wizards are 7-22, holding worst record in the East, and 2nd-worst in the entire league ahead of only the 5-23 Kings (one of those 5 Kings wins was over the Wiz too). That is bad, but 0-15 on the road is a turd sandwich. For those of you curious, according to wikipedia, the worst road record ever also belongs to this franchise: the '53-'54 Baltimore Bullets went 0-20 on the road. What is it about changing that name back?

Eh, isn't 0-20 coming up soon?

This season has long been chalked up (down?) to rebuilding, so I say we should enjoy the futility while we can......with a pool! Pools are good for babies, March Madness, swimming, they never fail. The Wiz 'only' have 27 road games left, so get started!

Call me crazy, but I think the Wiz may actually win a road game soon, and I don't mean by the end of the season. We get the 76ers on January 5th, and have 2 of our 7 wins against them already, and then follow that game with a trip to Charlotte on the 8th, and then 8-24 Minnesota on the 13th. After that, our next good shot is February 13th against the Cavs, but that's the 2nd night of a back-to-back, so scratch that one. If we don't win one of the Philly, Charlotte, or T'Wolves games, then this could get very hairy very quickly.

Will we be favored in any of those games? Hell no! If anyone gets a pool going though, put me down for Philly.

(Image courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org)

Week 16: Redskins 20, Jaguars 17: Knee Jerk Reactions

2010-12-26T16:26:00.000-05:00

The Redskin's season is almost mercifully over! Before I let rationality cloud my judgment, here are my knee-jerk reactions from the penultimate game of the season:

This seriously felt like a preseason game until the 4th quarter. The Skins were playing almost all backups, and the Jags were missing MJD and a few other guys. There just wasn't an intensity today, which is odd when you have so many guys playing for their future in the league.

I know this win hurts our draft position and thus may bad in the long term, but you can't help but think this group needed a W with all the drama going around.

Sex Cannon's record as a starter in the state of Florida counting his college days has got to be something like 47-2.
The gator chomp? Rex, seriously?
Brandon Banks in the wildcat should be the focus of our offense next week. It would keep my interest and get the Banks Pro Bowl train back at full speed.
Kevin Barnes at safety could merely be necessity, but also maybe a sign the teams doesn't think he will be a decent corner.
The Jags look awful, how are they a potential division winner?
Speaking of the opposition, maybe the Skins should take a page out of their book and spend our first 2 picks on o-linemen.
Anthony Bryant may have played himself onto the roster for next season.
Casey Rabach needs to go ASAP.
Going for it on 4th and 1 from the 1 yard line with the game on the line is the right call. Not only is it statistically the right move, but we are 5-9, so who cares!
Joe Joseph? As in Joseph Joseph? Wow.
The o-line was not awful today, but not great. Hicks and Dockery/Licht*&#$& all still need to be replaced.
We are no 4-4 on the road, and 2-5 at home, hmmmm. Almost makes me feel guilty for never going to games...

(Image courtesy of 1800-sports.com)

Redskins - Jaguars Live Chat on TBD.com

2010-12-26T12:09:00.000-05:00

If you are watching today's game alone, it will probably feel a little bit like drinking alone - but fear not! Come join the TBD.com live chat and drink, err chat, with fellow devoted fans. I will be there as a panelist along with a few other Redskins bloggers.

Check it out here: Redskins-Jaguars Live Chat

What the Caps and the Jersey Shore Have in Common

2010-12-23T01:01:00.002-05:00

Tonight's episode of 24/7 was not as good as the first, save for one amazing fact about the Caps: the team celebrates every victory with a fist pumping rendition of DJ Pauly D's "It's Time to Beat Dat Beat." Yes, as in the Pauly D from MTV's Jersey Shore.

Awesome.

The Best Shot I Could Get from My TV of the Locker Room iPod

The Caps 8 game losing streak meant that we were not privy to this information before tonight, but again, awesome. Almost every member of the team gave a few fist pumps.

Other notes:

Highly paid professionals getting excited about a new equipment delivery is amazing.
Ovechkin walked into the training room with a towel on and nothing else.
For a road trip Ovie appeared to fill his small suitcase with just 1 item, his Playstation.
Combining all this Ovie information leads me to believe he just walks around the hotel naked on road trips.
Sidney Crosby is really lame
Hockey injuries in HD are the opposite of a highlight, but still very cool to see if you're into that sort of thing, creep.
The f-bombs by the Caps are pretty gratuitous. I don't care about 'foul' language, but just pointing it out. It's not just Boudreau either, the other guys drop 'em everywhere, even Ovie in his broken English. I imagine the team cursing comes from the culture created by Boudreau.
Even though I don't care about cursing, the Caps, the language is part of a loose and not always disciplined atmosphere. I sure as hell don't think cursing has anything to do with the Caps winning the Cup, but the contrast between the Caps and Penguins team culture is remarkable.
Mike Knuble did exactly what I thought this team needed in the 1st intermission of the Boston game - gave a rousing speech about the Caps picking it up. That game went from a 3-0 potential obliteration to a tight 3-2 loss and may have been the turning point in this slide.
I think Mike Green wears slippers to and from work.
I can't believe HBO skipped Ovie and Semin visiting One Lounge and showing them in a party environment.
Penguins game tonight, let's beat dat beat!

Gilbert Arenas Tribute Day

2010-12-21T00:24:00.000-05:00

I will write something more extensive about Gilbert Arenas, likely tomorrow. But am belated because I spent a lot of time working on the Gilbert Arenas Tribute Day for Bullets Forever, which has been all over the web. I had the pleasure of writing on his top 5 buzzer beaters, but all of the posts are must-read.

I won't say too much now, but despite my constant negativity towards his awful contract, I won't forget how he led a pathetic franchise back to some kind of relevance. Gil made me, and probably many of you, passionately care about the Wizards/Bullets for the first time.

(Image courtesy of dcprosportsreport.com)

Week 15: Cowboys 33, Redskins 30: Knee Jerk Reactions

2010-12-20T01:04:00.000-05:00

Football's regular season is almost over! Before I let rationality cloud my judgment, here are my knee-jerk reactions from the fourteenth game of the season:

I watched this one in a bar in Manhattan, so was semi-distracted by all the other happenings and will thus keep this short. I was pretty disinterested coming into the game, 'Kitna! Grossman! It's the Redskins and the Cowboys on Fox!!' and want us to keep losing for sake of high draft picks, but was getting fired up when the comeback got going.

Sums Up my Feelings About the Season

Sex Cannon.
Sitting in a Manhattan bar as the Eagles came back from 21 points in 8 minutes to beat the Giants was special. I delight in other fans having to share my misery.
Sex Cannon's numbers were about as good as any McNabb game, but I think he was slightly worse. The biggest thing I noted was a tendency to hold onto the ball too long.
In short, yes, I think McNabb would have been the better player today for the Redskins, but the difference between McNabb and Sex Cannon really doesn't seem to be much. Also, this was Sex Cannon's first game, and one has to think that he would improve with more games under his belt.
I might set a record for typing Sex Cannon in 1 post.
McNabb is still a captain today? Come on man! NFL captains are fluid, and I thought the starting QB is always a captain.
Not all of those sacks were the O-line's fault. One notable one by Ware was Grossman hanging onto the ball too long and then not stepping up enough in the pocket.
D******* Hall still sucks. Coverage and tackling are things he does not do well.
The Brandon Banks Pro Bowl train has come to a complete halt.
The Tana drop was not as bad as it looked. He was off balance and couldn't really get his arms out for that one. That said, it was still a horrific drop.
Does anybody still think the McNabb trade and/or extension were correct decisions?
I completely forgot about John Beck's mullet, which allowed me to 'fall in lover all over again.'
The good thing about being numb? A tough loss to Dallas doesn't hurt.

(Image courtesy of DC Sports Bog and Mr. Irrelevant)

Proof the Redskins O-Line Should Be an Offseason Priority

2010-12-16T21:23:00.000-05:00

How many of you know what the New York Life Protection Index is?

Nope, not part of the stock market.

A quality of life measure is close....

It is actually a metric that evaluates offensive line play in the NFL. I have no idea why New York Life chose to sponsor this and who exactly they are paying or if they developed the metric themselves as some sort of ambush marketing. Regardless, the metric's fundamentals are comprised of the length of a team’s pass attempts combined with penalties by offensive linemen, sacks allowed and quarterback hurries and knockdowns. Annnndddd...you already know where this is headed.....

The Skins slot in at #25 so far this season, which sounds about right. Football Outsiders has us at #22 by their Adjusted Sack Rate.I should be noted that both of these metrics are only looking at pass protection.

Moving past the team that doesn't deserve any more ink, even during Dallas week, and on to the differences between the 2 metrics. Except, the the rankings look almost identical. FO only takes into account sacks and intentional grounding calls, whereas NYLPI adds knockdowns, hurries, and the one I think is most interesting, the length of a team's pass attempts, but apparently the added variables do not change much.

To make sense of why 2 different metrics are so similar can be pretty simple. Both metrics take into account valid measurables of pass protection, so a good pass protecting line should show up as such in both rankings. The hurries and knockdowns are a nice addition, but a line giving up a lot of sacks is also likely giving up a lot of knockdowns and hurries. I could envision a tough QB who is particularly good at standing in the pocket and taking hits or being hurried but managing to avoid sacks, but it appears that such a person does not exist. The length of pass play is nice, and I hope is the length the ball is in the air, rather than the net gain on passing plays.

One big takeaway from these is that a good quarterback makes a good offensive line. You can say all you want about the Colts O-line, but they are good because Manning is fantastic at avoiding sacks, intentional grounding penalties, hits, etc., not to mention the fact that he is great at recognizing defenses and preparing the blocking. One can only wonder how good the Skins line would look with Peyton behind them.......

(Image courtesy of washingtonpost.com)

What HBO's 24/7 Showed About the Caps Problems

2010-12-16T01:20:00.000-05:00

Seeing the Redskins simply play the team on Hard Knocks in a preseason game got me 'downright giddy,' so you can only attempt to understand my anticipation and excitement for the premier episode of the Caps on HBO's 24/7.

All along, I thought this would be an amazing show, putting Sidney Crosby's lameness and robotic nature as a pathetic contract to the fun-loving Ovechkin leading his high-flying Caps. Well, yeah........

With the Penguins in the midst of a 12-game winning streak, and the Caps puttering through a then 6-game losing streak, everything was upside-down. The Penguins were the loose and fun team, while the Caps personalities all came across as stale. HBO clearly focused their Caps footage on the sullen locker room, and I imagine this quiet was compounded by not many Caps speaking English as a first language.

What I took from this could be much bigger though. I know it is hard to judge a team in its worst times, but I think that sullen locker room I just mentioned is the problem. This team has struggled with inconsistency in effort and focus the past couple seasons, and one has to think that these issues can only be cured by improved leadership.

Bruce Boudreau is certainly a presence and did all he could to rally the guys, but there was an absence of vocal player leadership. This team is led by a bunch of Russians who clearly are not 100% comfortable speaking English, which I imagine is a significant hindrance to vocalizing encouragement. Even Backstrom came across as quiet, if not awkward, when skating with children in DC. Mike Green could, and maybe should, be the guy, but is also pretty quiet and not someone who can captain and NHL team. Jason Chimera kind of put some words out there at one point, but should have been a stronger presence, or gotten some support. Poti? Laich? Anyone?

Meanwhile, the Penguins were ahead 2-1 going into the 3rd period of what would be consecutive win number 12 and had a few guys yelling and getting the team amped, such as Tyler Kennedy; the passion they displayed would have led you to believe the Pens were losing. This is an extenuating circumstance for the Caps, and maybe they are just as boisterous when winning, and maybe being loud isn't the best method for every team, but 'a man is judged by how he responds to adversity,' and behind the scenes, the Caps did not respond to the challenge.

Other quick notes:

Gabby could indeed have made Rex Ryan blush with his stream of f-bombs. Fantastic! DC Sports Bog counted 31 f-bombs by the Caps' coach.
The highlight of the show for me was Ovechkin defending the cross-check that got Semin ejected because it opened a big cut on the opposing player's neck, 'Maybe he has sensitive skin.'
I had no idea NHL refs actually would tell players to 'finish the fight.'
As I briefly mentioned above, Lars showed no personality. He may actually be a hockey robot.
Boudreau's first closeup interview definitely showed a little ketchup or something left on his face.
My 2nd favorite quote was the Penguins rookie after having his entire room moved into the hotel hallway, "We are going to find whoever did this, and probably do nothing about it."
I wish the Caps had a team competition in which the loser had to grow a mustache for a month.
The Penguins have lost both games since episode 1 ended, so episode 2 could be very different.
On the other hand, the Caps lost #7 in a row tonight, so maybe not.

(Image courtesy of Japers Rink)

D******* Hall Gets A Little Too Friendly with Kobe

2010-12-14T21:49:00.001-05:00

As I watched the Wizards get picked apart by the Lakers tonight, I couldn't help but notice a man with a bright turquoise Wizards hat sitting next to the Lakers bench. A couple closeups later I realized who the douchebag suspect was......none other than my least favorite Redskin, D******* Hall (yes, I hate him more than Fat Albert).

I can't fully explain why this makes me incredibly mad, but it does. Why can't he sit next to the Wizards bench? Why can't Hall sit with fellow Redskin Chris Samuels, who was also at the game?

Most of all, I can't stand that he felt the need to talk to Kobe Bryant! Kobe has no real friends as far as I can tell, and as much as I respect his game, dislike him as a person even though I've never met him.

Obviously, Kobe did not start the conversation with Hall because Bryant has no people skills. So that means Hall intentionally got a seat by the Lakers bench, probably with the hope of maybe striking up a conversation with Kobe when the Lakers had a sizeable lead. Just liking Kobe would be enough to make me angry, but I'm pretty sure that makes him a groupie. I bet Hall has some fantasy that Kobe and he have a lot in common and that he belongs in such celebrity company.

Dude, you think Kobe is going to come toe Redskin game to be your groupie?

I really didn't need another reason to hate the guy.

(Images courtesy of my sweet TV)

Is it Time to Worry About the Caps?

2010-12-14T01:14:00.000-05:00

This absolutely kills me, but ever since last season's unspeakable ending, I have had an awful feeling about this year's Caps. I've tried to convince myself that this team is better primed for a Stanley Cup run, but I can't shake that doubt....

I've tried to convince myself that we are a young team that kept all the key people from last year and should improve with age and more time playing together. I want to believe that the Caps will learn from the tough playoff exits each of the last 2 seasons. I can see how this team may coast through the regular season with a constant eye on the playoffs.

But this Caps team just doesn't look right.

You can make that case that we're coasting and still 1st in the division, and would have the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference if the playoffs started today. That sounds great, but there are waaaay too many chinks in the armor for me to feel good. The Caps are:

-7th in the conference in goal differential
-19th in the league in 5v5
-The formerly amazing powerplay is 8th in the NHL
-The PK is up to 11th in the league, but is certainly not driving a ton of success

But the bigger issue for me is beyond the stats. The team is likely the most talented in the league, and their focus seems to waver. This was a bit of an issue last year, and I think plagued the team in the Canadians series - the Caps brought a B- intensity and thought they could slide through and rev it up for the later rounds. In the regular season, the Caps are comeback kings, mostly it seems because the team comes out flat and then pushes the intensity in later periods. The Rangers debacle is a good example, as Eric Fehr said after the game, "It seems like we lost focus for about two minutes and they got two goals on us and it made the game a lot tougher. We had a great first period and didn't come out ready in the second and it cost us."

Whose fault is this? I have to think Bruce Boudreau is not taking enough heat. He inherited an incredibly talented team that was significantly underperfoming and immediately made them excellent, and deserves a ton of credit for that. However, maybe this team needs more of a Ken Hitchcock hardass to get them over the hump.

Ovie's leadership and lifestyle also are finally getting to me. I love him for partying and not being a robot like Crosby. I couldn't be happier about rooting for a guy with Ovie's personality and passion. Now Crosby's name alone makes me irrationally angry, but he worked hard on his game and is now the best player in the world, hands down. I understand Ovie can work hard and play hard, but hearing about him partying at Lounge On e while the Caps are slumping is tough to swallow.

I am not saying Ovie cannot win a cup, far from it, but I think there's need to be more hard line discipline with this group from somebody.

The sheer talent on this team is often enough to overcome lapses in focus, but the inability to be consistent this season does not give me any confidence that the Caps can put together a Stanley Cup run.

(Image courtesy of www.kansascity.com)

Week 14: Bucs 17, Redskins 16: Knee Jerk Reactions

2010-12-12T16:07:00.001-05:00

Football's regular season is almost over! Before I let rationality cloud my judgment, here are my knee-jerk reactions from the thirteenth game of the season:

Should we be surprised?

DC Sports Bog said on Twitter that a scalper offered him a ticket for 20 bucks. That about sums up my feelings about this team right now.
Steinz's experience echoes this video.
2 missed short FGs, a botched extra point, 2 dropped INTs, no-call on Orakpo getting held on the Bucs TD, etc.
Not sure if 'sums up the season' is the right way to put this, more like sums up the decade.
Graham Gano could have been cut at halftime. Even the extra point was close.
I still don't understand why the Skins have gone about 20 years without a consistent kicker. Other teams have probably had bad stretches, but 20 years?!? Use a high draft pick, or give a crazy contract, I don 't care, but do something to fix a problem that has plagued this team for 20 years!
I think the LeGarrette Blount fumble sums up D******* Hall. He gets run over by Blount while trying to strip the ball instead of actually tackling the guy, then succesfully punches it out on attempt #2 and picks up the fumble Phil Buchanon couldn't. You get the bad with the playmaking. Now that ended up being a good play, but he should have made the tackle and not had the opportunity for strip #2. Hall also was burned badly by DC's own Arrelious Benn in the 2nd quarter and gave up about 12 extra yards going for another strip.
Then, early in the 3rd quarter, he has a chance to just destroy Cadillac Williams on a hospital pass, and does pretty much nothing at all. He almost looked scared to make that hit. That was a benchably bad.
All the credit for the running game should go to the Skins offensive line. Ryan Torain wasn't doing anything spectacular, he just ran through giant 'parking spaces.'
What does the Bucs defensive line do in all their other games? The Skins offensive line has not been anything special in other games, and I find it hard to believe they were just in the zone today.
The end of the first half clock management was something special. Basically tip your hand that you're passing, then somehow get a delay of game off of a timeout. In the words of Keyshawn Johnson - 'Come on man!'
Chris Wilson not picking up the 2nd half kickoff made me laugh.
Tony Siragusa gets paid like maybe 100k for this gig. How many people watch this game because of his contribution? Maybe for some people he makes the viewing experience better, but that really keeps and draws more eyeballs for ad revenue than his 100k salary? There is no way his value added is that much.
Anyone else crushed Logan Paulsen didn't attempt the Dougie?
What I want to know is why Ochocinco's name change gets so much attention while 'Stylez G White' is overlooked. He went from Greg to 'Stylez G', sounds like he should be on season 3 of VH1's the Pickup Artist.
Torain ran 18 times for 158 yards in the first half, and then had his number called twice in the 3rd quarter (for 1 yard), and then 4 more times in the 4th quarter (for 13 yards). All this was while the Skins were protecting a lead. Unacceptable and astounding.
McNabb's numbers looked good, but he was not. Meanwhile, Jason Campbell was damn good today again.

(Image courtesy of washingtonpost.com)

Redskins - Bucs Live Chat on TBD.com

2010-12-12T13:02:00.003-05:00

As usual, I am braving the horror show that could be today's game and am a panelist on TBD.com's live chat during the game. Check it out here:

Redskins - Bucs Live Chat

Goal of the Season

2010-12-11T13:51:00.000-05:00

Nope, not a Cap, not even from the NHL, but this is silly. We've all seen 'the Michigan goal', but I think this improves on it with the flip off of the goalie:

And the guy is 17. Yeah.

Georgetown Looks Like Fail

2010-12-10T01:04:00.000-05:00

So much for a top-5 RPI ranking and 'regular' top-10 ranking for the Hoyas. Tonight's game versus Temple was not good. The Hoyas were flummoxed by the Temple defense. Yeah I said it....flummoxed...

It was not so much just chaos and sloppiness, but the Hoyas, as Jay Bilas said, 'looked like they were moving in sand.' There were no backdoor cuts and not a lot of going to the hoop. The open man consistently was Julian Vaughn, who is the weakest offensive starter, and definitely not part of Run DMV. The Hoyas seemed to play into Temple's hands by taking looong 3s and feeding Vaughn going 1-on-1 against Lavoy Allen, the Owls' best defender. Jason Clark from deep was about the only thing going well.

Even with the Hoyas just looking bad on offense, I was surprised at how feeble Temple looked. They are not particularly talented, and really had only 1 guy on offense who could create anything on his own and wound up scoring almost half of their points. Defensively, it wasn't as though they were particularly strong, quick, or John Wall sneaky. Most of all, they were possibly the worst shooting team I have ever seen in NCAA division 1 men's basketball, just waaay off on many open 3s and jumpers.

My greatest frustration for the night is that the Hoyas played defense too aggressively. I don't know where to get points in the paint stats, but Temple had far too many. The Hoyas could have simply sluffed in and forced Temple to make long shots and drive to the basket, 2 things the Owls were incapable of doing with any success. To Temple's credit, they moved the ball well at times, and made Gtown pay for mistakes, but the Hoyas should have not been making those mistakes.

I think the big teaching from tonight though, is again that Chris Wright is the team's most important player. The zone took away his ability to drive to the basket, and rendered him pretty ineffective. Clark shooting 3s and Freeman forcing some stuff was all the Hoyas could get, nothing easy; it actually reminds me a lot of watching the Wizards without John Wall. Before this game, I simply thought at least 2 of 3 Run DMV members had to be playing well for the Hoyas, but it clearly all depends on Wright - the entire offense feeds off him. It is a lot of pressure, but in a year in which the Hoyas have a shot at doing something special, Wright needs to put his stamp on this NCAA season.

(Image courtesy of www.kansascity.com)

Redskins Season Tickets Offer - Fan Response

2010-12-09T13:28:00.000-05:00

DC Sports Bog was all over this, but the video pretty much sums up how everyone feels about the team.

Dan Snyder, if you are reading, just to be clear, this is not just a 1 or 2 year thing, this disinterest and anger has been building ever since you took over this team. For the record, this is the first year since childhood that I will not attend a Redskins game.

Maybe the Skins will always make boatloads of money and always sell almost all of their tickets, but maybe, just maybe, the little protests will add up and affect your bottom-line. You are truly testing our passion.

Least Likely Gillette Spokesperson Ever

2010-12-08T01:33:00.000-05:00

In what will go down as one of the upsets of the years, Gillette named Alex Ovechkin their newest spokesperson today to promote shaving products...........as in the items one uses to maintain a tidy beard. Good luck with this beast of a man:

Ovie joins the clean-cut Derek Jeter, among others, as spokespeople. The best part of this for me? How pissed baby-faced Sidney Crosby will be that he didn't get this endorsement.

(Images courtesy of 1.bp.blogspot.com, meltyourfaceoff.files.wordpress.com, and 3.bp.blogspot.com)

Week 13: Giants 31, Redskins 7: Knee Jerk Reactions

2010-12-05T16:07:00.000-05:00

Football's regular season is heading down the home stretch! Before I let rationality cloud my judgment, here are my knee-jerk reactions from the twelfth game of the season:

The Skins looked like they knew they were walking to their own funeral. I think we can be mercifully mathematically eliminated next week.

Remember This? That is What Today Felt Like

Fumbles
My highlight of the day was Drew Stanton doing the Dougie in the Detroit-Chicago game.
The Giants had 140 yards rushing in the 1st half.
We missed you Fat Albert.
I was actually dissapointed the Giants didn't hit 200 yards rushing for the game.
I was laughing at the Redskin ineptitude, just like last year.
Corey Webster owns Santana Moss. Webster was an elite CB 2 years ago when he completely took Tana out of the game, had injuries last year, but today looked like that elite player (not sure about the rest of his season). That INT at the end of the game was well-deserved.
Rocky McIntosh looked hurt and played an abysmal game.
Devin Thomas blocking a punt, making a special teams tackle, and downing a ball at the 5 was kicking us in the balls when we were down.
Just inexplicable that Galloway held a starting job for so long while we had to get rid of Thomas.
The, "Eli Manning....is....UNSTOPPABLE" commercial right after his endzone interception was perfect.
At least we didn't furiously celebrate our TD.
McNabb was throwing it all over the yard in a bad way. There was pressure, but he was more erratic than usual it seemed.
I want to like Jammal Brown, but he was particularly awful today.
We really do need to draft a center.
D-line should be another focus in the offseason.
I am very curious as to whether Shanahan will play some more young guys and backups down the stretch to see what we have. Sexy Rexy, Terrance Austin, Kevin Barnes, Brandon Banks on offense, etc.
Shanahan was 6th place in a Sports Illustrated poll of NFL players on 'Coach You'd Most Like to Play For.' He seems like a pain in the ass, so I'm surprised, you?
Does Brandon Banks have a shot at the Pro Bowl? Given that Dez Bryant and Devin Hester only really return punts, his only competition should be Stefan Logan and Danny Amendola.
You have no idea how happy the thought of Brandon Banks in the Pro Bowl just made me.

(Image courtesy of www.nj.com)

TBD.com Redskins-Giants Live Chat

2010-12-05T13:02:00.000-05:00

As usual, I will be a panelist in the TBD.com live chat for today's game. Get in your opinions, or just to have a support group:

TBD.com Redskins-Giants Live Chat

The Wizards' Black Santa

2010-12-01T22:00:00.000-05:00

Chanukah may have come a few hours early when word leaked that the Wizards and Magic are still discussing a trade involving Gilbert Arenas, aka the (2nd) worst contract in the league.

The Magic are tied for the best record in the East at 13-4 and appear to be a title contender as currently constructed, without making.......wait, I'll stop. Orlando feels the need to add another playmaker and apparently are leaving no stone unturned if they are considering a guy coming off of 2 knee surgeries and with 4 years and over $80 million left on his contract. Gil put on nice show against the Magic last week in what could have been his audition.

Black Santa (aka Orlando Magic GM Otis Smith)

Let's be clear, the Wizards are in last place in the Eastern Conference, starting a rebuilding process, and need to get rid of ~~Agent Zero~~ ~~Six Shooter~~ Gilbert Arenas. Gil is not part of the future, is not a great mentor and/or leader for the youngsters, and his massive contract is a huge handicap. The problem is finding someone to take this albatross off of our hands. Almost any trade that involves Gil leaving DC would be a good one, as there is no contract (other than Joe Johnson's) that I wouldn't take back for his. 'Locker room cancer' Vince Carter and his contract with 1 year remaining for Gil? - Where do I sign up!?!

The rumored deal involves Gil and Andray Blatche from the Wiz, and some combination of Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis, and Daniel Orton from the Magic. VC and Lewis cannot be in the trade together, as the Wiz have almost no way of matching both of their bloated salaries. The Wiz could take one of those 2 in any deal involving Arenas. Both have similar salaries, with the main difference being that VC has 1 year left on his deal, and Lewis has 3.

VC for Gil is a no-brainer. VC could be the worst possible player to put on a young team, and I would consider just sending VC home for the season to keep him away from the youngsters and then creating a pool of coins in the summer with the 3 years of savings from Gil's contract.

Lewis for Gil is a closer match, but again, something the Wizards have to do as it cuts 1 year off of Gil's contract. I do hesitate here though, as Gil is the superior player and Lewis is aging quickly so may be impossible to move before his contract is up in 3 years, whereas Gil actually could play well enough that we could get rid of him in under 3 seasons.

Then there is the twist with the Magic wanting Andray Blatche. 7 Day Dray hasn't had a great season, not taking the step forward we'd hoped for, and saying his defense has been disinterested would be kind. That said, he is still only 24 and has a very reasonable contract that runs for 5 more years. He does not look like a long term answer for the Wizards, but he still has trade value. Not only that, but his value is about as low as it can be right now.

Orton would be a nice young guy to add in the deal (I also would like Ryan Anderson), but Blatche is more valuable. If the deal is Gil and Blatche for Lewis and Orton, then we are basically giving up Blatche for 1 less year of Gil's contract, and I think that is a steep price. VC and Orton for Gil and Blatche is a much tougher call, with the bottom line being whether the Wiz are willing to give up Blatche to cut 3 years off of Gil's contract.

I think the Wizards have to make the VC deal, as there may not be many other chances to get rid of Gil's contract. But I hope the Wiz can find a way to do this without including Andray. From the perspective of the Magic, the extra years on Gil's deal may not matter much, as their roster is relatively set for the next few years. They also have little use for Blatche. Grunfeld will need to do some smooth talking to make this happen, or Black Santa will have to feel particularly giving.

While I wait for Black Santa to make my holiday season, I will do the rest of my shopping in Allen Iverson's eBay shop.

(Image courtesy of www.cbc.ca, salary info courtesy of ESPN's NBA Trade Machine)

Gritty Hoyas Make a Statement - Are they Title Contenders?

2010-12-01T00:19:00.000-05:00

College basketball's season is decided in March, but that didn't stop Georgetown and Missouri from playing an incredible game with a Big Dance feeling tonight. Fast-paced, close, intense, and well-played.

Despite the rankings (#8 to #16) and Vegas line (Tigers by 1.5) favoring Mizzou , this seemed like a favorable matchup for the Hoyas. A well-coached disciplined team with heady ball handlers should be able to handle the Mizzou press, and I think the phrase, 'A well-coached disciplined team with heady ball handlers' is exactly how I'd describe this year's Hoyas.

Now Missouri's ranking may be a little misleading, as they haven't beaten any half-decent team so far: 3 of their 5 wins have been against teams named the Ospreys, Leathernecks, or Explorers. That said, this is still one of the best teams in the country, and as I learned tonight, one with an amazing home court advantage. This was technically a 'neutral court' that just so happened to be situated about and hour and a half from the Mizzou campus, but the fans made it clear who's side they were on. Not only were the16,000+ fans loud, but Mizzou's aggressive defensive style put the refs in a lot of tough positions, and during a home game a lot of those 50/50 calls will go Mizzou's way.

The Hoya start was reminiscent of the glory that was last year's Duke game. The Tiger press was hopeless and Gtown was knocking everything down en route to an 18 point lead. Mizzou got their act together, seized momentum, and chiseled the lead down to 7 by the half - which is about the time I started biting my nails. Mizzou seemed to carry momentum through the 2nd half, but only took their first lead more than midway through the 2nd half. The Hoyas seemed doomed at the point to a quality road loss, but managed the improbable with Chris Wright sinking a last second 3 to send the game to OT. 5 minutes more? Yes please. Jason Clark took it from there, sinking 3 triples in the extra period to make the last 2.5 minutes of overtime pretty comfortable.

I don't know that tonight taught me as much about the Hoyas as it reinforced several beliefs. The team was rudderless without Wright against the Mizzou D, which is why he played 45 minutes. Clark and Freeman put up the bigger numbers, but Wright was and has been the team MVP thusfar. You could almost predict the Mizzou runs because they happened as soon as Wright stepped off the court. It is times like this when I wish gameflows were available for NCAA games, as Wright's +/- has to be fantastic.

I also already knew that the bench is very weak. Fortunately, Mizzou plays a tiny lineup, so Gtown's preference for 3 guards, 1 very small forward, and a center was not a problem. Against a 'normal' team, Julian Vaughan, Nate Lubick, and Henry Sims could be roasted. And even though there are a lot of guards getting minutes for the Hoyas, there is a huuuge dropoff after the big 3. They all looked hesitant out there, and I am once again curious as to the +/- of the big 3. I wish I could say Starks and Lubick will suddenly 'get it', but I just don' think that's happening this year.

This team is 1 injury to any of the big 3 away from being pretty mediocre, but this was an awesome win. Standing up to a hostile crowd and top-10 team makes this one of the best wins in all of college basketball this season to date. The Hoyas cruised to the 18 point lead, but absolutely gutted this one out from there. Mizzou got away with a lot junk on defense, but the Hoyas didn't complain and got equally physical on their defensive side at the end of the game. Not only are there no teams in the Big East that particularly scare me, but there are no teams in the entire NCAA outside of Duke that appear definitely better than the Hoyas right now.

If Wright, Freeman, and Clark can stay healthy and don't get worn-down from heavy minutes, this could be a season to remember in DC.

(Image courtesy of the AP, via washingtonpost.com)

Week 12: Vikings 17, Redskins 13: Knee Jerk Reactions

2010-11-28T16:05:00.000-05:00

Football's regular season is heading down the home stretch! Before I let rationality cloud my judgment, here are my knee-jerk reactions from the eleventh game of the season:

Not From Today, but Might as Well Be

Game and season. We need to go 5-0 and pray for a wild card spot. Our first drive was a thing of beauty, but everything else on offense was sad. Then, not being able to stop Toby Gerhardt on defense and give our offense one last shot was excruciating.

If the Packers pass the Bears for 1st place, and the Saints take the #1 Wild Card spot, we will need to pass that Giants, Bears, and Bucs to get a playoff berth. If things go well later this afternoon, we could still only be 2 games back, with 2 cracks against the Giants, and 1 against the Bucs. So start putting your energy into supporting whoever plays those teams.

Interim coaches in their first game seem to always win right? Unless it's Terry Robiske and the Redskins...we are always the exception....
I keep forgetting to plug this, but I have been doing a weekly livechat on www.TBD.com. A few Skins bloggers on there and not too crowded, so you can definitely get your voice heard.
So much for gold pants.
How does Joey Galloway go from being our '#2' receiver to getting cut? Shouldn't there be a backup role in-between?
I can't get over the Galloway thing. Just an awful signing, reinforced by poor production, and then the stubbornness of keeping him in the starting lineup. He has been the 2nd worst receiver in the league, with the only bright side that we targeted him slightly less than other receivers in his ballpark of awful. Just about anyone would have been better, and we completely missed the opportunity to develop a young player or two wit hthe playing time/role.
Devin Thomas
Brandon Banks is still great, but was apparently limping during the week. I'm assuming he's taking his pain meds and toughing it out. I wonder if we will see him anywhere close to 100% before the end of the season.
Banks is our only chance of scoring.
Jeremy Jarmon doesn't exist.
Our d-line sans Fat Albert cannot stop the run. If we cut him, we need to find some better guys up front this offseason.
Not sure what else to say about the defense. Not a great game from 'Los, but he was hampered by a hammy. The faced a conservative game plan and stopped a Peterson-less offense, meh.
Silverback had a phenomenal game controlling Jared Allen, who is a monster. He's made his share of mistakes this season, but I think a pro-bowl caliber season is in store as soon as next year.
Santana Moss was awful. I see he was battling an injury or two, but dropping passes is not okay.
Cooley was awesome on that first drive and then...? Silence.

A Little Something to Cheer You Up - Found This Looking for a Game Shot

I don't even know how to get excited for the Giants game next week.

(McNabb image courtesy of VikingsPost.com, cheerleader image courtesy of nfl.fanhouse.com)

The Redskins Aren't Mathematically Eliminated.....Yet

2010-11-25T16:01:00.001-05:00

My Redskins optimism died quickly after that Titans game when I realized that we are 2 games back of a wildcard spot, and have to pass 3 teams for that last spot. Dead, and maybe not quite buried if we beat Minnesota this weekend. But maybe I was being too optimistic. Here's a quote from Redskins Insider's Brian Burke (as also mentioned by Mister Irrelevant):

"The NFC wildcard teams are probably going to need to win at least 10 games this season, so the Redskins would need to finish 5-1 to have a reasonable chance at the playoffs. Based on measures of team strength and forthcoming schedules, the numbers give the Redskins a 6 percent chance of making the postseason."

I panned this guy a couple weeks ago for giving statistics a bad name, but this is great stuff using statistics to make a rational point. We all have thought 9-7 would be enough to squeak into the playoffs since the preseason in a parity-driven league, but there is almost no way at least 2 of the 4 teams ahead of the Skins do not win 10 games. And, as you quickly realize, 10 wins means an improbable 5-1 finish.

A win over the Vikings this weekend would dramatically increase that 6%, and keep hope alive in DC, but it really is time to start looking at the offseason. This tortured sports city has a lot to be thankful for: Alex Ovechkin, Ted Leonsis, John Wall, ~~Matt Wieters~~, and Stephen Strasburg to name a few, but a playoff-bound Redskins team is not one of of them.

(Image courtesy of www.zimbio.com)

Looking Ahead to Redskins Offseason Plans

2010-11-24T01:26:00.000-05:00

I have realized that with 6 games to play, 2 games to makeup in the wild card race, and 3 teams to pass, the Skins playoff hopes are all but non-existant. So, on to the offseason!

I already made my thoughts clear on the McNabb contract, but this post is inspired by Shutdown Corner's Midseason 'No Pro' Team, which is basically the worst and/or most under-performing players in the league. No, McNabb was handily beaten out Brett Favre, but the entire interior of the Redskins line was named, ouch.

An Oldy, but Pretty Much Sums it Up

How can we gauge this? Well, the article was written by Doug Farrar of Football Outsiders, so metrics are involved. Long story short, the Skins are the worst team in the NFL at running up the middle. Not surprisingly, the team is also 31st in power running and 29th in runs stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage - both of which are plays that are linked to blocking up the middle. The good news is the coaching staff appears to realize this and has the team running up the middle on only 33% of run plays, significantly less than the league average of 50% (for all you Silverback lovers, most of those carries have gone around left end).

To summarize, the team has been getting dominated in the middle of the offensive line, and the coaches realize there is a problem.

My eyeballs tell me Casey Rabach has had a bad season and is likely no longer an NFL-caliber starting center. Artis Hicks and Derrick Dockery/Korey Lic(*&#$%@ have all also been culprits. As the article notes, Hicks has 6(!) false starts.

Looking ahead, our 2nd round pick has 'FUTURE CENTER' written all over it. A stud center is a pretty safe pick, as even if center proves difficult, you can always try them at guard. Dropping the cash on a 1st round interior lineman would be rough, as our pick will be in the middle of the first round, and those positions usually aren't drafted until the end of the 1st. This draft also looks to be a bit weak on the offensive line, so grabbing an interior lineman in the 1st round would likely be a huuuge reach. The good news though is that there are 3 quality center prospects . Back in August, Scouts Inc. had FSU's Rodney Hudson as the top interior lineman, and florida's Mike Pouncey not too far behind him. Stefan Wisniewski of Penn State is the 3rd guy who looks like he will be a reasonably high pick. Mid-1st would be aggressive for these guys, but our 2nd round pick would be a great spot to fill a position of need with a player who may be best available at that point.

Or maybe, that would be too logical.

(Image courtesy of www.wtopnews.com)

Week 11: Redskins 19, Titans 16: Knee Jerk Reactions

2010-11-21T23:52:00.001-05:00

Football's regular season is past the halfway point! The hair pulling, TV-screaming, remote control throwing and furious cigarette smoking have aged me about 10 years in these 10 games. Before I let rationality cloud my judgment, here are my knee-jerk reactions from the tenth game of the season:

Huuuge win. That would have been a season-ender if we were 4-6 and 3 games out of the last wild card.

So, I was really excited about this win and staying in the playoff race, but with 6 games to go, we are 2 games out of the last wild card spot. There are 4 teams ahead of us, with only 2 spots available, so we have to leapfrog 3 of the Giants/Eagles, Bears, Saints, and Bucs.
As if you didn't already know, but Brandon Banks! 1 tough clutch catch in 1 opportunity. Can we just give him Joey Galloway's job immediately? I mean right now, seriously.
I have been thinking of some other nickname ideas for Banks and like "The Wire," because he's electric and maybe thin and wiry or something.
I want to like Graham Gano, but he is still straddling the line of acceptability. Missing a 51 yarder is no biggy, but being that far off is concerning. The 47 yarder into the wind is a little tougher to swallow, but okay in and of itself. He still hit from 40, 42, and 48, and was providing great distance on kickoffs.
McNabb had time to throw. Weird.
McNabb's stats may sound impressive, but he was once again mediocre, even with tons of time.
Reed Doughty is an absolute disaster in coverage. I know Kareem Moore makes 1-2 big mistakes a game, and today was no different, but he is a much better option than Doughty. I was watching Doughty specifically as much as I could, and it seemed as thought he almost never successfully covered anyone. I think is fine as a backup strong safety, but free safety is not where I want to see him.
Yeah, Vince Young is efficient, and his passer rating will look great, but there is a lot to be said for the low volume output.
The Buchanon, Hall, Doughty, Moore secondary provided an opportunity on a platter for VY and the Titans to exploit. I thought that pathetic unit would cost us the game, but VY could not take advantage, and that speaks volumes about how good he is. You are kidding if you don't think any great QB doesn't shred that group.
Randy Moss looked lazy running routes. Glad we didn't get that guy.
D******* Hall was okay today, but how about you don't beat your chest after Randy Moss runs by you in the endzone and VY throws it about 10 yards over everyone's heads. That was not a good play.
Who is Rusty Smith?
Seems like we played a lot more 2 TE sets today to get Fred 'Sleepy' Davis involved. Niiiiice.
The gold pants are money.
Coming into this game, the Skins's offense had been historically bad on 3rd down, which is usually a fluky stat that will regress to the mean. In layman's terms, the Skins have likely been unlucky not to perform better on offense. 8-16 today on 3rd down, so there ya go.
My friend works for UStream and alerted me to the fact that Skins have their own channel. I have no idea what they show on here, I think pregame and postgame type stuff, but here you go: http://www.ustream.tv/redskins.

(Image courtesy of www.tsn.ca)

The Opposite of Michael Vick Against the Redskins

2010-11-19T13:04:00.004-05:00

While on the subject of us being right, here's an early DCLS post on why the Skins should have chased Vick 1.5 yrs ago.

Originally posted May 27th, 2009

***

As if Snyder Needs Convincing: The Case for Vick on the 'Skins

Listen, I'm no Redskins apologist. I hate Dan Snyder with all but two fibers in my being (the two that realize that he's better than this guy). I hope Vinny Cerrato chokes on a danish, or better yet, is fired. FedEx is Hell on Earth. Also, I love puppies, and the worst harm I'd ever inflict on one would be to boot a really tiny loud one off a bridge.

But the Redskins had better dig their star-horny claws into Michael Vick and never let go. And not just because the jersey sales will correlate to an illogical 45% rise in FedEx concession prices. It will work for the Redskins on the field and if you remember, that's the point. Several reasons:

1.) The Redskins' Offense needs an ATHLETE. 'Skins fans lament the lack of a #1 receiver and it's hard to disagree. And some think JC17 isn't the answer behind center. But what's really lacking is a guy who can simply make tacklers miss. Vick's presence alone means the other team has to account for him, game plan for him, think about him before the game. If you've made D-Coordinators think that much harder, you've improved your offense that much...harder. What position exactly? We'll get to that....

Imagine the Opposite of This

2.) We've yet to see the Zorn Star work magic with a Shiny New Wand. In 2008, Zorn adjusted his westcoast pass-happy offense to suit his personnel, which is the mark of an intelligent coach. The result was a bland running based game, due to bland running based personnel. Enter insane athlete. Now, Zorn has studied the Wildcat diligently this offseason and admitted the 'Skins don't have the personnel to make it happen. Yet. Why? "Cleveland, with [Josh] Cribbs....probably did the best, but he's got a real acceleration." So we need someone with real acceleration, preferably with QB experience? Hmmm....

I'm not saying Vick should become the new 'Skins QB. Far from it; I think his unique skills are best utilized in various roles at various times. Sometimes that might mean some QB snaps. Mostly though, he needs plays designed for him specifically in some quasi-hybrid tailback role, a la 1920s football. There has never been an athlete like Vick in the NFL - why not make up a position that's never existed?

3.) Vick will be cheap. I know I know, the Redskins are salary cap wizards and yes, there might not be a cap after this year...but the 'Skins are still paying Mark Carrier like $4.3 million per and contract terms will be critical. Vick's market value is going to be around Bear Sterns' right about now - which for those of you who don't read the Wall Avenue Journal means Vick will be getting dick for salary, and for one or two years tops. Low risk (cap room wise)/high reward is the idea here.

4.) Vick will be motivated. There are just plain ruthless murderous sociopaths, and there are ruthless murderous sociopaths with 10-figure debt and the whole world watching their every move. True: you have to be collossally stupid to squander what Vick had circa 2006, and I wouldn't be surprised if he, Portis, Haynesworth and Smoot were caught financing an underground squirrel-fighting ring or something. But he has to have learned from this. Maybe not in that moral, soul-saving way...but in a superficial my-job-and-life-is-on-the-line way, which is good enough for me. Maybe he'll still have the urge to strangle a labradoodle at first sight - but I get the feeling he'll resist this time. He's in survival mode at this point.

5.) Despite pleas from fans, the 'Skins are determined to win now and delay a rebuild. To most logical fans, 14 years of consistent mediocrity with an aging roster is a sure sign that the talent has been maxed out. To Vinny Cerrato and Dan Snyder, it's a never-ending indication that the 'Skins are one player away from winning it all. I'm not saying Vick is that guy. I'm saying given the right circumstances, a healthy year on the offensive line, and basic progress from JC17, a well-utilized Vick could help put up enough points to make the offense respectable again. The 'Skins D and running game remain their strong points, and if healthy could do some postseason damage. It's getting there that's the issue. So as long as we're stuck with a front office and owner playing this game, Vick is worth a look.

6.) The offense needs hope. If there was one thing that defined the Redskins offense in the second half of 2008 - other than three-and-outs - it was the look and feeling of hopelessness. Early in the year the group was unstoppable, and they had the swag. As passes starting slipping through hands, Jansen opened the Sack Gates, and Portis' injuries caught up to him finally, they lost it. And what have they done since the disastrous 2008 finale? Precisely dick. Unless you believe in UFOs, you realize that Devin Thomas is a joke and Malcolm Kelly's knees are made of peanut brittle and there's no such thing as an NFL offense with two tight end weapons. The cavalry isn't coming from those three.

But inject Vick into a locker room with stable vets and leaders and it's an instant spark. Suddenly you have a guy turning heads in practice, adding that 'wow' factor, that extra ingredient that Randel El was supposed to provide but can't, since he is 5' 2" in real life and was never that good. Sometimes that's all it takes for a football team to make it over the hump.

Now Vinny, get on the phone with the Falcons and send next year's 1st, 3rd, and 5th into oblivion and make this happen. Even if Gooddell doesn't reinstate, what do we have to lose? They're just draft picks.

***

So maybe we had the position thing wrong, and maybe Vick couldn't survive in the Redskin player development wasteland, but he was definitely worth a shot. And apologies to dog lovers, but considering their pasts, I have a harder time rooting for McNabb than I do the Vick resurrection story.

(Image courtesy of www.sportsfanlive.com)

I Told You So

2010-11-18T20:56:00.001-05:00

You know the mark of a true baseball savant? Predicting the Cy Young Award winners in the preseason. Picking the Rockies to win the NL pennant was just my risk-taking side creeping out. You hear that ladies, I'm a risk taker.

Anyway our preseason predictions were nothing special, save for one special line from yours truly:

Cy Young Picks

Rico Fantastic - Felix Hernandez, SEA (AL); Clayton Kershaw, LAD (NL)
Red Rover - Brett Anderson, OAK (AL); Tim Lincecum, SF (NL)
Marion's Crackpipe - Felix Hernandez, SEA (AL); Roy Halladay, PHI (NL)
Iafrate's Baldspot - Jon Lester, BOS (AL); Roy Halladay, PHI (NL)

Victory is mine!

(Image courtesy of blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Quietly.......The Caps are The Best Team in NHL......Again

2010-11-18T14:39:00.010-05:00

Didn't it seem like the Caps started the season with a hangover from the thing I will not mention? That thing is hanging over this year's team and has somehow put a clock on a young team's window of opportunity.

Close games, not completely obliterating the league in historic fashion, have this underachieving team in 1st place.........in the entire NHL. That's right.

We lead the league in points and are 2nd in goal differential.
No surprise, first in goals per game at 3.63
The powerplay that did actually start slow is now up to 7th in the league
The penalty kill that started fast is still 13th in the league

Forget Lebron, last year, we were witnesses. This year hasn't brought the same awesome spectacle....yet, but this team is picking up steam. Don't forget that the Caps didn't lost any key guys from last year, and the majority of the team is at the age when they are improving - the opposite of the Redskins.

The understated excitement for this team probably has a lot to do with the expectation that the Caps will have a high seed in the playoffs, and very little matters until the Spring when past demons could derail this regular season juggernaut. Let's worry about that then, in the meantime, enjoy the ride.

(Image courtesy of cbcsports.ca)

The Thinking Man's Take on the McNabb Contract

2010-11-17T11:59:00.008-05:00

A loss like that almost makes you forget that the Skins made a franchise-altering decision by giving Donovan McNabb an extension. But really, this contract holds much greater importance for the franchise than Michael Vick looking like Bo Jackson in Tecmo Bowl.

Unfortunately for us long suffering fans, this decision is an absolutely awful one, and a reflection that past mistakes are continuing. The idiocy behind this decision goes way deeper than money.

First, I want go back to this summer, when the Skins decided to drop Jason Campbell and trade for McNabb. The Skins stubborn refusal to rebuild seemed poised to change with a new GM and Coach, but as we all know, there is something in the water around Ashburn...and by something in the water I mean Dan Snyder's kool-aid.

The Skins were 4-12, low on draft picks and in obvious of an absolute teardown. Instead? The team decided to trade a 2nd and what I believe will be a 4th round pick for a 33 year-old quarterback who ranked as very mediocre last year. By Football Outsiders metrics, in 2009, McNabb ranked 20th on a per play basis and 16th in total production. By the less telling quarterback rating, McNabb ranked 12th last year. You can sell the leadership angle all you want, but 33 years old and mediocre with declining production is not a good idea. There is no rejuvenation machine.

Meanwhile, the Skins already had a mediocre guy in JC. A 28 year old who in 2009 was 25th on a per play basis, 20th in total production, and 15th in QB rating. Campbell's 2009 numbers are worse than McNabb's, but he was playing with one of the worst supporting casts in the NFL. If you want to bring up McNabb's leadership, then you have to be open to the counter that Campbell might have more growth left in him than the average 28 year old QB, as someone whose literally had to learn a different offense for every of his football life since his freshman year at Auburn. I could go into some guestimating that Campbell and McNabb's respective performances last year were not very different, while Campbell was/is cheaper and younger.

Fortunately, Football Outsiders decided to tackle this very subject the day before the McNabb deal was signed. For those of you without Insider, FO uses 'similarity scores' to find comparable players, and Campbell's 2007-2009 stretch shows a lot of players, "on the verge of something great, or at least prepared for multiyear stretches with high levels of performance." Meanwhile, McNabb's 2007-2009 compares to a bunch of guys who, "were about to see serious downturns in starting time and overall production." These are not 100% predictive measures, but strong indicators. As FO states, "Is McNabb headed for a similar downturn? Prorated to a 16-game schedule, his 2010 stats certainly indicate it." Yeah, we noticed. But wait, there's more,

"The Redskins may have wished for the McNabb who came of age a decade ago, but again, it could be argued that they already had that player and let him go. When running similarity scores for McNabb's three-year period from 2002 through 2004 -- you know, the one that included three conference championships and ended in a Super Bowl -- the comparisons are even more interesting. Behind the Steve McNair of 2001, the second-closest comparison sticks out like a sore thumb: Jason Campbell, 2009."

Wow. It would have been nice to bring this to our attention 8 months ago. You get the impression though that FO's article could have been planted on Snyder's desk this Spring and it wouldn't have made a smidgen of difference.

This is a prime example of the biggest problem with the Redskins in the Snyder era, and that is a refusal to rebuild with youth. It doesn't get more clear cut than the veteran McNabb blocking a younger Campbell. So Campbell may have been slightly worse, but to give up 2 high draft picks and take a 33 year old over a 28 year old is outrageous for a 4-12 team.

That is why this contract's atrocity goes beyond the money. Furthermore, the one thing the the Redskins have done well over the years is manage the salary cap. This team has never really been inhibited in the ability to sign someone to a contract, and continually throws money around. The problem with this team has never been the execution in signing these guys, but rather the plan in going after veterans at the expense of youth and rebuilding. The money the Skins gave McNabb is indeed outrageously high for a player of his caliber, but it doesn't matter.

What does matter is that we are committing to McNabb. I know the Skins have an out after this season, but you are kidding yourself if you think McNabb isn't going to be the starting Redskin QB for at least next season. As FO concludes,

"This situation may not affect the Redskins in the long term; McNabb is scheduled to be a free agent after the 2010 season is done, and he may take his talents elsewhere in the offseason. But if the Redskins actually do succeed in signing McNabb to a long-term deal, past and present trends indicate that it could be a dangerous risk ... and that Campbell may have been the smarter choice all along."

Even worse than being saddled with a bad QB when we had a better and cheaper option in-house, is what this deal shows about the franchise direction: the Redskins are again refusing to admit a mistake and rebuild. We never should have expected otherwise, as Jamie Mottram of MisterIrrelevant.com and Jack Kogod pointed out, 'The McNabb contract was the inevitable conclusion of the McNabb trade.' Admitting a mistake is difficult, especially in an organization with a high turnover rate, but the trade is a sunk cost and this floundering team should cut its losses.

Not only is the rebuild delayed (I know, any chance of a rebuild under Snyder, ever, is optimistic), but as long as McNabb is the QB of this team, we will not be good; the Monday night loss underscored the state of the franchise. What this contract really means is that the next few years will continue to be excruciating if we are not already numb.

(Campbell and McNabb image couresty of inewscatcher.com and McNabb image courtesy of bleacherreport.com)

Hoyas Clear a Hurdle - Wait Who?

2010-11-16T13:00:00.003-05:00

College basketball anyone?

In the shadows of this McNabb character and the doomed Redskin season, the Georgetown Hoyas have gotten off to an important start. 2-0 is nothing to scream about, especially when one of the wins is over Tulane, but the Hoyas went on the road in game #1 and beat a frisky Old Dominion team.

ODU's nickname is the Monarchs, the same as a former WNBA team, so maybe can creep up on people thanks to that (and yes, I was unaware the Monarchs franchise no longer exists until I found that link, cross my heart). But they have been a solid squad for a few years, and were an 11-seed in last year's NCAAs. These same manly Monarchs have been a thorn in the Hoyas side, beating them in 2 of their last 3 meetings, including last year to snap an 8-game Hoyas win streak to start the season, and 2 games after Gtown beat almost-champion Butler.

The manly Monarchs may be down a little this year, but going there on the road and winning is no joke. Sure, an early loss isn't a huge deal, but the Hoyas have a tough out-of-conference schedule this year, where we travel to #14 Missouri, #20 Temple, and #19 Memphis all by December 23rd. There is no Duke on the schedule, but that is a gauntlet. Opening with a loss to ODU could have set a really bad tone and put this team in an irreversible spin.

Given that I completely skipped a preview, here is all you need to know. The Hoyas return everyone except Greg Monroe. Yes, he was the team's best player and a lottery pick, but Austin Freeman, Chris Wright, and Jason Clark are back, and the team might be ever so slightly deeper thanks to some maturing players and the addition of freshman Nate Lubick. Local product Markel Starks and Moses Ayegba (who as a raw semi-unknown African big man sounds like he's the guy from the Air Up There) combine to form the rest of the recruiting class, but neither will see major minutes this year. Preseason awards are beyond stupid, but Freeman is the Big East Preseason Player of the year, and Wright is preseason 2nd team All-Big East. More importantly, the Hoyas are picked to finish 4th in the conference behind #5 Pitt, #6 Villanova, and #10 Syracuse.

So what do I predict for the Hoyas this year? The team is still thin, with no scoring coming from outside the Wright, Freeman, Clark trio, so an injury to any of them would be devastating. I think the #20 ranking sounds about right, which would be a #5 seed in the NCAAs. Just quickly looking at the rankings, I see a few teams ahead of the Hoyas who I don't think are as good as the AP, ESPN, and US Today say they are, but I also am not totally buying Gtown's stock yet. I think they'll be 20-8 overall going into the Big East tournament, which is almost identical to last year's 20-9 record, and get a 5th seed in the tourney. Ho hum.

The bigger picture is that Wright, Freeman, and Julian Vaughn are all seniors, so next year's team looks awful, with Clark the only surefire good player. Unless Lubick makes a sudden dramatic improvement, this program will take a major step backward, as the recruiting class is not highly ranked while St. John's, 'Cuse, Louisville, and Rutgers (?) all have top-20 classes right now.

JT3's work the past couple seasons has left a little something to be desired, so a step backward could be a major problem. He will get plenty of slack, but this program can't go into a multi-year swoon. I think the Hoyas' performance this season could have a far-reaching impact on JT3 and the team's immediate next few season; an underachieving season just can't happen.

(Image courtesy of washingtonpost.com)

Week 10: Eagles 59, Redskins 28: Knee Jerk Reactions

2010-11-15T23:58:00.002-05:00

Football's regular season is past the halfway point! The hair pulling, TV-screaming, remote control throwing and furious cigarette smoking have aged me about 9 years in these 9 games. Before I let rationality cloud my judgment, here are my knee-jerk reactions from the ninth game of the season:

Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......

The McNabb contract made me the opposite of speechless, and that game was beyond words.

I wish I blacked out today. I will post more extensively on the horror that is the McNabb contract, but combining that 'thing' with the loss that puts us a longshot for the playoffs is a lot for one fan in one day. I know it was defensive issues that doomed this team tonight, but re-signing McNabb is basically committing to more of the same.

Hey we held them under 600 yards. We can build on this!
Through 3 quarters, Philly averaged 10.2 yards per play.
What happened to the idea that good coaches thrive after a bye week?
I couldn't wait to hear Matt Millen's take on the McNabb contract. I was giddy.
4-5 is one thing, another is that the Eagles and Giants are looking pretty good, and we likely will have to catch at least one of them to get in the playoffs.
McNabb through 3 quarters, 75.2 qb rating. Nothing is changing. For 3 more years.
Jerome Harrison was practically given away by Cleveland and is probably better than any RB on our roster.
Is it beating a dead horse bringing up the Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly vs. DeSean Jackson point, right?
I came up with a positive though for not drafting DeSean Jackson.Stay with me......we didn't draft him because we had Santana Moss, and didn't want 2 players with identical skill sets. Well, we likely wouldn't have given Brandon Banks a shot if Jackson was on the roster, and Banks is just about all that brings me Redskin joy these days. No counter-arguments please.
I don't recall seeing FedEx that empty for a regular season game at any point.
I guess the bright side is that the Eagles may be much better than most realize, they were Football Outsiders' #2 team coming into this week. They will be #1 for next week.
The Skins were FO's #22 team. We will drop.
To reiterate, the story is not just the Skins sucking, but the Eagles joining the Giants as too good for the Skins to past. We aren't making the playoffs.
I guess Orakpo could've gotten hurt, so it could have been a worse day.
Hey, Todd McShay's 1st mock draft is out! Offseason champions! Where's Herm Edwards?!? We can build on this!

(Image courtesy of www.sportsnewscaster.com)

Why Statistics Get a Bad Name, and D******* Hall Has a Good One

2010-11-13T01:15:00.000-05:00

Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of WaPo's Redskins Insider as the best news source on the Skins, and am excited about the idea of having a 'statistician' post on the blog about once a week, but an idea is just that. The stat guy's name is Brian Burke (not that Brian Burke) and although he has his own site and I generally appreciate the blog is moving in a good direction by using stats, Burke's post from today is asinine.

He picks the Skins defensive players 'helping the team the most.' He uses a stat called "+WPA", which is basically a measure of how much a playmaker a guy is. To Burke's credit, he notes on his site that, "...there are the "gamblers," players who shoot gaps when they should be reading the play or cornerbacks who jump pass routes when they should stay in position. Certainly, +WPA would be biased in favor of these types of players." Fine, except his post today literally says, "Time to look at the MVPs on defense."

So he has Vonnie Holiday as the MVP of the DL (his mere presence on the team is a whole 'nother post), LFB as the MVP of the linebackers, Dirty 30 as the top safety in the entire NFL.....okay, nothing crazy there.....and then this tidbit:

"And that brings us to DeAngelo Hall, whose first eight games of the season defy words. With 9 passes defended, 1 forced fumble, 2 tackles for losses, and 6 interceptions -- not to mention a fumble recovery returned for touchdown -- Hall has totaled 2.00 +WPA. Needless to say, he leads the league. The closest other cornerback is Charles Woodson of the Packers with 1.31 +WPA. Woodson is closer to the 22nd-ranked cornerback than he is to Hall. That's how amazing Hall's 2010 has been so far."

I feel like I just got punched in the brain. Hall has never been nearly as good as his reputation, and metrics should be used for the good of pointing out such a misconception. Yes, the guy is a playmaker, and it is very likely he has been the top 'playmaking' CB in the NFL - he even won that Chicago game for us with 4 INTs. But to say his season has been amazing is just absurd. In fact, he has been really bad, and grossly outplayed by Carlos Rogers. Hall does not shadow each team's #1, and is not across from an elite CB, yet there is a reason teams continually throw at him.......he's not good. I have heard over radio, but am having trouble finding online, that Football Outsiders game charters have Hall as possibly theee worst CB in the NFL so far this year. I found confirmation that he has been the most thrown at player in the league so far, and I also heard that he has the lowest success rate in stopping throws against him

The Usual Work of D******* Hall

To recap, teams are targeting Hall often and with great success.

You know why Nnamdi Asomugha never gets 6 INTs through 8 games? Because he is so good (and partly the Raiders stupid for only playing him on one side of the field) that he was only thrown at 28 times last season. 28 times! To match Hall's raw numbers, and using 14 targets in 8 games, Asomugha would have had to intercept almost 1/2 of the passes thrown his way, and breakup the rest. Hall's season does not defy words, he just stinks at his job while being a tremendous ballhawk, and thus equates out to be a 'boom or bust' player. Not only are these types of players less valuable than those who are consistent (Rogers), but Hall is having waaay too many 'busts' this year despite the high number of highlights

But Hall can't be that bad you say? Burke makes the point in his +WPA explanation that, "...if their gambles were really hurting a team, I doubt they'd be given much slack and playing time by their coaches." Burke needs to become better acquainted with the Redskins franchise under Dan Snyder; we don't just give them playing time, we give them fat contracts.

(Image courtesy of footballhunger.com)

John Wall Wishes he Had What Lester Hudson Has

2010-11-11T02:13:00.000-05:00

6 games, 1 almost triple-double, and one kind of almost quadruple-double. I think it's safe to say John Wall is adapting to the NBA pretty well.

For those of you who aren't watching Wall, he is must-see TV. The Gamechanger couldn't be more appropriate. He has had his downs, but he has also been the dominant player in 2 of his 6 games, which not-coincidentally are also the only 2 wins the Wizards have so far.

But tonight was special. Wall was everywhere, just a constant pest on defense while controlling everything on offense. His final line: 19 points, 13 assists, 10 rebounds, 6 steals, and 1 turnover. Yes, that is a triple-double, and 4 steals away from a quadruple-double. Trust me, those 4 steals seemed very obtainable the way Wall was playing, but even so, I thought he'd have to be as close as almost anyone has ever come to a quadruple-double.

I did some research and there have been 4 quadruple-doubles in NBA history, and one as recently as 1994. I am surprised there have been that many and even more surprised that 8 guys have come within 1 assist, rebound, or steal of the feat. Larry Bird is one of those 8, and in that performance sat out the 4th quarter!, wow. Hakeem Olajuwon is 1 assist away from having performed the feat twice. Good lord. So maybe John Wall's night wasn't that special.

I did a little more digging and there has only been 1 quadruple-double ever recorded in Men's Div. 1 NCAA basketball. No, not Pistol Pete, Shaq, Oscar Robinson, etc......Lester freaking Hudson. Yes, the same Lester Hudson who occupies the end of the lowly Wizards bench.Of all people...

Lester Preparing for His Role in the NBA

So much for Wall's night being historic other than being the 3rd youngest player to record a triple-double, and 6th fastest player to do it in terms of games played. More importantly though, Wall was electric and clearly looked capable of being the superstar the Wiz need. There will be more triple-doubles and wins to come, and at the rate Wall dishes assists and collects steals, a quadruple-double at some point isn't such a crazy possibility.

(Wall image courtesy of washingtonpost.com, Hudson image courtesy of celticsblog.com)

Cleveland Jocks Lebron

2010-11-10T08:28:00.000-05:00

I am a huuuge fan of the original Nike one, but here is a redux courtesy of the scorned sports wasteland:

Had some trouble getting the video to fit our fancy formatting, but it never gets old seeing someone else hate LBJ after us Wizards fans were first on the bandwagon.

Brandon Banks Gets No Love, and Then Gets Hurt

2010-11-08T00:54:00.002-05:00

When my favorite Redskin Brandon Banks put on the greatest return performances I have ever seen against the Detroit Lions last week, including a kickoff return TD, it appeared a mere formality that he would be named NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. And then, there was silence....

I didn't think much of it, but for a mediocre team and an awesome player, a normally crappy award actually could give us fans some excitement. Not a peep though from Redskins Insider or anywhere, so I did about 8 seconds of research and discovered that Green Bay Packers punter Tim Masthay was actually the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week....what!?!

I did about 5 minutes more research on who votes on this award, and haven't found anything. Masthay put 5 of his 8 punts inside the 20, and the Jets had 0 punt return yards against him, but come on, a 41.5 yard net average indicates that he wasn't kicking superhuman distances. Does anyone know who picks these awards? Is it one guy, or is it a committee of idiots? Going through the play-by-play, here are the big plays from the Gamebreaker:

46 yard KO return to Detroit territory
24 yard punt return to Detroit territory
95 yard KO return TD nullified by penalty
35 yard punt return to Detroit territory
96 yard KO return TD

Even excluding the TD that never was, those are 4 huuuge plays and way bigger than 5 punts inside the 20. Plus, the dude's a punter...

Alas, my boy Banks will not get to avenge this wrongdoing next week as word is out that he somehow sustained an injury and had minor knee surgery this week. Great, grand, wonderful. The good news is he may only miss 1 game. The bad news is Redskin games will get even more boring as there goes the Redskin 'offense'.

In other news, the Caps are on a 4 game win streak and now have the best record in the Eastern Conference.

(Image courtesy of DC Sports Bog)

Week 8: Lions 37, Redskins 25: Knee Jerk Reactions

2010-10-31T20:28:00.001-04:00

Football's regular season is at the halfway point! The hair pulling, TV-screaming, remote control throwing and furious cigarette smoking are in full swing. Before I let rationality cloud my judgment, here are my knee-jerk reactions from the eighth game of the season:

This one was depressing all the way through, the only exciting parts were the kick and punt returns by either team. This one is also costly in a season where we will need to scratch and claw our way to 9-7.

Brandon Banks put on the best return show I have ever watched. They should name the NFC special teams player of the week award after him. I don't think anyone would mind, although maybe someone like Morten Anderson would be furious.
Brandon Banks not doing the John Wall dance on the TD that was called back was a crushing blow for me, but watching the wee man squeak a 'dunk' over the goalpost was a solid consolation prize. Then of course my man came through with the John Wall on the TD that counted.
In the competition for my favorite Redskin there is Brandon Banks, and then there is everyone else.
What do you think the score would have been if Banks and Stefan Logan had average days? 3-0?
Brandon Banks is going to have a costly fumble at some point.
Joey Galloway provides absolutely nothing. I still can't believe Devin Thomas in the exact same role couldn't replicate that production.http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=301031013
D******* Hall earned my praise last week, but had what can almost be called a typical game for him. Sure he got on Sportscenter with the endzone interception, but Football Outsiders game tracking (heard this and can't find the numbers now) as the CB with the most passes completed against, and the lowest success rate of stopping passes thrown at him. Basically teams are throwing at Hall more often and with more success than any other CB in the league.
I am dead serious when I ask why not try him at WR?
Keiland Williams...not bad
The O-line looked awful. Rabach is finished, but we also need to get at least 1 young good guard in the offseason. Torain getting 10 yards on 9 carries is all you need to know.
For all of you who want Sexy Rexy to play, and yes, there are many of these people now....well, be careful what you wish for. McNabb's greatest strength this year, in my opinion, has been that he avoids fumbling the ball away despite facing plenty of pressure.
I hate McNabb, but benching him during what is now a standard mediocre performance to put on the ice cold Sexy Rexy for the crucial drive is nuts.
My favorite graphic of the day was Fox showing McNabb's game-by-game QB ratings and saying he's been up and down.......ehhhh a 75 rating is not 'up'.
With today being what is now a normal day for D-Mac, and although I've heard Grossman looks great in practice, let's not forget Sexy Rexy's career QB rating is under 70.
Jason Campbell had another good game for a Raiders team that now has the same record as the Skins.
Fat Albert looked like an older Ndama%^&(* Suh.
37 points to the Lions?!?

(Image courtesy of washingtonpost.com)

The Team Formerly Known as the Senators in the World Series

2010-10-26T06:30:00.007-04:00

The World Series starts tomorrow, and all I care is that New York and Philly are out, so who to root for? Well, to drop a little knowledge on you, the Texas Rangers were once the Washington Senators. For those of you too lazy to click the link, the Senators existed from 1891-1899, took a 1 year hiatus, and then were back in DC from 1901-1960, before moving to Dallas and becoming the Texas Rangers. A new Senators franchise then came to DC in 1961, and lasted until 1971 before moving to Minnesota to become the Twins. So what does this all mean? Well, the Kirby Pucket Twins won a world series, but for the team that was a running joke, maybe some kind of weird curse is being lifted.....or maybe DC really is the worst sports city.

I wish I got to make jokes about Josh Hamilton falling off the wagon during a postgame champagne celebration (yes, I know they used ginger ale) and Ron Washington dying to get a 'sniff' every time the game gets tense (or boring). What does this mean for your rooting interest? I have no idea.

Week 7: Redskins 17, Bears 14: Knee Jerk Reactions

2010-10-25T00:16:00.001-04:00

Football season is almost at the halfway point! The hair pulling, TV-screaming, remote control throwing and furious cigarette smoking are in full swing. Before I let rationality cloud my judgment, here are my knee-jerk reactions from the seventh game of the season:

Lucky anybody? In a game that will be remembered for turnovers, the Redskins fumbled 6 times and only lost 1 of them. Not to mention McNabb's 2nd pick-6 that was called back only for McNabb's miscue of letting the play clock run out, and Jay Cutler's goal line fumble looked like a game-winning (losing?) TD to me. I watched this one in an NYC bar so didn't get to full appreciate(?) this one, so will keep this relatively brief.

I should probably give credit to D******* Hall and I will, he had an incredible game showing the playmaker he is; I seriously considered typing his first name.
I will stop there though, because one must remember that truly elite cornerbacks almost never even have the chance for 4 INTs because they are thrown at so infrequently. For example, Nnamdi Asomugha was targeted on average about 1.5 times per game last year by Football Outsiders stat tracking, whereas Hall is getting targeted constantly playing across from Carlos Rogers.
Hall is also the 12th highest paid player in the league this season, ahead of Asomugha and Darrelle Revis.
Those INTs do make up for a lot of completions, and I believe vault him into the NFL lead for INTs this season.
Hall was tied for Cutler's 2nd leading receiver, behind only Johnny Knox's 6 catches.
Hall isn't great at covering, but clearly has amazing hands......can he play WR?

McNabb was bad again, meanwhile Jason Campbell quarterbacked the Raiders to 59(!) points.
Sure glad we didn't trade the house for Cutler before last season.
We are a New York Giants loss in Dallas away from being in 1st place again.
Rak is currently tied for 3rd in the league in sacks, and on pace for 16 this season. I kid you not when I say I expected more than that coming into the season.
Tana and Cooley keep chugging along, each having a great season while no one else steps up.
Remember the time against the Colts when Fat Albert didn't play and we were one play away from winning the game? At least 3 great plays today and a reminder why the Skins were the #1 1-yard-to-go defense last year.

Flying Fat Albert to 'Stop' Cutler

We have already matched last year's win total, but given how much this team has mortgaged for this season, we want and need a lot more.
In what may be the most parity driven season in NFL history, where the pathetic Bills can almost beat the preseason Super Bowl favorite Ravens, the Skins just might have a chance.

(Hall image courtesy of www.suntimes.com, Haynesworth image courtesy of DC Sports Bog)

Redskins Fans: Hold Your Heads Up High

2010-10-21T14:48:00.000-04:00

Where are the Skins in the NFC East standings right now? As the Skins have slid to 3rd place in the division, at least we can holds our heads up high as true fans, and not some front-runners like many of those supporting our rivals:

This reminds me of a time when Dallas had Super Bowl aspirations and then limped out to a 1-4 start, managing more unsportsmanlike endzone celebration penalties than wins in the process.

So where are the Skins in the standings right now? Ahead of Dallas.

Redskins Fun By The Numbers

2010-10-19T20:55:00.003-04:00

A little trip down memory lane......I definitely do not miss swinging gate...gate. Anyway, as we near the halfway point of the NFL season. I decided to take a look at some the stats to get an idea of how good the Skins have played, and also just some 'whaddya know' figures.

Record: 3-3 = .500 = mediocrity
Point differential: -9
Offensively, rank 15th in total yards per game, 25th in rushing yards per game, and 9th in passing yards per game. We are 20th in points scored per game.
Defensively, rank 32nd out of 32 teams (dead last) in yards per game, 31st in passing yards per game, and 24th in rushing yards per game.We are 14th in points against per game.
Football Outsiders metrics have us as the 19th best team in the league through 6 weeks. FO also has the Skins as the 16th best offense, 23rd best defense, and 15th best special teams.
Chris Wilson has 5 solo tackles and 3 forced fumbles. No, this does not mean if he starts he would force at least 3 fumbles per game. In related news, Roddy White has forced 2 fumbles, and so does Ryan Lindell?!?
Brandon Lloyd leads the league in receiving yards. Wai...wha!?! He's averaging 110.5 yards per game.
Santana Moss in on pace for 99 catches and 1,293 yards, which would be his best season since 2005, his first one in DC.
Chris Cooley is on pace for 75 catches and 907 yards, which would be the best season of his career. The concussion will affect that line, but in closing, Pro Bowl.
Joey Galloway is on pace for 21 catches and 371 yards.
LaRon Landry leads the league in tackles, London Fletcher is 3rd, and D******* Hall is 13th. Hmm, you think teams might be picking on him? Hall has 43% more tackles than the next-highest CB.
Brian Orakpo is on pace for 13 sacks, tied for 9th in the league.
Devin Thomas is (was?) 8th in the league in kickoff return average.
In his limited attempts, Brandon Banks is 2nd in the league in punt return average.

My new favorite NFL player. Notice how they talk right over his head.

Antwaan Randle-El is dead last in punt return average amongst players with 7 or more punt returns.
Donovan McNabb has the 24th best passer rating in the league, at 78.8.
Jason Campbell's passer ratings the last 2 seasons were 86.4 and 84.3.
McNabb is behind both Michael Vick and Kevin Kolb in QB rating, YPA, and interception rate.
FO's metrics have not been updated to account for this past weekend's games, but going into the weekend, had McNabb as the 10th best quarterback overall so far (by DYAR), and as the 12th best on a per-play basis (DVOA).
McNabb's performance level thusfar by metrics is similar to that of Joe Flacco and Carson Palmer last year. His mediocre performance against a bad defense indicates that his numbers will decline after the week 6 stats are included though.

For all the 'we should be 4-2' talk, the Skins have really played like a 3-3 or 2-4 team. McNabb has been mediocre, and the team has managed to stay relatively healthy; the offense would be a wasteland without Tana or D-Mac. The bright side is that 5 of our 6 remaining non-division games are against teams ranked lower than us in FO's metrics, so if we can just keep up current form and sneak out another game out of our 4 remaining divisional contests, we could be playoff bound.

(Image courtesy of washingtonpost.com)

Week 6: Colts 27, Redskins 24: Knee Jerk Reactions

2010-10-18T00:03:00.000-04:00

Football season is nearing the halfway point! The hair pulling, TV-screaming, remote control throwing and furious cigarette smoking are in full swing. Before I let rationality cloud my judgment, here are my knee-jerk reactions from the sixth game of the season:

One of 4 dropped INTs

One the one hand I never should have doubted we would take this to the wire. On the other hand, I have had this one in the loss column ever since the schedule came out, so this doesn't hurt that bad. It's late and I have a Mad Men finale to attend to, so without further adieu here are my other thoughts:

Adam Vinatieri
McNabb was the same as ever, just no big plays. He is very mediocore - FO had him as the 10th best quarterback going into this week, and on a per play basis has been equivalent to Vince Young. I'll still take that 2nd round pick back......
Colts just dominated us, but made a lot of mistakes, 5 fumbles, 3 near Manning INTs, and Vinatieri missing a FG inside 40 yards.
Did they throw Justin Tryon out there on a kick return just to rub it in our faces that we shouldn't have cut him?
I think we needed Fat Albert more than ever today. Yes, I know his conditioning is suspect, but how about the fake injuries? I am dead serious when I say that a couple fake injuries might have done wonders for our D.
I am tired of hearing that our defense isn't awful, because it is. Bend but don't break sounds okay, but keeps our offense off the field. This business with us being good in the red zone is likely fluky and a trend that won't continue given that our defense stick all over the rest of the field.
Make no mistake, Peyton Manning is the best player in the NFL. In addition to just being good throwing the ball, his excellence in calling the offense and protection means that he literally makes every player on his offense much better. Addai seemed to have a nice game, but that was because Manning's passing forced the Skins into nickel/dime D, and only then was Addai deployed in full.
Ryan Torain>Clinton Portis
Silverback has played well under with some tough matchups, but the injuries and now penalties are a concern. He is going to make a run at the title of most penalized player at this rate. He's averaging more than 1 holding call per game I'm pretty sure.
Call be a believer, but the Bears are a team we should beat without going down to the last play.

(Image courtesy of www.statesman.com)

Week 5: Redskins 16, Packers 13: Knee Jerk Reactions

2010-10-11T02:30:00.001-04:00

Football season is past the quarter pole! The hair pulling, TV-screaming, remote control throwing and furious cigarette smoking is in full swing. Before I let rationality cloud my judgment, here are my knee-jerk reactions from the fifth game of the season:

Did we really just fell a giant? What is going on? Forget giving up after halftime, I definitely had this penned into the loss column for a few months. I figured it was all bad after going backwards 23 yards from the Packer 20 on our first drive and punting instead of getting any points. So they were missing half their team, we are in 1st place after 5 games with a very manageable schedule. Wai, wha? On to the other notes:

Muscles Landry is making the Pro Bowl.
Joey Galloway is a joke, just a waste. Devin Thomas really wouldn't have been better?
On that note, at the end of last year didn't we have a pretty awesome young TE who once overslept his alarm? What happened to that guy because we could definitely use some pass catching help.
Ryan Torain, meh.
I really don't know if the defense was good or lucky.
We drafted Dallas Sartz (USC LB) with the pick I wanted us to take Mason Crosby.
Fortunately, Graham Gano makes me feel pretty confident.
Anthony Armstrong still doesn't make me feel very confident.
Brandon Banks is my favorite player effective immediately.
Clay Matthews being out was huuuuge. McNabb was a sitting duck at the end of the game, but the Pack pass rush was not nearly as scary without Fabio.
Rak almost literally does get held on every play. I used to say it, but replays of a pass rushes where he had the edge showed he literally got held every time.
For all our love of Rak, let's not forget we drafted him out of position and could have Clay Matthews right now at a cheaper price, or Brian Cushing and his roids.
Jordy Nelson was someone the Skins considered drafting instead of Devin Thomas and/or Malcolm Kelly...and I don't even have to finish this sentence...
McNabb was not good today, I don't care what the stats show. That long throw to Armstrong was off by about 15 yards - Armstrong was buck naked and McNabb almost turned it into an incompletion.
McNabb played his best when he seemed the most hurt - no idea what to make of that.
No Ovechkin Capital One commercial, not acceptable.
The Redskins go to the last play every week, the Caps win 7-2.

(Image courtesy of bleacherreport.com)

Redskins-Packers TBD.com Live Chat

2010-10-10T11:43:00.000-04:00

Once again (forgot to post the link last week), I'll be participating in the TBD.com livechat for the game. I think that means I'll play a bigger role in this game than Devin Thomas....zing! Check it out: Redskins-Packers Livechat.

(Image courtesy of bigtanktv.blogspot.com)

Clinton Portis Wants to Coach....the Lingerie League

2010-10-05T20:53:00.001-04:00

In his weekly appearance on the Mike Wise Show on 106.7 today, Portis was on a roll describing the intimate details of his groin injury, but the real gem came when he was asked about which other DC teams he was following,

"I think there's a women league starting up that I need to start paying attention, that Lingerie Football League, I think that can cause a lot of attention and stir around, so I'm trying to figure out how to coach or buy one of those teams.

Yes please.

(Image courtesy of misterirrelevant.com via picsdigger.com. Verbatim quote courtesy of DC Sports Bog)

What to John Wall and Charles Barkley Have in Common?

2010-10-05T01:37:00.001-04:00

They created my 2 favorite DC sports moments on Sunday (other than the Redskins stomping the Iggles). Chuck said he was going to wear a Skins jersey in Philly, and he came through:

As the Round Mound of Rebound said, "It's called karma. It's called karma, Howard. You know, Donovan has never been treated good and it's just karma. It's just, like, the football gods are gonna rise up -- they're gonna RISE up -- and this is gonna get the Redskins season started."

While the Skins were busy warming up, John Wall was turning an inter-squad scrimmage into his personal playground:

Sweet sassy molassy, reminds me of his high school highlight video. And for good measure, here is the hit Mike Shanahan described as, "...One of the best hits I've been around since I've been in the NFL. I mean, that was an explosion on the sidelines. So that was very, very special."

(Barkley image and Lorenzo Alexander video courtesy of the Redskins Blog, and Wall video courtesy of DC Sports Bog)

Week 4: Redskins 17, Eagles 12: Knee Jerk Reactions

2010-10-04T01:49:00.001-04:00

Football season is already at the quarter pole! The hair pulling, TV-screaming, remote control throwing and furious cigarette smoking is in full swing. Before I let rationality cloud my judgment, here are my knee-jerk reactions from the fourth game of the season:

First place?......First Place! Hey, they all count the same right? I know it's only 2-2, but we are a 1/4 of the way through the regular season and 1/3 of the way through our divisional games. So what we'll get trucked by the Packers next week? Let's enjoy it while it lasts.

Our offensive line just manhandled them in the first quarter. Amazing considering we have Stephon Heyer still playing LT - we should only get better with Silverback out there. I think Lichtensteqwalknasdf's starting spot is safe for awhile.
I think Skins are at our best in the 1st quarter team and have been for several years. I'd love to see some stats on this.
That was not a planned commitment to the run. That was us getting a lead and holding it like a real offense.....makes me feel all mushy inside.
The first half flew by literally timewise, but the 2nd half was an abomination. Given that we had a 2-score lead, it could not have been much more boring - I just wanted to nap until Philly got within 1 score.
I doubt Philly's inability to throw downfield was a result of excellent coverage. I get the feeling Kolb was tentative, and the Skins also gave him tons of room underneath.
Andre Carter lost his starting job to Lorenzo Alexander and played with his hand in the dirt waaaay more than any he has in other games and looked good doing it. You know why? Because he's a defensive end!!!!!! Hey Haslett, how about we put our players in the best position to succeed!!!!!
Very interesting defense by Haslett in the 2nd half. We basically let them throw underneath and didn't blitz much. It was like we went into a prevent with a 17-6 lead and stayed in one even though our offense was impotent after the first quarter.
Portis went looking for contact on his first run, that had to be fueled by a week of piling on by the media and fans. He looked pretty good today, but even though he had a little shake, he still doesn't have anything close to the speed of his Denver days.
Ryan Torain does not suck and I have no problem with a 2-headed backfield.
Why is Byron Westbrook the guy holding the kickoff? He is possibly our best special teamer and maybe the last guy on the field I'd want holding that ball and not getting a chance to get downfield. In closing, fire Danny Smith.
Josh Bidwell is trying to hurt me.
Amazing that we could run ARE out there for punt returns for so long when guys like Brandon Banks are freely available.
The Rams won again, too bad this isn't the BCS where you get credit for quality losses.
McNabb has not been good thusfar, but I will give him credit for two things: using his legs, and avoiding turnovers.
That said, his running out of bounds instead of sliding on our last drive could have cost us the game. He gave the Iggles an extra 40 seconds.
D-Mac also gave this badass post game speech, "We are #1 in the NFC and we're gonna stay up there." Well maybe not after the Green Bay-Indy combo we face the next 2 weeks, but the sentiment is appreciated.

(Image courtesy of foxsports.com)

Funny Danny Redskins Videos Through 3 Weeks

2010-10-01T01:07:00.000-04:00

Here is some goodness to tide you over until Sunday:

Win and we're in 1st place, let's do this!

Week 3: Rams 30, Redskins 16: Knee Jerk Reactions

2010-09-26T23:15:00.001-04:00

Football season is here! The hair pulling, TV-screaming, remote control throwing and furious cigarette smoking is in full swing. Before I let rationality cloud my judgment, here are my knee-jerk reactions from the third game of the season:

Ummm, I told you so? Not sure what else to say, but this is a huuuuge loss. Sure, maybe fans will drink the Kool-Aid and say we're only a game back of Philly and playing them next week, but we have some major problems on our hands, mainly that we just lost to a team that was 1-27 in their last 28 games!!! After going 1-15 last year, with their only win over the pathetic Lions, they already lost to Arizona and Oakland, 2 of the NFL's worst teams this year. So where does this leave the Skins? You guessed it, pretty much where Football Outsiders had us pegged coming into this game, as maybe the 25th best team in the league.

Other quick thoughts, and I apologize in advance for the excessive amount of exclamation points:

Is it too soon to start the Urban Meyer countdown? We'll take his roster too.
The #1 culprit is the defense. 365 yards by the Steven Jackson-less Rams?!? Hey, I have a great idea is, let's take the Skins best unit for years that is solidly built for success in a 4-3 defense, and make everyone switch positions.....Andre Carter and the D-line are struggling, which is crazy, because arguably the best defensive player in the NFL is on our team and playing a role that makes him just another dude. I though the defense would regress while adjusting this year, but not fall off of a cliff. Jim Haslett has talent at his disposal, so there is not much of an excuse.
Special teams has not been much better. A blocked punt, and just when I was starting to like Graham Gano, he sends the opening kickoff out of bounds.
McNabb was not good enough. I know Campbell got benched in Oakland, but this trade is not looking good. Take off your sweet rose-tinted shades and see that McNabb is we thought he was, an aging, expensive, mediocre QB. So maybe he gives the Skins 2 more wins from last year (and that's removing the contributions of Shanahan and several others) and we go 6-10 this year. Well la-dee-freakin-da! Can we get our draft picks back?
I didn't think there could be anything better than the Red Zone channel until I found old NBA dunk contest replays on the NBA HD channel.
Clinton Portis, sliding, are you kidding?!? He just surrendered what would have been at least 2 more yards. That play didn't directly appear to get him benched, but maybe it did.
Our inability to get 7 points instead of 3 might have cost us the game. What happened to Fred Davis in the red zone?
Stephon Heyer needs to get sniped so the Skins don't continue to make the mistake of thinking he is an NFL-caliber lineman.
Another point on McNabb is that even with injuries on the o-line today, the protection and personnel blocking for him was better than anything Campbell got last year; Jammal Brown and Artis Hicks have been major upgrades.
I am not sure if it was the Rams inability to throw downfield, but despite 2 huge missed tackles, Kareem Moore appears to be a nice upgrade over Reed Doughty. Any more missed tackles like those and I will change my mind, but the coverage issues for Doughty were a big liability. So now we only have to fix the d-line, linebackers, and corners........
The offseason will be interesting. The long list of positional needs is: RB, WR, C, OG, OLB, and DE.
The schedule is still easy, and our division is still ripe for the taking. I wouldn't be shocked to see us beat Philly, but I also wouldn't be shocked to see us go 4-12 again.

(Image courtesy of www.kansascity.com)

Redskins-Rams Live Chat on TBD.com

2010-09-26T17:55:00.000-04:00

I should have posted this earlier, but for anyone looking for some lively in-game chatter for the Skins game today, definitely check out the TBD.com Live Chat. Yours truly is participating.

What You Don't Realize about the Redskins - We Still Stink

2010-09-23T21:58:00.001-04:00

While everyone keeps talking about McNabb's greatness and our pathetic running game, the horrid performance of the defense is being completely overlooked. I know we seemed to hold the Cowboys, but we are dead last in total yards against, giving up 453 yards per game! This mostly comes from having the 2nd-worst passing D in the league. Here is my imaginary exchange with everyone drinking the kool-aid.

The Skins are middle of the league in terms of points allowed thanks to holding the Cowboys and even scored a defensive TD!
That is a product of luck. Football Outsiders (FO) makes the point clear by ranking us as the #31 defense, with the #30 pass D and #24 run D...ouch. That defensive TD thing is a fact, but also pure luck. I thought our defense would take a step back after last season thanks to the switch to a 3-4 and the fact that the scheme is not a great fit with our personnel. I should also note that any grandiose ideas D******* Hall has about being on the level of Revis are just absurd. He might be our best cornerback, and certainly putting him, instead of Phil Buchanon, on Andre Johnson in certain situations would have helped, but he is not elite by an measure except in ego.

So what, we are in first place and obviously heading to the Super Bowl behind heroic D-Mac's heroics!
FO actually has us as the #25 ranked team overall! The reason that is possible is because the Cowboys outplayed us in week 1, but lost because of several mistakes and unlucky plays. The offense has indeed improved, but it is not clear how much just yet.

Well at least we can beat the Rams!
Not so fast, we are actually going up against FO's #23 team, and on the road. It should be noted if you combine FO's preseason projections with actual performance, we come out as the #13 team in the league, so we have that going for us.

It's only 2 games into the season, so who knows what will happen!
Fair enough, we are only 2 games into the season, but don't be surprised if we lose on Sunday and are headed for a 6-10 season......not that we ever get our hopes up.....

(Image courtesy of media.timesleader.com)

Grandmama Leaves the Building!

2010-09-21T22:38:00.011-04:00

Hallelujah! The Redskins finally admitted a mistake today and cut RB Larry Johnson. Maybe the offensive line isn't producing holes for the running game, but fact is that Larry Johnson stinks. A s I wrote when we signed him,

"...LJ is even worse than most people realize. How bad? By Football Outsiders' metrics, he was the 2nd worst RB in the league last year! He was 64th out of 65 RBs with 100+ carries. On the bright side, he was the the 97th best pass-catching RB, although he was really only ahead of a few fullbacks. So instead of following the seemingly smart plan used by the Eagles, Chargers, and few other teams of taking a young RB to groom and split carries, we basically signed a locker room cancer who might be the worst at his position in the league."

You're damn right I just quoted myself. See that picture in the top right? LJ looks pretty slick there but is actually running backwards for what would be a 10 yard loss. He appears to think very highly of himself and is a world-class dick on top of his pathetic performance.

I know he only had 5 carries, which is a tiny sample size, but has already been the 3rd worst RB in the league on a per play basis. There is no fountain of youth, LJ was a horrifically bad signing from the start. His roster spot should have been used on a better player (just about anyone) who is young with some upside.

The running game can only go up from here, and almost anyone taking LJ's place will be an improvement. Good riddance!

(Image courtesy of www.washingtonpost.com)

Week 2: Texans 30 - Redskins 27: Knee Jerk Reactions

2010-09-19T17:42:00.043-04:00

Football season is finally upon us! The hair pulling, TV-screaming, remote control throwing and furious cigarette smoking has finally commenced. Before I let rationality cloud my judgment, here are my knee-jerk reactions from the second game of the season:

31, 9, 11, 16, 25, 23. I only wish those were the Redskin point-scoring totals of our last 6 games. Those are actually the rankings of the Redskins special teams from 2004-2009, the years Danny Smith has been in charge. Let me throw another number at you: 9. That's the Skins special teams ranking in the year before he arrived. How does Danny Smith still have a job?!? Just because he seems so peppy, but the special teams have only gotten worse since he arrived, and generally been awful. Instead of slowly bleeding us to death, we got stabbed in the heart. I know that the blocked FG was not the only play to cost us the game, but seriously, enough is enough. Dan Snyder, in his infinite wealth, could lure just about any guy he wants, but sticks with Danny freaking Smith, astounding.

Double-move and D******* Hall were victimized pretty equally today. Kevin Walter wrecked double-move.
Rak has to do more than that. I know they doubled him quite a bit, but other than the one sack he seemed pretty quiet to me. The stats show a couple QB hits, a TFL, and the one pass he tipped, but he wasn't the constant terror we need.
Laron Landry had a modest 11 tackles, but still had a great game. I only see 1 sack in the stats, but thought he had 2. I noted that he did missed plugging a hole on one of Foster's better runs, but made a lot of important tackles and has all over Schaub.
The corpse of Joey Galloway ghosted downfield on that 62 yard reception and the oh-so-slight McNabb overthrow. That is the good, but 3 catches in 7 targets is not, and those 4 incompletions were among only 10 thrown by McNabb.
I was in Portis' corner, but this has to get better. We win that game if we can run down the clock with a few first downs on the ground.
Larry Johnson really thinks he can bounce backward and then around the entire defense?
I thought we all agreed McNabb wouldn't throw to Mike Sellers anymore.
I am still not a big McNabb believer, and he missed a few throws today, but Campbell never makes any of those long throws.
On the game-deciding 4th down play, how about we double team the best WR in the league with the best guys we've got instead of leaving the short white guy who can't cover on him. I realize Phillip Buchanon should have been there, but why is our #3 corner on Andre Johnson!
Free safety is a major area of concern. Doughty and Horton are not good enough.
Trent Williams better be okay. I was surprised the Texans didn't switch Mario Williams to going against Heyer on the left side on every play after the injury.
Ovie in this Capital One commercial definitely is helping me stay sane:

The TV show Airwolf, was on when I immediately clicked off the game, and was actually the primary reason I didn't jump off of my balcony. One hilariously bad thrill ride. I'd never heard of it, but immediately turned it on after reading the description in my TV guide, "The better of two helicopter shows (1984)." There were multiple helicopter shows in 1984?
Looking at the schedule ahead and considering what I've seen from 2 weeks of football, I have the Skins going 9-7 right now. We are also still in first place, and St. Louis next week should be the cure for what ails.

(Image courtesy of Hogs Haven)

Week 1: Redskins 13 - Cowboys 7: Knee Jerk Reactions

2010-09-17T00:20:00.030-04:00

Football season is finally upon us! The hair pulling, TV-screaming, remote control throwing and furious cigarette smoking has finally commenced. Before I let rationality cloud my judgment, here are my knee-jerk reactions from the first game of the season:

HAIL! So this is extremely belated, but I've been traveling for my real job with no internet access. These are not as half-baked as usual, and is an expanded edition thanks to my extreme productivity on the plane ride back. I'm even throwing-in some Texans preview as interest.

The Cowboys lost that game more than the Skins won it. We were outgained 380 yards to 250.

D******* Hall will get credit for making a play on Tashard Choice's fumble, while Carlos Rogers will get criticized for dropping what would have been a game-ending interception, but that sis absurd. The Cowboys were targeting Hall, and by my count only threw at Rogers 3 times (if you include that lob that Double-Move dropped). Hall gave up quite a few completions, and was not particularly good. Bare in mind that Romo was 31-47.
The Cowboys play calling was awesomely bad. The short passes against a suspect pass rush were fine to start the game, but after awhile it was clear the protection was good enough to go downfield, especially considering we didn't have anyone capable of staying close to Miles Austin. In addition, after a couple big runs by Marion Barber (4.9 YPC), the Cowboys inexplicably stopped using him.
Blame Alex Barron all you want Cowboy fans, but he was up against O-Sak-Po all game. That said, even though Rak had no sacks, he drew 3 holding penalties on Barron (one was declined).
Landry did seem to be in on a lot of plays, but it looked like quite a few of the tackles were from piling-on. He also missed an open shot on Romo, so I am not entirely convinced he has turned over a new leaf.
Reed Doughty was not good enough, and we can only hope Kareem Moore's coverage skills are better.
Joey Galloway might as well not have shown up.
Mike Sellers should not have a pass thrown to him the rest of the season.
Is Anthony Armstrong just be a preseason All-Star?
The defense appeared to play better with Fat Albert on the field, but standing apart from the huddle was not a good move. He also still appears to be overly aggressive and not understand that his job is to be a brick wall instead of a knifing penetrator.
Galloway's disappearing act makes it odd that Fred Davis was also non-existant. Cooley should be the #1 TE, but isn't Davis our 3^rd best pass catcher? Davis should not just be a redzone guy. Can one of them split out wide, or can we play more 2 TE sets?
Casey Rabach was destroyed by Jay Ratliff. A tough assignment, but for an aging mediocre player, that is not a good sign. Drafting a center already sounds like a great idea.
On the other hand, Trent Williams is going to be a pro-bowler in the not-too-distant future. Silverback looked only okay in his first game, but Demarcus Ware is the toughest assignment in the league. Ware averages about 3 sacks+hits+hurries per game, while getting game planned around, and I believe had exactly that many going 1v1 with Silverback. Williams did lappear to miss a couple blitz pickups where he took the outside guy instead of a delayed inside rusher, but I am not sure those were missed assignments. In the meantime, his athleticism was a cause for excitement. The Skins should leave him on an island the rest of the season and never look back.
Apparently no one but me noticed Jammal Brown missed a bunch of plays in the 2^nd quarter when Heyer stepped in, but was back after halftime. I just found the explanation here.
Lebron James, Cowboy fan. I think he is trying to suck. Just scroll down this DC Sports bog article for exactly how I feel.
Larry Johnson is like the player in Madden who no matter how fast you hit the speed burst doesn't go anywhere (text message from my friend Adam).
McNabb was Campbellesque (text message from my friend Adam).
Before the season, I had the Texans as a team we needed to beat to go at least 8-8. I think we just need to go 2-2 through these first 4 games to be in position for a wild card, and play the Rams next, so this game is not absolutely needed. That said, if we are projecting out to 8 wins, this game could be the difference between making the playoffs and sitting at home in January. I am going to take a few Ambien now.

(Image courtesy of DC Sports Bog)

Redskins 2011 and Beyond Truths

2010-09-08T18:44:00.026-04:00

So I left a not-so-insignificant piece out of my last post on how the Skins should only be favored to win a wild card spot, but are in good position to win the NFC East. That not-so-teeny tiny piece is that the Skins have once again sacrificed all future gains for short term glory, or in our case, short term decency. The season hasn't even started, but I can't help but look further down the road, particularly as someone who panned t he McNabb trade. I refer you once again to the Football Outsiders preview:

"This year’s Redskins have an alarming number of players who are about to simultaneously grow old, and that’s not even counting lunatic acquisitions like Galloway. McNabb, Portis, Johnson, Parker, Santana Moss, Rabach, Philip Daniels, and London Fletcher are all at or approaching the downside of their careers, with Andre Carter and Derrick Dockery not far behind them. There are few obvious successors to these key players on the roster, and with training camp bloated with Galloway and Holliday types, it will be hard for the team to find and develop quality replacements. In a few years, Shanahan will be fired, McNabb will return to Philadelphia to retire with the Eagles, and Snyder will stand next to Urban Meyer heralding the start of another new era.

There are two sad elements to the Redskins plight. The first is that some in the Redskins organization will feel vindicated when the team loses in the second round of the playoffs. Snyder and others will convince themselves that they made all the right moves. There will be a lot of backslapping for a very small accomplishment. And of course, that will only encourage Snyder and company to climb back on the horse. The second is that so many of the Redskins problems are obvious and avoidable. Anyone who looks carefully at the roster can see long-term disaster brewing, and it doesn’t take much imagination to find healthier alternatives to the path the Redskins chose. The Redskins could have Jake Delhomme or Derek Anderson as their starting quarterback, with second-round pick Jimmy Clausen waiting in the wings. Or, they could have given Campbell another year, used their second-round pick on a defensive playmaker like Sergio Kindle, and let their defense win a few games while Shanahan made tough decisions on offense. Heck, they could have pulled the trigger on the McNabb deal but held off on all of the Parker-Johnson-Galloway nonsense, increasing their odds of finding a great young back or receiver who will improve as McNabb fades. The Redskins just can’t do that. They keep seeking short-term dividends that aren’t worth the long-range consequences.

Of course, that’s exactly the kind of trade-off addicts make. In March, it looked like Allen and Shanahan could make a difference. Now, they’re stuck in the same web that snared Gibbs, Schottenheimer, Spurrier, and Zorn. Snyder drags good football people down with him. This year, the high will last past August, but the crash will come before February. And next year’s hangover will be as bad — or worse — than the last ten."

The scene in Adams Morgan Tonight/Metaphor for the Future of the Redskins Future

Let's skip ahead to what our roster will look like in 3+ years, and remember that we have the worst group of under-25 year old talent in the NFL. WARNING: Hide the women and children.
On offense we have:
QB: Zippo, not even a developmental guy. Nice to know we got rid of Chase Daniel, who is one of FO's top prospects...
RB: Nada
WR: Devin Thomas, Malcolm Kelly (syke!)
OL: Trent Williams, old Jammal Brown
TE: Cooley and Fred Davis
Overall, this is pathetic, we need another couple O-linemen, a QB, and a WR who is healthy and can beat out a 39 year old. Other than that, doing swell.

On defense:
DL: Golston, Carriker (maybe)
LB: Orakpo, Rocky, and maybe HB Blades.
CB: D******* Hall (I don't see double-move sticking around this long). You know who is missing here? FO's #5 prospect, Justin Tryon.
S: Landry (hard to count, but could be a new man in the box this year, although his missed tackle on the huuuge LDT run says otherwise), Kareem Moore
Overall, there are some bodies here, but no cornerstones except for Rak.

Next year's draft doesn't offer a ton of hope, as we already missing our 3rd and 4th round picks. Good thing I only put a down payment on tickets for this year's Super Bowl....

(Image courtesy of deadspin.com and my friend's cell phone)

Redskin 2010 Season Truths

2010-09-07T02:07:00.010-04:00

Believe it or not, the NFL season is less than 3 days away. With the help of Football Outsiders Almanac 2010, it is high time to tell you exactly what is going to happen our Skin this season.

My initial thought was that suck, won 4 games last year, and haven't improved much. Our defense has been our strength for several seasons, and as excited as I am about a new defensive coordinator, our personnel are better suited for a 4-3, and think the D might be slightly worse this year. Sure, we got McNabb, but he is only marginally better than Campbell, and we haven't upgraded anywhere else on offense. I think Kyle Shanahan helps too, but only see a modest upgrade here. Balancing the D and O together, I see a team that might be slightly improved, but not much different from last year. If we won 4 games last year, 2 more wins seems about right, when accounting for the upgrade on Jim Zorn.

That was until I read FO's tasty tidbit:

"The Redskins should reach the playoffs this year: They are better than they were last season, and they weren’t as bad last season as their record suggests. They fell well below their Estimated Win total of 7.3 in 2009, underperforming because of Zorn’s dreadful coaching and some special teams lapses. Zorn’s ineffectuality as a leader and strategist was evident in early season losses to the woeful Lions (the Redskins were 2-of-10 on third downs, committed 97 yards in penalties, and allowed three straight drives for a combined 41 Lions offensive plays) and Chiefs (eight three-andout drives against an opponent that couldn’t score a touchdown). If Shaun Suisham could kick straight, the Redskins would have beaten the Cowboys in Week 11, and a special-teams fumble provided the margin of victory for the Saints in Week 13. The switch from Zorn-Campbell to Shanahan-McNabb will get the Redskins to snap back to that seven-win level and then buy them an extra win or two. A schedule full of Rams, Buccaneers, and Lions gives them another boost...The Redskins will have an offense close to league average and a solid 3-4 defense that has the right personnel for the system...Barring a Week 1 McNabb injury, the Redskins are a safe bet to compete for a wild card, if not win their division.

Holy crap! That's right, with a semi-competent coach and normal luck, we would have won 7 games last year. FO agrees with me that this team will be about 2 games better, but is using a much higher baseline. Running through the schedule though, I still having trouble finding 9 wins. Let's say we beat the Rams, Bucs, Lions, Bears, and Jags, and go 2-4 in the division given that Dallas is a superior team, and the Giants and Eagles are no pushovers. Then let's assume we lose to the Colts, Packers, and Vikings (although Viking injuries might push them into the W column). That gives us a 7-7 record with games against the Texans and Titans not counted. Maybe the Skins beat the Texans at FedEx and lose at Tennessee to go 8-8. We still need to find 1 more win, and that is if we don't slip up against any of the supposedly inferior teams. Maybe we go 3-3 in the division, or can sneak out a game in Tennessee or against the Vikings, but 9 wins is a stretch for me. That said, in the metrics and I trust, and with McNabb ready for week 1, this team can legitimately talk about playoffs.

Contenders for the NFC East crown - just when I thought I was out, they pull me right back in! Don't look now, but it's Dallas week!

(Image courtesy of harryhogfootball.com)

Redskins on Hard Knocks - D******* Hall is No Cromartie

2010-09-01T23:53:00.023-04:00

I watch Hard Knocks anyway, but with the Jets playing the Skins on this week's episode, I was downright giddy. For those who haven't been watching, you should be. Rex Ryan and Antonio Cromartie have been can't miss, most notably this now infamous Cromartie scene describing all of his children. If you've seen it, watch again:

Antonio Cromartie And His Kids - watch more funny videos

There wasn't much Redskin talk before the game in the Jets camp except that they seem to think they are the most talented team in the league and all that ra ra stuff. Nick Mangold did get on Fat Albert after one of the first plays of the game:
Mangold: "You're looking spry out there with all that conditioning."
Fat Albert: They're trying to kill me right now."

Okay, maybe we shouldn't be on Hard Knocks next year..... However, there was a gem dropped by Rex Ryan on D******* Hall. At the end of LaDainian Tomlinson's huge 1st quarter run (which I replayed several times and believe the biggest culprit to be Laron Landry), D******* Hall finishes an Andre Carter tackle at the 50 yard line. That much was already seared in my brain, but what I didn't notice on Friday was when getting up, Hall gets a little feisty and starts going after Jet WR Jerrico Cotchery, right near Rex Ryan. The Jets massive coach then drops this:

"Hey, tackle him at the line of scrimmage, you can't tackle him 50 yards down the field. Hey, you ain't here to tackle nobody, what are you talking about? That's why my brother got rid of your ass."

Splendid! Ryan is referring to his brother Rob Ryan, the former D-Coordinator in Oakland. Hall did get a little redemption by picking off a Dirty Sanchez pass later, but he will never get redemption for being cut 8 games into his $70 million contract by the Raiders!........oh wait, we gave him 6 years and $55 million? Crap.

Quotes courtesy of my DVR box

The New John Wall Dance

2010-08-23T01:55:00.012-04:00

I've seen this video of John Wall spontaneously dancing at the NBA rookie photo shoot on a couple other other blogs, but not with the importance of the episode truly appreciated:

I've watched the video several times in the most creepy way possible, and I think John Wall might just have a new dance. That thing he does with the hand behind the head, a la Deion Sanders, with the other hand waving in front of his face, a la Deshawn Stevenson, just might be the new John Wall Dance.

He already has his own shoe, shot, and dance, but just when it seemed John Wall had it all, he done did it again with those fresh moves. My friend's girlfriend also said he's a good dancer, so he's that going for himself too.....

John Wall: Uniting DC Sports

2010-08-14T14:09:00.007-04:00

For those of you who missed the 42-17 demolition of the hapless Bills in the Skins season opener, there was 1 beautiful moment in the game, that just got me excited for the season...........................the Wizards season (Sports Bog beat me to this).

After Fred Davis caught a a 2nd quarter TD pass from Sexy Rexy, he proceeded to do his usual endzone dance:

I said to all my friends watching, "How awesome would it be if he'd done the John Wall dance instead?" My friends all laughed hysterically at my tremendous question, but little did we know that this was not such a crazy idea. For when rookie WR Brandon Banks took a punt 77 yards to a land that will be entered frequently (the Bills' endzone), he may have won the job as our punt returner, in addition to my heart:

John Wall was in the house for this, and as the Sports Bog points out, and John Wall tweeted, Banks and Wall are boys from growing up in Raleigh.

The other best part of the game was Doc Walker referring to Rex Grossman as "Sexy Rexy" on more than 1 occasion. I can't find video, but trust me, it happened, and if his producers have a stick up their ass, we may not get to witness that glory again.

Let's just hope these aren't the best Skins highlights of the year.

Wale - The Black & Gold, Complete With D.C. Shoutouts Aplenty

2010-08-04T10:09:00.001-04:00

Can you spot 'em? I'm going on record saying this song is dope.

What Fat Albert Felt Like Today

2010-07-29T23:42:00.005-04:00

The most hated athlete in DC (stop smiling Agent Zero) has failed at everything this offseason (other than picking up a fat $21 million bonus check). First, he tried to get traded and failed, then lost the respect of his teammates, and now, in his first day in training camp, failed his conditioning test. The details are murky, but it sounds like Shanahan was out to get him a little bit. According to Jason Reid, not-as-Fat Albert showed off his offseason weight loss and "killed it" in the first portion, but then look a bathroom break and then Shanahan made him do 1 more sprint, and Fat Albert failed. By bathroom break, I am pretty sure that means Fat Albert ran straight to the throne and puked.

Most reports say he had to run 3-300 yard sprints, but Reid's report refers to 3 'phases' and states that Fat Albert left for the bathroom midway through the 2nd phase, which makes the test sound like more than just 3 identical sprints. Does this mean Fat Albert ran 1 good '300', then was doing well on the 2nd but had to stop and puke, so Shanahan made him run a 3rd? If so, Shanahan sounds like a generous man offering him the opportunity for a 3rd sprint. The other reports seem to indicate that Fat Albert ran 2 great '300s', then immediately puked, and Shanahan somehow made up a ridiculous reason after the fact to make Fat Albert run a 3rd that was not part of the original test. So many questions! Only a few guys on the field know what really went down, but I did dig find this exclusive footage of Fat Albert's experience:

The bright side, in addition to the existence of that video, is that Fat Albert is in better shape than last year, and will soon pass the test and be back practicing as usual. Who knows when he will get back into the starting defense, but baby steps everyone......

D.J. King Will Break His Hand While Breaking Your Face

2010-07-28T23:30:00.001-04:00

The newest Capital, D.J. King, is no small cookie. At 6'2" and 221 pounds he's around Alex Ovechkin's size, but instead of scoring highlight-reel goals and pissing off jealous Pittsburgh scrubs and getting with stone cold foxes on boats in Europe, he lets his fists do the talking. Gotta applaud him for that.

He even broke his hand beating the snot out of Krys Barch last season. Dedication to your craft. Toughness in the heat of battle. Bad-freaking-ass.

While I'll miss the somewhat unrealistic hope for a guy like Stefan Della Rovere to become a leader and pest on the Capitals in the near future, he was never gonna be the guy to lay down the law at the NHL level this year when need be. King can be that guy.

I was skeptical at first, but what the hell - he's already off to a good start in my book.

When told what Pittsburgh's Max Talbot had to say about Alex Ovechkin yesterday, King shot back, "Wow. I guess that's not going to be happening too much longer, I guess."

Having your teammate's - and captain's - back AND pissing off fans of a hated rival within hours of joining the team? Sign me up.

DCLS is Always Right - Especially about Strasburg

2010-07-26T00:40:00.023-04:00

About a month ago I posted on Stephen Strasburg's current trade value after 4 games in the big leagues. For sake of simplicity, I decided to not factor in team need or player contract, but Fangraphs has used their fancy stats and gone ahead and created a great trade value column taking into account player contract. So what changed from my very-arbitrary list? Not much.

The top-4, in order, are Evan Longoria, Jason Heyward, Strasburg, Hanley Ramirez. Well, whaddya know? Exactly the same as I had them. This is actually not surprising when you consider the fact that younger players are more valuable than older players (aside from Pujols, no one was over 26 on my list of players to consider), and also that young players generally have better contracts than older players in baseball. Therefore, adding contract in the the equation should not change my list very much.

The better question may be how has Strasburg's performance over the past month changed his ranking on my list. As Fangraphs states,

"This may be as high as any pitcher will ever rank on this list. Strasburg has been nothing short of sensational so far in the big leagues, posting a ridiculous 2.11 xFIP in his first eight starts. His stuff is better than anyone in baseball, and it’s hard to see hitters figuring him out as long as he keeps throwing this hard. Oh, and the Nationals control his rights through 2016. He won’t make any serious money for another three years, so for now, the Nationals get one of the game’s best pitchers at about 5 percent of his market value. But, as with any pitcher, the risks are significant. The superlatives could all disappear with one pitch, as it has for so many phenoms before him. Pitcher attrition would keep other teams from giving up the kitchen sink to get Strasburg, but as good as he is, the refrigerator is probably on the table."

I think it is safe to say at this point that only thing holding back Strasburg from being the #1 guy are the injury concerns that go with being a pitcher . There is no issue with him facing good lineups or the league facing him a 2nd time, he might already be the best pitcher in baseball, and isn't about to dropoff anytime soon. Revisiting my list, with or without contracts, I can only come up with the same list as that from Fangraphs, so have only moved Strasburg up one spot past Hanley Ramirez; I still have to rank Longoria and Heyward ahead of Pitching Jesus.

(Image courtesy of examiner.com)