BGO.C.D.: Sunday's Smell

[Boone]

What strange creatures of habit we are. To wake slowly from slumber, roll from bed, and realize with a quiet excitement – it’s Sunday, and the...

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[Jimbo]

WOW.....just WOW!!! I don't think it could have been said any better or any more accurate. Great piece, John!

 

[brandies]

Interesting article. I remember being a senator fan during the 1960's. (talk about bad). But even then you could root for something: Frank Howard to hit a homer, Eddie Brinkman to turn the double play from deep in the hole, Fred Valentine to rob a home run by catching a ball over the fence. As the team loses I am even having a hard time rooting for individuals. I don't know if it is the nature of the team or the nature of the game but one sure does not feel part of a movement. I am just happy I married a great wife a few years ago and adopted her great daughter, because, with them it becomes evident how meaningless the Snyder Redskins are.

 

[servumtuum]

Well done, my friend, well done.

 

[Boone]

Thanks guys - I keep looking for a light topic to have some fun with - but it's damned near impossible of late. Trying to make sense of our current mess like everyone else I guess

 

[Elephant]

It is great articles like this that make me yearn for the days of old. I think for us older fans it is the frustration of having seen what it is like to be linked to greatness as a fan of the Redskins during the 80's. Even in the 70's, although we didn't win a SB, under the ownership of Jack Kent Cooke there was always a sense of pride. I don't see that pride anymore.

Thanks for the perspective John.

 

[Yusuf06]

"Like a beautiful woman you know is bad for you, but holds you spellbound and helpless..."

Wow. Nail impacted squarely on head. That is exactly what it's like.

You know, this blog post reminds me of something one of my marketing professors said to me once. I asked him what makes a person spend $5 on Starbucks coffee when there's better tasting coffee brands available. He replied that they're not really selling coffee. In part, they're selling the experience, brand cache, regional identity etc. Most anything except just coffee. Yeah, I know. Who didn't know that? But I was a wet behind the ears undergrad so cut me some slack.

What's sad and more than a little surprising to me is that I had never thought about that concept as it relates to football in general or the Skins in particular. Until now that is. So I guess now I have a better understanding of just why I find that poisonous babe so irresistible. I guess that knowlege just makes the walk to the car for that final ride to "anywhere but here" that much closer.

Excellent , excellent read.
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[Hog Fever]

Lots of good stuff here.

First off Boone, great post. Brandies has made a great point as well.

Once upon a time this organization did things the right way. The players did things the right way. It's not like that anymore. Free agency has made it harder and harder to keep players around for too long so it becomes harder and harder to root for the player. They are here today, gone tomorrow. So we end up pulling for the uniform......the organization......what we remember. The players are almost secondary.

When I was young my favorite book was “Over the Hill to the Super Bowl” by Brig Owens. It was of course about the 1972 Redskin team that I was just a little too young to remember. For an 8 or 9 year old it was a magic window into the past of a team I would grow to love. I remember vividly having a conversation with my father over how Jack Pardee needed some more time to get things together and how he shouldn't have been fired. See, I knew everything then too, and I was only 10. My father was not convinced that Jack should stay although I'm sure I made a great case for him. We all know what happened after Jack was replaced by a guy nobody had ever heard of named Joe Gibbs. That was a great time. Nothing like being in DC when the Skins are good.

My kids have never known a good Redskin team. My sons wander in and watch parts of the game with me just about every weekend. They are young and pull for the team because their old man does. Will they want to root for a team like this when they get older? One that has never had any real success in their lifetimes? Will they be satisfied rooting for ghosts?

We lack an identity as a team for a lot of reasons that most of us have discussed. Snyder pays lip service to the players of the past. How hard would it be to give them a “past players box” or something similar with the understanding that they would sign a few autographs and glad hand a bit with the fans? There would be a cost involved but it would be so cool. Why not have a “homecoming” game of sort where we would invite some of these players back and make it into a yearly celebration? Maybe it would help current players and fans connect with the team a little more. If nothing else it would distract from the crap performance of the recent teams.

I know I'm rambling a bit here. The bottom line is the fans deserve better. They pay the salaries and at some point they will vote with their wallets. Repeating the same mistakes over and over again for 10 years is insanity. I'm stating to question if my expecting a different result isn't equally as crazy. The team has time to get it together this year and I hope they do, but if recent history is a guide, they won't. Good thing I'll be on the road this Sunday. Listening might be better than watching this weekend.

 

[riggins44]

I take my hat off to you. That was about a well written piece about how we feel as will ever read.

The only thing you left out is how we have taught our kids to love this team as we do. Not sure what worse Sunday, my being pissed over the game or seeing my son upset. He cares as much about this team as I do or anyone.
I hope and pray he gets to see the glory that I have seen.

 

[Henry]

Good piece, Boone. Now I'm all depressed.

Because you're right.

 

[riggins44]

To erase this smell there needs to a major culture change in Ashburn.

 

[China]

Well done. It is sad. My son doesn't root for the Redskins, probably in part because they're no fun to watch and probably in part because I'm no fun to be around while watching them. I find myself watching them less and less. It used to bother me missing a game because I wanted to be there when it happened as my team beat their opponent, or at least made it exciting trying. Now, not so much. I find by missing the games I miss much of the anger and frustration I've experienced recently watching them play. Even when they win (as in against St. Louis) I don't seem to miss much. Here's to hoping that someday soon they will be fun to watch again, win or lose.

 

[Jimbo]

Maybe it's just easier for me here in Colorado. There's a two hour time difference so I'm watching the Skins at 11 AM instead of 1 PM like most of you are. If I skip church, I'm usually still drinking coffee when the pregame stuff starts. That game is usually over by 2:30 PM so I still have an afternoon to enjoy.

I also don't have a lot of the negativity shoved down my throat by the local news and television media unless I come here or check out ES. It's a little bit easier to keep my sanity out here in Broncoland. The way things are going now, that's probably added a few years to my life.