Commanders News (Social Media)

[Voice_of_Reason]

Instead, Hard Knocks, is basically a love letter to the respective teams. It's a fluff segment. Teams have editing control over everything that airs. It's free local and national PR.

Which is why it is so crazy the Giants let the part about not wanting Barkley hit the air waves.

That was a REALLY bad look. In that it was entirely stupid to literally every person who watched it. I don't remember the exact quote, but it was something like "is our offense going to be handing the ball to Barkley 40 times a game?" and the answer should have been "yes, and 50 if he can do it."

You're right, though. I don't really care about it one way or the other. But it's supposed to be an infomercial. The Giants just screwed it up.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

The low ratings are surprising to me too, but then again maybe not. It’s not just that Snyder destroyed the fanbase, but also the name change cost us a lot more of the remaining fans than you might think. They almost lost me and that’s really saying something; I bleed burgundy and gold, and I can count on one hand the number of Redskins games I’ve missed since I started watching in 1986, but I seriously contemplated finding a new hobby when the Redskins died. I’m not sure JD5 magic, a new stadium, Hard Knocks, or anything else will bring those lost fans back. The fact is Josh Harris bought a distressed asset. His best hope and ours is to rebuild the fanbase by winning, people love a winner. But many of those will be new fans, significant numbers of those we lost are not coming back.

Fortunately, we do have a lot going for us, an all-star QB, a great culture, etc. This team is fun to watch again. And apparently the league is doing everything it can to prop us up. Resurrecting this historic franchise is a great story, but as you said, it’s not done yet.

I think the effect on the name change is hard to quantify financially or ratings wise.

They had extremely solid sales on jerseys and merch. I see commanders stuff everywhere. People are buying the stuff. So it's not like there is a boycott on the name or anything. There are some very vocal voices which hate the name, and I don't know anybody who really loves it, but it's hard to quantify that as it relates to rating.

I think it's less the name and more the fact people stopped caring, and started caring about other things. And that was primarily due to 20 years of lousy football and losing. The game I always point to as evidence of this was the game in 2018 against the Texans at home. Which is the one where Alex Smith got hurt. We were 6-3, had Alex Smith, and the stadium wasn't full. If you went back a few weeks, coming off of a week 1 win, the stadium was half empty against the Colts. Literally nobody cared. And this was before the really bad stuff came out and the name change.

Apathy set in a long time ago. People found other things to do. And now those things are what they do on Sundays. Some will come back. Others, the muscle memory is gone and will never return.

 

[skinsinparadise]

Which is why it is so crazy the Giants let the part about not wanting Barkley hit the air waves.

That was a REALLY bad look. In that it was entirely stupid to literally every person who watched it. I don't remember the exact quote, but it was something like "is our offense going to be handing the ball to Barkley 40 times a game?" and the answer should have been "yes, and 50 if he can do it."

You're right, though. I don't really care about it one way or the other. But it's supposed to be an infomercial. The Giants just screwed it up.

Yeah the off season stuff is an odd version of Hard Knocks and the Giants screwed it up. But considering they had editing control they clearly felt that it would serve them to showcase their waffiling on how to deal with Barkley and it backfired in the end.

It's a free PR exercise, hard to screw it up but if you are incompetent you can pull it off.

The off season stuff has some perils. I could see Bruce and Ron screwing something like this up especially Ron. Ron showcasing lol him studying the "analytics" for the Wentz deal. etc and putting that on display. Ron was the same dude who proudly put out that video showing how sold he was on Emmanuel Forbes and how giddy they were to get him including considering trading up for him. To do that, you have to be absolutely convinced you got a gem and it would all age well. So while we got the local version of Ron's incompetence on video mutliple times -- this would put it on display nationally. But I'd trust Adam Peters to have the self awareness and humility to pull off an off season Hard Knocks if they ever did one again.

The in season stuff is more about the players chemistry with each other, the HC's motivational talk, and showcasing the personality of the team. That all seems tailor made for this team.

 

[HTTR]

I think the effect on the name change is hard to quantify financially or ratings wise.

They had extremely solid sales on jerseys and merch. I see commanders stuff everywhere. People are buying the stuff. So it's not like there is a boycott on the name or anything. There are some very vocal voices which hate the name, and I don't know anybody who really loves it, but it's hard to quantify that as it relates to rating.

I think it's less the name and more the fact people stopped caring, and started caring about other things. And that was primarily due to 20 years of lousy football and losing. The game I always point to as evidence of this was the game in 2018 against the Texans at home. Which is the one where Alex Smith got hurt. We were 6-3, had Alex Smith, and the stadium wasn't full. If you went back a few weeks, coming off of a week 1 win, the stadium was half empty against the Colts. Literally nobody cared. And this was before the really bad stuff came out and the name change.

Apathy set in a long time ago. People found other things to do. And now those things are what they do on Sundays. Some will come back. Others, the muscle memory is gone and will never return.

I still can’t buy into good jersey sales being an indication of the popularity of the brand. Those jerseys were sold because we have a good team, a popular team, and a rookie sensation. They would’ve sold just as many jerseys if the team name was dirty diapers. With a more likable name, the sales would’ve been even more than they were. Doesn’t matter anymore anyway, because winning will rebuild the foundation and we are heading in that direction. And Josh caved on the name so we’re stuck with it.

 

[skinsinparadise]

I think the effect on the name change is hard to quantify financially or ratings wise.

They had extremely solid sales on jerseys and merch. I see commanders stuff everywhere. People are buying the stuff. So it's not like there is a boycott on the name or anything. There are some very vocal voices which hate the name, and I don't know anybody who really loves it, but it's hard to quantify that as it relates to rating.

I think it's less the name and more the fact people stopped caring, and started caring about other things. And that was primarily due to 20 years of lousy football and losing. The game I always point to as evidence of this was the game in 2018 against the Texans at home. Which is the one where Alex Smith got hurt. We were 6-3, had Alex Smith, and the stadium wasn't full. If you went back a few weeks, coming off of a week 1 win, the stadium was half empty against the Colts. Literally nobody cared. And this was before the really bad stuff came out and the name change.

Apathy set in a long time ago. People found other things to do. And now those things are what they do on Sundays. Some will come back. Others, the muscle memory is gone and will never return.

Yeah as I used to say on ES. Bruce Allen and Dan teaming up ended up the death knell for this franchise. Dan and Cerrato were a stupid pair but not boring. Kind of like the Yankees from the 1980s -- they didn't win but they found their way to be interesting in the off season at least.

Dan and Bruce were arguably an even more dumb pair, but then you got an extra dose of sleaze and smug/arrogance which made the team come off even more off putting then the previous regime -- and then over time they became cheap and the on field and off seasons became more and more boring.

It was that Alex Smith season where the fan disinterest really became loud statisitically where it was hard to ignore. I liked Alex the player, didn't love him, love the personality though. The dude though was classy but a boring player to watch. The team was winning with ball control, nothing sexy, but it felt like that was the ceiling of this team. A team that can go, 9-7, maybe 10-6 and be knocked out in round 1 in the playoffs. They were headed to 6-4. They were losing to the Texans when he got hurt, and Alex didn't do well playing from behind. They easily could have been 5-5. I was at that Tampa game, the game before the Texans one, and Tampa dominated that game as far as moving the ball but Fitz and company kept turning the ball over.

And among other things I think that felt like a depressing ceiling to some. That team didn't feel like that good of a team even though the record was good coming into the Texans game. And I think the boring nature of that team fit a team that was run by a smug dude who helped make the team boring and stuck in that 6-10-9-7 purgatory -- Bruce Allen.

 

[peanut0862]

I am 62 years old and yes I would rather the name had not changed. I have a few Redskins caps and a couple new Commanders caps. I have noticed when I reach for one now It's one of the new ones because they are in better shape so I guess not even knowing it I have accepted the new name

 

[ArtMonkWasMyHero]

I’m in the minority here, but I think the stadium aspect is overblown. Having been to dozens of games at both stadiums, I would actually say the current stadium is a lot better than RFK was. We just love RFK because of the players, coaches, team… The winning. And the atmosphere that it created. That’s the only difference. If Snyder had run the team during the RFK years, it would be considered an all time dump of a stadium and likely demolished years ago. If FedEx had all those things going for it, we would practically be calling it hallowed ground right now. OK maybe not hallowed ground, but I’m guessing we wouldn’t be so worried about getting a new stadium in the very least.
To sum it up, not saying it wasn’t a factor at all, but I just don’t think the stadium played an important part in the erosion of the Fanbase. It was all Snyder, it was always all Snyder. As someone who wants to move on from the current name because of the stench of Snyder, I can certainly understand why people want to move on from the stadium because of that. And it’s awesome that we’re getting a modern new stadium. But in the end, the popularity of any stadium begins and ends with the product on the field. And thankfully with Snyder gone, we can look forward to the things other fan bases enjoy like winning or at least the hope of winning.
In the meantime, I am renewing my season tix for a third straight year, and looking forward to more exciting football, and good atmospheres at FedEx like we had this year. That hail Mary had to be the greatest thing I’ve ever seen in person! Something tells me by the time we move to the new stadium, we’re actually going to miss FedEx a little bit.

I'd have to respectfully disagree, at least in part.

RFK was a very nice stadium. Its' architectural style was classic Mid-Century/Space Age- akin to Dodger Stadium. It was quite small and possessed a dedicated fan base which made the atmosphere legendary. It also meshed well with the City. Simply great aethestics.

FedEx/Northwest, in direct contrast, has all the ambience of a Home Depot. It is too big and situated in a blase location. In fact, it is so big, that the seating capacity helped bring in legions of fans from other teams.

Now, you seem to intimate that if the troika of Gibbs, Beathard, and Cooke had continued running the team at FedEx rather than Snyder, we would miss RFK less. That is true. It is one of the cruelest ironies the none of the three were ever active at FedEx and after a brief tenure with John Jr, it became Snyder's funhouse.

So yes, ultimately it was Snyder. He happened to arrive just after the team arrived at FedEx. I often have to remind people that FedEx was not Snyder's creation. But it did add to the angst he created. The difference between the RFK era and the FedEx era is like night and day.

Ironically, I hate the idea of a dome. I would actually prefer they remain at Northwest. It looked good on tv this season.

Another interesting thing is the Skins and their history say a lot of things about the onward progression of the league and changes in the region. HTTR.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Ironically, I hate the idea of a dome. I would actually prefer they remain at Northwest. It looked good on tv this season.

I don't. I used to say "real fans get wet." As a sortof a catch all to real fans brave the elements.

I don't care anymore. I've sat through my fair share of bad weather games. Give me a dome.

Also, I REALLY like the idea of the facility being able to be used for 200+ days a year for the community, which you're just not going to get in an outdoor stadium in DC.

 

[ArtMonkWasMyHero]

I don't. I used to say "real fans get wet." As a sortof a catch all to real fans brave the elements.

I don't care anymore. I've sat through my fair share of bad weather games. Give me a dome.

Also, I REALLY like the idea of the facility being able to be used for 200+ days a year for the community, which you're just not going to get in an outdoor stadium in DC.

To each his/her own.

 

[Spearfeather]

I'd prefer the seats be covered, but the field be left open.

 

[peanut0862]

yelp trash bag ponchos suck

 

[HTTR]

I also used to be somewhat of an outdoor/grass purist. But I think I’ve reached the age where I’ll like the controlled environment so I’m good with it. So much of the league is playing on various artificial surfaces now anyway, and if we are going to be a speed team led by Jayden, it may work to our advantage (not that we know what the team will look like in 5+ years, but that’s what we’re all hoping anyway!)

 

[Hail Raiser]

I don't wanna get wet, but the players can, the push tush is mean and should be banned, because we can't do it as well, oh no, prime time games. People might think we're good.

Whine and Cheese fanbase. The last few pages in here have been rough. Whiney AF.

 

[Riggo44]

I don't really have a problem with the Tush Push. I have a problem with the Eagles and all of Philadelphia (garbage-assed city).
That dome will be loud AF.
Prime Games are awesome, they just suck the next day after getting to bed at 1-2 am--game ends at 11:30-12. I calm down by 1. Asleep by 1:30-2.

 

[burgold]

I don't wanna get wet, but the players can, the push tush is mean and should be banned, because we can't do it as well, oh no, prime time games. People might think we're good.

Whine and Cheese fanbase. The last few pages in here have been rough. Whiney AF.

Are you whining about our whining

 

[Hail Raiser]

I don't really have a problem with the Tush Push. I have a problem with the Eagles and all of Philadelphia (garbage-assed city).
That dome will be loud AF.
Prime Games are awesome, they just suck the next day after getting to bed at 1-2 am--game ends at 11:30-12. I calm down by 1. Asleep by 1:30-2.

Breaking News, The Philadelphia Eagles have rescued 40 million puppies.

Riggo44 "oh great, their just gonna shit on everyones carpet."

 

[Hail Raiser]

Are you whining about our whining

Yes I am.

 

[Spearfeather]

 

[HTTR]

Thanks SF. Even in the preseason we have to play on short rest! Of course, the starters won’t be playing in the ravens game anyway, so I guess it doesn’t matter.

I must say though as a STH I can’t stand that I have to pay for these two worthless games that there is zero chance of me attending. Maybe this year I’ll at least be able to give them away. But so far the last couple years the value of these preseason tickets has been less than zero. I love the NFL way too much to worry about the persistent greed, but every once in a while it gets to me. Nothing new here, just venting. At least next year only one of them will be at home I think.

 

[Chris 44]

Thanks SF. Even in the preseason we have to play on short rest! Of course, the starters won’t be playing in the ravens game anyway, so I guess it doesn’t matter.

I must say though as a STH I can’t stand that I have to pay for these two worthless games that there is zero chance of me attending. Maybe this year I’ll at least be able to give them away. But so far the last couple years the value of these preseason tickets has been less than zero. I love the NFL way too much to worry about the persistent greed, but every once in a while it gets to me. Nothing new here, just venting. At least next year only one of them will be at home I think.

Yeah but to Harbaugh that game will matter...he's going to be out for pre season revenge!