Worthless Redskins

Danny Smith
Jason Taylor
Shaun Suisham
Ryan Plackemeier
Laron Landry
Ladell Betts

Yes, Laron Landry. Oh, he gets a lot of love in the press about how he's the heir to Sean Taylor's throne, but think about it... what is it that Laron does? You never hear his name, which could possibly be explained by the fact that he's helping out on deep balls. But on deep balls, Laron is nowhere to be seen. One of the biggest plays of the day was his complete whiff on Derrick Ward on a key 3rd and 7 by the goal line. The Giants were essentially playing for a field goal, but Landry wanted a big hit and whiffed on a tackle four yards from the marker. Ward got the first down, the Giants got in the end zone and the game was, for all intents and purposes, over.
And Shaun Suisham should have been cut last year. Great call Danny Smith. Oh, and Moss, Randle El, Thrash and Kelly? Catch the damn ball.

Jeff Teague (Oh My!) and More College Basketball

From Wake's too-narrow victory yesterday in the 76 Classic Quarterfinals over Cal-State Fullerton:

That's 6'2" sophomore guard Jeff Teague, who might be the best player in the ACC not wearing Carolina blue. With him and freshman star Al-Farouq Aminu getting the headlines, I'm picturing James Johnson having another superb under-the-radar season.
Yesterday was the first Wake game I really watched and they look like they should: a young team that looks a little more polished than last year. It will be interesting to see how Dino Gaudio divides up the minutes, guys like L.D. Williams or Tony Woods could get lost in the shuffle if Ish Smith and Chas McFarland keep playing well. The team still seemed to have trouble guarding the perimeter. It didn't matter yesterday, but will once the Deacs face better competition. And Dino needs to keep reminding his bigger guys that they shouldn't be bringing the ball upcourt. It almost always ends in a turnover.

* The Terps surprised everyone last night with a convincing victory over #6 Michigan State. Maybe the loss of James Gist and Bambale Osby, guys who were only sometimes effective in the middle, will help open up the Terps offense. Last year it looked like Maryland was trying to force action through Gist. They will miss them defensively though, especially against bigger teams like North Carolina and Wake Forest (who will present a much more difficult matchup for the Terps this year.) Michigan State is also learning how to play without Drew Neitzel, so let's keep things in perspective. Could an MD/Georgetown final in Orlando be in the offing?

* Dan Steinberg's Atlantic 11 poll is back in The Washington Post for its second season, and I'm voting this year with the ultimate goal of getting one of my anti-Virginia Tech comments printed in the "dead-tree" edition of the Post. Keep up with all the A-11 goings on, and also be sure to keep checking out Shutdown Corner and The Dagger. Here's my ballot for last week's A-11, complete with my attempted pith. The official poll can be seen here, the additional pith version is here. (Note: These rankings are from last Sunday. I fully anticipate Maryland being #2 next week, just in time for them to lose to Michigan.

1) Georgetown - Greg Monroe looks to be the Real Deal Holyfield. Like, for real, the freshman looks like he's a 49-year old man. I've heard he's Greg Oden's great-uncle.

2) VCU -There are far worse things in this world than losing to Rhode Island. Like, for instance, losing to the Wizards.

3) Virginia - I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure that the Virginia basketball team is still mathematically alive to make the ACC football Championship.

4) Maryland - Sure, they needed overtime to beat Vermont, but did you see how easily they rolled over Youngstown State?!

5) George Mason - Mason had two wins last week over Pirates (Hampton and East Carolina). Maybe Jim Larranaga and George Clooney (George Clooney?!) can go over there to Somalia and solve that thing.

6) Virginia Military Institute - After beating Kentucky, VMI handled Maryland Bible College with a 118-72 victory. Using the final score as a clue, I found that Psalms 118:72 reads "The law of thy mouth is good to me, above thousands of gold and silver." I'm no Biblical scholar, but I'm pretty sure that's some sort of dig at Billy Gillispie.

7) American, Radford (tie) - American and Radford are tied for 8th on my ballot. And, somewhere, Donovan McNabb's is all, "what's this about ties?!"

9) Virginia Tech - After two straight losses, the Hokies have no business being ranked in the Atlantic 11, but I really didn't want Seth Greenberg's complaints to fill up my voicemail inbox so, here we are.

10) Towson - Seeing that Pat Kennedy is still at Towson is like finding out that Sam Waterston is still on Law and Order.

Sean Taylor Remembered: The Moorman Hit

Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of the death of Sean Taylor. Over the next few days, I'll be posting some YouTubes and links to celebrate his life. First, the Pro Bowl hit on Brian Moorman.

It Doesn't Get Much More Disappointing Than Lavar Arrington

Two of my college buddies were disappointed that I didn't give my thoughts on LaVar Arrington bashing Joe Gibbs, mainly because they were looking forward to the frothing rage with which I was sure to react. I didn't because I felt his ridiculous comments, in which he called the Hall of Fame coach "a coward", didn't merit any discussion on the matter. LaVar is desperate for attention and I felt the need to not to magnify his comments to the tens of loyal readers of this site. (I did enjoy Clinton Portis sticking up for Gibbs. That made my man-love for Clinton grow even more, which I didn't think was possible.)
While I still won't even dignify Arrington's remarks -- which earned him almost universal scorn in the D.C. area -- something interesting has happened. LaVar, who had been a fixture on Comcast SportsNet's Redskins post-game shows, has been conspicously absent from the show since ripping Gibbs. It's no loss, and I have no idea whether it has anything to do with what he said, but it's interesting.
LaVar could have been king in D.C.. I loved him. My friends loved him. Everyone loved him. My buddy Rob even made a shirt that said "And God said, "let there be Lavar." Rob's brother and I named our team in a Bob Dylan-related competition "Like A Rolling Lavar." (It didn't make sense then, and it doesn't make sense now.) The picture above was the background on my computer for over a year. But instead of becoming a dominant NFL player, LaVar squandered his talent and was out of football before he turned 30.
A popular defense of LaVar that is almost invariably mentioned when talking about his failed career is that he had six different defensive coordinators during his NFL career. While that surely didn't help, it's also a convenient excuse that overlooks the major fact that LaVar was a freelancer who never seemed to pay attention to which system was in place anyway.
Turnover is a fact of life in the NFL. Stability tends to work out better than change, but good players adapt. How many defensive coordinators have the Ravens run through since Marvin Lewis left? You don't see anybody making excuses for Ray Lewis.
LaVar Arrington was an undisciplined football player and no defensive coordinator could have changed that. He could have been one of the all-time Redskins greats. Instead, he's relegated to taking pot-shots at the all-time Redskins great.
Screw off, LaVar. Enjoy your crappy sports bar in Annapolis. If it's anything like your career it will over-run the competition.

Redskins-Ravens Flexed to Sunday Night; Jordan fired by Bullets

NBC announced, as expected, that the Redskins-Ravens game on December 7 will be flexed to their 8:15 timeslot. Excellent, as one thing Jim Zorn has shown this year is that he has his teams ready to play big games in primetime. I'll be at this one, hopefully it won't be as bad as two previous games the 'Skins have had on NBC this year.

In other news, the Bullets ire coach Eddie Jordan this morning after the team's 1-10 start. I was at Eddie's last game on Saturday night when the Bullets lost to an undermanned Knicks team at Madison Square Garden. My buddy Jaf and I couldn't figure out why Eddie played Darius Songaila for the entire fourth quarter, despite having JaVale McGee sitting on the bench collecting dust. I loved Eddie, he seemed like a really good man, but it was time for a change. Even Tony T, the most optimistic sports fan I know, said so on Saturday night. When Tony T turns against you, you got problems, my friend.

Portis leads the Redskins to season-saving victory

* The Redskins have a knack for making every team look good. Seattle, St. Louis, Cleveland and Detroit all looked like average NFL teams during their games against the Redskins. In reality, these teams are the dregs of the NFL and should be disposed as such. The popular thinking is that great teams blow out this sort of competition, which is true. Good teams don't always do that, so the Redskins inability to put away Seattle doesn't necessarily mean they're not good, but it certainly means the verdict is still out. Still, as I've written a few times this year, a win is a win, especially in Seattle, home to two recent Redskins playoff meltdowns.

* If Kurt Warner is the NFL MVP, Clinton Portis should be the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year. He is what a running back should be.

* Jason Campbell looked a little shakey at points during the games -- he panicked on a 3rd and goal, got some happy feet a few times -- but still is on track to be an effective, efficient quarterback in Jim Zorn's system. He got some late help from the offensive line too.

* Santana Moss should have been ejected for hitting the Seattle defender. He hit him in the face (throwing a punch) and that's punishable by ejection. The refs blew it. Thank goodness they did. Santana isn't a problem and this looked like a one-time deal. Maybe his reputation proceeded him. Had, say, Koren Robinson done that, differnet story. Moss apologized after the game and said he let his emotions get the best of him (and it was a real apology, not one of those - I'm sorry it happened and if you were offended ones). I'll accept it, Santana knew he was wrong. But that could have been a killing penalty. Luckily, for the Skins, they rebounded to score on that drive following the personal foul.

* Any success the Redskins defense has is based entirely on the team's secondary. Because the team's front-seven are abysmal. Like, for real abysmal. The defensive line barely touched the quarterback for the third straight week and the linebackers are non-existant. Other than a nice sideline tackle by HB Blades, I can't remember hearing the name of London Fletcher or Rocky McIntosh once. (Although, to be fair, Matt Vasgerian (he of the Rick Sutcliffe drunk booth encounter) was misidentfying players and spots all day.) London's play has fallen off dramatically in the past few weeks, a drop which seemed to coincide with the death of his father. I'm not saying that that's the reason he looked like he's aged 15 years on the field in two months but, if it is, at least there's a valid reason. London overran at least three big runs today. The other linebackers, McIntosh and Blades, do nothing except flail and get out of position.
As for the defensive line, they get pushed off the line of scrimmage like they're rag dolls. The oldness and poor play of the defense makes the draftings of three pass catchers (Kelly, Thomas and Davis) in the second round of the draft all the more galling. Seriously, that won't stop being one of the most inane decisions in the Vinny Cerrato era. The team has glaring needs on both lines, and Vinny goes for three receivers. I've ranted about it at the time, but now that it's be thoroughly demonstrated that not picking up help on the lines has helped contribute to the disaster that is Kedric Golston, well, I'm still going to keep it up. Because, just like the Ed Hochuli thing from weeks back, sometimes we accept bad decisions and mistakes and move on as if they were inevitable for some reason. They become a part of the discussion -- oh yeah, Hochuli blew that play -- instead of the focal point of the discussion -- by Hochuli blowing that play, he ruined the Chargers season. Some say it's beating a dead horse. I say wail away.

* The 3rd-and-1 swing pass to Mike Sellers. Ummm, what? It was 3rd and 1. Inches, almost. The Seahawks hadn't stopped Portis all day and Zorn decides to throw in the flat to Mike Sellers? And, not only that, but Jason Campbell slung that ball in there. Had he lofted it, it would have been an easier catch.

* The special teams were atrocious as usual. Plackemeir showed Seattle what they certainly aren't missing, Redskins fans actually celebrate when Shuan Suisham proves he has the leg to kick a field goal from 26 and the kickoff and punt coverage are disasters. After the Redskins TD, the Seahawks got the ball on their own 42 because of a short kick and terrible coverage.

* Good to see Shawn Springs and Laron Landry come up with those interceptions. Maybe DeAngelo Hall has been giving them lessons. The only way that could have been better is if Carlos had picked on them as retribution for the interception drop he had in Seattle during the '05 Playoffs.

* vs. Giants/at Ravens in the next two weeks. Last week I said the 'Skins needed to split with the Seahawks and the Giants. They got their win today. But now, it'd be a huge boon to the team's playoff chances if they could win one of those Giants/Ravens games. Beacuse after playing in Baltimore on December 8, the 'Skins get Cincy, Philly and San Francisco.

Chuck Klosterman Reviews 'Chinese Democracy'

'Chinese Democracy' comes out on Monday and Chuck Klosterman has the definitive review at The Onion's A.V. Club. The part about what Axl thinks he's doing is perfect. Read the whole thing.

I Blame Jim Zorn

Nixon's Chase's Ememy List after tonight's debacle in Landover:

1) Jim Zorn -- Timeout after 3rd and 4? Know the situation, know that another play has to be called.... The challenge of the punt spot.... Play-calling on 3rd and 8 when the worst possible thing is to take a sack and Zorn calls for a play that brings the sack into the picture... Game management... Play calling.
2) Front office -- So glad the team has Malcolm Kelly, Devin Thomas and Fred Davis contributing instead of players that could be assisting immediately on the offensive and defensive lines. The d-line did nothing today. Nothing. Hell, the linebackers weren't even there either, lest for a tipped pick by Rocky. Did you see Kedrick Golston or Cornelius Griffin anywhere around the ball? What about Jason Taylor? Yeah, he played. Don't you think it would have been nice to have had some fresh blood on the line instead of three pass catchers who can't get into the game and when they do, they drop an easy 3rd and 4 that would have extended the freakin game? DAMN.
3) Danny Smith - Look, it's not entirely your fault that Rock Cartwright is slow-witted and doesn't realize that simply tapping a ball on the goal line is better than diving into it Leon Lett style. He's your player, he should know better, but every man does his own thing. HOWEVER, to allow Jim Zorn to challenge that play, a play that had no shot of getting turned over, IS Smith's fault. The rule is clear, the ball can be advanced backwards until it is possessed. Clearly, Rock squirted over the ball and it then hit him while he was in the endzone. This is not debatable. Yet, the Redskins wanted to debate it because they thought the rule was diferent. It'd be like challenging an opponents TD run because their feet weren't in the endzone. Zorn's idea of the rule was completely off base. And I can give him a pass for that, because he's not the special teams coach. But Smith is, and it's his job to say, "yo, that's a clean play .Rock's an idiot, but let's take our medicine and not burn this challenge." Damn.
4) Shawn Springs -- Cut him. Get him off the team. For real. He has no business being around. Jason Taylor, who has no ties to the area or the players on the team, works his ass off to get back on the field for the Redskins. He doesn't do anything once he gets on the field, but I appreciate the effort. Springs? He's either too hurt to play or too much of a vajayjay to play. Either way, get him the hell off the team. He doesn't care. We shouldn't be spending our time wondering whether he'll play, because he knows all along that he's not. He cares about Shawn Springs and not the Redskins, which is the exact oppposite of a guy like Portis.
5) Officials -- The side judge missed the most egregious offsides call I've ever seen on a Redskins drive that would ahve given them a first down. Looked right at it and... nada. Awesome.
6) London Fletecher and all linebackers -- Look, London, I love ya... A lot. Just ask my college buddy Scott. But the past three games you've been out of sorts. I know there was a death in the family and I want to give you the benefit of the doubt and the belief that you'll step it up soon. I still have some great man-love for you, London, but games like tonight question my faith. --
-- I'm going to bed, sorry if this didn't make any sense. It's been a long day.
Skins have two games upcoming: they can either:
a) beat Seattle, beat New York
a) beat Seattle, lose New York
c) lose Seattle, beat New York
d) lose Seattle, lose New York
Sweep, split or get swept. Anything other than getting swept is OK and leads the 'Skins to an 7-5 record headed into a final foursome of games. That's what they need to do now. Get the win in Seattle and the season will, once again, be OK. Lose that game in Seattle and all of a sudden, the season is on the line Thanksgiving weekend against the Giants.
Portis, by the way, is the man. Not that that needed telling.

Cowboys-Redskins Gameday

Hey, did you hear Tony Romo is back tonight? Yeah, that's the only reason to watch the Cowboys-Redskins game apparently. NBC's promos consist of just three words "Romo. Is. Back" as if it's like the second coming. Second coming of an overrated, goofy-looking, playoff-choking goober, maybe. The dude has won zero playoff games in his life. Zilch. But let's hype him like he's Joe Montana. Ridiculous. That being said, this game terrifies me. The worst part is, the fact that it's a home game worries me the most. For all the bad things I say about FedEx Field, that's probably the worst.
Some of the best two moments from recent Cowboys-Redskins history. The Monday Night Miracle with those two late Brunell-to-Moss touchdowns is remembered mainly for those two plays, but this clip highlights a play that was just as important: Sean Taylor's drilling of Patrick Crayton on what would have been a first down catch that would have put the Cowboys in field goal range. I watched the end of this game on my DVR today and the SeanTay hit just gets better and better.

Manny to the Nats?

That's what Buster Olney seems to think. Let me pontificate if I may: There's been talk of the Nats making a run at Mark Teixiera and now there's a little Manny buzz. My big fear is that this is the Lerner's way to trying to make themselves look good. It's a masterful plan. They leak a couple of names to the press, some articles get written about how the Nats are trying to make a splash in free agency, the players end up going elsewhere and the Nats publicly shrug their shoulders and say, "oh well, we tried." The fans take this as a sign that the Lerners are willing to spend money, which makes said fans more likely to re-up on their season tickets for next year.
Don't scoff, Peter Angelos did this for a solid three years. There would always be stories about the Orioles chatting up high-profile free agents, but none of them would ever sign. One year the team info that they were making a push to sign the biggest free agent on the market (Juan Gonzalez). The agents for Gonzalez came out a day later and said they hadn't heard from the O's at all.
In that case, Angelos was in the process of sabotaging his team in the hopes that their failures would convince Bud Selig not to move a team to the District. The Lerners aren't doing that, I just think they're cheap. My season tickets (or, more appropriately, my 20 game plan) are up for renewal and I'm not signing back up. The stadium is a pain in the ass to get to, and I don't feel like spending my hard-earned money to watch a 102-loss team. (This doesn't mean I won't go to a few games, I just don't feel like dropping $450 again.) And it's going to take a whole lot more than leaked stories to convince me otherwise.
Frankly, I think Olney is nuts (in this case). There's no shot Manny comes here. However, I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

YouTube: Pat Summerall's 1983 Redskins/Cowboys Intro

Why can't today's game intros be like the ones of the past?

No One On The Cowboys Has Swagger Like Us -- Chris Paul: Week 11

Big Tigger joins Chris Paul on his best Redskins song in years:

Oh, COME ON! Sports Ilustrated Puts Women's Basketball on Cover

OK, this is ridiculous:


We'll ignore the Clinton Portis banner at the bottom of the cover, because that makes me so excited for Sunday that I want to take the next two days off work and watch old 'Skins/'Boys games on DVD. But I digress.
Nobody cares about women's basketball. To call it a niche sport is an insult to niche sports. It's great that SI and (especially) ESPN try to force women's college basketball upon an unwilling public, but it's time to stop. It's been time to stop.
In a Harris Interactive Poll taken last year, 1% of sports fans listed women's college basketball as their favorite sport, ranking it behind men's soccer, bowling, track & field, boxing and horse racing. Horse racing! The 1% is actually a highwater mark for the sport. In 2005, women's basketball rated a "*" which meant that the sports received less than .5% of votes. (The WNBA knows all about the *, they've received it over the past four years.)
So, SI is running cover stories about subjects that 1% of their audience likes the best. Think about that and what it would mean if other magazines put stories on the cover that only interested 1% of it's intended reading audience. The stories would be something like this:

Newsweek: Why Iran is Right
Rolling Stone: In the Studio with Ja Rule
People: The chick who played Andrea on '90210' bares all
Good Housekeeping: Tips on how to get the most out of Ikea's Leksvik drop-leaf table
Cosmopolitan: How to get Dmitri, the cute waiter from that coffee shop on 114th St., into bed

It doesn't matter why women's basketball isn't appealing to viewers, all that matters is that it isn't. This isn't sexist, it's factual. Nobody cares. Stop acting like people do.

* And if you're not visiting me, MJD and Eamonn at The Dagger, then I wish a season of women's college basketball viewing upon you.

Can We Please Shut Up About 'Beamer Ball'?

Look who ranks last in punt return defense in college football.
And while you're at it, look who ranks first. Wake Forest has allowed six punt return yards this season. Six. For the whole season. That's an average of .67 yards per return, or two feet on every punt. Shoot, even Antwaan Randle El gets more than two feet.

Clinton Portis: 2nd Degree MCL Sprain

I know he says he'll play, but I'm far more concerned with the part where he says, "right now I can't straighten it." I'm no doctor, but that doesn't sound too promising.
More evidence CP isn't of sound mind right now: He thinks, of all the rookies, Malcolm Kelly can make the most impact. Granted, that's like saying of all the members of Coldplay, the drummer is the manliest, but come on, CP. It's a small victory if Malcolm Kelly dresses for the game, let alone plays, let alone actually does something.

The Dagger and DeAngelo

- I sincerely hope you've been joining me and MJD over at Shutdown Corner during this NFL season. You'll notice that I haven't written about much non-Redskins stuff on this site this year, mainly because all my other thoughts are going up over at Yahoo! (Well, not all my thoughts. It's probably best if I don't post 1,000 word rants there about how overrated Eli Manning and Donovan McNabb are. But, seriously, did you watch that game last night? How many balls did Donovan throw at the feet of his receivers? And what about his two-minute offense? Who does he think he is, Jason Campbell?
As for Eli, he's greatly improved over the past two years, which is to say, he's an average NFL quarterback now. I don't understand how him winning a Super Bowl validates his existance when it did nothing for Brad Johnson, Trent Dilfer or Mark Rypien. And don't feed me that nonsense about his magical escape on the Tyree catch. That was bad tackling and a miracle catch. Giving Eli credit for that is like giving a man credit when his wife gives birth.)
Anyway, where was I. Ah, Yahoo. Anyway, tomorrow I'll be debuting on Yahoo's college basketball blog, The Dagger, which has been manned nearly-exclusively by the excellent Eamonn Brennan over the past few months. MJD and I will be joining Mr. Brennan for what will soon become the best national college basketball blog out there. (That's not just hyperbole either, The Dagger is going to be awesome. If you're a fan of college ball, bookmark it or get an RSS feed today.)


Tomorrow I'll be doing an ACC basketball preview, so please stop in.

* I'm still not sure about the DeAngelo Hall signing. I was down on it until my buddy Tony, the most optimistic Redskins fan I know, pointed out last week that Hall could return punts, thus ending the Antwaan Randle El nightmare that we've been living in for two years. If that happens, then the short-term boon might be worth it. The other positive is that DeAngelo Hall is playing for a contract and, thus, will theoretically be playing hard and will contribute in the Redskins depleted secondary. But that's also why I'm hesitant about this.
Guys like DeAngelo Hall only care about one thing: money. He'll play well to get that contract and then what? You know Snyder and Cerrato will give him a huge contract if he shows any flashes of talent over the next seven games. And that's what scares me. He's playing for himself, not for the team. That's OK in baseball (and, to a lesser degree, basketball), but not in football. Look at the Giants and Titans; they are teams with very few egos. Those that are there (Plaxico, Vince Young) have been ostracized and/or suspended. The Redskins don't need to be creating potential problems, which is exactly what DeAngelo Hall is.

Redskins.com Is a Cluttered Mess

This is a screenshot of Redskins.com taken at 11:30 a.m. on Friday morning. I count no less than 18 different types of links, pictures and ads that are vying for my attention (many of which are moving). It looks like Times Square on amphetamines.
I guess Redskins.com encapsulates the Redskins experience pretty well though. The website is like FedEx Field: lots of distractions, not much substance, an overemphasis on things that don't matter and it gives off a general sense of uneasiness.

Click on the picture to make it bigger. I'd imagine most traffic goes to this website to find out basic information like the team's schedule, the NFC East standings, etc. None of it is immediately accessible from the main page. (You have to drag your mouse over the "TEAM" tab.) Other NFL websites are cluttered too, but at least there's some sense that somebody was thinking about the design of the page. (Packers.com, Bears.com are some examples.)
Why do they need a running crawl to Fanhouse? Can the amount Fanhouse is paying for that right really be adding that much to the Redskins bottom line? And why are there seven stories in the feature box? Seven? And what's with all the tabs? What is this, a Grateful Dead concert?

Of Course They Are: Redskins Pursuing DeAngelo Hall

Per Redskins Insider:

The Washington Redskins are among the teams free agent cornerback DeAngelo Hall is considering after clearing waivers Thursday, according to his agent, Joe Segal. Segal would not comment on how many teams are pursuing Hall, or specifics of offers, but said that Hall, a former Virginia Tech star, is intrigued by the possibility of signing with Washington.
"Obviously, the Redskins are a strong franchise and a winning team, and that's a significant criteria for DeAngelo," Segal said. "We're considering all the options and taking it one day at a time."

OK, first of all, "DeAngelo's criteria" involves whichever team will give him the most money upfront. Second of all, WHY?! What good does it do to bring in a guy who was just, basically, kicked off his team for being a malcontent and, maybe worse, not very good at cornerback. Oh, because he was good at Virginia Tech?! Why, let's sign Lee Suggs and mail an offer to Leavenworth for Michael Vick (no paper clips!). Idiots.
I guess this means the injury to Shawn Springs' vagina is worse than initially thought.

On the other end of the intelligence spectrum, SI's Stewart Mandel has a very cool article about FSU safety Myron Rolle who might miss the Seminoles huge November 22 game with Maryland because he's interviewing for a Rhodes Scholarship. A Rhodes Scholarship. Most FSU players think a Rhodes Scholarship is what you have to get into order to obtain a driver's license. And Rolle is one of the few college students interviewing for one of the 32 prestigous spots. Excellent. That's very impressive. Of course, this game could be very big for Wake Forest, so I sincerely hope the scheduling conflict gets worked out and Rolle can do both.

Should SeanTay be in the Redskins Ring of Fame?

A friend of mine sent me the Redskins press release today announcing that the team would induct Sean Taylor into its Ring of Fame at an upcoming game along with the message, "I disagree." His view is that Ring of Fame status should be earned by a combination of respect, performance, and longevity. "You can argue for 2 of the 3 for Sean," he writes, "but potential can't be counted."
He has a point. Misguided as it may be, it's still a point. But now I'm the one who disagrees. Sean Taylor belongs in the Ring of Fame and it shouldn't even be debated.
He didn't have untapped potential, he was mid-tap. And that was taken away from him and from us because of a tragic death. That greatness deserves a permanent honor at the Redskins stadium.
It's true that SeanTay didn't have a long career. But his murder is different than, say, Penny Hardaway's career being derailed because of a knee injury. Penny had a chance to come back. SeanTay never did.
The memory of Sean Taylor is one that needs to be remembered in Redskins history. He was the team's defensive star and was playing at an All-Pro level when he was tragically gunned down in the prime of his life and career. His death affected the entire Washington D.C. area and inspired his teammates on a memorable end-of-season winning streak. His legacy thankfully will be kept alive with this honor.
Thurman Munson isn't in the Hall of Fame but his number was retired by the Yankees. Reggie Lewis only made one All-Star team in Boston, yet his #35 hangs in the Fleet Center's (or whatever it's called) rafters. These players aren't in the Hall of Fame; that's reserved for lifetime greatness, regardless of circumstance. Their mark was left on their teams, just like SeanTay.
It's still chilling to think that one year ago, Sean Taylor was stalking around the Redskins secondary. Remembering that always puts a bad loss (like the one the 'Skins had Monday night) in perspective.

Allen Iverson: Practice Redux

At his introductory press conference yesterday in Detroit, Joe Dumars made reference to Allen Iverson's infamously-awesome "practice?!" press conference. AI didn't miss a beat:

Video courtesy Ball Don't Lie

The Train Wreck Is Back: Steelers 23 -- Redskins 6

* Well, that burgundy experiment really worked out nicely, didn't it. What a joke. The Redskins have one of the best jersey traditions in the NFL -- exclusively wearing the whites at home. Dallas and Philly do this frequently too, but the Redskins almost never stray. So, at 6-2 they decide it's a good idea. Apparently this was concocted back in the off-season and the plan was to go burgundy for the final four home games of the year. After this debacle, let's hope we see the whites on in two weeks vs. Dallas. Why mess with a good thing?

* Carlos Rogers. I don't even know what to say. Catch the freakin' ball. Elementary schoolers can make that play. If he grabs the easy pick and runs into the endzone like he should have, it's 13-3 Redskins and all of a sudden, it might not matter that the team didn't have anything working correctly.
If you dare, here's the clip of the drop from Mr. Irrelevant: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqzRpNtf3ow&eurl=http://misterirrelevant.com/. It's a cruel thing you did in posting that, Mottrams. I won't be able to get that image out of my for weeks. I forgot there was 5:33 left in the first half when he dropped it. Dammit Carlos. That's 13-3 and a whole different ball game. Every freaking week. I'm too pissed now to tell my training camp story about him that fits in nicely with his dropsies, but one day.

* This was a big wake-up call tonight for Carlos. He's earned due praise on this site and in other places (I'm not going to link because I'm too pissed off from the game to look it up, but rest assured that most Washington Post articles about the 'Skins throw in a: Carlos Rogers, in the midst of his best season, said, "....") without provocation. But this evening showed two things: 1) Carlos isn't yet a #1 cornerback in the NFL. 2) Opposing teams know Carlos is not yet a #1 cornerback in the NFL.
Carlos didn't play well tonight at all. It wasn't just the drop. He had a crucial pass interference, he was late on plays, he got beat, he missed a tackle, etc. But the mere fact that Rogers had so much action shows that the Steelers had little regard for him as a corner. Raiders CB NNamdi Asomugha goes entire games without seeing one pass thrown his direction. Carlos doesn't go a series without that. When you see a corner frequently during the night, it's a sign that the other team doesn't think much of him.
Of course, Carlos isn't a #1 corner. Shawn Springs is. Too bad his ovaries flared up again this week. I'm sure he'll be ready just in time to dress for the Dallas game and take himself out after two plays.

* The Carlos thing is a convenient excuse though. The Redskins were bad in every single facet of the game. Danny Smith's special teams, as usual, were abysmal in punt coverage and returns (although props to Plackemeier and Suisham for solid performances). Fred Smoot and Marcus Washington continue to be liabilities every time they step on the field. But, most concerning, was the complete regression of Jason Campbell tonight.
Now, I'm a big Campbell fan. I've always been (save for a two-quarter stretch of the opening night this season). But the one problem it's clear he's always had is that he doesn't have much football intelligence. He looks lost out there sometimes when the game isn't being played. In the moment he makes great decisions. But in the huddle, before a play, after a play -- he falters.
That was evidenced tonight when he had to burn what could have been a crucial timeout after his headset went out. (Let's ignore, for a second, the absurdity of headsets going out in the NFL. It happens at least once a game. What are they on, an AT&T cell network? Good gracious, people. Get some comm equipment that works. What would happen if airplane communications were as bad as helmet headsets?)
After the headset went out, Campbell was lost. He had no clue what to do, so he burned a timeout. I think his inability to take control is one of the reasons why the 'Skins have no 2-minute drill. Perhaps Zorn is afraid to trust Campbell to call his own plays. Just a thought, but it makes a whole lot more sense than whatever nonsense Zorn was spouting at his presser last week.

* Santana Moss didn't play most of the second-half. But, hey, it's a good thing the 'Skins drafted three pass-catchers to fill his void.

* As if things weren't going bad enough for the Redskins, they shot themselves in the foot with an absurd challenge on a Steelers interception. I was at the game, but had a good replay of it in front of me, and it was clear that the play wasn't going to be overturned. It might have been close, but because the ruling on the field was "interception", the refs weren't going to overturn it.
Throwing the flag was a bad move, but it was especially bad because the 'Skins had an entire TV timeout to look at the replay. If Pitt had been rushing to the line to get a play off, then throwing the flag might not have been too bad. But with five minutes to look at every angle, each of which said, "ehh, this is really close and is probably a catch, certainly not enough to overturn", it should have been a no-brainer to keep the flag in the pocket.

* For tonight, Byron Leftwich > Ben Roethlisberger. Had Roethlisberger stayed in the game, the Redskins might have had a chance to pull this out.

* FedEx Field is awful. Twenty-five percent of the people in attendance tonight were Steelers fans, and I'm not exaggerating that number. If anything, it might be a little low. There were 36 people in my row and the rows immediately ahead of and behind me. Thirteen of those 36 peope were rooting for the Steelers.

* Lord, Mike Wise is ridiculous and completely unreadable:

This was humbling for the very reason that their 6-2 sprint out of the blocks was so inspiring -- no one saw this coming, this virtual beat-down at the hands of the second-best team in the AFC after the Titans.

How did nobody see this coming? I'm not saying I saw a 23-6 loss coming, but I certainly didn't not see it coming either. Nothing in this game would have surprised me. There's a reason the 'Skins were only favored by 2.5. It's not like they were considered world-beaters. For them to lay an egg, while disappointing, isn't surprising. They had to sweat it out against the freakin' Lions last week, for crap's sake!

* That's it. What a stinker that was. Hopefully this will get them focused to change some things during the bye week. The season is at a precipice. The Redskins could finish 8-8 just as easily as they could finish 11-5.