Dan Snyder what have you done?
Written by NewYorkTony, Monday November 02 2009
My wife was on her computer in the bedroom and could hear the Redskin's game on the TV in the living room. It was Monday Night and my beloved Redskins were playing a hated Divisional Rival. She knew it was best to stay clear out of the picture.
She heard the announcers say "Touchdown Eagles!", and not a peep came from the living room. There weren't any curses and nothing thrown at the TV. "Something is wrong" she said . She headed for the living room, looked in, and saw me sleeping . It was only the 1st quarter. "Unprecedented!" she gasped. Little does she know , that's where we are today In Redskin Nation. We are drowning in apathy .
The Jack Kent Cooke Redskins of the 80's and early 90's were one most Loveable teams in the History of Pro sports . To quote the Great John Madden at the end of the 1991 NFC Championship (Redskins Trounced the Lions) " The Redskins play on grass, they have the Hogs, they have a Band and they stand for everything that Football was meant to be about".
Boy those days feel like EONS ago. I was a kid looking for a team in 1982 . Giants and Jets had zero appeal to me . Then there was this team from Washington . They had the Smurfs, they had Joe Gibbs, they had RFK, they had the Hogs and best of all, they had John Riggins. It was love at first site.
What a beautiful run they took me on, and all of the Redskin Nation for that matter . The memories run so deep and vivid it was almost like we all were on one long acid trip. Riggins running over McNeal in the 82 Super Bowl, the 87 NFC championship game vs the Vikings. The whole 1991 year, which was a magic carpet ride of a season.
Who can forget the Seat Cushion game vs the Falcons, thousands of seat cushions flying in the air while Cooke is waving merrily to fans with a grin as wide as the Potamac. Redskins Cooke Gibbs Beathard stood for something . We had an Identity, we were a franchise running at the highest level.
Fast Forward to 2009. A lot has happened. Too much to be honest. Dan Snyder bought this team 10 years ago and it has been a slow and painful decline. It's only comparable to the baby boomer generation gradually watching Mickey Mantle breakdown. As the old saying goes "These aren't your daddy's Redskins anymore"...
Snyder charges for everything except the air we breathe at FEDEX. He charges 10 dollars for parking at Practices! Criminal! Wait! He charges an additional $10 for admission to practices! He sues his fans during a recession while he fields an inferior product no less. He's never hired a GM, all we have is his racquetball partner Vinny Cerrato calling the shots for us. Cerrato is like having Baghdad Bob lead the charge vs the 3rd ID. We've been doomed from the start.
2009 has been the breaking point for a lot of fans, myself included. I don't recogonize this Franchise any longer . Hire Marty Fire Marty, Hire the ol Ball Coach, Fire the ol ball coach, Gibbs in Gibbs out, Zorn Who? Zorn why? Matthews ,Banks , Graham , Ramsey, Brunell Campbell etc. You get the point .
Staring at this franchise, I try so hard to relate to them . But I don't any longer. There too commercialized due to Snyder's marketing team and too medicore due to Snyders crack committee Front office team. The passion has been sapped out. I root for them but with no passion. I'm apathetic now.
Like many other fans I wish to have a real GM, but it's too far reaching for Snyder's thought process. Redskin Fans look at other teams GM's (REESE, POLIAN, PIOLII etc) as a middle class man looks at the 2010 LAMBORGHINI. Its beautiful but I'll never have one. Dan Snyder what have you done? No GM, we trade picks like bubble cards, we sign and overpay for every free agent imaginable, we have no identity no soul.
This off season will be the biggest in Redskin History. What's done this off season will determine what the next 3-4 years will look like. Snyder needs to get this right , a lot is riding on this. I ask my fellow fans, based on the previous 10 years do we think the light bulb has finally gone on in Snyder's head?
Will he fire Cerrato?
Will he hire a real GM?
My educated guess is that he will fire Cerrato and sign some Big name coach to a gazillion dollar deal and make him the GM as well. Why? Because Snyder will still able to play Fantasy Football with our beloved franchise and ........it's better for Marketing.
Were have you gone Jack Kent Cooke? The Redskin Nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
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2 comments
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Very well said, or written in this case. I feel your pain and there is only one thing I can say about Snyder. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts ABSOLUTLY! He really needs some checks and balances in his organization, instead of a multitude of yes men accepting checks.
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y dont u just cry about it