Sounds From The Basement

It Was 40 Years Ago Today......

...that the Philadelphia Beagles traded a QB to the Washington Redskins.  He is in the Hall of Fame for his exploits as a Redskin, not as a Beagle.  Could McNabb repeat that feat?  I would also point out that Elway was considered a disappointment and over the hill as a QB at age 35 when Shannahan took over the Broncos and subsequently lead them to their Super Bowl Victories.  McNabb is only 33.

Dallas Week

This week the Washington Redskisn will play the Dallas Cowboys.  If I was back in DC poeple would be talking about "Dallas Week" all the time.  Here in San Antonio, I am celebrating "Dallas Week" buy wearing a Santana Moss jersey to work for casual Friday.  As you might imagine, it has caused quite a stir.  Many people have een very positive, but I was asked if I had a death wish!  The CEO of our company decided he wanted to take me to lunch today, so I even ventured out into a public restaurant and managed to avoid causing a riot.

Torture

As my beloved Redskins were making their most impressive drive of the night, culminating in a Clinton Portis Touchdown, my cell rang.  It was my Realtor telling me the deal we had put together to buy a house in San Antonio had fallen through.  It was that kind of a night.  The  Skins let the Vikings run wild on 3rd down.  The secondary was leaky.  The offense inconsistent.  John Hall missed a makable field goal in the closing seconds that would have tied the game and sent it into overtime.

You Ready For Some Football?

On Sunday's in the fall, I am generally worshiping at the Church of the Blessed Washington Redskins.  I have been an avid fan since the 1971 season when George Allen and the Over The Hill Gang brought winning back to the Skins.  My favorite Redskins moment of all time is the 26-3 victory in the NFC championship game over Dallas.  I will alwasy remember Charley Taolor streaking down the sideline to grab a rainbow pass from Billy Kilmer as the Dallas cornerback (Mark Washington) was left in the dust.

The year the Skin's faithful have their highest expectations in years, and are very anxious after an exhibition season where our team showed nothing.  It was, after all, preseason we say and note that the championship teams of the first Gibbs era often had poor exhibition seasons, and sometimes were slow out of the gate but finished strong.  But, as I heard Coach Joe say in an interview, "the past doesn't buy you anything except memories."  We will be holding our breath waiting for the Redskins-Vikings on Monday Night Football.  My prediction, Skins 28 - Vikings 13.

Still a believer.

Jets 27 Redskins 14

Having grown up in DC, I am a die hard Redskin fan.  This year Skins nation is gripped with Super Bowl fever, and in fact, the team seem poised to perform well this season.  Unfortunately, the preseason has been a very mixed affair.  The first team offense has yet to score a touchdown.  While the first team defense looked outstanding last week in Cincinnati and started well last night, the Jets managed to run almost at will.  The less said about the special teams the better.  David Elfin in the Washington Times  did point out that history is on Coach Gibbs' side:

The Hall of Fame coach's teams are usually better off not winning in August. The Redskins only made the playoffs once (1990) following any of their 6 winning preseasons under Gibbs.

In contrast, the Redskins followed all seven of his previous .500 or worse preseasons with a postseason appearance including Super Bowl titles in the 1982, 1987 and 1991 seasons.  So, if history holds, the team that looks shaky will be playing in January.

Of course, all this does is to comfort the shell shocked skins fan who was foolish enough to pay attention to a mostly meaningless game.