2015 Point & Laugh At The Washington Franchise Thread

[SD]

I hope this happens:

"Sources with the organization" tell NBC Washington that the taterskins are interested in free agent Ndamukong Suh.



Consider this the least-surprising development of the offseason. Owner Daniel Snyder has long thought games are won in March, not September-December. Per the Washington Post, the taterskins have about $25 million in cap space. A run at Suh isn't a pipe dream, but would limit new GM Scot McCloughan's options in his first year on the job. The taterskins are 12-15 players away from being a contender, not one.

[Zanshin]

Albert Haynesworth: The sequel.

[SD]

"It'll be different this time"

[Zanshin]

When they inevitably change their name, that should be their new tagline.

[PhillyPhreak54]

$nyder will pu$h to $ign $uh and piss the world's greatest GM off

[SD]

Re-signed Niles Paul 3 years $10 million

[PhillyPhreak54]

DT Stephen Paea signing a 4yr deal

[SD]

Ian Rapoport@RapSheet  ·  24m 24 minutes ago

The #taterskins are signing CB Chris Culliver to a 4-year deal, source said. Another top corner off the board.

[ice grillin you]

http://www.thenation.com/article/201521/university-wisconsins-point-guard-says-change-mascot?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

One person who stands in direct opposition to this, besides Dan Snyder, owner of Washington's football team, is Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

In 2013, Walker signed a bill that makes it harder for public schools to change racist mascots and names. The law, which he claimed to support to defend the First Amendment, requires 10 percent of a district's students to sign a petition within a 120-day period to earn a hearing regarding changing a mascot name. A spokesperson for the Wisconsin Indian Education Association called the law, "an example of institutionalized racism."

[ice grillin you]

A few years back, the taterskins approached me about working for the team Web site. They wanted a blogger to record the sights and sounds surrounding the team and its players; I seemed to fit the bill. So I interviewed with a few people in Ashburn, and sought guidance from friends, many of whom knew about working at taterskins Park.

"It would be the most interesting three months of your life," one friend joked, as I recall.

He may have been overestimating.

Look, people who accept jobs at taterskins Park know they're on borrowed time. That goes equally for PR directors, for head coaches, for bloggers and for radio hosts.

Former Post columnist Jason Reid knew all that before he accepted a job hosting a new morning show for ESPN 980, the Dan Snyder-controlled AM sports-talker. He knew, too, that he wasn't beloved by Snyder or team President Bruce Allen; anyone who saw Allen and Reid interact could have guessed they weren't meeting up for Happy Hour Heinekens. Still, if the over/under on Reid's tenure had been set at five minutes, I think most people would have taken the over.

Apparently, they would have lost. Reid's program was indefinitely postponed before its debut, and some insiders believe it's now DOA.

If you're trying to find a moral in this whole saga — in which facts remain as scarce as returned telephone calls — try this one: The people calling the shots about Reid's shuttered show were either extraordinarily vindictive, or extraordinarily incompetent. Neither seems like a badge of honor.

It goes without saying that I'm nowhere near objective on this matter. I'm friends with Reid, although he hasn't responded to my messages this week. I'm also friends with Chuck Sapienza, the former program director at 980 and a passionate backer of the new hosts and the new show; his resignation was part of the fallout. I'm friends with many of the employees at rival station 106.7 The Fan, who are dissecting this week's drama on-air, and I'm friends with many of the ESPN 980 employees who aren't sure what's going on.

A good number of taterskins fans, of course, don't care at all about the personnel arrangements at a sports-talk radio station. Many think Reid should have known better than to work for men he had flambeed; some even suggested he got what he deserved, and are reveling in his misfortune. Hey, whatever makes you feel good at night.
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And look, there are some islands in this muddy morass, things Snyder bashers and Snyder defenders could agree upon. For example: everyone who cares about the taterskins would prefer Dan Snyder and Bruce Allen expend their energy programming a radio station rather than running a football team. If fiddling with "The Man Cave" — as Reid's show was to have been called — has taken the place of palling around with players or scouting draft prospects, so much the better. All we need is the video of Allen marching into 980′s Rockville Pike studios, announcing "I'm in control here."

Also, this is not the first time a local sports executive has gotten involved with media matters, so it's not entirely unprecedented. In the most memorable recent example, the Nationals got rid of Rob Dibble after the MASN broadcaster lambasted Stephen Strasburg on the air.

"Rob asked for some time off," then-Nationals president Stan Kasten said when Dibble "asked" to take a leave, prior his eventual firing. "Perhaps he's not feeling well. But I'm not a doctor, nor have I seen his records. So I shouldn't say anything more about it."

That's not exactly the final word on compassion. The difference here is that Reid's show ran aground three weeks after it was announced, but before he said a single word. People close to the taterskins and the station believe Allen was a key player in the show's demise, and Snyder is the man ultimately in charge.

So did they know about Reid's hiring? Did they allow him to leave his job, allow the station to promote the new show for three weeks, and then pull the plug at the last minute, eliminating a prominent critic's local platform while harming him both personally and professionally? Such a move would call to mind humiliating a head coach by hiring a bingo caller to run his offense, and humiliating a defensive coordinator with an ice cream delivery, and threatening a star receiver with a flat-screen TV gift, and threatening a small newspaper with a legal fight whose cost "would presumably quickly outstrip the asset value" of the entire paper.

Or did they not know about Reid's hiring? (For what it's worth, during negotiations Reid told other reporters who cover the team that he was assured Allen and Snyder were on board with his hiring.) Did the top officials of the local football team not only miss the news that one of their most prominent critics was leaving The Post, but also that he was leaving to become their colleague? And when they did notice, weeks later, could they not think of any appropriate response other than clear-cutting everything in their path, while refusing to answer any questions about the matter?

Vindictiveness or incompetence? It's like trying to decide between Albert Haynesworth and Adam Archuleta; they're both marks of shame.

This news, of course, came during a few days of remarkable optimism. New GM Scot McCloughan signed a bevy of solid defensive contributors at mostly modest prices; largely unheralded but well-regarded starters, in their primes, at key positions. The moves were celebrated both locally and nationally, and fans were enthused. There was a scent of basic competence in the air, no small triumph after 15 years of stink bombs.

Well, that rotten egg smell is back, at least in one small corner of the taterskins empire. No, this won't affect a September divisional game. But when even the launch of a morning radio show can be bungled this badly, it's hard to believe there aren't future embarrassments on the way.

Incidentally, here's how my little story ended. I told the team I wasn't interested in the job, but recommended a friend, a fanatical taterskins fan who saw this as his dream job.

Matt Terl was hired that summer. Three years and two days later, the taterskins fired him.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Dashon Goldson traded from TB for a 2016 6th

[SD]

I'm expecting the birds to make a move like this for a safety draft day. Mid to late round pick for a guy.

[ice grillin you]

dashan goldston is a 1985 nfl safety not a 2015 one

[PhillyPhreak54]

Yeah he's a thumper in the box guy

[PhillyPhreak54]

Albert Breer ‏@AlbertBreer 16m16 minutes ago

The taterskins planned to bring Marcus Mariota to Virginia for a visit. I'm told they couldn't work out a time, so that trip is now off.