Five Things To Like About The Washington Redskins

The nature of Washington's play against the Houston Texans gives rise to optimism. It's pretty clear that the Skins are going to be competitive in every game. Washington was competitive last year too, in spite of top to bottom ineptitude. The competitiveness is of a higher quality now.

The fault lines on this team are still there--depth on offense, talent at wide receiver. But after two good showings and with the afterglow of beating Dallas (well, who doesn't?) we're just not going to focus on that today. So here are five things to like about the 2010 Washington Redskins:

1. LaRon Landry leads the league in tackles after two weeks. (London Fletcher ranks third) Landry wasn't cutting it at free safety. Jim Haslett moved him to where his skills are best applied as linebacker-lite, a.k.a. strong safety. Haslett is making better use than Greg Blache did of Landry and all the talent on defense. Lets hope Haslett is open to whatever suggestion DeAngelo Hall has for improved coverage--and that Hall is open to improvement after viewing game tape. We know how that conversation would have gone with Blache. Haslett is still learning about his players and has to do something to fix the bottom-ranked defense in the league. But I digress. Landry can be had in pass coverage and he still tends to hit late, but he's the beast we expected when we drafted him. We can work with beasts.

2. Donovan McNabb....

To read the rest of this story, go to Redskins Hog Heaven.

Landry signed

The Washington Redskins signed LaRon Landry, their number one draft choice, to a contract today.

See the story at Hog Heaven.

More on the shot to LaGroin

OK, this story just keeps getting funnier and funnier, although it might not seem so to Redskins #1 draft pick LaRon Landry.

Landry suffered a groin injury to a "sensitive area" during a team-building (?) exercise after the last OTA. The Redskins were tight-lipped about the story, leaving us to get more details from PFT by way of ExtremeSkins.

A rumored version of the story is up on PFT. You have to scroll to UNCONFIRMED REPORT OF LANDRY'S PAINTBALL-TO-THE-BALLSACK INCIDENT posted at 10:14 a.m. on June 17, 2007. PFT doesn't provide permalinks to individual stories, so here's the fair use summary of the post:

"A guy who knows the person who owns the paintball park at which Redskins safety LaRon Landry got hit in LaDong with a tiny ball of paint says Landry had 'shot' one of his Redskins teammates, knocking him out of the game. Then, Landry walked up to the player, who was on the ground at the time, and proclaimed that he was going to finish him off, execution style.

"The teammate then raised his paintball gun and shot Landry point-blank in the crotch."

An earlier version of this story implied that Landry was an innocent bystander in the event. Guess not.

So, what was the dialog like between football players in a paint ball contest?
_________________________
LANDRY: Oh, you mine, dawg. I'm gonna finish you execution style.

SHOOTER: You ain't my teammate yet, punk. Deal with THIS.

WAP

SHOOTER: Oh, you LaDonna now, bitch.
_________________________
This story is destined to live forever in Redskin lore. Like the shooting mystery of an earlier day, I'm trying to figure out who shot LR? Shawn Springs? Not his style. Carlos Rogers? Lacks the killer instinct. Fred Smoot? Knows a thing or two about groins, but Fred is more into laughs. David Macklin? Jerametrius Butler? Don't know much about them. Hard to say. However, there is one d-back I would not want to diss under any circumstances. I don't want to call his name (same name as Puffy), or number (21), because I don't know that it was him. And, I wouldn't want this particular player (initials "ST") to hunt me down and give me a shot in the balls. And neither do you, brother. Because, you know, that stuff hurts.

Now, the questions are:

• Did the activity bring the secondary together?
• Does a simulated combat experience toughen a defense sorely lacking toughness?


• Do LaRon's contract demands go up?


• Does this count as rookie hazing?


• Do we equate paint ball to dog fighting?

I looked for something on this story on Covering the Redskins. Covering doesn't post very often, so I've not added the site to my blogroll. I do check the site from time-to-time. He keeps his identity hidden, but writes with an insider's knowledge. Covering the Redskins was the first to put me on to Clinton Portis' comments about Michael Vick. A little research revealed the the site belongs to Bram Weinstein, who actually does cover the Redskins for the Snyder-owned 94.3/92.7/730 AM Radio. Covering is silent on this issue. If he comes up with anything, I'll link to it.

Photo: paintballpromotionsimg.com/
Photo: Donna Summer, http://www.ibabuzz.com/ found here.

Redskins draft party is a "must do"

I've got to hand it to Daniel Snyder. He knows how to throw a party.

I went to Saturday's Redskins Draft Party thinking only two types of people go to the stadium to watch the draft process: diehards, and bloggers snooping for an angle. I qualify on both counts. Although admission was free, this was a Daniel Snyder event. I just knew it was going to cost me.

Surprise number one, there were a lot of cars in the FedEx parking lot. While not at game day volume, there were traffic monitors to manage the flow. The only admittance was through Gate A. It plainly said that on my invitation, but I overlooked it. My car is used to going to my favorite game day parking spot near gate D, so that's where it led me. Rather than walk, I drove to the lots near Gate A. That's when I saw it. A tailgate party tent.

Why didn't I think of tailgating for this thing? It's Spring in Washington. It was a perfect day to arrive at 9:00 am and bar-b-que until noon. Note to me. Next year, if the Skins make the playoffs and draft late, organize a party and tailgate this succa.

Gate A wasn't open. The 17,000 partiers were directed throught the Redskins Hall Of Fame Store (clever move Mr. Snyder) for admittance to the stadium. We could linger past the clearance tables for the best deals you are going to see on Redskins-logoed merchandise. "2005 Redskins Playoff Bound" tee shirts for $5.00. What a bargain.

You had two choices for your in-stadium destination: admittance to THE FIELD, or escalator up to the privileged Club Level. Most people with kids, and anyone who wanted player autographs, headed down to the field where the team organized sports games for the kiddies. There was a line of people that extended about 100 yards to enter a field level tunnel that, I presume, led to the players. The Lombardi Trophies were on display in the Club Level, so I headed up there after being handed a ticket for the door prizes. Oh yes, the team gave away a couple of game worn paraphernalia.

The Club Level is one of those money-makers that boost the value of FedEx Field to the Redskins. The team charges an ungodly amount of money just to "license" the right to buy game tickets on that level. That is, you buy the multi-year license and then you buy the tickets. But, the level is plush by stadium standards with wood decor and comfortable lounge chairs and sofas. The sight line from that level is outstanding from any seat. I checked out several. It's not as intimately close to the field as were my family's upper deck seats at RFK, but it did remind me of the view.

The Lombardi Trophies were in the open but secured by very large men. There was a snake line to channel fans to the trophies. The line took you past the Redskins 1937 Championship Trophy, and champion team portraits. The NFC Championship Halas Trophies were also on display.

The line moved fairly quickly to bring you to the Lombardies. Here, let me give you some advice. If you are going to a big event where you want to capture treasured photos, make sure the batteries in your camera work, or carry spares. I didn't, so several deleted expletives later, I resorted to my cell phone to get the money shot of me with the trophies.

You weren't allowed within two feet of the trophies, much less to touch them, but an attendant would gladly take a photo of you and the Lombardies with your camera, or cell phone. Violation of the security zone around the trophies would invite violation by the giant standing nearby, or by the three very muscular PG County police who stood nearby. I almost told them I was a blogger doing a story, then thought better of it. I didn't think they would see the humor of it.

In need of sustenance to feed my disappointment, I visited the concessions to get my next shock. HALF-PRICE ON FOOD AND BEER! Thank you again, Mr. Snyder. I never had a $2.00 hot dog at FedEx. I was so excited that I double downed on the buy.

Replenished, I toured the table offering Redskins framed, autographed player pictures, and assorted other trinkets. The most impressive item on the table was an authentic, but unautographed, Marcus Washington game-worn helmet that could have been mine for just under $300. Big men wear big helmets.

The Redskins were on the clock and the crowd gathered around around the indoor monitors, or went outside to watch the pick on the Jumbotron. It was Landry. The crowd was festive. No anguish at the pick, just cheers and the eternal optimism that has characterized Redskins fans since the 1990s.

At 2:45 PM THE COACH and his two deputies choppered in to greet the fans. Even with all the skepticism, criticism and disappointment of a losing season, an appearance by THE COACH melts a Washington crowd. That would include me. Gibbs opened with a few words about how they made the pick. His comments sounded to me as an attempt to deflect criticism from Daniel Snyder. Then he took questions from the crowd and signed autographs. A transcript of Gibbs Q&A is up at Hog Heaven.

I left at around 3:30 pm, but the party was running through 5:00 pm and was still going strong when I left. I'm going to do this again, with fresh batteries next time.

Redskins Host Draft Party: 17,000 Attend

For another viewpoint, see Man Of Faith at washingtoncitypaper. Not sure what draft party they attended, but I didn't see what they described. They described an apathetic crowd. I saw a festive one (why would apathetic fans show up at a draft party anyway?). The photo accompanying the article showed empty seats below coach Joe's image below the big screen, meant to imply fan disinterest. Only, that portion of the stadium was closed off. Fans couldn't get there if they wanted, as you can see in the photo below.

Photo: Master4Caster with the Lombardi Trophies, by Anthony Brown
Photo: Joe Gibbs at Redskins Draft Party, Don Wright Photo, redskins.com