Brandon's Welcome

Welcome, everyone!

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Brandon Kriner and I'm from Arlington, VA. I started a Nationals blog called the Curly W about a year ago. I was having so much fun with the baseball blog that I added Ben Folsom to the site. Ben is a huge Redskins fan and an avid blogger, so it was inevitable that he'd start a Redskins blog. You're reading his creation and I'm happy to be along for the ride.

I've been an NFL fan all my life, but I'm new to the Redskins even though I've lived in the D.C. area since 1996. In fact, I'm not even sure that I am a Redskins fan right now. That's part of the reason I'm here! Let me explain: I grew up in Cincinnati during the Bengals Who-Dey heyday of the 1980's. I can still remember exactly how to do the Ickey Shuffle and still get a thrill from watching the Browns and Steelers lose. Alas, then came the Lost Decade of 1991-2003. The Bengals became the toilet of the NFL and rattled off fourteen straight non-winning seasons. To put this in perspective, before 2005, the last time the Bengals had a winning season, I was in sixth grade, the first Gulf War was going on, and Vanilla Ice was in his prime. That's a long time.

But yet I've remained a fan, even while living in D.C.. I'd stuck with the Bengals through all those winning years because something inside me needed to see them break The Streak. In 2005 the streak was broken, so I feel like maybe I can finally be at peace with the Bengals. After all, the D.C. area is my home now, and I'm tired of cheering for a team from afar. I can't watch many Bengals games on TV, and no one wants to talk Cincy football over the water cooler around here. Why? Because this is Skins country, of course!

I've already given up the Reds of my childhood in favor of the Nats, so I might as well see if I can do the same for the Skins. My mission for this season is to immerse myself in all things Redskins to see if I can actually become a fan. To be honest, I have my doubts. The whole Norv Turner/Steve Spurrier era was pretty boring football, unless you count the hilarity of watching Jeff George get his bell rung over and over. I'm not really a fan of the name and logo either, but that's a subject for a future post. But hey, I love NFL football and I love D.C., so I'll give it a go. Anyone have any advice for me on becoming a Redskins fan?

Again, welcome, and thanks for reading. I'm looking forward to a great 2006 Redskins season!