Ryan O'Halloran is Ticking Jim Zorn Off

Damn liberal media

The offender has been revealed, the heavy sighing eye roller that set off Redskins head coach Jim Zorn in the post game press conference yesterday was the Washington Times' Redskins beat reporter Ryan O'Halloran.

This morning I got up to read post game overage in the Washington Post, both Les Carpenter and Mike Wise mentioned the incident though no names were named. So I went to the true source of inside baseball for Washington football, Jason La Canfora's Redskins Insider.

Jason's Monday Morning H-back linked to Dan Dan the Sports Bog Man who did a piece on all the various and sundry outbursts by coach Zorn and who also named Ryan as the offender. Dan Dan the Sports Bog Man linked out to Ryan's Redskins 360 blog entry at the Washington Times that explained the matter.

Now for the Hollywood moment: it was no big deal, all a misunderstanding, everything is fine, Ryan and coach Zorn worked it out in private. Sure Jim Zorn momentarily shut down the presser, stepped away from the podium and then with fist pounding emphasis sure seemed to imply that the then unseen Ryan was disrespecting coach Zorn. As a parent I know how frustrating the appearance of the eye rolling, the not paying attention and the near deliberate miscommunications can be and coach Zorn lashed out.

These beat writers are near these football team members every day and travel with them everywhere. Having to deal with the media guys can be a pain in the arse I am sure, especially if you think they have an agenda or if their questions always seem to be leading or result in what you consider slanted writing. At this point coach Zorn should be very familiar with Ryan, if not cordial. Add to this despite Jim Zorn's smoothness he has never been in the top spot before, regular media responsibilities would still be relatively new to him.

When I went to read Ryan's post it sounded like they were getting in the weeds, talking about specific plays in the last two drives of the first half, probably easy to get confused in a room full of people. But then again these guys have had dozens to hundreds of interactions to this point.

So, was this a one time outburst by a coach frustrated even in victory? Because you keep rolling your eyes, I'm getting ticked off and slamming the podium with your fist are not displays of garden variety misunderstanding.

Or was it sending a message to Ryan and by extension even the wider media covering the team? That message being back the fuck off and don't ask stupid questions.

The Washington Times' Ryan O'Halloran (left) and David Elfin: screen cap from this video via here.