Thursday, October 15, 2009

Rich, Young and a Total Failure


Years and years left to fail too

Many Redskins fans have been dismayed, for years, at how team owner Dan Snyder has run the organization, me included, I am not alone and never have been. We are legion.

And Jack Kent Cooke mind you was no angel, he was as much about the money as Dan Snyder is now. Like Dan Snyder does now, JKC knew the key to the Redskins generating him positive and growing revenues was winning football games. That is where the similarity ends.

JKC knew his limitations, he never professed to be a football mind. He vetted and hired a guy, Bobby Beathard, to run football operations, Bobby brought a young gun offensive coordinator name of Joe Gibbs to JKC's attention and the rest as they say is history.

The relationships were not always smooth and that is a good thing. Bobby scouted and selected the talent, he had the last word. The coach went out with the team put before him. The owner provided the money. That's it. Checks and balances.

Dan Snyder, why he thinks he is a football guy. He thinks with the right advice he can make good football decisions and be active in putting together a championship caliber team.

He is wrong and has always been wrong about this.

Because of who he is, a rich and deeply insecure young man, he surrounds himself with yesmen, individuals that will reinforce the Dan Snyder worldview. The kabuki of it all is not simply to be blatantly obsequious but like a court adviser to a French monarch, carefully to bring the king not only to his own conclusion, but to do so convincingly, a brilliant stroke your highness, yes yes sheer genius.

He so desperately wants to be part of a winner that he will take the team down with him, which is exactly what is happening. He is so insecure he is incapable of doing the truly hard and right thing, to find good and impartial advice on brains, hire the brains and simply go away.

To the owner, a football team should be like children, as parents we are all the prouder when they achieve success without our intervention.

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As I post this I am watching the debacle of the Panthers game for the first time, I was out of market on Sunday and thanks to NFL Game Rewind I will watch and complete Curly R's gamewrap post.



Dan Snyder: uncredited image from here.

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