Saturday 28 February 2009 0700: when I left base and wandered to the Garage last night at about 9pm ET, Derrick Dockery was just leaving Detroit without a deal, I commented below that unless the Lions were ready to throw a pile of money at Derrick that he likely would not sign. Then when I woke up this morning I read that Derrick had signed with the Redskins just a couple of hours later, five years 27 million dollars with 8.5 million guaranteed and 11.5 million over the first two years. This signing reunites Derrick with the team that drafted him in the third round of the 2003 draft, Derrick was a solid left guard for Washington before leaving for a huge deal with Buffalo before the 2007 season, the Bills cut him unexpectedly this week. He becomes the immediate starter at left guard, rendering Pete Kendall as a backup if needed at all. After the debacle of trying to replace Derrick in 2006 it is likely the team will not take him as much for granted this time around. Friday 27 February 2009 1230: Derrick Dockery is in Detroit right now but that does not mean he will sign with them, all things being equal Detroit will need to way overpay this year to get starting quality veteran talent off the street, unless they want to start shoveling money out the door the Lions will need to do a season's penitence before coming around.
Albert Haynesworth is in the Ashburn house, Redskins press conference scheduled for 5pm today, get in front of a TV, I will see if I can find it on the web, I would guess Redskins.com.
Something I have observed over the years that Jason La Canfora has covered the Redskins as the Washington Post's beat writer, many Redskins fans do not like him, my guess is principally because he is critic as much as scribe and if you get out there on message boards and chat rooms there are a whole bunch of Redskins fans that think any form of criticism of the team operation makes you a hater. I think it goes without saying but bears repeating that I do not agree with this position and now that I have made a straw man for Jason it can go ahead and hate on him for his first look at the 100 million dollar gamble, wherein Jason has the nerve to point out that in post season meetings Vinny Cerrato pressed coaches to explain 2-6 second half and the consensus was a need for three young, starter quality offensive linemen.
Instead on the first day of free agency the Redskins went out and spent a spaceship full of money on a guy that has never played sixteen games in a season, never takes 100 percent of the snaps at his position, has had anger management problems, may have motivation and or weight problems and by virtue of a five game suspension for stomping his now twice yearly opponent in the face will be a repeat offender next time Mr. Goody Goody Goodell has to weigh in on a discipline problem...
... to play defense.
1045: the Redskins will release cornerback Shawn Springs today, Shawn was headed into the final year of his contract and was imminently cuttable, something he was not two years ago when the team first began to tire of him. Washington will save six million dollars in salary cap room with this cut which I am sure they will sign right over to Albert.
Matt Terl over at the ORB (Official Redskins Blog) sums up Vinny Cerrato's interview on state owned radio ESPN 980, he talks about signing DeAngelo and Albert, as well a reference to creating more cap room. I got a hilarious bacn mail message from the state owned ESPN 980 yesterday, beat reporter Frank Hanrahan is a guest on every show all day so clearly the team knew they were going to make big news and wanted to be sure they controlled the message on the radio outlet where they control the message.
0900: are the Redskins trying out Cleveland Browns veteran safety 6-3 210 30 year old Nick Sorenson? Bob Pappa and Randy Cross on Sirius NFL Radio just did a segment with Nick, they asked how things were at the Browns' Berea Ohio facility on the morning of free agency, Nick responded that he was in a car in Virginia heading for a workout. Could be a private workout for anyone I suppose, or is he at Ashburn right now? With Reed Dought likely gone this could be a third tier free agent the team was talking about.
Also, as I read the morning reporting on Ashburn's dealing I note that Cowboys free agent defensive end Chris Canty (Wahoowa!), what with the Redskins landing Albert Haynesworth, has canceled his trip to Redskins Park and the team is no longer pursuing him.
0800: the Redskins Insider story on the signing of DT Albert Haynesworth has been updated, looks like his deal is seven years, 55 million dollars, more details to come...
0700: I go to sleep with the knowledge that the Redskins had locked up a young and skilled cornerback and awake to the news that Washington in fact did manage to land the prize of the free agent market, Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth. Barring a complete Dana Stubblefield class flameout the Redskins defense suddenly got a lot better. No word yet on Albert's deal, we will hear about that later today.
The team also continues to talk with free agent and former Redskin left guard Derrick Dockery and free agent defensive end Chris Canty (Wahoowa!) is expected to visit today, Chris is arriving on Dan Snyder's jet.
1220: so it begins, at seventeen minutes past midnight Jason La Canfora reports on Redskins Insider than the Redskins have signed cornerback DeAngelo Hall to a six year 55 million dollar deal with up to 23 million dollars guaranteed. Wowzers. That is huge bad news for Shawn Springs.
Stay with Curly R as we follow Washington's free agency splurge.
Update 11:30 pm: the Bills cut Derrick Dockery? And Robert Royal? Two years after signing Derrick to a seven year 49 million dollar contract? What happened there, how did he fall out? Jason La Canfora and the cast of thousands at Redskins Insider tell us that Washington is gunning for Derrick, I say bring him back, Pete Kendall is still solid and looks better as an affordable backup. And if I might be so bold, former Redskin Robert Royal might be a better backup tight end than Fred Davis and Todd Yoder combined.
At one minute past midnight tonight the NFL's 2009 free agency period begins, what will be the Redskins play? Albert Haynesworth, DeAngelo Hall, Chris Canty, a quote second tier unquote offensive linemen?
Looking back to the first hours of free agency in 2006, the Redskins pulled down Brandon Lloyd, Antwaan Randle El, Andre Carter and Adam Archuleta, in retrospect (Curly R did not start up until training camp of 2006) where the fuck did the Redskins get the money to hand out four 30 million dollar contracts?
Before free agency midnight 2007 there were a bunch of names out there, only London Fletcher in the top tier and Fred Smoot in the second tier emerged from the pack to join the team. Left guard Derrick Dockery was the major loss.
Come free agency midnight 2008 the Redskins had decided they would not be big players in the market, with Todd Collins and Ryan Boschetti the major signings. There were no major losses after 2008 unless you considered Reche Caldwell or David Macklin key players.
Now with 2009 on deck the team has said it will be a player in free agency. The prime targets appear to be cornerback DeAngelo Hall and Titans defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth, and a second tier offensive lineman.
Washington has the edge with DeAngelo, he is a Redskins player and the team could sign him for any amount at any time, that deal may come down tonight before free agency starts, we know he wants to play in Washington so the question is simply what would other teams be willing to pay DeAngelo given his flameout in Oakland eight games after signing a seven year 70 million dollar deal then his stellar performance in Washington, seven games, four starts, nineteen tackles, two interceptions. DeAngelo does something Fred Smoot does not and that is challenge the ball and also does something Shawn Springs does not and that is play every game.
Albert Haynesworth, well there is no question he is the best defensive tackle available, if not the dominant DT in the league right now, although I will get much mileage out of Albert stomping Cowboys center Andre Gurode then serving a six game suspension, it would seem that Albert has put his troubles behind him and is focused on football and damn if the Redskins do not need a dominant defensive tackle.
As for the modest offensive lineman, I confess I have no idea what that means in the NFL anymore. Jacksonville left tackle Jordan Gross signed a six year deal for 60 million dollars with 30 million guaranteed, I think that is not what the Redskins are looking for. With the modern reflecting the rest of the country with a shrinking middle class, a small number of elite earners and a crapload of people at the margins.
As a Redskins fan I will say this, I am not sure Albert Haynesworth would be a great fit and DeAngelo Hall needs to be signed. That the two top free agents we are taking about are both on the defensive side of the ball when the Redskins had a top five defense last season and a top 20 offense is a serious concern for me.
Editor's note by Ben: thanks to the patience and understanding of my wife Jennifer, herself a football fan, I get to see lots of football games. Whether they be on the street at neighbor Bill's or in Raljon or Philadelphia or Cincinnati it is because of her that I get to slip the demands of children and nominally productive Sundays in the fall so many times a year. All she asks in return is a chance to go see a game herself from time to time, this past season she took three of her girlfriends to see the Redskins-Rams game on 12 October 2008, a game the Redskins lost to drop their record to 4-2 and move the previously winless Rams, fresh off the firing of head coach Scott Linehan, to 1-4.
This is her game journal, as you might imagine a carload of women rolling into a tailgate with booze and food did not have a problem finding Redskins fans to hang out with...
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So I roll into Raljon in the Blue Bus, the rocking Mazda minivan, with my three girlfriends, Tall Tia, Smiling Cindy and Guest Reporter Vans. The lots weren't terribly full but, on Tall Tia's advice, we swerved around looking for good tailgating neighbors.
Then we found these guys, on a 3 day Bachelor Party trip from Williamsburg.
After razzing us about our fancy pants tailgate (tablecloth? the horror!) these nice fellas shared their temporary tattoos.
Mine was a curly R, natch.
Tall Tia rocked the temp tattoo with a gorgeous wrap dress. Who else can pull that off at FedEx?
The Father of the Groom slaps one on Smilin' Cindy.
It's not the tattoo or the Bud Light that's making Cindy smile, it's that the girls just got some relief from the trusty Medela with car adapter. (Ed. note: this is apparently a reference to a breast pump, likely the first time in nearly 1000 posts that the term breast pump has been mentioned on The Curly R. -Ben)
Guest Reporter Vans smiling about the anti-hokies sticker but trying reaaaaaal hard to avoid that nasty tongue pointed in her direction.
Much better.
They might not have had tablecloths, but they had the fanciest beer bong I've ever seen!
I mean, it had a valve, is that over-engineered or what?
I'm proud to say that I channeled my best Randolph-Macon College beer bong skills and didn't drool a bit!
Of course Vans and I split a 12 oz beer.
The gentlemen next door couldn't resist Jenn's famous Chili Mac, my world (or at least street) famous chili served atop bags of Fritos. The key is to open the bag horizontally.
Note the tablecloth.
All smiles wayyyyy up in Donny V's nose bleeds!
The last time the girls hit FedEx Field we got shushed. In the third pre-season game. When the Reskinds were winning by 21 points. In the third quarter.
Jenn: very concerned about the play on the field.
Vans: very concerned about cheerleaders' white boots out of season.
I have no idea what Danny Boy does with all of his money, but let's just say he does not spend it on plumbing!
After the game, during the traditional run on the ladies room (prior to sitting in traditional hideous Raljon traffic) we hear complaints that the water pressure is out in the stadium. We enter to find this, the entire ladies room flooded with DISGUSTING sewage.
Women had to wade through 3 to 4 inches of sewage to access the two functioning stalls and then had no water in the sinks with which to wash their hands. Note in this video the lady removing her flip flops in the sink to avoid fungi, MRSA and everything else in between. (YouTube here)
Our last view from that game was splashing through the ladies room sludge. A fitting departure after having seen the previously 4-1 Redskins lose to the 0-4 Rams (YouTube here).
All in all, a great ladies day out at Redskins Park. Hey-yeyyyy!
Please join me and the entire staff of The Curly R as we wish longtime and former Washington Redskins tight ends coach Rennie Simmons a happy birthday, Rennie turns 67 today.
Rennie stepped down as Redskins tight ends coach and retired last month on 7 January, of Rennie's 27 years as an NFL coach he was with the Redskins for 15. Among the tight ends Rennie coached here in Washington are Chris Cooley, Clint Didier, Don Warren, Frank Wycheck, Jimmie Johnson, Ken Whisenhunt, Robert Royal and Touchdown Terry Orr.
Rennie was a high school football teammate of Joe Gibbs and both went to play for legendary coach Don Coryell at San Diego State. When Joe got the head coaching job in Washington before the 1981 season Joe found Rennie and brought him aboard. And over his career Rennie coached exactly the way the offense dictated. During his first run in Washington from 1981 to 1992 Joe Gibbs did not run a tight end heavy offense, the tight end was usually an extra blocker, look at Don Warren, he played his entire NFL career from 1979 to 1992 with Washington and never caught more than 29 passes in a season while Joe Gibbs was coach. By contrast Chris Cooley has never caught less than 37 in a season, his first year in the NFL, and last year led the team with 83 receptions!
Rennie Simmons coached the talent the team had to the scheme the team used. Given the variation in productivity of the position players coached by over the years Rennie was as much a tight ends coach as he was an offensive line coach and a receivers coach.
Which turned out to be convenient for the Redskins who moved Rennie to offensive line coach for the 1992 and 1993 seasons after Joe Bugel had left for the Phoenix Cardinals, Rennie shared the offensive line duties with another long serving Redskins coach, Jim Hanifan.
After leaving the Redskins before the 1994 season Rennie joined Chuck Knox's Los Angeles Rams staff as tight ends coach where he worked with former Redskins colleague special teams coach Wayne Sevier and quarterbacks coach one Mike Martz, then still in his first pro gig, three years later in 1997 Mike would join Norval Turner's staff in Washington as quarterbacks coach.
Rennie spent 1995 on the Vanderbilt University staff before joining Jeff Fisher's Houston Oilers staff in 1996 as offensive line coach where he coached with future Redskins offensive coordinator Sherman Smith, then still in his first pro job.
Before the 1997 season Rennie joined Dan Reeves' remarkably stable staff in Atlanta as receivers coach, where he was reunited with former Redskins quarterbacks coach Jack Burns, as well as future Redskins quarterbacks coach Bill Lazor. Rennie stayed with Dan Reeves all seven seasons in Atlanta.
When Joe Gibbs returned to Washington before the 2004 season, Joe brought Rennie back. All he did here was help turn Chris Cooley into a Pro Bowl tight end and a team leader.
As a Redskins fan I say thank you to Rennie Simmons for your 15 year contribution to Redskins football. Now go enjoy yourself.
As a side note for you long time Redskins fans, Matt Terl at the ORB (Official Redskins Blog) went and found both former Redskins tight end Don Warren and current tight end Chris Cooley and talked to them both about Rennie, it is amusing if not surprising that two guys separated in their playing careers by twenty years would describe their position coach in such similar terms. Rennie apparently remained the same.
Rennie Simmons in 1984 uncredited image from here.
When last we left our intrepid travelers, your author and his traveling partner lifetime Eagles fan, season ticket holder and Curly R reader/lurker Wilbert Montgomery, they had decided to make a weekend of their trip to Philadelphia to see the Redskins and Eagles play for the 18th time in the last 19 games in the series, and the 16th overall for your author. They had lit off for Philadelphia on Saturday 4 October 2008 and spent that day at a museum exhibit of stoner art, drinking in bars and looking for a way to watch the Phillies-Rays World Series game on local television.
Waking up to an outstanding breakfast prepared by Wilbert Montgomery's mom, we had some errands to run before the game. First we needed tickets. Seems as though Wilbert Montgomery's sister had failed to deposit the tickets at the parents' house and the sister had since gone out of town. How we were going to get past security at Wilbert Montgomery's sister's brand new green high rise condo in Wilmington was a mystery to me but I tell you, I have seen Wilbert Montgomery talk himself into and out of some serious situations so if anyone was going to be able to walk in to a building and say hey you don't know me but I need something out of someone's place upstairs and I don't have a key it would be Wilbert Montgomery.
Somewhere inside this building are our tickets.
Of course Wilbert Montgomery parks us right under the NO PARKING FIRE LANE sign then walks right past the police officer and into the building that he doesn't live in to get property out of a residence he does not have the key to.
As I was waiting either for Wilbert Montgomery to return or the police to force me to move the car out of the fire lane, I was as always listening to Sirius NFL Radio. I happened to catch most of John Madden's preview of the Redskins-Eagles game on tape:
(YouTube here) Basically the whole preview is about how tough Jim Johnson's defense will be for the Redskins. Get well Jim Johnson.
Our next task was to pick up our game partner Andy aka fly eagles fly in comments, he was coming up from Washington on the early train to take Wilbert Montgomery's extra ticket. Like Wilbert Montgomery, Andy is an Eagles fan trapped in the educated, comfortable and civilized confines of the DC area. Andy's train was right on time and we made our way to the stadium it was not yet 10am.
How I know I am on final approach to Philadelphia.
The Broad Street exit, we never get off here, Wilbert Montgomery goes the super secret locals only back way down Packer Avenue.
The distinctive open to the highway east side of Eagles Stadium.
As we made final approach to our tailgate spot I documented the arrival and the in car chatter, it is obvious we are all excited about this game.
(YouTube here) Andy thinks it is all about motivation, Wilbert Montgomery thinks it is about Shawn Springs and whether he plays (he did not).
We captured more or less our usual spot, right on South Lawrence Street and Packer Avenue, right across from the Liberty Fish and Fine Products warehouses.
Usually we are right across the street from Liberty Fish, as in this photo from the 2007 game and this photo from the 2006 game.
No doubt perfectly legitimate.
With nearly three hours to go before kickoff, we set tailgating immediately.
Wilbert Montgomery setting stuff up while the reliably managerial Andy looks on.
The view through the chain link to Citizens Bank Park, the new home of the Phillies. I hope to get there in 2009 with Wilbert Montgomery for a Nationals-Phillies series, who knows, maybe I will even chronicle it on nearly defunct sister site The Curly W.
Setting up the tailgate, Liberty Fish in the background. Andy still has not clocked in and Wilbert Montgomery did all the work to set up. There are different kinds of Eagles fans.
No need for this unless there is brats in your future.
One of my better capers, I ordered this shirt for Wilbert Montgomery and did not tell him, it arrived and he spent a few days trying to figure out where it came from. No surprise that I was his original suspect. Sadly now that the Phillies won the World Series this shirt is a collectors item.
Wilbert Montgomery wearing it proudly, the Wilmingtonian that he is.
Andy saving the world, one Blackberry message at a time.
When one is in Philadelphia one listens to WIP, I happened to catch a few good bits from the pregame show. The first is some pregame banter, the end of the parody The Hell with the Redskins song, making fun of Hail to the Redskins (a longer capture of that one is further below).
(YouTube here) Mainly in this bit the hosts talk about the time in the 2005 season when Clinton Portis' mother, Rhonnel Hearn, who never misses a game her baby plays, was doused with beer at Eagles Stadium. The WIP crew not surprisingly has the story backwards. According to the Washington Post, Rhonnel and her party were doused with flying beer then Rhonnel punched out the lady that threw the beer, the WIP crew reports it in the opposite order, as though Clinton's mama started it. Which I am sure she did with her mouth.
A few minutes later they had a caller, a Redskins fan from Lancaster Pennsylvania and the topic oddly was Giants fans.
(YouTube here) I missed the part where they grilled him on being a Redskins fan and living in Philadelphia.
Your author.
Wilbert Montgomery with the game ticket, that is cornerback Asante Samuel.
More fun from the WIP pregame show. They manage to score an interview with a Redskins-Eagles mixed couple, the girl is the Eagles fan and they cannot get much out of the Redskins fan boyfriend.
(YouTube here) The gem of this bit is the interview with a fake Arlen Specter in the second half. They had me going at first, it really does sound like the senior senator from Pennsylvania.
Shortly thereafter I managed to pick up most of the replay of the The Hell with the Redskins fight song parody.
(YouTube here) The guy singing sounds an awful like Doug Tracht, the Greaseman himself.
And so about noon after a two hour tailgate we decided to head down South Lawrence to Eagles Stadium, for once we might actually be able to get in, get beers and get seats before kickoff.
The imagery of a dead and smashed bird in the road on the walk to Eagles Stadium was not lost on me, especially since the Eagles ultimately lost 23-17 to the Redskins amidst cascades of boos from the home crowd.
Andy and Wilbert Montgomery in the warehouse district of South Philadelphia.
The second dead bird in the last 100 yards, at this point I am having a recollection of a movie where the birds started falling from the skies and the next thing people were eating each other. That is not a good story for me in Philadelphia.
First look at Eagles Stadium down Pattison Street, that is the PBS building at left, but not that PBS, it definitely is a front for some shady business.
There are a lot of girlswomen ladies at Eagles games, something I have observed over the past ten years. They all love football, some of them are hot and many are trasheh. Only a small percentage of them are trasheh-hot like these ladies, too bad I could not get them from the front, they were driving the home crowd frigging nuts.
Citizens Bank Park aka Phillies Stadium, the new home of the World Champion Phillies, directly across the street from Eagles Stadium, I hope to see some games there this summer assuming I still have gainful employment and no the blog does not count.
The sea of green going into an Eagles game.
A Chuck Bednarik jersey, that is old school, Chuck retired from the Eagles in 1962 and was elected into the Hall of Fame five years later in his first year of eligibility, Chuck helped Frank Gifford out of football.
As ever the RVs line up out in front of the stadium, there are some good ones including this retro beater...
...and this hand painted throwback Eagles logo...
...a more professional paint job...
...the mother of all Eagles themed RVs, obviously sponsored or owned by a Pulte contractor...
...and the incredible paint job, the regulation logo and a two color image of the Philadelphia skyline, these guys take this stuff seriously.
Lining up to get in to the stadium, this line moves pretty quickly...
...to funnel craploads of people in...
...even an Eagles fan like Andy thinks those people are insane.
Finally we are in the stadium, with more than forty minutes until kickoff. So we took a leisurely stroll across the promenade.
(YouTube here) I have come to an appreciation of Mr. Greengenes, the goofball cover band that plays for the promenade and on a platform on the east side of the stadium at halftime (see below), they are actually pretty tight as the cover of David Bowie & Freddie Mercury's Under Pressure indicates. Note also that I draw attention to how long is the line for face painting. Sadly I could not get Andy to accede my offer to wait in line with him if he would get his face painted.
The big screen on the promenade, yes it is a Redskins game kids!
Then it was time to head up to the seats.
First look at the field, this is a terrific stadium.
I think the stadium worker was trying to get this guy some medical attention, she may not have realized he did that to himself on purpose.
Looking up the stairs on the west side of the stadium, these fans hang out there the whole game.
The observation deck at the top of the west steps, this is where they trot out Sylvester Stallone once a year to reenact the Rocky scenes the team insists on playing before every game. Note also the Reggie White banner at top, this town loves that guy.
More pregame big screen.
The famous Terry Farrell, Jr. (in Eagle mask). He is one of the ones if not the Eagles superfan that gets on TV most games, his seats are in Wilbert Montgomery's section which is why you see him and me on TV from time to time.
Terry unmasked, the Eagle mask was a new one for me, I have seen the Philly Gras beads and the green feather boa but not the mask until today.
The Philadelphia Muffintops cheerleaders with their signature pink pom poms for the Eagles Tackle Breast Cancer campaign.
More of the Muffintops.
The Muffintops up on the big screen, note the ad for Lovaza at left, Lovaza is a prescription fish oil omega-3 pill for treating high triglycerides typically found in fat people and people on the way to a heart attack. Philadelphia happens to be a top 20 fattest city in the country so there may be a market here. By one cardiologist's account Lozava is almost 3400 dollars per year for the standard dose, the same doctor says you can get virtually the same thing with a fish oil pill out of the vitamin section for about 150 dollars a year.
Lil Swoop, the second string mascot in the inflatable suit, kind of creepy for some reason.
More of the Muffintops at midfield.
Donovan McNabb Pro Bowl jersey from 2004, nice.
Love the Natty Boh. But isn't that a Baltimore Beer?
When I first sat down and saw this guy three rows in front of me I thought he was clad in a really tacky green and white Eagles shirt. Then I noticed the lei and realized it was a really tacky University of Hawaii shirt, this guy and his lei'd lady companion were here to catch a glimpse of Redskins rookie quarterback and former UH sensation Colt Brennan.
And so the introductions begin, number 36 tailback Brian Westbrook...
...number 5 quarterback Donovan McNabb.
The midfield coin toss.
This town is frigging nuts for Rocky.
And now is time for game. Thing I have travel all way from home in Russia.
The first three shots are of the opening kickoff, returned by Philadelphia to the 20, the fourth is the first play from scrimmage, right click and have a look at the hole Brian Westbrook is in, he took it seventeen yards on the play.
(YouTube here) Second play from scrimmage, Brian Westbrook for five yards, with microcommentary on the Eagles game plan by Wilbert Montgomery.
Two shot sequence of second and five on the Eagles 42, 13:23 to go in the first, Brian Westbrook up the middle for three yards.
Nine plays later the Eagles scored on a first and goal from the Redskins nine yard line to make the game 7-0 Eagles. I caught just a flash of the fight song on the big screen.
Hit em low, that being the key takeaway from the Eagles fight song.
The Redskins got the ball back, mainly because that is the rules in football.
Superfan Terry Farrell, Jr. (in eagle mask) watches as Jason Campbell prepares to throw an incomplete pass on first and ten from the Redskins 31 yard line. This was not a good drive, three and out, all incomplete passes.
Yet-to-be-cut Durant Brooks booted the ball a whole 37 yards where it was fielded by Eagles rookie receiver and returner DeSean Jackson at the Eagles 32. All DeSean did was take the ball 68 yards for a touchdown, or so we thought. There was a flag on the play back on the Eagles half of the field and the touchdown was waved off...
(YouTube here) The flag looked to be for a block in the back but as you can see from this video after a tense minute the flag is picked up and the touchdown counts, the crowd goes wild...
...and the Eagles are up fourteen to nothing with almost eight minutes to go in the first quarter.
The Redskins had another unproductive drive, not even getting out of their own territory before punting.
DeSean Jackson fair caught the ball on the Philadelphia 15 and that is where the Eagles started their second possession.
Nine plays later the Eagles had moved to the Redskins 32, Donovan McNabb missed tight end Greg Lewis on third and five and Philadelphia was setting up for a 50 yard field goal...
(YouTube here) ...which David Akers missed, score remains 14-0 Eagles. Note the commentary at the end of the video, Wilbert Montgomery does not believe David has been the same since tearing his hamstring in 2006.
Fast forward two possessions and into the second quarter, the Redskins had managed a field goal then the Eagles had punted. Aussie Sav Rocca boomed a 52 yard kick that was downed at the Redskins three yard line, the home crowd got loud for their defense...
(YouTube here) ...and then quieted down when tailback Clinton Portis carried the ball around the left end for eight yards.
Two plays later the Philadelphia defense had held and it was third and one deep in Redskins territory. Jason Campbell snaps the ball and...
(YouTube here) ...Clinton Portis delivers and it is first down Redskins, listen to that crowd hush.
Next play, Redskins first down on the Washington 15...
(YouTube here) ...and this time it is Ladell Betts off left side for nine yards, note about halfway through the video a nearby Eagles fan asks where is the, sounds like control.
And the next play, Redskins second and one on the Washington 24...
(YouTube here) ...and it is Ladell Betts again, this time for fourteen yards, the Philadelphia natives are at this point starting to get a little restless.
Now three plays later, still in the second quarter, third and eleven on the Washington 37 yard line, on first down Eagles safety Brian Dawkins had roared through and sacked Jason Campbell for a nine yard loss, then Chris Cooley had caught an eight yard pass...
(YouTube here) ...Jason Campbell goes right side to rookie receiver Devin Thomas for sixteen yards on third and eleven, note the nearby Eagles fan bemoaning Devin's rookiness pejoratively and in an impotent rage. First down Redskins.
Despite Washington's domination on this drive, the Redskins could only manage a field goal to bring the game to 14-6 Eagles. With just under two minutes left in the second quarter and a chance to close out the half with a score, or at least prevent Washington from scoring again... the Eagles laid a three and out, and with no help from the Redskins in the form of timeouts took only 52 seconds off the clock.
Washington got the ball back after Sav Rocca's punt on their own eighteen with 55 seconds left in the half and in eight plays, seven passes and a run by Ladell Betts, moved to the Philadelphia 32 yard line with five seconds left. Shaun Suisham came out and kicked a 50 yard field goal to mirror the one David Akers missed and the half ended 14-9 Eagles.
The halftime score, 14-9 Eagles, after a 14-0 Eagles start.
The halftime entertainment was Mr. Greengenes (op. cit.), the aforementioned goofball cover band that has their own stage down on the promenade before games, as ever they put on a great show, all clad in Eagles jerseys.
Bryen, lead signer.
They have their own stage in the southeast corner of the stadium, that open corner in the middle of the picture is the corner of the stadium open to Interstate 95 as depicted above on the way to the stadium. Right click this photo for full size, the stage is dead center.
A closeup of the Mr. Greengenes halftime stage.
A wider shot of the band on the big screen, Bryen, Tim, John and Joe. Perhaps this is the right time to mention that these guys do not reveal their full names on their website.
Halftime stats, it is pretty even, the Eagles have a huge advantage in return yards and penalty yards, the Redskins held the ball for a minute and a half longer.
Superfan Terry Farrell, Jr., unmasked.
Quote Insanely Green unquote? Indeed.
Superfan Terry Farrell, Jr. again, note the Green Intensity on the big screen over his shoulder, I would call this guy green intense. He used to hurl obscenities at me, redfaced and beady eyed with flecks of spit flying, now he knows me and I just get the finger.
Quote Green is putting your tickets in your will unquote. No, green is rushing the field during a game and dumping your mother's ashes without permission and getting arrested for it. That is taking one for the team.
Then it was time to resume the game. The Redskins got the ball to start the second half and punted near midfield, Philadelphia got the ball back on their own twenty yard line with 12:22 left in the third...
(YouTube here) ...and Donovan McNabb goes incomplete to Greg Lewis. Listen in the crowd reaction, particularly the Eagles fan near by the camera, for how confident they feel about the Eagles' lead.
After a short run by tailback Brian Westbrook it was third and eight for the Eagles at the Philadelphia 22...
(YouTube here) ...and cornerback Carlos Rogers breaks up the pass intended for receiver Jason Avant, the crowd did not dig it. It is perhaps worth noting that in the absence of receiver Terrell Owens, the Eagles have temporarily granted jersey number 81 to Jason Avant.
The Eagles wound up punting after three plays and it is Redskins ball on their own 25 yard line. Six plays later, including a third and nine deep in Washington territory converted on a sixteen yard Jason Campbell to Antwaan Randle El completion, it was second and three on the Eagles 30 and for once the play is over on our side of the field...
(YouTube here) ...and quarterback Jason Campbell hooks up with the rookie Devin Thomas for a second big play, a twelve yard catch taking the ball down to the Philadelphia 18. Despite the Eagles' 14-9 lead you can hear the frustration growing in the home crowd.
The next play, Redskins first and ten on the Philadelphia 18 yard line, Redskins still trailing 14-9, 8:16 left in the third quarter...
(YouTube here) ...and Jason Campbell hands off on the reverse option to Antwaan Randle El, he spots tight end Chris Cooley on the right side and passes for a touchdown to move the Redskins ahead 15-14 before the extra point try and the home crowd is quieting down.
Although you can hear Wilbert Montgomery on that last video questioning whether a Washington lineman was illegally downfield that was not the controversy of the play. Philadelphia challenged the play, alleging that Antwaan had sold the reverse run too well and had actually gone over the line of scrimmage which should have resulted in an illegal forward pass penalty.
Curly R aside: illegal forward pass is my favorite penalty call in all of football. As you can see in the image at right the referee stands straight with his right hand behind his back, his elbow cocked at ninety degrees and waves his hand back and forth, ninety degrees cocked to straight down and back several times, physically signaling as though the ref has passed the line of scrimmage and it is now behind him. I love this call so much because it resembles a man waving the air behind his bottom to disperse the awful smell of his farts that he is afraid you will enter the room and smell at any second. For this reason I always loudly say smelly fahts in place of illegal forward pass when the penalty is called.
Between the touchdown and the challenge the two attractive lady Eagles fans behind me asked if I would be in a picture with them, they wanted me to lean back into their cleavage and appear surprised, as though they were beating or molesting me, the Redskins fan in full jersey and ballcap regalia that I was, the guy in the row in front of me took the picture with their camera and the photo appeared to come out really well, if you ladies are reading this then please email me a copy of that photo, I get the feeling that they did not get the same thing from the experience that I did.
One of my so called tormentors. I am looking forward to next year's game at Eagles Stadium already.
(YouTube here) Meanwhile the play was upheld, touchdown Redskins, after Shaun Suisham's extra point the game was 16-14 Washington and Philadelphia was charged a time out. The Eagles would not regain the lead.
The Redskins take their first lead with 8:08 left in the third after the 18 yard Antwaan Randle El to Chris Cooley touchdown pass.
Quick Blackberry Man, there's a policy wonk in danger!
After the Redskins touchdown the Eagles three and outed, then the Redskins went on an eight play drive before punting, then the Eagles three and outed again, both of those drives totaled three complete passes for fifteen yards and three incomplete passes, as I remember the game now it seemed a bit early, down by two with an entire quarter to play, for Andy Reid to suddenly panic and feel the need to score immediately by passing but that's just me.
After Sav Rocca booted a 56 yard punt to end that second consecutive Eagles three and out, Antwaan Randle El had what must have been one of his best of the year if not the best punt return he had in 2008, taking the ball 21 yards to the Washington 35 where Philadelphia special teams linebacker Torrance Daniels grabbed Antwaan's facemask then hit him out of bounds. The resulting unnecessary roughness penalty (the facemask penalty was declined) gave Washington the ball on the Philadelphia side of midfield.
After two plays a Clinton Portis run for no yards then one for nine, it was third down and one on the Eagles 34 with 49 seconds left in the third quarter... and Clinton takes it 27 yards down to the Philadelphia seven yard line. Ladell Betts moved the ball to the four, ending the third quarter.
Jason Campbell tried to find fullback Mike Sellers on the first play of the fourth quarter but it fell incomplete.
Then, it was Clinton Portis time...
(YouTube here) As Clinton walks in from four yards out to move the score to 22-14 before the PAT Eagles fans start to melt down, then silence.
But then look at the clock, despite the Redskins 23-14 lead there were still nearly fifteen minutes left in the game. The Eagles then went on a twelve play drive that went all the way to the Washington two yard line...
... but could not punch it in...
... first Rocky McIntosh then Andre Carter stopped Eagles tailback Brian Westbrook at the goal line and the Eagles had to settle for a field goal to make the game 23-17.
This is superfan Terry Farrell, Jr. getting what I think is a a teddy bear to make him feel better from Swoop the Low Budget Mascot.
23-17 Redskins, 2:48 left in the game, tick tock...
Last real play of the game, Jason Campbell hands off to Clinton Portis on fourth and one on the Eagles 38, Clinton banged it for three and the first down.
Three kneeldown plays and the game was over, Redskins win 23-17.
(YouTube here) Your reporter bids adieu to Eagles Stadium for another year.
We leave you with a final image on the way out of the stadium:
My benefactor, lifetime Eagles fan, season ticket holder and Curly R reader/lurker Wilbert Montgomery on the left, trailed by his nom de jersey on the right. Thanks again Wilbert Montgomery, I can't wait to tell the story of our 21 December 2008 trip to Redskins Stadium, our 19th of the past 20 games in this rivalry, and my 17th straight.
But seriously, this is a great story. For a while there we were used to seeing Redskins tight end Chris Cooley in the Washington Post Reliable Source gossip column for getting drunk, getting his girlfriend fired, getting a divorce or photgraphing his dick and not for his community service and dedication to education.
Chris is working with the DC College Success Foundation to identify eight area high school students worthy of a twenty five thousand dollar college scholarship, from the article it sounds like Chris will give it away if he cannot raise it.
It seems Chris is a little deeper than I thought, having been an excellent student and on his way to being an educator before turning into a man giant and getting good at catching a football.
This is good for kids, good for the community, good for the team and good for Chris. Great work Chris, I will be following the award of scholarships.
Something else I did not know about Chris, he is an artist?
Chris Cooley and a bunch of Montgomery Blair High School girls: Washington Redskins from here.
Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin took his big combined company right to the brink, played chicken with billionaire media barons and came out with his job... for now. Curly R concludes its two part series on the Sirius bailout.
Part One: Not Even Close Part Two: My Enemy's Enemy
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Mel Karmazin is a smart business man and a man who knows how to play with a weak hand, and a man also so proud that he does not want to out like dat. Instead of letting Sirius XM, the company he rode into the ditch get yanked out from under him, Mel did a deal with his enemy's enemy. Rather than permit Charles Ergen and EchoStar gain control of the company, possibly to suck the spectrum out of the business and cast aside the husk, Mel went to John Malone at Liberty Media, operator of the DirecTV satellite TV network and Dish Network's arch rival.
Did I forget to mention that Dish Network and DirecTV tried to merge back in 2001 and were rejected? Since then Charles and John have not been, er, close.
So to save himself from a takeover, getting fired and possibly seeing his company vanish as the spectrum was repurposed to mobile video, Mel gave up what eventually will be 40 percent of Sirius XM, two seats on the Sirius XM board, for the cash to get the company through this crisis, but not even necessarily the next one. Details:
Liberty Media will invest up to 530 million dollars into Sirius XM. The money will be split across current debt obligations (that pesky 170 million), the purchase of XM's debt (as defined separately from Sirius'), cash for operations and another future 150 million dollar loan, presumably insurance for the next two tranches of debt that come due in May and December of this year.
The loan portion of the deal, 280 million dollars, carries a whopping fifteen percent interest rate and is due in three and a half years.
In exchange Liberty Media gets two seats on the Sirius XM board of directors, twelve and a half million shares of preferred stock that are convertible to a forty percent of Sirius XM common shares. That means that once Liberty elects to convert the stock, they control forty percent of the voting shares. This is clearly set up for a future takeover.
As the New York Times points out today, the total value of this investment, 450 million to 530 million depending in how you calculate it, is more than the market capitalization of the company at the time of the deal, which was 372 million dollars last night, already up to 560 million as the market adjusts to the deal and nearly doubles Sirius XM's price (from ten cents per share to sixteen).
So then what was the point? Why did John Malone do this? Possibly with the ultimate goal of taking over the company. Possibly for the quote synergy factor unquote of a satellite TV and satellite radio conglomerate, cross marketing, and such. Possibly just to cockblock EchoStar from obtaining the property. But football fans think of this:
Sirius XM has the NFL's satellite radio licensing contract, a dedicated 7x24 channel and all the games, and DirecTV has the NFL's satellite TV licensing contract, NFL Sunday Ticket. I get the sense that this is going to be extraordinarily good or extraordinarily bad for us.
Here is a hilarious sidelight to the story (op. cit.), EchoStar's Charles Ergen bought that 170+ million dollar tranche of debt that came due today on the cheap, and now even though he will not get control of the company he will make a profit as the debt is repaid at face value. With rival John Malone's money.
Two billion dollars in annual revenue, twenty million subscribers and they cannot run the company. Think about that.
I am dating myself here and proud of it with the logo from the Vulture, Harry Broderick's (as played by Andy Griffith) cobbled together space ship from the too short lived and incredibly entertaining to a nine year old Salvage-1 that ran 14 episodes plus a two hour pilot on ABC in 1979, from here via here.
Following up on Curly R's two part series on the Sirius XM train wreck, after a very near disaster in the form of bankruptcy or hostile takeover, CEO Mel Karmazin today somehow managed to keep the nation's only satellite radio provider out of the ditch, at an incredibly steep cost. Tonight Curly R debuts a two part series on the Sirius bailout.
Part One: Not Even Close Part Two: Tomorrow
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To recap the past 24 hours, when Sirius and XM proposed to merge two years ago this week, an argument that was first approved by the Department of Justice last spring and the Federal Communications Commission last summer, there were a few salient arguments to the business case. One was the cost of running two competing operations was simply too high. Between maintaining satellite and ground operations, running an overhead business and paying out the spiraling costs of talent and access to programming the companies simply could not make a go of it alone. Allowing them to merge would permit them to thin overlapping functions and consolidate operations.
Another argument was improved access to credit to keep the business afloat. To finance customer acquisition and the escrow of license payments to partners like MLB and the NFL the company had taken on a staggering amount of debt, more than three billion dollars overall, and for the proposed combined company to get over that hump where the essentially annuitized revenue stream overcame current obligations and put the company in the black they were going to need more cash, more debt.
Both promises fell down, hard. The first, well it turns out that combining business operations only went so far. Combining the 90s channels, eliminating Lucy on XM and running Sirius Lithium on both streams, firing all those DJs and support staff, that only went so far, it turns out the combined company still had two satellite networks to maintain and still carried two sets of really fucking expensive contracts for talent and access to programming.
The second, well as if the company was not already toxically loaded with debt and looking at twelve to fifteen percent interest rates the worldwide credit crash did not help things. No one will lend Sirius XM any more money.
Going into Wednesday, Sirius had a 170+ million dollar debt service payment due. Most of that debt had been bought on the cheap by Charles Ergen, CEO of EchoStar, the operator of the Dish Network satellite TV network. Charles and Mel Karmazin do not get along and Charles wanted to negotiate with Sirius XM to keep the company out of bankruptcy, gain control and oust Mel on his keister. Then maybe raid company's broadcast spectrum and toss it aside.
Playing with millions of dollars, billions in liabilities and peoples' lives Mel Karmazin did what any corporate shark would do. He called Charles Ergen's sworn enemy.
Curly R's Liberty Media Salvage Operation concludes tomorrow with part two, My Enemy's Enemy.
I am dating myself here and proud of it with the logo from the Vulture, Harry Broderick's (as played by Andy Griffith) cobbled together space ship from the too short lived and incredibly entertaining to a nine year old Salvage-1 that ran 14 episodes plus a two hour pilot on ABC in 1979, from here via here.
After running up a huge tab for talent and access Sirius and XM begged to merge, and they got what they wanted, which has not stopped management from driving the company into a cash flow ditch. But what about that 220 million dollar contract with the NFL? Surely the terms are flexible, I mean the NFL must be willing to work with a trusted and troubled partner to do what's best for football, right? ...Right? The Curly R concludes its two part series on the disastrous Sirius-XM merger and its impact on the NFL.
Part One: Mismanagers In Space Part Two: Whew, Looks Like the NFL Will Be Ok Footnote: My Letter to the Federal Communications Commission Follow up: The Liberty Media Bailout
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Given the economy and the precarious state of Sirius XM, either a hostile takeover or bankruptcy sure to happen in the next week, it was with amusement that I read a piece in the New York Times Friday about how MLB and the NFL are going to be just fine thanks no matter what happens to Sirius XM because in their broadcast contracts the leagues smartly required the original companies, XM with MLB and Sirius with the NFL, to place future rights fees in escrow to guarantee funds availability at the time payment was due.
So that means right now the combined Sirius XM company has at least 185 million dollars, 65 mil for the NFL and 120 mil for MLB, in escrow accounts so these two major sports leagues can get paid, even as the firm goes into the tank and shareholders lose everything. That money, were it available would go to good use, specifically to pay bond holders whose next big 300 million dollar tranche of debt comes due on Wednesday.
If the company cannot renegotiate the debt, which is doubtful since the guy that bought it, Charles Ergen of EchoStar is the one that wants to take over the company and like a vampire suck the spectrum out of the business and repurpose it to mobile video meaning the near certain end of satellite radio as we know it, or find new equity investors to pump cash into the venture, then we are looking at difficult future for the company with its viability as a going concern in full doubt.
Yes I know companies do this stuff all the time, put big money in escrow, it is just amusing to me that XM borrowed 62 million dollars last year so they could squirrel away MLB's full rights payment, adding to the company's poor capitalization ratio and now the company may go under even as checks to the NFL and MLB will continue to get mailed, no more broadcasts and shit let the employees go, break as many other contracts as you can and screw your suppliers, baseball and football needs to get paid.
Somehow this situation is reminding me of the time the vice president shot his friend in the face and the friend with the face full of bird shot then went on television and apologized for causing the veep any problems.
I wonder if those contracts and that escrow money will be safe if Sirius XM goes into bankruptcy. One thing I do no know for sure, Mark Newgent is right, if Sirius NFL Radio goes off the air I may wind up in a hospital.
Blowing other people's money and making it our problem
One of the most important lessons I learned in business school was one of the most simple: mergers never work. At least not for the reasons or in the ways business executives claim they will. Tonight The Curly R debuts a two part series on the disastrous Sirius-XM merger and its impact on the NFL and its fans.
Part One: Mismanagers In Space Part Two: Whew, Looks Like the NFL Will Be Ok Footnote: My Letter to the Federal Communications Commission Follow up: The Liberty Media Bailout
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So how is that Sirius XM merger working out for you? I hope no Curly R readers had any stock. Technically it is still have, not had though with the company staring at a hostile takeover and preparing for bankruptcy as soon as Tuesday the stock is at best worthless and at worst going away.
I have both services, an XM SkyFi 2 and Sirius Sportster 2 in my car, my wife has XM in her car, I sponsor radios in California and Fredericksburg, I am a proponent of satellite radio, I get it.
Which is why I was opposed to the merger between two companies, because competition is good.
In 1997 when these two companies got their charters and secured their broadcast spectrum from the US government, they signed pledges never to merge. And yet like so many large businesses when the operating environment became uncomfortable for them they just decided to change it, and the legislators and regulators went along with it.
To listen to Hugh Panero and Mel Karmazin, the guys that ran XM and Sirius before the merger, it was exactly the ruthless pace of competition that forced them to join together and eliminate consumer choice.
Five hundred million dollars for Howard Stern, 220 million for the NFL, 650 million for major league baseball, PGA golf, NBA, NHL, Martha Stewart, Jimmy Buffett, the Grateful Dead, the list goes on, all the talent and exclusive access to programming, that is what drove up the cost of doing business as a satellite radio company, on top of, you know, maintaining a fleet of orbiting satellites.
Well I hate to break it to you Mel and Hugh but no one put a gun to your head and made you sign those deals. You sold a crapload of equity and loaded up on easy credit with the promise of success over the horizon, a steadily increasing annuitized revenue stream from users, that at some point you would get over the hump on expenses for talent, access and customer acquisition costs.
Didn't happen and does not look like it will.
But one thing that for sure is happening? Subscription rate increases. I got an email from XM last month telling me about an opportunity to lock in low low rates if I act now now now before my rate on additional radios goes from seven dollars a month to nine dollars a month. And to add injury to insult the internet radio streams will not be free any longer, I will have to shell out three dollars a month if I want to listen to either service over the internet, something I have enjoyed for four years.
When the companies announced their intent to merge two years ago Sirius stock was worth twelve dollars a share. A year ago it was four dollars. Today the combined company's stock is worth six cents a share.
Curly R's Orbital Decay continues tomorrow with part two, Whew Looks Like the NFL Will Be Ok.
I am not simply a disinterested party watching Sirius XM collapse from the sidelines. Not only do I get my NFL news from Sirius NFL Radio, I love the satellite radio model and I want it to thrive. Which is why I opposed the Sirius-XM merger from the very beginning. The Curly R posts a historical footnote to the failure of a bad merger.
Part One: Mismanagers In Space Part Two: Whew, Looks Like the NFL Will Be Ok Footnote: My Letter to the Federal Communications Commission
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I do not believe you need a degree in economics or an MBA to figure out that one is less than two. As so it was that when Sirius and XM, flush with cash they did not really have and spending on talent and access like drunken sailors, begged to merge in order that they be saved from themselves, I opposed it, and I followed the Federal Communications Commission case very closely. Below is the letter I submitted to the FCC via their website during the open comment period on this merger in July of 2007:
This merger must not be allowed to happen! This is at once a media merger and a consumer products merger. Consumers have not benefited from relaxed media ownership restrictions in the past decade as a smaller number of large companies dominate each market, resulting in homogeneous programming (as the companies that own the stations face reduced competition and need not take chances to differentiate) and increased barriers to new competition (in this case, another satellite firm that would be hundreds of millions of dollars and years away).
As competitors in the consumer products arena, it is simply not logical and bordering on an objective untruth for these companies to compete on and build their respective brands on sports offerings (baseball on XM, football on Sirius), on-air talent (Opie & Anthony on XM, Howard Stern on Sirius), music selection (the 90s station on XM, the 90s station on Sirius), etc and then state that consumers will actually get a better 90s station if we just stop competing. I am not a sympathetic consumer to the argument that, well we had no idea talent and sports leagues would cost so much and now we're in a hole and need the FCC and consumers to bail us out.
Eliminating like products is the goal of the business. Ensuring that like products continue to compete for our wallets is the goal of the consumer.
If allowed to merge, the combined company will offer weaker customer service and begin to offer tiered pricing, which incidentally Sirius has already started by asking for an extra 3 dollars a month for the 'premium' online internet stream. This is a new tier of service. The tiered pricing Mr. Karmazin has focused on will certainly mean we can keep paying the same and get less, or we can just pay a few dollars more and get what we are used to getting.
Finally, I do not find credible the claim that both systems have the transmission capacity to carry both services, which of necessity would fulfill Mr. Karmazin's promise that we can keep our radios as long as we want and get everything the new company has to offer. XM routinely drops one channel to add one, claiming capacity issues, and Sirius cannot even support the programming they currently have, as many sports events preempt music or talk programming regularly, a situation that caused C-Span to terminate its relationship with Sirius, as Sirius could not promise C-Span an uninterrupted channel 7x24.
This is not a good merger for consumers. Do not permit it. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have questions, comment or require additional information. Thank you.
When last we heard from our wine loving backup quarterback, the pride of Walpole himself Todd Collins, Todd was effeminately posing with a bottle of wine on the sidelines at training camp last July, Dan Dan the Sports Bog Man reported that Todd posed for pictures for the Fall issue of Virginia Wine Lover wherein he would discuss drinking the case of Virginia wine the magazine sent him.
Now no one that knows me can remember ever seeing me drink a glass of wine because I do not like wine. I used to pretend that I could drink wine then I realized one day I can just drink bourbon whiskey and go toe to toe with any wine drinker over nose and bouquet and tones and wine drinkers just get quiet.
Curly R aside: is there a Virginia Whiskey Lover magazine? If so I would like to reach out to them right now and ask for a case of free Virginia whiskey after which I will be happy to talk about what I remember.
Back in September my family and I attended Clarendon Day in Arlington Virginia, as I was heading from the Red Hot and Blue barbeque tent to the beer truck (alas no whiskey at Clarendon Day) I passed the Virginia Wine Lover magazine tent, they were giving away small glasses of wine and selling copies of the magazine. Naturally Todd's big Massachusetts smile caught my eye, I whipped out the camera and snapped some photos of the article...
This is Todd with Patrick Evans-Hilton, editor of Virginia Wine Lover. Note the height difference, I think Patrick is a pretty normal sized guy, at least height wise.
Right click and open this in a new window and read it, it is the full letter from the editor. Money quote about Todd and his wine habit:
Forget the image of sports guys sitting around a bar, eating chicken wings and downing frosty mugs of beer (not that there's anything wrong with that). Collins can quaff with the best oenophile.
Note the Seinfeld reference to homosexuality, in this case inverted so as to make beer swilling and wing eating seem the deviant behavior.
Obligatory and inexpensive Warholesque Photoshopping of Otto Greule's iconic Getty Images photo of Todd Collins from the Redskins-Seahawks 2007 playoff game in January 2008.
Sadly I did not photograph the ensuing pages of the article, just the opening page. Note that the author here is respected Washington Examiner sports reporter John Keim, a man whose work I read every day during the football season. My guess is that John did this on contract and does not moonlight as a Virginia wines feature reporter. Money quote from the first page of the story:
...Once, Collins was drinking some Robert Mondavi Opus One with friends and impressed them his his detailed scent.
"I picked up some leather and everyone was like, 'How did you pick that up?'" he said.
"Then they were like, 'Yeah, I think I pick that up...'"
Leather? Wine? You and some friends? Really? Is this some kind of a joke? Because I am not laughing.
And then for the coup de grace, the shot that makes you go, so I thought you were a football player, a quarterback, the leader guy that evades 330 pound linemen then heaves it forty yards downfield to a guy in stride.
I give you the sweaty brow over the shoulder wine lust I am going to drink the fuck out of you then curl up with my pekingese and a Sophie Kinsella novel money shot.
"I didn't know [Virginia] made so many different types of wine."
I didn't know Massachusetts made so many wussy wine loving football players.
Photos by me of the Fall 2008 issue of Virginia Wine Lover magazine.
In what must have been a top five if not the best ever Super Bowl, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 at the last second to win Super Bowl 43 and secure their sixth league championship. No NFL team had six Super Bowl trophies before Sunday.
This game featured an opponent left for dead as the Steelers built a 20-7 first half lead over the Cardinals, punctuated by James Harrison's 100 yard interception return for a touchdown as the half expired, it was the longest play in Super Bowl history.
But Arizona would not go quietly, Larry Fitzgerald scored two fourth quarter touchdowns as the Cardinals mounted the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history to take the lead 23-20 with under three minutes to play.
On the ensuing drive with the game on the line Ben Roethlisberger drove the Steelers 78 yards on eight plays including four catches by Super Bowl MVP and pot smoker Santonio Holmes, the final play a six yard falling out of bounds corner route Santonio caught between three Cardinals defenders for a touchdown.
It was a great game, conflatulations to the Steelers.
Santonio Holmes catching the game winning touchdown of Super Bowl 43 behind Cardinals cornerback Aaron Francisco: James Borchuck / AP Photo from here.
Post game update: well that was a heck of a game, results below, for the postseason, seven games, Curly R was 5-2 against the spread, 5-2 straight up. What will this degenerate gambler do until next season?
Super Bowl Sunday is here, get your snacks and your jersey, it is the last opportunity to wear it without committing a fashion faux pas, the Cardinals and Steelers are about to get it on.
Redskins fans know about these teams, Washington played them both this season, beating the Cardinals and losing to the Steelers. For those that were interested in what was happening then and what happened next, here are both previews (Cardinals / Steelers) and both gamewraps (Cardinals / Steelers). I attended the Cardinals game with my good friend Mark Newgent of Redskins Examiner and posted up game journals on the experience here and here. Those Cardinals fans leaving the building as the fourth quarter wound down got the last laugh on us after all.
Yes I think Arizona is going to win this Super Bowl. Pittsburgh is a formidable team on all sides of the ball, I think the Cardinals have a hot hand, are not intimidated, have been underdogs in all three playoff games and rolled up thirty on every opponent on the way here.
Results: Cardinals spread / Steelers straight up. This game had it all, a team left for dead, the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history, the longest play in Super Bowl history and a last second play to win it all. Conflatulations Pittsburgh, you have got yourselves a hell of a team.
The two biggest parties in the nation, dialing it back
Washington DC area football fans have a unique perspective on things the last couple of weeks. First we had the Inauguration, when Barack Obama brought billions of people to DC to celebrate saving the country, and now the Super Bowl, the championship party for the most popular sport in the nation.
Both with the background of a massive national recession. Would sagging economic conditions put a crimp in these ginormous parties?
Beyond the basic question of whether there is less money for extravagance, there is a larger question for the heretofore bottomless business influences and sponsors of these events. About the Inauguration, when lobbying and moneyed political interests sponsor the day and the Super Bowl, when the NFL recognizes its corporate masters, the larger question is, how much fun should we look like we are having? If the millions that flow through lobbying firms and advocacy groups in the capital year round and counter cyclical businesses like booze, lipstick and lottery tickets piggybacking on the NFL and its network partners are available to sponsor giant self indulgent navel gazing celebrations of largesse, should they be used that way?
Well this year the answer has been not so much. To be sure there was plenty of excess in tribute to the halls of power here in Washington for the Inauguration, I know people that celebrated in style on lobbyist money, free booze all day at the area's premiere steakhouses, lots of gladhanding and celebrations not of a new way of doing business in the nation's capital but rather of new people to do business with, the old fashioned way, with cash, booze and networking.
Still, there was something of a pall on this year's festivities. The largest law and lobbying firms fretted over whether to be flashy, not because this is not the time to appear frugal, but rather because this is not the time to piss of a lawmaker concerned with the appearance of excess.
There were several ball cancellations, the American Music Ball, an unofficial Inaugural Ball featuring Dionne Warwick and rapper Ludacris was canceledat the last minute due to poor ticket sales literally the night before. Guests, VIPs and musical artists scheduled to attend or perform at the event found notes under their hotel room doors saying their comps had been revoked, pay up or head out. Luke Russert, Tim Russert's son, had to cancel his party as did the District of Columbia when they scrapped the Inaugural DC Ball. Others had to reduce prices to go on as scheduled.
And what about all those millions of people that were supposed to descend on Washington, the throngs ready to throw their money at the host city, such a torrent of revelry was it supposed to be that the DC Council voted to keep the bars open round the clock for the whole four days of the event. Well despite the millions of people we all saw on the mall and the teeming of the city streets as the wife and I attended our own see and be seen Inaugural events, the whole weekend was a net loser for the city to the tune of millions of dollars. The day before Barack Obama was inaugurated there were still more than one thousand hotel rooms left available in the DC area.
So much for the celebration of the century.
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Paralleling the fun but not too much fun theme of the Inauguration is this year's Super Bowl. It seems as though you cannot swing a dead cat by the tail and not hit a story of how the economic downturn is affecting Super Bowl week and the perception of the sport at large.
As with the Inauguration, the underlying effort is not actually to save money or spend less or reflect the nation's mood, but rather, the mega profitable corporatocracy in charge of the NFL wants to appear more humble so as not to piss off Joe Six Pack who cannot go to games this season because he lost his job.
Even NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell knows this public relations drill, even as league revenues are up, talk gravely about the economy and concern for the product and the customer and lay low this year. Teams are taking the message to heart, the Browns and Redskins have actually laid people off from team staff, mostly on the business side and get this, the Redskins actually said, the Redskins, the team with the supposed and legendary twenty year waiting list, actually justified the layoff by saying that ticket sales were not where they should be.
As a rhetorical question, how can ticket sales not be where they should be when the team sells one hundred percent of tickets as season packages and there is a waiting list years long? I do not believe you need a degree in economics to figure out that the team runs at capacity year after year.
So, do you believe the league and the owners when they say the economy is hurting and it is beginning to take a toll on the business of the NFL? Or do you believe the players union when they say teams are as profitable as ever and rich owners are simply using the downturn as an excuse to reduce head count and increase profits at the expense of higher workloads on administrative peons?
So the parallel continues, down in Tampa this week the story is about events being canceled or dialed back. Playboy, host of a gala party in the Super Bowl city the past nine years, canceled this year's event, instead of laying down two grand to party with Hef in the host city, this year you can drop fifteen hundred to go over to Hef's house and watch it on his big screen.
The Brooks and Dunn celebrity golf tournament and party? Cancelled for lack of sponsors. Sports Illustrated's start studded swimsuit model and portly sports writer bash? Cancelled. I mean come on, if Sports Illustrated cannot muster up for a party then you know things are bad, I will bet the Super Bowl accounts for forty percent of new subscribers every year, that is deliberately angering your god.
And once again like Inauguration weekend for DC, Super Bowl week is now predicted by Tampa to miss revenue predictions as fewer people come to town, stay shorter periods and spend less money.
Enjoy it while it lasts, while the sport takes a once in a decade break to realize the fans are the customers and not the gigantic corporate masters like InBev and Pfizer and General Motors. Even if it's just for show.
Now get your Super Bowl party pants on, kickoff is in four hours.
Composite image by me. Source images, Roger Goodell: David J. Phillips / AP photo from here; Barack Obama: Getty Images from here.
