“This man has a heart that’s dark.”

Damn.

Memo to Cris Collinsworth: STFU … thanks.

Washington Redskins owner and Fed-Ex Field Goon Squad Commander Lil’ Danny Synder broke his season-long oath of silence yesterday and I honestly wish he had just tucked his in because this is getting to be re-goddamn-diculous. Appearing at an event to promote the franchise’s program to help renovate football fields at Maryland high schools, Snyder surprisingly spoke to a group of reporters and apologized to fans for the team’s efforts on the field which have resulted in a 2-5 record and innumerable questions about the future of the franchise. However, one quote absolutely floored me:

“We are really trying very, very hard, everyone at Redskins Park, the coaches, the players. The organization’s quite frankly held together well, and I think we’ve got an opportunity the rest of the season to hopefully get it going. But to date we’ve let everyone down, including ourselves, and we know that and we’re just apologetic. We’ve blown some games that obviously we think we should have won.”

W-T-F?!?!?!

As a Redskins fans, I’m fluent in Snyder-ese and this means two things: embattled VP of Football Operations Vinny Cerrato isn’t going anywhere and Snyder still feels that this team is one or two acquisitions away from being a contender. In other words, nothing has or will change and that’s beyond mind-boggling.

First of all, what games did they obviously blow? The Panthers game? Fine, the ‘Skins were up 15 in the second half and somehow allowed the Panthers to score the game’s final 18 points to win the game 20-17. But guess what? That’s what bad teams do. Lose close games to other bad teams. You beat the Rams and the Bucs by a combined five points and haven’t scored more than 17 points in a game this season. You haven’t blown anything. You’re a bad team.

Much like my allegiance to Georgetown (documented below), I am a long-time fan of the ‘Skins, but if Cerrato is still in a position of authority in the Redskins front office next season, I’m done. Cerrato has drafted ZERO impact players – if you say LaRon Landry and/or Rocky McIntosh in the comments box, I’ll come looking for you – in the last five drafts. He neglected the defensive line in last year’s draft, despite the Redskins having legitimate question marks across the line, and used all three of the team’s second-round selections on WR Devin Thomas (7 receptions, 71 yards, TD this season), TE Fred Davis (15 receptions, 123 yards, TD) and WR Malcolm Kelly (7 receptions, 73 yards), all tremendous disappointments up to this point. After DE Phillip Daniels was lost for the season with a torn ACL on the first day of training camp, the team panicked and traded two draft picks (a second-rounder in ’09 and a sixth-rounder in 2010) for Dolphins DE Jason Taylor. Taylor went on to start only eight games, while recording 3.5 sacks – his lowest total since the 2001 season.

Since the ‘Skins didn’t address their defensive line needs last season, they were forced to play catch-up this season, and signed Albert Haynesworth on the first day of free agency to a contract with an NFL-record $41 million in guaranteed money, and used their first-round selection on Texas DE Brian Orakpo, although they’ve since moved him to linebacker, which is a whole other conversation for another day. While it looked like the team had significantly bolstered their depth along the defensive line, the team completely ignored a decrepit, injury-prone offensive line in the draft and instead signed former Redskins guard Derrick Dockery and offensive tackle Mike Williams, who had been out of football since 2005. The team entered the season with not one backup who had played a single NFL down last season, which has come back to haunt them once guards Randy Thomas (triceps) and left tackle Chris Samuels (severe neck injury) were not surprisingly lost for the season. This has given way to players such as tackle Stephon Heyer, guard Chad Rinehart and the aforementioned Williams taking on starting roles, despite the fact that they are nothing more than backups – at best- on a good team.

I can go on and on for days about the failed draft picks, diabolical contracts ($65 million combined for Adam Archuleta and Brandon Llloyd) and overall ineptitude displayed by Cerrato over the years, but at some point, somebody has to be held accountable for the downright disgusting way this team has been handled from a personnel standpoint and it’s almost incomprehensible that Cerrato could keep his job, but the above quote gives me a funny feeling that Snyder still feels that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the team from a structural standpoint, and due to a few bad breaks here and there, this team could very well be 5-2 instead of 2-5.

In short, since Snyder isn’t selling the team, it looks like it could very well be business as usual at Redskins Park in 2010, and as RJ likes to often say, “I won’t deal with it.”

There are few Redskins legends that commandeer the level of respect that John Riggins does. His name is almost synonymous with smash-mouth football, he was a winner and he has never danced to anyone’s tune except his own. Since moving to Connecticut a few years back, I’ve missed two voices in the D.C. sports media scene: John Thompson and Riggins. So when Riggins speaks on the Redskins, I tend to listen and the above clip is exhibit A-Z of why he’s a must listen.  I would expound further, but sit back, relax and en-joy.

Kurt Snibbe, an illustator at ESPN.com, has put in some solid work right here that fits what “Pretty Good” means to a tee. Updated team logos to reflect how NFL teams have started off the season. The mythological Norse subject in the Vikings logo has been replaced by the mythological visage of Brett Favre. The new Jets logo reflects their team identity, pre-Braylon and the Broncos are just happy to be here. While the Packers and the Cowboys are stuck in a quasi-limbo, everyone else is pretty much dusted and disgusted. Hurts to see my ‘Skins amongst the downtrodden, but our logo is mild compared to the artistry of the new Raiders, Titans, Seahawks, Panthers and Rams logos … all pretty good.

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The Redskins are arguably the worst team in the NFL, Maryland is AWFUL and my fantasy football team is 1-2 and ‘Doin’ The Brew‘. In short, I’m ready for basketball season and this montage by NavjotEnt over on YouTube is slowly but surely pulling me in. All in all, a good way to get amped about hoops if you’re football life is as hopeless as mine.

Artist Statement: A mix I made about the upcoming NBA Season. A lot of things have changed over the summer which should add to the excitement of the NBA. With Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers winning the 2008-2009 NBA Championship, every team is going to come back prepared and ready to go. NBA -- Where Amazing Happens.

via Ball Don’t Lie