[SmootSmack]

The criticism of Snyder is particularly interesting in 20/20 hindsight. In Snyder's first year as owner, 1999, the Redskins made the playoffs and, in fact, were a point away from the NFC Championship. But lost in the romantic haze through which we see that season now is that the Redskins finished that season 10-6 after barely beating a hapless 49ers team in overtime. Had we lost, we would have been 9-7 and hoping to catch a break. But, that being said, it was the first and last season under Norv that we made the playoffs, and the first and last season under Norv that we made the playoffs, and the first and last time since the '91 Rypien season. And that year, because the Redskins made it "over the hump" and the only thing new was Snyder (Norv was in like his fifth year), all the revisionist history was about how the success was thanks to the owner.

Unlike Cooke, the fable went, Snyder did not "tolerate mediocrity." No,unlike the stodgy and "patient" Cookes of the old money of real estate, he was a product of the Internet age, so he demanded results "now." And so the story went that that "pressure" that he put on Norv and the team, is what put them over the top. Of course, now that the Redskins are losing (instead of squeaking into the playoffs by one game by beating the hapless 49ers in overtime), all that has been turned upside down because now Snyder is a "meddler" who "interferes" and lacks a "plan." Interesting.