The Twilight Zone

[BrudLee]

There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.

Picture if you will Joe Gibbs, Hall of Fame football coach. As part-owner of the Atlanta Falcons, he decides to re-enter his once chosen profession, and his affiliation with that franchise is more appealing than returning to his storied perch as head coach of the Washington Redskins. Imagine if you will...

"I want to thank you all for coming to this press conference. As a head coach, I've had to make a difficult decision. We had a starting quarterback barely crack 50% passing, he barely threw for over 100 yards, he threw a pick, and fumbled the ball twice. The offense is predicated on mistake-free quarterbacking, and we haven't seen that. Therefore, in week 2, Mike Vick will be the backup, and we're entering the Matt Schaub era."

Creepy, huh?

Here's the thing. We re-designed our offense (allegedly) to take advantage of faster receivers and spread the field for our running back. After 11 pass plays, we have benched the only experienced QB on our roster capable of throwing the ball more than 30 yards downfield without a strong tailwind.

The allure of Joe Gibbs returning goes beyond the Super Bowls. If Mike Shanahan or Jimmy Johnson, both of whom have multiple Super Bowl wins on their resumé, was the new coach of the Redskins last year, the hype would not be nearly what it was. Joe Gibbs represents more than winning - he represents honor. After months of public declarations of (alleged) support, Ramsey's trial came in a kangaroo court. As difficult as it must have been to announce the QB change for Gibbs, I have a feeling the speech had been rehearsed. The notion of Gibbs and honor is now viewed through a prism of what appears to be a designed lie to his players and the team's fans.

The bottom line is that if any other coach treated his starting QB in this fashion, I would not hesitate to call that coach a scumbag. So, as you can imagine, I'm a little conflicted right now. I hope some enterprising reporter has the temerity to ask the coach about this. I hope Joe Gibbs has the stones to answer truthfully. And I hope I'm wrong.