Greg Blache stands up to Cerrato and Synder...

[sportscurmudgeon]

SmootSmack:

I am not limited to Jeff George and Patrick Ramsey. Recall that "Someone" around here thought Bruce Smith needed to be in DC and to be a starter on the DL even when the coaches recognized that Smith was a hollow shell of his former self. That wasn't me - - or you - - or a dog named blue...

By the way, the QB who had to be kicked to the curb to make room for Jeff George was Brad Johnson. Johnson went on to bee a "Super Bowl QB" soon after the Skins got rid of him. Unless I was in a coma, Jeff George never made it to a Super Bowl without buying a ticket. And neither did Patrick Ramsey... Or did I miss something?

I do need to thank you for helping me win the honor of best sports blog for 2007. My time in Las Vegas with people seeking content providers for a variety of sports outlets was very enjoyable and potentially profitable - - maybe sufficiently profitable that I can fold the small management consulting company that my wife and I run.

However, I think the real reason I won that "contest" is because a lot of people recognized that I point out the illogic and the inconsistancies and the sillinesses that happen all over the sporting landscape - - not just with the Redskins or the NFL. Here on the Warpath, I only get to point out the foibles of the Redskins' FO and coaches and players when they stink in spades. It happens here; but trust me, it happens elsehwere too. In fact, I probably don't rag on the Redskins more than 1% of the time in my Internet rants because there is so much other material to deal with that is so much more outrageous.

Some folks here - - not you - - have suggested that I hate Danny Boy and/or Vinnie Boombatz. That is simply not the case. In order to hate someone, that person has to be a monstrous individual [Adolf Hitler, John Wayne Gacy. Jeffrey Dahmer] or one has to know the person directly to recognize the hateful aspects of his/her being.

For the record, I have never met Vinnie Cerrato unless I was in such a state of insobriety that I didn't realize to whom I was introduced. I have been in the same room with Daniel Snyder once - as part of a throng of people - and I shook his hand for all of three seconds. He does not know me - and surely does not want to know me; I do not know him - and have no desire to be one of the folks who takes pride in orbiting around his presence. I tell you this to demonstrate that I do not know either of these men, so I cannot hate either of them.

[SmootSmack]

I don't think you get the point still, but that's fine. You are how you are. Good luck to you.

[JoeRedskin]

SC -

Jeff George, Bruce Smith?? Yes. Bad moves both BUT how many years ago? Long enough for Smith to retire and become eligible for the HOF (Okay, so that will still be another year). Long enough for the team that won the SB with Johnson to cut him, another team to cut him and a third to use him as a back-up.

As for Ramsey, at the time it was made, tell me why was it such a bad move. He was the third rated QB in the draft, we had no one in place as a long term answer, AND we traded down twice and picked up two additional draft picks before picking him.

I've done the analysis in other threads: Picking QB's is historically a low percentage deal (hell the two picked ahead of Ramsey are hanging onto there football life by a thread).

What about recent picks: Sean Taylor, Landry, Rogers, McCintosh, Cooley, Campbell Golston, Blades, Montgomery?

What about recent FA pick-ups: Springs, Rabach, Smoot?

Seriously - Tell me a front office outside of Boston that hits everytime with every pick.

[That Guy]

i think bruce smith may have been danny's dad's influence, not that that's any better. ramsey was a great pick, if we had taken the AO trade from chicago, which we didn't :/.

and spurrier did pretty much says he didn't want to spend the time learning personnel, or studying defenses, or practicing, or doing anything else that might hurt his golf game.

either way, there have been a lot of bad decisions, but last year was pretty good, and hopefully we have more of those and less lloyd/arch type deals. I think maybe the lessons are finally learned, but we'll have to wait and see.

my bet is hackett is the WR because now there's a new value in our FO on familiarity, as seen with GW's defensive picks (fletcher, prioleau, jerry gray, danny smith, etc).

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by JoeRedskin

Seriously - Tell me a front office outside of Boston that hits everytime with every pick.

philly, except they don't draft for special teams (at all), so they usually aren't very good there. line depth is usually pretty deep though.

[QBall]

I have nothing but confidence in Snyder, Cerrato, Zorn, and Blanche making the best picks, trades, and or free agent signings for this year. We are going to be a very good team in 08' and I see a nice draft coming.

No way Zorn is a yes man and we already know Blanche isn't!

[Slingin Sammy 33]

Originally Posted by sportscurmudgeon

"Someone" in the Skins organization thought Patrick Ramsey was the guy to pick as the first pick the Skins had in the draft that one particular and fateful year.

"Someone" in the Skins organization also thought that Jeff George was a good idea as a QB here. When Norv Turner refused to play that sorry sack-o-sh*t, Norv lost his job. The interim coach, Terry Robiske, "made his own decision" to start George at QB and the Skins didn't exactly run the table for the rest of that season.

The next year, Marty Schottenheimer could not abide by Jeff George's refusal to run the offense that the team had set for itself, so Marty cut George in mid-season.

So, who was the "Someone" responsible for inflicting Jeff George on the Redskins and Redskins' fans?

You make the call...

Your name is appropriate, you are pretty depressing....but the way I remember things didn't seem so bleak. So I did a little research to make sure I remembered the history correctly from 1999-2002.

The Skins were in pretty bad shape when Snyder bought the team and at the time he was no more than a rich fan. You ask who "Someone" is, for Ramsey & Spurrier it's Pepper Rodgers. And although he and Danny became close, Danny fired him. He is no longer here because his football judgement proved to be poor.

Pepper Rodgers Finally Gets Chance in NFL :: The Memphis Flyer :: Breaking News :: Breaking News

Snyder's major mistake in his tenure as owner was befriending and hiring Pepper Rodgers. Pepper Rodgers was the one infatuated with Spurrier and at the time who wasn't, Spurrier had tremendous sustained success for over 10 years with an innovative system that should've translated into NFL success (as long as it didn't interfere with the ol' Ball Coach's tee time). Rodgers was also responsible for Ramsey, but again he was the # 3 rated QB in the draft, so a lot of others got that one wrong too.

Redskins fire Schottenheimer

Obviously Spurrier didn't work out and Pepper Rodgers disappointment shows.

Georgia Tech Sports Blog: WOW - Strong words on Spurrier from Pepper Rodgers

Let's talk about "Never Nervous" Norval. Danny inherited him. He was not Danny's choice and certainly was not looked upon as a successful head coach. 49-59-1 is not a good record. Norv didn't get fired for not playing George, he got fired because he was taking the team nowhere fast. Marty also didn't get fired for releasing George.

I'm not sure who "Someone" was for Jeff George, probably Norv, but based on George's successful 1999 with the Vikes and the need for a solid back-up QB, bringing him in wasn't a terrible decision up front. I would argue that while Jeff George was not very good here, he only played seven games, was quickly identified to be a poor performer and let go (and Snyder didn't fire anyone over his release).

It's pretty fun to be negative and bash Danny, hell I'm jealous of the guy. He's 40 and a billionaire, owns the Skins, flys around in private jets, sits in the owner's box, hangs out with NFL players & coaches, skis & vacations all over the place & plays racquetball with Vinny. Why can't I be him? Has DS made mistakes, like all of us, absolutely. But his mistakes are those of action, not reaction or non-action. Snyder's only real major mistake was bringing in Pepper Rodgers. Any of the other mistakes he made were gambles that didn't really appear to be bad decisions up front. Snyder is a Redskins fan and wants more SB trophies. He's not afraid to try what he believes is necessary to make that happen. I've got no problem with him.

You can't logically argue the Redskins franchise is not in better shape now than it was when Danny bought the team. You also cannot argue that Danny has improved dramatically as an owner.

Maybe I should start my own blog? Probably not, it's better reading to trash people with generalized statements not based on actual facts or a close look at historical context.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by sportscurmudgeon

SmootSmack:

OK, I understand that you don't want to get your self tarnished as a "Danny Boy Hater" on the internet. It could come back to haunt you in your career. If anyone wants to do this, they need to do this with cover. Nevertheless...

"Someone" in the Skins organization thought Patrick Ramsey was the guy to pick as the first pick the Skins had in the draft that one particular and fateful year. Let me be clear about this: Patrick Ramesy was a better pick than Jon Benet Ramsey - - but not by a whole lot. Patrick Ramsey is a great back-up QB if all you need is a guy to start 2 or 3 games while your real QB recovers from a minor injury. In addition...

"Someone" in the Skins organization also thought that Jeff George was a good idea as a QB here. When Norv Turner refused to play that sorry sack-o-sh*t, Norv lost his job. The interim coach, Terry Robiske, "made his own decision" to start George at QB and the Skins didn't exactly run the table for the rest of that season.

The next year, Marty Schottenheimer could not abide by Jeff George's refusal to run the offense that the team had set for itself, so Marty cut George in mid-season. Since that day, Jeff George has not taken a snap in the NFL.

So, who was the "Someone" responsible for inflicting Jeff George on the Redskins and Redskins' fans?

Danny Boy
Vinnie
My Cousin Vinnie
My Three Sons
Three Dog Night
Snoop Dog
Underdog
Doggy Dooty
Augie Doggie
Doggie Daddy

You make the call...

Wow, did you dust off your history book of Snyder and go back to the begining. Its funny how people skip over the Gibbs error because if they didn't they would have to blame Gibbs for his bad decisions too. Time out, Time out!! Anyone.

[SmootSmack]

Pepper Rodgers and Gerald Snyder (and I think to some extent Mort Zuckerman) played a big, big role in the Redskins transactions back in early 2000s. This is not to say that Dan Snyder was just sitting around (like John Kent Cooke) used to. And Norv certainly wasn't in Jeff George's camp.

But none of that really has any bearing now. We have seen since 2001 that Snyder (Dan Snyder) has shown he absolutely listens to his coaches and gives them what they want. He completely stepped aside in 2001 and gave Marty full control. When he became part of the process again in 2002 he largely deferred to the coaches and VC on personnel decision (hence all the Gators that joined us), and of course then came Gibbs II.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by firstdown

Wow, did you dust off your history book of Snyder and go back to the begining. Its funny how people skip over the Gibbs error because if they didn't they would have to blame Gibbs for his bad decisions too. Time out, Time out!! Anyone.

"Gibbs error"

Freudian slip or intentional?

[JoeRedskin]

Originally Posted by That Guy

philly, except they don't draft for special teams (at all), so they usually aren't very good there. line depth is usually pretty deep though.

I dunno, I don't think they hit on every pick. It's just that they have so many picks that they take enough shots some are bound to hit. Recently, Broderick Bunkley and W. Justice are not looking to good.

They had a phenomenal 2002 draft: Lito Shepard, Michael Lewis (now with SF) Sheldon Brown and Bryant Westbrook. But since then they have had their fair share of misses. At the same time, they have had 51 picks since 2002 (including 2002) and of those 20 have been in the first three rounds. I would humbly suggest that our FO, with that many picks would have as many if not more, hits than the philly has had.

NFL Draft History: Full Draft - by Team

Of course, our FO's practices are the reason that over the same period of time 34 picks and only 12 in the first three rounds.

NFL Draft History: Full Draft - by Team

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

"Gibbs error"

Freudian slip or intentional?

I'm not sure.

[QBall]

No defensive Line in that?? I'd like to see Wilson play more across from Carter. This from Post today:


Zorn Speaks
Since Jasno apparently has zero Springsteen on his Ipod (at least no Bruce songs ever come up during Jasno's chats), we'll take advantage of the blogger's absence by asking: "Is there anybody alive out there??" Seems it rained here today and the city pretty much shut down. For those federal workers at your computers (all three of you), Zorn spoke at the Combine with Mark Maske and went through the roster.
Nothing too Earth-shattering but I'll be putting things up all afternoon. Here's Mark's summation: Zorn said he wants Collins back as a backup. Campbell is the clear-cut starter and will be cleared for drills the first time the team takes the field in the offseason. He said he wants Springs back and Cartwright back. He said Carlos Rogers won't be ready for the start of the season. He said he likes the wide receivers he has, although not ruling out getting another one. He listed his positions of need as safety, cornerback, depth on the offensive line and backup quarterback