I say we "Dive for a Top 5"!!!!!

[GusFrerotte]

With the season looking like it is over at just over the halfway mark, do you think we just let the youngsters play on the "playground" and take the dive for a top 5 pick?

[Lotus]

Not yet. Five losses is too soon to give up. It sends the wrong message to players.

Soon though.

[SFREDSKIN]

Instead of taking a dive, I say start Hankerson and Paul along with Moss when he comes back, keep starting Helu and hurt and let's give Markus White a chance at LB.

[IrMitchell]

Originally Posted by Lotus

Not yet. Five losses is too soon to give up. It sends the wrong message to players.

Soon though.

This this this

[Alvin Walton]

Only if you will write buttplug on your forehead with lipstick for the next 56 days.

[GMScud]

I think starting 3 rookies on offense, all of whom were picked in the 3rd round or later, is the beginning of the "rebuilding" mindset of this team manifested on the field, at least as far as offense goes anyway. No coach will ever use the words "rebuilding" mid-season, but at this point it's clear we need to find out what we have in certain areas.

What will be interesting is how The Shanny Brain Trust handles the QB sitch. IMO Beck looks way in over his head. Badly really. But at this point switching back to Rex is a flat out admission by the staff that we don't have a QB. Even though everyone already knows that, the coaching staff has "staked their reputation" on these guys. It will be interesting to see if, or when, they actually admit we're nowhere at the most important position in the game.

All that said, the notion that teams intentionally tank is dumb.

[Ruhskins]

So much for not cluttering the board with useless threads.

[GusFrerotte]

Originally Posted by Ruhskins

So much for not cluttering the board with useless threads.

If you really think about it Ruh, 90% of these threads are useless. I mean, what do we do in these threads, but just state our opinion about a football team that gives us some distraction from our boredom. Do any of our opinions ultimately matter? No, so in reality these threads are mostly just a distraction, and nothing more.

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by GusFrerotte

If you really think about it Ruh, 90% of these threads are useless.

Nope this is useless.

[GusFrerotte]

Originally Posted by Ruhskins

Nope this is useless.

True, but then again you go and look in the thread archive, and tell me this is the only one of recent memory that is useless.

[Ruhskins]

Originally Posted by GusFrerotte

True, but then again you go and look in the thread archive, and tell me this is the only one of recent memory that is useless.

This thread is as useless as your Gus Frerotte's references and as useless as any of your responses to my original post.

[mooby]

I say if you are a pro athlete, it would be extremely embarrassing if at any point you thought about not giving 100% on the field, especially if you are getting paid a lot of money to do so.

I also say it's pathetic that as a fan you would actively root for this team to lose games for a higher draft pick next season. Name one instance, in the entire history of the big 4 sports leagues in the US, where a team that looked like it was tanking the season actually landed the higher draft pick next year that brought the team good fortune, meaning championships and not just regular season wins, for the next decade.

[LBrown43]

Originally Posted by mooby

I say if you are a pro athlete, it would be extremely embarrassing if at any point you thought about not giving 100% on the field, especially if you are getting paid a lot of money to do so.

I also say it's pathetic that as a fan you would actively root for this team to lose games for a higher draft pick next season. Name one instance, in the entire history of the big 4 sports leagues in the US, where a team that looked like it was tanking the season actually landed the higher draft pick next year that brought the team good fortune, meaning championships and not just regular season wins, for the next decade.

Well there is always this:
1983 to 1988: The Pittsburgh Penguins/Mario Lemieux sweepstakes The team had the league's worst record in both the 1983 and 1984 seasons, and with the team suffering financial problems, it again looked as though the Penguins would fold. Mario Lemieux, one of the most highly touted NHL draft picks in history, was due to be drafted in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft. Heading towards the end of the season ahead of the New Jersey Devils, who were placed last, the Penguins made a number of questionable moves that appeared to weaken the team in the short-term. The Penguins posted three six-game winless streaks in the last 21 games of the season (out of which they won only three) and earned the right to draft Lemieux amidst protests from Devils president Bob Butera.[4] Pittsburgh coach Lou Angotti later admitted that a conscious decision was made to finish the season as the team with the worst record, stating in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that a mid-season lunch prompted the plan, in light of the fact that there was a high chance of the franchise folding if Lemieux was not drafted.[5] In particular, Angotti gave the example of a game the Penguins were winning 3–1, at which point general manager Eddie Johnston asked the coach "what are you doing?" in the first intermission of the game that was eventually lost 6–3.

Looks like a pretty good example to prove you wrong, hell the coach admitted it later....but still hate to see the Skins lose on purpose.

[SirClintonPortis]

Originally Posted by LBrown43

Well there is always this:
1983 to 1988: The Pittsburgh Penguins/Mario Lemieux sweepstakes The team had the league's worst record in both the 1983 and 1984 seasons, and with the team suffering financial problems, it again looked as though the Penguins would fold. Mario Lemieux, one of the most highly touted NHL draft picks in history, was due to be drafted in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft. Heading towards the end of the season ahead of the New Jersey Devils, who were placed last, the Penguins made a number of questionable moves that appeared to weaken the team in the short-term. The Penguins posted three six-game winless streaks in the last 21 games of the season (out of which they won only three) and earned the right to draft Lemieux amidst protests from Devils president Bob Butera.[4] Pittsburgh coach Lou Angotti later admitted that a conscious decision was made to finish the season as the team with the worst record, stating in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that a mid-season lunch prompted the plan, in light of the fact that there was a high chance of the franchise folding if Lemieux was not drafted.[5] In particular, Angotti gave the example of a game the Penguins were winning 3–1, at which point general manager Eddie Johnston asked the coach "what are you doing?" in the first intermission of the game that was eventually lost 6–3.

Looks like a pretty good example to prove you wrong, hell the coach admitted it later....but still hate to see the Skins lose on purpose.

Even in this case, I doubt the players were mailing it in. Management just shipped whatever good players left out of town, and I'm ok with that. It's management's job to get as many championships as possible, whatever the cost.

[mooby]

Originally Posted by SirClintonPortis

Even in this case, I doubt the players were mailing it in. Management just shipped whatever good players left out of town, and I'm ok with that. It's management's job to get as many championships as possible, whatever the cost.

What he said. If management decides to play it like that, whatever. But good luck asking London Fletcher to miss tackles, give up big plays, etc. And it's too late to ship players out of town, so in order to secure the possibility of the first overall pick, we'd have to start cutting our good players. Either way I don't think it's feasible. And it's dumb. I will admit I was wrong, as apparently it's been done before. But I still don't like it, and 1 time out of all the times teams might've done it is not a good track record. Besides, what if you tank, and finish with the 2nd overall pick? What then?