SlothB77: washington sports fans now accept losing as a way of life.

Well, at least until the preseason starts up again.

Forty-Two: I honestly forgot they existed.

/In my defense, they're NFC, and I follow an AFC team. But when I clicked the link and saw it was about the Redskins, I had a moment of, "Oh, yeah. They're a football team, and they're still around."

I did the same thing on the Sporcle quiz... 31/32.

Has there ever been another case in professional sports where a team went from having its league's best owner to immediately having its worst?

Quick - how many NFL owners can you name that aren't your favorite teams? No cheating using google or wikipedia.

Yet I see headlines on Fark that just say Snyder and everyone knows who it is and which team is being mentioned.

/Most of Washington simply did not appreciate at the time that we had the best sports team owner of all time
//RIP JKC

I feel like the Cubs do this every September.

That's odd. I could have sworn this would have been about the Bengals.

Then I read the article, and realized they were talking about professional football teams.

We need to win another one where I don't come down with an 105 degree fever the day of the game...

2wolves: SlothB77: washington sports fans now accept losing as a way of life. they are not even that surprised or disappointed the Caps are underperforming this year. I don't think they would know how to handle a winning, successful team now. It would be so foreign to them. They wouldn't understand it.


I take it you only mean the pros? #9 - Georgetown. Maryland lady Terps are also doing quite well.

I'm not sure that there is an area of the country that cares less about local college sports. Per usual in DC, everyone is from somewhere else.

beta_plus: Quick - how many NFL owners can you name that aren't your favorite teams? No cheating using google or wikipedia.

I could only think of 2.

beta_plus: Most of Washington simply did not appreciate at the time that we had the best sports team owner of all time

We were too busy thinking about how we should fire Norv Turner out of a cannon.

At least we're going through an honest-to-god rebuilding year instead of a clusterfark free-agency patchwork spending spree. Its only a decade overdue, but better late than never.

IAmRight: Is Art Modell still alive?

yes, but he sold the team maybe 5 years ago.

beta_plus: Has there ever been another case in professional sports where a team went from having its league's best owner to immediately having its worst?

Quick - how many NFL owners can you name that aren't your favorite teams? No cheating using google or wikipedia.

Yet I see headlines on Fark that just say Snyder and everyone knows who it is and which team is being mentioned.

/Most of Washington simply did not appreciate at the time that we had the best sports team owner of all time
//RIP JKC

Eh, Not really. I can think of about 8-10. Snyder, Jerry Jones, Ursay, Kraft, the Rooneys, the Maras, Arther Black in Atlanta, Al Davis no longer in Oakland. Does Elway count?

Some of those teams are run well (Pitt, NE, NYG, recently Atlanta) and some aren't. The biggest difference between owners is some want to be known and some don't. It doesn't automatically decide the fortunes of the team, but certainly an owner believing that they know more about making football decisions than anyone else, that DOES have an impact.

been to and won a Super Bowl must be nice, Browns fan :(

beta_plus: Has there ever been another case in professional sports where a team went from having its league's best owner to immediately having its worst?

Quick - how many NFL owners can you name that aren't your favorite teams? No cheating using google or wikipedia.

Dan Snyder - Redskins
Jerry Jones - Cowboys
I would say Mike Brown, but ofc the Bengals are my team...
Is Bud Adams still the Titans owner?

If this was last year I could say Al Davis...

Also I thought the article was cool. YMMV

"There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?"
-Kipling

Forsooth, these unwashed savages have a football team? Tis no small wonder that their team is resoundingly thrashed twice fortnightly! They lack the strong character that can only come from the superior breeding of British stock. Verily, my skin doth crawl imagining the raucous shouting and hollering these redskins must make as they tear recklessly up and down the field. Are they relieved of their weapons before the match? Does anyone come to watch such a horrid sight?


Now, listen to my words. True gentlemen are fans of the brave hurler W.G. Grace, and it is considered very much in the style of the modern man to wear a crisp outfit much like this both on the field and when tipping back a pint of ale.

Damn that team was good, and underrated historically IMO.

14-2 in what was then the best division in football, with their losses to a Cowboys team that was about to run off 3 SB's, and a week 17 loss in Philly when we gave up a second half lead with all of our starters on the bench.

1st in pts scored
2nd in pts allowed.
Point differential - +16 pts/game

Then they beat a 13-3 Bills squad in the Super Bowl.

But for some reason nobody ever talks about them as an all-time great team. Don't know why...

Theseus: beta_plus: Has there ever been another case in professional sports where a team went from having its league's best owner to immediately having its worst?

Quick - how many NFL owners can you name that aren't your favorite teams? No cheating using google or wikipedia.

Yet I see headlines on Fark that just say Snyder and everyone knows who it is and which team is being mentioned.

/Most of Washington simply did not appreciate at the time that we had the best sports team owner of all time
//RIP JKC

Eh, Not really. I can think of about 8-10. Snyder, Jerry Jones, Ursay, Kraft, the Rooneys, the Maras, Arther Black in Atlanta, Al Davis no longer in Oakland. Does Elway count?

Some of those teams are run well (Pitt, NE, NYG, recently Atlanta) and some aren't. The biggest difference between owners is some want to be known and some don't. It doesn't automatically decide the fortunes of the team, but certainly an owner believing that they know more about making football decisions than anyone else, that DOES have an impact.

Elway kind of counts, he owns like 5-10% of the Broncos. Pat Bowlen owns the majority.

beta_plus : Most of Washington simply did not appreciate at the time that we had the best sports team owner of all time


The best? Did you read TFA? He was going to dismantle this team that ended up going 17-2 and winning the Superbowl until Joe Gibbs talked him out of it.
The reason that he is considered a great owner is because he was lucky enough to hire George Allen and Joe Gibbs.

I remember being at a roller skating rink and they had that Super Bowl up on a big ass drop down thingy via a projector.

2wolves: SlothB77: washington sports fans now accept losing as a way of life. they are not even that surprised or disappointed the Caps are underperforming this year. I don't think they would know how to handle a winning, successful team now. It would be so foreign to them. They wouldn't understand it.


I take it you only mean the pros? #9 - Georgetown. Maryland lady Terps are also doing quite well.

What, you mean a highly ranked Georgetown team that loses first round in March? Yeah, that's a success story right there.
/csb: after the court naming ceremony for Gary Williams, ESPN panned the camera to the roof where the banners are. Only problem, they showed the women's 2006 title instead of the men's 2002.

Damn it Casserly, way to remind Raider fans they gave up Jim Lachey for a case of jock itch cream.

Pratty: beta_plus: Has there ever been another case in professional sports where a team went from having its league's best owner to immediately having its worst?

Quick - how many NFL owners can you name that aren't your favorite teams? No cheating using google or wikipedia.

Dan Snyder - Redskins
Jerry Jones - Cowboys
I would say Mike Brown, but ofc the Bengals are my team...
Is Bud Adams still the Titans owner?

If this was last year I could say Al Davis...

The son of Al Davis now owns the Raiders. His name is Mark.

I can probably name about 5 other owners before I saw everyone else's lists.

Washington may be one of the biggest bandwagon cities I can think of. At the start of the year, when the Redskins had a strong start, it seemed everyone was wearing Redskins clothes. A few weeks after their inevitable collapse...no mention of the Redskins, save for a few diehards.

beta_plus: Has there ever been another case in professional sports where a team went from having its league's best owner to immediately having its worst?

Quick - how many NFL owners can you name that aren't your favorite teams? No cheating using google or wikipedia.

Yet I see headlines on Fark that just say Snyder and everyone knows who it is and which team is being mentioned.

/Most of Washington simply did not appreciate at the time that we had the best sports team owner of all time
//RIP JKC

It's not just having a bad owner, it's having a meddlesome owner who thinks he's qualified GM.

There is a pattern to winning in the NFL. As an owner, know your limitations, and hire a good GM/director of player personnel. Invest in scouting. The Patriots, Colts, and Steelers were in the playoffs constantly because Kraft, Irsay, and Rooney had Bellichick, Polian, and Kevin Colbert looking for players that could thrive in their systems. The Bengals fail because Mike Brown won't hire a GM and won't invest in scouting. Snyder kept hiring coaches and signing players he thought were good, but obviously had no business getting the contracts they did (Spurrier, Haynesworth, etc.). Jerry Jones knows a little more about football, but he refuses to let someone else handle the roster decisions, and that's why the only sustained success he's seen since Jimmy Johnson left was under Parcells.

You get these executives who think sports franchises are like any other business, but they forget - you build a large successful business by having competent people under you.

SlothB77: washington sports fans now accept losing as a way of life. they are not even that surprised or disappointed the Caps are underperforming this year. I don't think they would know how to handle a winning, successful team now. It would be so foreign to them. They wouldn't understand it.

DC United is pretty good

That's odd, the link doesn't go to a buffalo newspaper

danfrank: Damn that team was good, and underrated historically IMO.

14-2 in what was then the best division in football, with their losses to a Cowboys team that was about to run off 3 SB's, and a week 17 loss in Philly when we gave up a second half lead with all of our starters on the bench.

1st in pts scored
2nd in pts allowed.
Point differential - +16 pts/game

Then they beat a 13-3 Bills squad in the Super Bowl.

But for some reason nobody ever talks about them as an all-time great team. Don't know why...

Pretty sure they have/had the record for highest margin of victory in the postseason as well.

Why am I still a fan of this team?

Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: SlothB77: washington sports fans now accept losing as a way of life.

Well, at least until the preseason starts up again.

That reminds me!

The Nationals might actually have a real baseball team this year! I am not making insane predictions like they will take the division away from Philly, but I could see them having an outside chance at a wild card.

Strasburg, Zimmermann, Gonzalez + Lannan, Wang, Gorzelany (pick 2 of those 3) is a pretty solid starting rotation. Their bullpen is still dependable, and if the players who had "breakout" seasons last year (Morse, Espinosa) stay the same or continue to improve, I actually have hope for the team.

/Plus Bryce Harper as a WILD CARD

Jeeb: danfrank: Damn that team was good, and underrated historically IMO.

14-2 in what was then the best division in football, with their losses to a Cowboys team that was about to run off 3 SB's, and a week 17 loss in Philly when we gave up a second half lead with all of our starters on the bench.

1st in pts scored
2nd in pts allowed.
Point differential - +16 pts/game

Then they beat a 13-3 Bills squad in the Super Bowl.

But for some reason nobody ever talks about them as an all-time great team. Don't know why...

Pretty sure they have/had the record for highest margin of victory in the postseason as well.

Why am I still a fan of this team?

Because we still love Gibbs, the Hogs, the Posse, Darrel Green, Riggo, Timmy Smith in the Superbowl, RFK and Chief Zee. When the times were good, they were incredibly rewarding for the fan base. And because we hate ourselves.

It's always a treat to watch the local stations scrambling to fill time at the end of another dismal Redskin season.

Last Saturday one station had a special 1 hour Redskins retrospectve. Guess they have time to burn on that station.

"Hey, remember that time when we used to be able to win games that mattered? Yeah, that was great . . . . "

Best In The Victorian Era:

Dear sweet FSM do I love Fark.

2wolves: beta_plus: //RIP JKC

The Rooney family would like to point and laugh at you.

For passing it on to the next generation, fair enough.

But for winning in multiple sports, no. JKC also won an NBA championship with the Lakers. The guy knew how to run a team.

varmitydog: beta_plus : Most of Washington simply did not appreciate at the time that we had the best sports team owner of all time


The best? Did you read TFA? He was going to dismantle this team that ended up going 17-2 and winning the Superbowl until Joe Gibbs talked him out of it.
The reason that he is considered a great owner is because he was lucky enough to hire George Allen and Joe Gibbs.

That's the point. He may have disagreed with his employees but ultimately he listened to them and let them have a reasonably free hand. He also found them in the first place. He deserves credit for finding the right talent and then letting them do their job. It was his responsibility as owner to question them. But it was also his responsibility to listen to people who knew more about the sport than he did. A good boss keeps a loose hold on the reins, but he doesn't let go completely either.

Though, I will say, the Skins were lucky that year. At the same time, the 49ers, the Giants, the Eagles, and the Bears, who had pummulled the Skins throughout the late 80s, all collapsed at the same time. This left a complete vacuum in the NFL leaving the Skins with one of the most battle tested offensive lines in football history to utterly dominate every other team and a defense that could contain anyone, including a Dallas team for one game that went on to win the next 2 Superbowls and Barry Sanders.

whizbangthedirtfarmer: Washington may be one of the biggest bandwagon cities I can think of. At the start of the year, when the Redskins had a strong start, it seemed everyone was wearing Redskins clothes. A few weeks after their inevitable collapse...no mention of the Redskins, save for a few diehards.

That's because Snyder alienated all of the diehard fans. My dad is on the verge of giving up his 8th row season tickets because of him.

2wolves: merkey88: My dad is on the verge of giving up his 8th row season tickets because of him.

No, no, no. He keeps them and sells on one of the internet sites for a profit.

Profit? For my Washington tickets?