Post Patriots

Photo by Brian Murphy

Thank goodness the preseason is almost over. Fortunately for everyone there's only 14 more days in waiting. It will be a great feeling wrapping up this Thursday night and finally getting ready to prepare for week 1. It's not that these don't feel like real games, because we strapped it on last Friday night and played with a little attitude, but it's still just a practice. On one hand it's great to not have a loss count, but it's tough not being able to count a 73 yard reception.

Some positives stood out to me from this weeks game. First, we have been very persistent with the way this team has continued to work and are making huge strides offensively. There is not one throw our quarterback can't make on a football field. Our line is getting much better at picking up the protections and it's showing were we have way more time to throw the ball. Finally, a couple of the young receivers are starting to come on. Devon Thomas is playing at a different level than he did last year. There is no question that for us to be good offensively someone has to step up big in our two and three receiver roles.

There are also many improvements we need to make. We've played with terrible discipline. "You gotta stop the stoppers." As Sherman Smith put it. Too many penalties, dropped balls, and turnovers. Joe Bugle stated "running the ball is paramount! You run to win, you pass to score. We have to establish a more violent running game." And in Z's words "We have to establish the reputation we want. It's up to us men, we need to be the hammer."

I also want to dispute the notion that Tanner strode into the Patriots locker room looking for negative publicity. My brother's initial intentions were to see if he could ask Tom Brady one question, not to bad mouth Randy Moss. Obviously, he knew this was unlikely to happen, but was thrilled with the chance. I will also apologize for him for not knowing the Patriots have a strict no interviews policy in their locker room; surely everyone in America should know everything about the gods of football and should be treated like a d-bag for not accommodating. Seriously, all teams should adopt this silence philosophy. It makes for an extremely fan friendly environment.

Last thing - I will stand up for Ben Watson. Although there may have been casual incivility, I am aware he not only very respectable man, but also a great guy to be around. In addition, I think he is a hell of a football player.

TC: Randy Moss is a Classy Guy...Not

If you are a frequent reader of the blog you know that we make a huge effort to put up entertaining content. Last week, entertainment came in the form of a post game interview with Colt Brennan and Chase Daniel. During the interview I hinted that there would be an attempt to interview Tom Brady this week. Unfortunately I failed in my attempts to meet Brady. I did, however, make it into the Patriots locker room. This is where the entertainment for today begins.
Being in an opposing team's locker room is entirely new to me. I have never entered one, let alone one that housed New England Patriots. One of the best current teams around. Needless to say, there was a small amount of intimidation prior to me entering which was only magnified by Belichick's cold heartless stare. I thought Z had a stern look, but Belichick, the grim reaper lives in his eyes. I eventually shrugged off Bill's cold hard stare and got my bearings in the locker room. I decided to look for the only familiar I knew. Shawn Springs.

After walking around for a few minutes looking for Springs, I began to gain confidence. I have no idea why but I decided to post up at Randy Moss's locker. I knew he was still there because all his shit was in his locker. A minute or two passed before he emerged from the depths of the locker room. I patiently stood waiting like a school boy in the principal's office for Moss to acknowledge me. Finally after waiting for several minutes.

"Whatchu want man?" He said glaring at me over his shoulder.

"What's up man. Do you have a second?"

Nothing

"I'm Chris Cooley's brother. I just wanted to see if I could get your thoughts on the game. It's is for Chris's website.

"Man, that don't mean shit to me! No interviews."

At this point Moss had completely blown my mind. I never knew that Randy Moss, or anyone for that matter, could be such a bitch after catching 2 touchdowns and winning a football game. Thankfully the awkward silence following his shenanigans didn't last long.

Enter Ben Watson, "Man, you look exactly like Chris Cooley."

You can liken my feelings at this point to finding an English speaking person in a foreign country. With what little dignity I had left I managed to to utter, "Ya, he's my brother. Would you mind (pointing at camera), this is for his website."

BW: "No interviews." he said in the same rude voice that Moss did. "But tell your bro what's up."

And just as I thought the interview debacle was over, Randy pulled another dick move. "Ya, tell your bro WE said what's up!"

They both then turned their backs to me and began mumbling to each other, probably about who gets to massage Tom's "sore shoulder" on the plane ride home.

As I exited the locker room, dejected and pissed off, I couldn't help but think how big of assholes those guys were. I know the facts, I was a zilch in their locker room, but I also know that not one player on the Redskins would treat someone like that. Not one.

Thinking that as I walked through the door of the Skins locker room I couldn't help but tell the first person I saw (JC) about my belittling experience.

"Man, that's just not good hospitality is it?"

No Jason, it isn't. I hope they had a shitty plane ride home filled with turbulence and visions of this as they went to bed.

By Tanner Cooley

Redskins vs Patriots

Follow local media members from DC and New England as they tweet through the game tonight. Leave your comments about the game in the comments section. HTTR

Ghosts Don't Exist: The Trailer

Over a year has gone by since we started working with 19th and Wilson on Ghosts Don't Exist. And today we finally have something to show for all the hard work. A trailer! If you don't get chills from watching it then something is seriously wrong with you. After you watch it please let us know what you think.



Also, check out the official Ghosts Don't Exist website for updates.

Most Popular Current DC Athlete?

This was written by Dan Steinberg from the Washington Post

Three years ago, Mike Wise wrote a column, dubbing Clinton Portis D.C.'s most popular athlete, ahead of Gilbert and Ovechkin. Two years ago, I did a similar Top Six list, leading with the same three names as Wise, but in a different order: Gilbert, then Portis, then Ovechkin. Then a few months ago, the AP's Joseph White wrote this:

Ovechkin has clearly become Washington's No. 1 sports star -- ahead of the Redskins' Clinton Portis (who seemed to spend all of last season grumbling about one thing or another) and the Wizards' Gilbert Arenas (who hasn't played all season because of a knee injury).

So is it a done deal then? I certainly thought so, and for months I've told anyone who asked that Ovechkin has the crown, full stop, next question. But then I started chatting with Wise the other day, and he still disagreed. If we were in a room with Ovechkin, Portis, Gilbert and a random sampling of D.C. area residents, he asked, would Ovie really attract the biggest crowd? I said yes. Wise said no.

But who cares what we think? Let's find out what you think? Even cooler, I'm going to find out what the local media thinks, via the first ever D.C. Sports Bog Top 5 Athlete Poll. To me, there are only five reasonable answers for the top spot: the three names of above, plus Zimmerman and Cooley, but I'll let the people speak. And, of course, I asked some wise observers for their thoughts on who's most popular.

Click to VOTE and read the thoughts of Portis, Cooley and Smoot below.

Fantasy Football Insurance

Protection….for the important things in life.

Some of you may have heard about the new insurance available, that provides protection against something, many of us hold dear to our hearts. I’m not talking about life insurance, health insurance, auto or even home insurance. I’m talking about insurance on something that millions of Americans, up until now, have not had a chance to insure. Something that many of us have been burned on for many years.

Fantasy Football Insurance!

I myself have fallen victim to an injury plagued Fantasy roster last year; as my starting QB-(Tom Brady), Wide Receiver, and backup QB all were injured by week 3. Apparently the folks over at fantasysportsinsurance.com, have come up with, dare I say it, and ingenious plan to capitalize on the fantasy sports world. For a nominal fee (from what I can tell is about 10% of your league's entrance fee), they will insure your fantasy team starters against season ending injuries.

The way it works: if you have any of the Top 50 ranked players in the league on your team, and the player has an injury that prohibits him from playing a X% of games, your policy will pay you back your league entrance fee. Many of us play for fun, bragging rights, and even trophies, however there are a boat load of people who put down serious money on their leagues each year. Like many, my entrance fee, along with any chance of winning my league, went down the toilet last year.

I’d like to think I’m not alone here, but my wife gives me all sorts of crap each year about playing (and paying to play) in my fantasy league. I’ve been thinking since I’ve heard about this “important protection,” how I might bring up the topic to my wife; that I had just spent money, on an insurance plan that protects my entrance fee, if one of my fantasy football players get hurt. I feel kind of silly/scared just thinking about that conversation. But who the hell knows, as poorly as I show up each year in my league, she might cough up the cash for this new protection.

A Bee Movie

Post Game Interviews: QB's Colt and Chase

Live Twitter Feed Redskins vs Steelers

I will be attending tonight's home game so I will not be able to control the chat like I did for last weeks game. I still wanted to have a place that if you aren't watching you can get instant updates. So I have set the chat to update via twitter from local media outlets and anyone that writes about the Redskins/Steelers. You will not be able to comment in the live chat but you can do so in the comments section. HTTR!

If you want to listen to the game on ESPN 980 do it HERE

Chris gives the Business to Clinton

Video sent to us by David Eitel. Thanks!