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kleese

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Everything posted by kleese

  1. kleese
    Yes, 1993 was the start. We were due for a rebuild so the fact that we went 4-12 wasn’t that huge a deal (although it was still a shock to the system for fans, myself included). But it was the start. We for sure wasted a year because we approached 1993 like we were trying to win the SB again. Passed the torch from Gibbs to Petitbone and pretty much kept the core together. Made a bunch of FA signings that were old older guys at the end of their careers. This added to our roster which also had a bunch of older guys at the end of the careers. Then we blow out the defending SB champs on the opening Monday Night of the season. It was like, boom, another great Redskins year. The next week we lose to lowly Cardinals at home. Ugly loss. That was a warning sign. The next week was when it hit home. At Philly, a really great back and forth game. We lose a heartbreaker at the end on a Randall TD pass. What struck me about that game was that we never would have lost to a lesser team one week and then lost a heartbreaker the next under Gibbs. We always found ways to win those and avoid ruts. The season completely went down the drain from there. So we wasted an entire year where we probably should have started rebuilding. Then, JKC was infatuated with Norv and turned the franchise over to Casserly. Disaster. Also FedEx opened during all of this. There is no defending Snyder and his tenure here. But he took over a mess. 1993-1998 were horrendous off-field (and on of course too) years for the franchise.
  2. kleese
    My gut tells me this still isn’t enough for a forced removal because the actual allegations that directly involve Snyder are still very much he said/she said. And the most damaging piece here (the video) is an accusation that one former employee asked for it so he could show the owner— no evidence that Snyder asked for it or even ever saw it. We can all assume, but assumptions won’t get someone ousted. I don’t think the direct allegations are enough to move the needle to removal. The ONE lingering hope would be the old NCAA “lack of institutional control” thing. MAYBE this pushes that far enough to get something done. But I doubt it.
  3. kleese
    First, no need to jump to conclusions. None of us know obviously and I seriously doubt that RR, his family, his friends, or his docs would advise him to do anything that wasn’t in the best interest of him besting this. Meaning, if he continues to coach and be at the park daily that means the people that know have deemed it a good/safe decision and that’s good enough for me. Plenty of cancer treatments can coincide with a fairly “normal” day to day existence. Other treatments are much more invasive and would force someone to take a step back for awhile. Unlike a player, if a head coach does have to take a step back, they can still do their job and have a positive effect on the team. And right now, everyone is sort of used to doing things at a distance anyway. So if RR had to step aside for a bit, I think he could still make his presence felt and do his job via a proxy. Del Rio is more than capable of handling that role if needed. We don’t know if RR will have any success here and considering our track record it’s perfectly reasonable to question that. However, one thing we can be certain about is that RR IS highly regarded and respected by pretty much everyone. Players will play hard for him and won’t want to let him down. I don’t worry about any sort of emotional damage this could cause the team. Hell, I’m not sure much more damage could be done right now anyway. Hopefully RR will be just fine, handle treatment well, recover quickly, and miss little to no time at the park. But I don’t think it’s necessarily a season-sinker if he does have to take an absence. He’s the kind of guy with a large enough presence that it will remain even if he’s not there physically for awhile.
  4. kleese
    Your final statement is false. If the league as a whole remains financially healthy so will Dan Snyder and the organization. This is how the system is set up to work.
  5. kleese
    Washington FT is BY FAR my #1 preference. Don’t over complicate this. Just call us Washington, keep the colors and such the same and move on down the road. Maybe replace the logo head with “DC” or something. All of the other options are lame/forced so just do what the Euro soccer teams do— seems to work fine for them.
  6. kleese
    Well, I guess we just disagree there. I think it’s entirely possible Snyder had no idea Alex Santos was sending inappropriate texts to those women. I am also making an assumption based on all that we know about his comings and goings that Dan was rarely, if ever in the same place at the same time with these people. If anything I’d say Dan’s reputation as a terrible boss and all that we know about him make it even more probable this could go on without his knowledge. And if you agree that the Post article isn’t enough to take Dan down, then we agree here anyway.
  7. kleese
    I don’t know what Snyder does or doesn’t know. What I am illustrating is that it’s entirely possible to NOT know—especially in a structure like that where the owner is probably almost never interacting with the female accusers. It doesn’t sound like this stuff was happening in high level meetings, but more in passing, during casual convos, and off site. The accused were likely on their “best behavior” around the boss. Now, let’s assume he legit did not know. The question becomes SHOULD he have known? Well, if it was a long pattern I think the answer to that question is probably, yes. Again, much like Cuban and the Mavs. Adamant he didn’t know but admitted he probably should have known. Both are worthy of blame and criticism but one is worse than the other. One is worthy of removal. The other is worthy of public embarrassment, an apology, some penalties, and a realization that if it happens again under your watch the penalties will be much more severe next time. I think in the case of both the Mavs and Redskins, the latter is appropriate.
  8. kleese
    Dudes that do this type of stuff can be pretty sly about it. They are much more likely to pick spots where they are closer to a one on one situation. Again, doesn’t sound like Dan is around the non-football offices/practice field very often at all. The impression I’ve always gotten is that he was with Bruce and sometimes the coaches for things like the draft and that’s it. I also think it’s telling that some of the more damning accusations from the accusers came via texts; a lot of this was happening outside the actual offices with the accused contacting them “off the clock.” As I’ve said before, take Dan out of this entirely and use someone else— Mark Cuban is considered a serious hands-on owner and a very progressive one at that. Mavs have a strong rep for treating employees well. And this happened to him/them. And it happened in more blatant fashion with an exec higher up the chain. There were never calls for Cuban to sell the Mavs as a result. He admitted embarrassment while maintaining he had no clue and that he acted as soon as he was informed. He says they cleaned up their protocols for such matters, got rid of the accused, and that was that. I expect the same thing to happen here.
  9. kleese
    One thing I want to chime in on in general: the theory that Dan HAD to know about this. That’s really not necessarily true at all. I am the owner of a business and also act as the GM. At every quarterly staff meeting I always at least review personal conduct policies. One thing we reiterate over and over is that any indiscretions need to be reported and we inform them of where they need to be reported. I vet my managers and stay in close contact with them, but I also give them freedom to do their jobs and I am not with them very often when they are dealing with their employees. I absolutely do my best to set the proper tone, but unless I’m notified of something, it’s possible I wouldn’t know. My company is much smaller than a pro football team... it’s entirely possible that Dan was rarely even in the same building with these employees— especially entry level employees. He obviously had interactions with the accused employees, but I bet he was rarely with the accused when they were ALSO around those other employees. What’s most important in this situation is what an owner does once things come to the light. I believed Mark Cuban when he said he didn’t know what was going on with the Mavs harassment situation. I think his surprise was genuine. As was his embarrassment. No idea if he has done what needed to be done to clean up the issues moving forward, you’d have to be there to know. But to me, that’s what is important. Now, one thing that might be a very deserved criticism is if Snyder didn’t have anything in place to help fend this off in general. If the HR department or response protocol wasn’t equipped or if employees weren’t sure where to voice their issues, then that’s an issue for which he must take legit criticism/blame. And he should. But that differs from knowing and doing nothing. I would like nothing more than for Snyder to no longer be the owner. But I also want it to be for fair/legit reasons. As frustrating as it is I’ve yet to hear anything that would lead me to the conclusion that Snyder has crossed lines that should forcibly cost him the franchise.
  10. kleese
    Maybe he’s just telling the truth. Or at least simply presenting an honest portrayal of how he personally views these people and his experiences with them.
  11. kleese
    I’m also gonna throw this out there... the owner prior to Snyder, one who is generally universally loved/appreciated by the fanbase... well, I think it’s pretty clear JKC wouldn’t have been able to get too far with his “style” by today’s standards. This isn’t excuse-making; more just making sure we don’t travel too far down the road of hypocrisy.
  12. kleese
    Whether or not people like you or don’t like you shouldn’t determine whether or not you are held accountable for essentially the same offense. I am sure his fellow owners aren’t big Snyder fans. Even if some of them have nothing against him in a personal manner (Jerruah apparently gets along with him) I am sure they view him as someone who doesn’t bring anything positive to the table for the league. So yes, I bet there are some that wouldn’t mind finding a reason to oust him. BUT... if they read this story I imagine many will be VERY reluctant to set this type of allegation as the precedent for being removed.
  13. kleese
    Ask yourself this. How many of these owners do you think would like to set THIS as the standard for franchise removal? Again, Mark Cuban and the Mavs dealt with almost the exact same situation, but actually on a more intense level and removing him as owner was never even discussed. I am not sure how pointing that out makes me more of a homer.
  14. kleese
    There are levels to bad behavior. Punching someone in the face without provocation is bad. Hitting them in the head with a hammer is worse. Killing them is worse than that. And each level of offense should draw a punishment fitting of said offense. No different here. Being a creeper is bad. It should get you fired and vilified. But it’s not the same as actually assaulting someone. This is what we were led to believe might be the story. And it wasn’t. So know the punishments should fit. From what I read I don’t believe any of the former employees broke the law. Please correct me if I wrong as I’m far from an expert on that, but I don’t think any criminal action can be taken. And none of those mentioned work for the organization anymore either. So there just isn’t much else left to do other than profusely apologize and take a deep dive into making sure it doesn’t happen again.
  15. kleese
    This is very similar to the story with the Dallas Mavericks. I bet there are a LOT of organizations (in and out of sports) where women have experienced similar things. In no way am I condoning it or blowing it off. But it’s probably not enough to do something so drastic as to force an ownership change unless Snyder was directly implicated (he’s not) or if there was proof that he knew and didn’t follow protocols or covered up/blackmailed people— and of that evidence exists it wasn’t included in the article. They have probably done what they need to do already— fire all those directly implicated— or in Michales case, accept his retirement. Now, I imagine we will see a similar outcome as to what happened with the Mavs and Mark Cuban. An apology for not being more on top of things while denying any direct involvement. League will make them get house in order and deal with the public embarrassment. But I didn’t read anything here that justifies a forced sale of the team. Obviously, however low your opinion of Snyder was before this probably dips even lower, but I don’t think this justifies ouster. Now, the one SMALL ray of hope could be that given the years and years of sort of avoiding answering for any of this, Snyder finally has to face some music publicly. I don’t think he can hide on his yacht forever and it’s also probably a disastrous PR move to accuse these women of being liars. He hates facing the masses and he’s going to have to do that at some point. Perhaps he will just decide enough is enough and sell on his own. Doubtful, but one can hope. Perhaps, at the very least, this public admonishment will force him into his hole for good and a guy like Rivera can really run the show unfettered.
  16. kleese
    But it’s also very far fetched. Remember an NFL ref crew is huge. And it’s way too risky to try and bribe an entire crew. I can’t see any billionaire taking that type of risk of a leak involving that many people. So then do you just pick the head ref? The line judge? Individual refs really can’t impact things THAT much unless it’s super blatant and consistent or unless again, the entire crew is in on it. And unless the accusation is that Snyder was gambling on games, his only motivation would be for his pay offs to equal victories. And that’s a tall order even for a crooked ref. For example, the bad NBA ref (Donaghy) mostly worked to have games go over the total. That’s easier because towards end of games he can just get a little whistle happy for both teams and keep sending them to FT line. He wasn’t really cooking sides and wasn’t at all being paid off to shift winners. There is a reason most “fixing” scandals come on the lower levels (mid majors in college) and usually in basketball. Find people with more to gain (and less to lose), doing something under the radar, in a setting where one rogue person can possibly make that small shift that benefits you. The NFL ref payoff thing just doesn’t add up logically.
  17. kleese
    One difference would be the incredible mounting public pressure. The leverage goes to the fans/public/media now. Yes, fans have called for him to sell before, but mostly just because he was bad at his job and didn’t produce results. That’s not reason enough to force a person to sell their privately owned business. But if there is enough evidence of this happening under his watch, the public attack could be such that it forces a move even if the league doesn’t feel they have the grounds to do so. He agreed to change the name because he was finally backed into a corner from which he could not escape. Could be similar situation.
  18. kleese
    I’ve gotta say, in some sick way this is re-energizing me as a fan no matter what happens. Like I will wear “surviving” all of this as a badge of honor. It reminds me of the Steve Martin quote from Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: I-I could tolerate any, any insurance seminar, for days. I could sit there and listen to them go on and on with a big smile on my face. They'd say, "How can ya stand it?" And I'd say, "'Cause I've been with Del Griffith. It’s like there is no breaking me now. You can’t do it. I’m a superhero. I’m unbreakable. Nothing you can ever do will stop me from wearing a jersey for game 1 each year. You can change the name, you can embarrass yourselves (and me) on the field for 25 years. You can embarrass yourselves (and me) off the field for 25 years. You can involve yourselves (not me) in orgies and FBI scandals and sinister plots... and I’m still here. I will outlast them all. I’ll be able to say I remember the Gibbs I glory and I survived the Snyder nightmare. Not even HE will the the constant at that point. But I will. This is great.
  19. kleese
    Oh man, I hope Gruden wasn’t Bogs
  20. kleese
    Google “Cowboys White House” some pretty entertaining stories there. And no, I don’t think anyone really cared or was particularly shocked by it. If memory serves the organization itself was never implicated and it was more on the players personal side, but I imagine the existence of the shire house and what went on there had to be pretty common knowledge. Different time and place too. No cell phones, social media, etc. Back in the glory days when you could party balls in peace.
  21. kleese
    I’m starting to get a little nervous that the “bombshell” is going to be: “Rich and powerful pro athletes and executives like to party balls”
  22. kleese
    It can’t be worse than Penn St. and the University didn’t fold. Neither did the program. If it’s really bad, then everyone still with the organization that was involved will be gone and they will then individually have to deal with any legal repercussions that come their way. The organization itself may also be held libel in some civil type actions. But the franchise will move on.
  23. kleese
    At this point enough credible people have chimed in that it has to be more than that.
  24. kleese
    Depends on the scope and how much proof there is about what he knew and did or didn’t do in terms of reaction. If there was a one time party with debauchery that he swept under rug it might be something that would be handled with suspension/penalties. If this is something where there is proof of a culture of these sorts of things that went on without action, then it could very well be his end. Remember, even if the NFL doesn’t feel they can actually force a sale then it’s possible public pressure could push him over the edge.
  25. kleese
    #72....sign me up!
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