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From Day One....

Tarhog

By Tarhog
in The Stadium

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Tarhog

Tarhog

Posted
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Its Spring, 2005. We've yet to 'join hands' with the Washington Redskins in a loving internet embrace. We're still slow-dancing, copping cheap feels, looking for warts, scoping one another out. I get an email.

'Hey.....any of you guys up for covering the Redskin's Mini-camp?'

We've got two local extreme guys. I pray they suffer marital discord, non-life-threatening leg fractures, hell - severe diarrhea. Whatever. Despite living in N.C., I pine for the opportunity. I'll think of something to tell the boss, I tell myself. Living in Alexandria, Virginia for 25+ years, this is my destiny, my birthright, I will not be denied. Turns out, no one local can make it. Praise be the Gods. And Joe Gibbs. Same difference. A buoyant TK agrees to join me. I load up the car, head through Roanoke to pick up the wild thing, then proceed to Ashburn. Uncharted territory. Nervousness. 'I'm not worthy!' feelings abound. Tossing our belongings in a very nice local hotel room, we hit the Park. We couldn't be more clueless. Somehow, we manage to find the Redskin's Practice facilities, rising like Oz out of the desert. Pulling up, I feel no less nervous than had we been seeking entrance to CIA headquarters.

'Is this where.....the Redskins live?' we awkwardly ask the gate guard.

"Uh......yeah' she emphatically mutters, and asks for our credentials. 'We're like....from this Redskins fan website....extremeskins, maybe you've heard of it? No? Well, okay, but we have credentials, or we're supposed to have them....could you like, let us in and stuff?'.

And then, it happened. She let us in. Hot diggity damn, we were in the inner circle. We'd been lovingly embraced to suckle from the great burgundy and gold bosom. And it was good. Real good. The rest of our time, our FIRST time at Redskins Park was an ecstatic exhausting blur. Pictures, interviews, practice sessions, more interviews, and precious little sleep. 3 incredible days blazed by. Of all the wonderful memories, one stands out above all others. Its the end of Day 1. Practice over, the real press guys gather at the back of the Practice facility buildings, directly outside the Redskins weight rooms. A podium is set up and Joe Gibbs is going to speak to the media and take questions. Gibbs appears, looking surprisingly youthful, rested, energetic. I suppress the urge to drop to my knees and avert my eyes and shout praises to the heavens. Elvis is in the building, and he's a hell of a football coach!

Regaining my dignity, I muscle my way in as close as I can, thrusting my digital recorder into the cacophony with the rest of the media grunts, vowing to keep my mouth shut.

Then it dawns on me. My GOD, I think....I am 5 ft, hell, 3 ft. away from my childhood idol, a symbol of all that is good and noble and right in this Redskins-world. And I could ask him a question. Heart-pounding, palms-sweating, unmentionables-tightening, I mustered my best 'I'm-not-****ting-my-pants-I-swear-to-God' voice, and ask a question. A single humble question for all my fellow fans....

Mini-camp Question for Coach Gibbs

Looking back now, Gibbs said all the right things.

'We need the right kind of guys'

'We want to be good at home'

'We need to be better than we were on Offense'

'Heart and character are our single greatest assets'

'We have a core group of guys that can bounce back from almost anything'

And although he didn't guarantee it, he GOT us that elusive playoff appearance, a Wildcard spot, and then some.

Read those sentences. They are the essence of Joe Gibb's football.

Thanks for answering my question Coach Gibbs.

Thanks for delivering.

Thanks for the trip to Seattle Coach.

And most of all, thanks for making me proud, after a long long dry spell, of being a Redskins fan. Regardless of where we go from here (there are NO guarantees, just like you said), we're better fans for what you've brought this team.

Thanks.

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Teller

Teller

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*NOTE: Should you receive another one of those "Any of you guys up for covering the Redskins Mini-Camp" emails, you've got my address for appropriate forwarding. :) *

Like I said before, when I had the privilege of covering camps at Frostburg, I was dumbstruck when Norv Turner called me by my first name. But Joe Gibbs? At Redskins Park? In your shoes I would have **** myself, and not felt the slightest bit of shame.

:cheers:

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Tarhog

Tarhog

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*NOTE: Should you receive another one of those "Any of you guys up for covering the Redskins Mini-Camp" emails, you've got my address for appropriate forwarding. :) *

Like I said before, when I had the privilege of covering camps at Frostburg, I was dumbstruck when Norv Turner called me by my first name. But Joe Gibbs? At Redskins Park? In your shoes I would have **** myself, and not felt the slightest bit of shame.

:cheers:

I can assure you, Gibbs doesn't know my name :) But he knew I was a fan. And I really got the feeling he was talking to all of us when he answered. He looked right at me, for the duration of his reply.

Goosebumps man. I'll never forget it.

And he delivered. Just like he hinted they would. One thing I embraced even more as this wonderful season progressed. I AM a fan. Thats what the NFL is all about. And I refuse to be shamed by it. At the end of the Philly game, when Blade and I were running onto the field after the win to give us our first playoff appearance in 5 years, we didn't ask journalistic questions, we just ran up to each and every Redskin we could find and screamed 'Thank You!'.

Thank you Coach Gibbs!

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Teller

Teller

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I never understood the prevailing opinion among so-called journalists that being a fan is somehow a bad thing. There is unequivocally no doubt in my mind that you know more about the Washington Redskins than Peter King, Lenny P, or the majority of other national writers. They know a little bit about every team. It's their job. You know a lot about ONE team; and it's your passion.

Congrats on your brush with greatness. Many more, my friend!

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Tarhog

Tarhog

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I never understood the prevailing opinion among so-called journalists that being a fan is somehow a bad thing. There is unequivocally no doubt in my mind that you know more about the Washington Redskins than Peter King, Lenny P, or the majority of other national writers. They know a little bit about every team. It's their job. You know a lot about ONE team; and it's your passion.

Congrats on your brush with greatness. Many more, my friend!

More like a 'sniff' :) I've wanted to post in that 'thank you' thread for the season and held out. Wanted to tie it to what I heard from the master's lips at mini-camp.

Would love to hear more about your experiences hog. And for the record, I have NOTHING but respect for the good journalists that cover sports, and the guys that do the grunt work and make them look good (the photographers, audio guys, TV cameramen, etc...that get little credit but work their tails off). One thing I've learned this year, living 'the dream' is a lot of work. More than most fans fathom.

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jrockster21

jrockster21

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Man-oh-man...I am completely and totally envious of you, Tarhog. And I live in Hawaii. I would give my left testicle to be in your position.

Well............maybe not one of my boys...........

...........yeah, I'd give my left testicle. :laugh:

Thank YOU for the total coverage this season! Amazing! :)

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jrockster21

jrockster21

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Don't get too excited. The links may not work as they've not been hooked up to the new servers.

:gus: Just remembered all the cross linking I did to the old database. Grrrrr...

Doh!! Well, for your reference:

"Extremeskins Minicamp -- Video Footage" links to a thread, but all the videos come up as not found.

Minicamps Days 1, 2, and 3 seem to work okay.

I can't get the other ones to load. :(

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Tarhog

Tarhog

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Don't get too excited. The links may not work as they've not been hooked up to the new servers.

:gus: Just remembered all the cross linking I did to the old database. Grrrrr...

I've gone back and re-formatted. Think everything is accessible now, for anyone interested :)

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Tarhog

Tarhog

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Doh!! Well, for your reference:

"Extremeskins Minicamp -- Video Footage" links to a thread, but all the videos come up as not found.

Minicamps Days 1, 2, and 3 seem to work okay.

I can't get the other ones to load. :(

Try it again. Should be fixed now.

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Ax

Ax

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Hey, when are one of you guys gonna go George Plimpton for us? You know, strap on the pads and go over the middle to pull in that high pass.

We'd all like to know if Sean "Dumb-Dumb" Taylor really hits hard, or is it just hype. :D

Many thanks fellas.

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