We need a GM

[Om]

I have never claimed to know more than I in reality know ABOUT THE SKINS - anymore, say, than you as a voting citizen claim to know about actual tactical/operational/strategic planning/events in Iraq. Find one instance where I have stated this?

See, to me at least, when you call a bunch of professionals at the pinnacle of their field (that would be the NFL) “DUMB ARSES!” the clear implication is that you do indeed believe you have enough actual knowledge of that which they do on a daily basis to make such a claim. And you probably don’t want to go down the road of “finding one instance where you have stated” something along those lines, either. You’ve been tearing the Redskins front office a new one for as long as I can recall. And remember, there are archives here in case anyone wants to verify.

And btw, let’s try to keep this about football. Unless you can find one instance where I’ve called the guys making the tactical/operational/strategic planning/events in Iraq “DUMBARSES!” of course, in which case I guess your sidetracking attempt here would have some bearing.

if it makes you feel better: I am climbing to the mountain top to scream for all the world to hear "I know less about football and current Redskin plans than the Skins FO." I sheepishly acknowledge the humbleness that statement implies and which you apparently are demanding. What I wont do is use that as an excuse for not thinking about what I see/hear/read happening in front of me. Will I get it wrong? Maybe. Probably. I don't much care....comes with the territory. as though anyone around here is "right."

Ah. Well, it doesn’t make me “feel better,” because I’ve felt find all along. But it does make me wonder why, with that in mind, you don’t seem to get why tearing the FO a new one month after month and calling them “DUMB ARSES” strikes anyone as pretty damn silly.

3) Pre/Post Gibbs - your point winnows down to things have changed for the better." Yea....so?

So…if you agree, what are we supposed to think about “the FO are DUMB ARSES!”?

- nice try transitioning "The FO" into Joe Gibbs alone

I have not. Though as we both know, he is the captain of that ship. So, nice try transitioning “the FO are DUMB ARSES!” into “it’s not about Gibbs.”

- could this have been done faster?

Uh … yes. It also could have been done slower, not at all, or at the pace it HAS been done. Your point?

- are you certain that this has been done in a purposeful way? or do you think the evidence - as we know it - suggests this has been a series of jump starts as the team actually tries to figure out, season after season, what it is trying to accomplish and the best/practical path for executing its vision? or are you saying things were so hopelessly fouled up by DS, his sidekicks and the people he hired in respect to football operations that Joe needs years to right this ship? that he miht even be exceeding expectations given where things stood when he returned?

Yes, I do think it’s been done in a “purposeful way.” I think the problem lies in that you think because you don't know what their plan is, since you're not in the room and/or because it's not working at the pace you'd like it to, that equates to not HAVING one. Which is, of course, kind of silly, as I'm sure you'll agree.

And it’s clear that by jumping immediately into claiming that “the evidence” wholly supports your view that they haven’t got a clue means you’re not about to let go of your stated belief that they’re all a bunch of dumb arses just floundering around. Which is, in my own humble opinion, a conceit of remarkable proportions.

btw...I steadfastly hope Joe succeeds in winning (a SB) this time around. mostly because of the man he is and what he has done in the past for this city. and to end all conversations about who numbers among the greatest coaches of all time. but that is not going to prevent me from commenting - ill informed as it might appear to you - about what is going on....including the occasional evocative phrase for the shere fun of it.

Fair enough. And when you go over the top, as you did in this thread, I’ll feel free to continue to call you on it. Is this a great country of what? Why you and not the hundreds of other Armchair GM’s on the internet who do the same thing? Because I remember when you didn’t used to be one of them. And because I miss my old friend who used to value this message board as something other than an outlet for taking out his daily frustrations and making routine, throwaway snide comments about anyone who doesn’t agree with his position that the Redskins front office are dumbarses. And because I still have hopes, fading though they may be, of one day finding the guy I remember is still in there somewhere.

Is calling the FO a bunch of dumb arses offensive to Joe Gibbs (what is likely really the irritant here) and your memories of him? probably. Apologies Joe if any offense was taken. I'll still be spending $1000s on the team and pulling for you all when I go to the games just the same.

It’s not offensive to me, Al. Just sad. As is the inference that spending money on the team has anything to do with how one chooses to discuss them with other fans who do the same thing.

3) As for reconciling povs.....there is what happens and there is what might happen. we may fight like cats and dogs......but hope springs eternal! phrases like "FO = XXXX XXXX" spring precisely from unmet expectations - many of which the team sets. please don't allow this to descend into another of those obnoxious "you aren't a fan" spitballing drills.

You didn’t answer the question. I asked you to reconcile between calling the FO DUMB ARSES in one breath, and saying the team is “bound to” improve over Gibbs first four years in the next. Can you do that or not?

As to the bold part … I’ve never have done that and never will. Surprised you’d throw that in there as I suspect you know that as well as I.

4) Pompous path walking? More than enough to go around apparently! You well know, particularly for a message board, that there is no set of "objective criteria" when it comes to evaluating the performance of a football team (perhaps, as you believe, not even Ws and Ls)...moreover, when there is analysis but it is critical...the sense around these parts is to ridicule it out of hand as anti-Redskin prejuidice or phantasms of the mediots.

if there are objective criteria...please direct me to the metrics.....an issue I have raised many times so we can get to definitive answers/conclusions. the lack of such criteria is precisely, when all else fails, why so many default to "You don't know what the FO is thinking."....you know...the argument so many of us received when we questioned the wisdom of the Vanilla strategy employed last preseasom...during preseason.

Approached from a different angle, there is never going to be perfect knowledge...how wonderful then that some get to decide where the actual line in the sand should be drawn when it comes to "objective"!

I have no idea what if anything in that I’m supposed to respond to. So I won’t.

and...finally....I still think the Skins should keep the #6 pick and draft BPA. but trading down is something the "sometimes tactically challenged FO" (better?) can certainly take a stab at.....

As of today, given that FA hasn’t started yet, my thought is I’d like to see them grab the best DL on their board at #6, unless some team makes a trade-down offer they can’t refuse. And I’ll probably wait a couple years before formulating a strong opinion on how well their decision worked out given the parameters in place at the time.

[SkinsHokieFan]

Its simple

Even though the FO wants to have this image that there is a "plan" there really is no "plan"

It starts with the top and being in synch with the coaching staff. However someone has to have power from February to August and be able to say "NO you do not get to have Adam Archuletta for any price"

That simply does not exist at Redskins park

[Om]

Its simple

Even though the FO wants to have this image that there is a "plan" there really is no "plan"

It starts with the top and being in synch with the coaching staff. However someone has to have power from February to August and be able to say "NO you do not get to have Adam Archuletta for any price"

That simply does not exist at Redskins park

Feh. See above.

[fansince62]

OM...quick note. I was trying to draw out the following:

- FO as dumb blah blah applies to actions completed

- improvement applies to expectations

your point is well taken: how can dumb arses be expected to improve...they're dumb after all! and I respond, clanky as it may sound to your ears, I'm a Skins fan...it's a birthright to expect/hope for the best (contradictions be *amned).

I have to run off to yet another telecon (the new bane of mankind).....