Fans During Gibbs First Tenure vs. Fans During Gibbs Second Tenure

[Taylor4Life]

My opinion...I think there is. I think we live in a Fast Food, give it to me now society that used to be different back then. Yes, I want to win now.

Funny... I grew up in the 80's and I seem to remember there being fast food then, too. But your points are valid, the fan base was much more loyal and radical in those days, but that's what happens when you win.

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

I would also say that Gibbs brought us back to the Playoffs his second year back, which is more than any other Coach that came here since Joe Gibbs had left.

well we will see how this year goes, because so far we are 6-10, 10-6 with a playoff win, and 5-11. id rather see progression than a meaningless playoff win, but im reserving judgement til the end of this year.

[moviedude25]

What do people think? Is there a difference between the fans back then and the fans now? (Other than those fans being older and new fans). I am talking about as a whole. Are they different? If so, why and how?

Yes but only because the fans have much more information at there fingertips then before. We stay on top of the news more now and understand more. Other then that, not really.

My opinion...I think there is. I think we live in a Fast Food, give it to me now society that used to be different back then.

I disagree. When Gibbs came on board and started off so poorly he was told by then owner to improve or he was going to get fired. In 1980 we didn't accept losses and we still don't. Even when the Skins lost a game back in the good ol days the fans and media demanded that Gibbs correct the problems immediately. The fast food anology doesn't hold water for me.

Yes, I want to win now. I think all fans want that, but I don't want it at the expense of a solid foundation. I want a solid foundation that we can keep for years to come.

In those good old days we won with many different QB's and RB's. We didn't have a great foundation in players, we had some great players (Monk, Green, etc) and had a great system for beating other teams. The reason we won three superbowls with different QB's and RB's was due to the solid foundation we had in our system. Today we don't have this system and its a fault of Gibbs he hasn't figured out how to win today.

Is it me, or did RFK seem a ton louder than FedEx Field which allows for a ton more seats?

Yes RFK was louder, it was structured differently and although it was smaller allowed the fans to interact with the game much more.

[WARLORD1863]

lol at fans being smarter. what a sweeping generalization. you ever think its louder at fedex, just maybe, because theres 30,000 more people? hmm.

I don't see where he was questioning why FedEx was louder, in fact I think he was talking about RFK being louder.

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

I don't see where he was questioning why FedEx was louder, in fact I think he was talking about RFK being louder.

he said that on offense we were louder and cheering more than we did in the 80s. i was stating that the addition of 30,000 fans might make it seem louder in fedex. and i wouldnt know if rfk was louder or not, it very well could have been because it was a smaller enclosed space, which traps sound better.

either way, fans being smarter/dumber is a pretty vague argument.

[KillasSkins]

if there is any coach that can turn the skins around its gibbs, i think this year is it

[Commander Adama]

he said that on offense we were louder and cheering more than we did in the 80s. i was stating that the addition of 30,000 fans might make it seem louder in fedex. and i wouldnt know if rfk was louder or not, it very well could have been because it was a smaller enclosed space, which traps sound better.

either way, fans being smarter/dumber is a pretty vague argument.

No I said in general it seemed louder at RFK. Also, a separate point was there are fans at FedEx who were yelling during our offense, and they were our fans. That really did not happen at RFK.

I can see your point that with the addition of 30,000 people you could see some yelling, but RFK held a ton of people to begin with so I can't see it.

[Taylor 36]

I think there is a difference. The older fans seem to have more patience. It's a mix of the dissapointing season we've had and the society we live in today imo.

I believe this as well. We are now in an "instant" world. Everyone wants things now. No one has patience any more and cares to wait regardless of how inaccurate or poor the rushed gratification is or becomes.

[youngestson]

I can remember Super Bowl VII and the loss to the Dolphins, so I go back. Not as far as my dad with his Sammy Baugh stories, but back.

I think I really have to give young fans credit for being better and more loyal because, when have they seen the team actually be good? It's been a disapointing team most years since 1992, and if you don't see success early and often it's easy to loose interest and start cheering for another team.

I have seen the good and know what to hope for. They only have faith.

Yea younger fans! :applause:

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I agree that it is ridiculous to criticize young Skins fans, because it is a minor miracle that they are Skins' fans at all. If you were born - say - after 1987, you have to be a glutton for punishment to be a Skins' fan. If you are under 20, we are at the same level as the Cardinals, Lions, Bengals, and such.

[DonkeyTeeth]

Gibbs I caught plenty of heat. Remember the phrase 'strike season fluke' that hung over him until 91? The years and years that he couldn't get past Parcells' Giants? The wishy-washy support for Rypien in 89-90 and the calls for Humphries, etc?

It's hard to find any real way that RFK was 'better' than FedEx, but RFK was the spot of lots of exciting memories for Skins fans, so it will be hard to every shake that aura. It was a compact stadium with a partial lid over the rim, so the sound from a fired-up crowd would seem to stay in the stadium. Tickets were very hard to get for RFK games, so the place got even more mystical to those of us growing up in the 80s.

[mdskins75]

he said that on offense we were louder and cheering more than we did in the 80s. i was stating that the addition of 30,000 fans might make it seem louder in fedex. and i wouldnt know if rfk was louder or not, it very well could have been because it was a smaller enclosed space, which traps sound better.

either way, fans being smarter/dumber is a pretty vague argument.

I was at the game against Giants four rows from field. During the last drive the fans may have been louder than any defensive set. The Skins, players and coaches were pleading for the fans to quiet down and shut up. This would never have happened at RFK. The fans knew better. Yes RFK was louder and there was rarely any noise on offense. Now fans just don't seem to care when they make noise.

Take this for what it's worth but this is my theory on this. During RFK you had basically the same fans going year in and year out. So knew how to act during the game. With Fed Ex many people canceled their season tickets and now you have almost an influx of fans that never really went to Skins games and didn't have family members who never went either. This has led to moments where the fans want to cheer when the team is on the 1 yard line. Like i said it never happened at RFK now it does. How about doing the wave during the 4th quarter. Never at RFK. No joke maybe Gibbs should hold an educational session on how Redskins fans should act during certain situatuions during the game. What happened Sunday in the final minute was embarassing.

[ldysknzfn1]

There's definitely a difference between the 2. The younger fans have really no idea what a winning Redskins team feels like. They've only had flashes in the pan so to speak. I also agree w/you about the want it yesterday mentality of the younger fans of today. I often wonder how the Skins even get new fans with our record over the last 15 years.

I can only speak for myself on this next part. I remember the "glory days" and I only hang on at this point waiting for that to come about again. The older fans, like myself, at least have those memories to fall back to. We are just waiting patiently for our just dues again.

The greatness will come again!

[BigMike619]

if you were a fan of Gibbs 1 you should by default be a fan of Gibbs 2. the fans who ONLY know Gibbs 2 are fickle (and understandable) but just look at how far we have come since the embarassment of the spurrier days. it takes teams a long time to recover from a complete meltdown like that.

just be patient and keep rooting for your team. it is tradition and it is in your blood.

[Commander Adama]

I agree that it is ridiculous to criticize young Skins fans' date=' because it is a minor miracle that they are Skins' fans at all. If you were born - say - after 1987, you have to be a glutton for punishment to be a Skins' fan. If you are under 20, we are at the same level as the Cardinals, Lions, Bengals, and such.[/quote']

Not criticizing young fans at all. Was just bringing up a discussion point of if there are differences between when Gibbs was first here and now; from a fan perspective.

As far as being the same as Cardinals, Lions, and Bengals in the past decade, that is pretty much true. Only the media, because of Dan Snyders' Fantasy Football treatment of personnel, always kept us as paper tigers which never translated to the field.

We are a storied franchise, and there have only been 2 other teams that have more wins than the Redskins in the past 75 years than us. Ever since they were known as the Boston Braves. We have 522 Wins. The Steelers just broke 500 last week. Here's to hoping we get back to that.

HTTR

[D'KanSkinFan]

I think you also have to realize that RFK was TONS more intimate than FedEx Field is. RFK was small, the stands shook and fans from different walks of life were brought together, making it a harder place to play in for visiting teams. Plus, since there was no ebay and craigslist, tickets were much harder to come by. FedEx is more sterile, there are obvious haves and have-nots sections (Club Section verses upper level, Tailgate Club vs. Touchdown Club), thousands of fans from the visiting team's city appear on any given game day, has people conducting business in the stands, and has "fans" more worried about getting on the jumbotron, getting drunk and starting the wave at inappropriate times than paying attention to what's on the field. I also think that 15 years of mediocre to just outright bad football has made fans a lot less patient than they were before.

Stwasm is so correct; and might I add, we now have INTERNET with message boards to post and keep negative thoughts stirred up-

and.......... (:2cents: in my opinion)

MEDIA comes to this board and "gets their negative reports" to fuel their column AGAINST the Redskins, Coaches, FedEx, Vendors, Parking Lot, etc............................I swear some of the columns I read that people post the shortcut too is exactly (maynot word for word) but exactly what was posted on this board 24 hours prior to the article.

[Taylor4Life]

People always criticize the younger generations. Back in Gibbs days weren't the geezers always ****ing and whining about the emerging MTV and Pepsi generation?

Saying that fans nowadays are more impatient than the ones in Gibbs I is fallacious at best, because fans during Gibbs first tenure DIDN'T HAVE TO WAIT very long for a competetive football team.

We'll never know how fans in the '80s would have reacted if for over a decade their team was the laughing stock of the league.

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

I was at the game against Giants four rows from field. During the last drive the fans may have been louder than any defensive set. The Skins, players and coaches were pleading for the fans to quiet down and shut up. This would never have happened at RFK. The fans knew better. Yes RFK was louder and there was rarely any noise on offense. Now fans just don't seem to care when they make noise.

Take this for what it's worth but this is my theory on this. During RFK you had basically the same fans going year in and year out. So knew how to act during the game. With Fed Ex many people canceled their season tickets and now you have almost an influx of fans that never really went to Skins games and didn't have family members who never went either. This has led to moments where the fans want to cheer when the team is on the 1 yard line. Like i said it never happened at RFK now it does. How about doing the wave during the 4th quarter. Never at RFK. No joke maybe Gibbs should hold an educational session on how Redskins fans should act during certain situatuions during the game. What happened Sunday in the final minute was embarassing.

i wont argue that i think the average fan is a dummy, but i find it hard to believe dumb stuff didnt happen at RFK as well.

and the final minute was embarrassing because gibbs embarrassed himself, not because some drunk fans were upset that we were outscored 21-0 in the 2nd half.

[mdskins75]

i wont argue that i think the average fan is a dummy, but i find it hard to believe dumb stuff didnt happen at RFK as well.

and the final minute was embarrassing because gibbs embarrassed himself, not because some drunk fans were upset that we were outscored 21-0 in the 2nd half.

I don't remember sheer stupidity at RFK. Never had any negative experiences. Gibbs didn't embarras himself. He had a plan and they didn't execute. No big deal. I'm not second guessing anything because i don't like to second guess. If that's the case then why not second guess the wins as well.

What i find unacceptable is fans making so much noise as the team lines up on the goal line that the players/coaches have to plead with the fans to quiet down. That shouldn't happen. I was behind the Giants bench and the place was in a frenzy. This wasn't after the catch but right as they were preparing to line up. Every Redskins fan should know better. Gibbs made mention of the crowd noise in a newspaper article. That's embarrasing.

[drowland]

if you were a fan of Gibbs 1 you should by default be a fan of Gibbs 2. the fans who ONLY know Gibbs 2 are fickle (and understandable) but just look at how far we have come since the embarassment of the spurrier days. it takes teams a long time to recover from a complete meltdown like that.

just be patient and keep rooting for your team. it is tradition and it is in your blood.

I was a fan of Gibbs I. I'm not a big fan of Gibbs II. I don't understand how anyone who watched Gibbs coach the first go around could think the guy standing on sideline now is the same person. I would of rather just have the memories of the HOF coach. Not the man with the confussed look on his face standing on sideline today.

[tomgraham]

how about fans during both?>

[BigMike619]

I was a fan of Gibbs I. I'm not a big fan of Gibbs II. I don't understand how anyone who watched Gibbs coach the first go around could think the guy standing on sideline now is the same person. I would of rather just have the memories of the HOF coach. Not the man with the confussed look on his face standing on sideline today.

just look at where the team went from before he came back to where it is now. just the chemistry, the talent level, etc. they arent a bunch of hired mercs here just to collect a check.

our QB was from the draft; our D was built and not a bunch of big names with not alot of talent are now back there. we have 2 great RBs, a superb TE. sure we need to win more games, EVERY team wants to win more. but we are definitely on the right path.

and i dont think i am being a homer about this..

[drowland]

just look at where the team went from before he came back to where it is now. just the chemistry, the talent level, etc. they arent a bunch of hired mercs here just to collect a check.

our QB was from the draft; our D was built and not a bunch of big names with not alot of talent are now back there. we have 2 great RBs, a superb TE. sure we need to win more games, EVERY team wants to win more. but we are definitely on the right path.

and i dont think i am being a homer about this..

This club still has a bunch of hired mercensaries. The talent level's a little better but they have to win. I've watched this team lose games the last 3 years the same way Norv and Spurrier lost them. A Gibbs I coached team wouldn't of lost a home game leading by 14 pts at halftime.

[HEavyJumbo85]

This club still has a bunch of hired mercensaries. The talent level's a little better but they have to win. I've watched this team lose games the last 3 years the same way Norv and Spurrier lost them. A Gibbs I coached team wouldn't of lost a home game leading by 14 pts at halftime.

If you saw it happen with Norv, Spurrier, and now Gibbs, do you ever stop and think that it might not be a coaching problem?

[drowland]

If you saw it happen with Norv, Spurrier, and now Gibbs, do you ever stop and think that it might not be a coaching problem?

No, because in it most cases they're calling the game the same way. Gibbs sits on a lead as much as the others would.