MattFancy Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I know this might sound crazy but hear me out first. The Washington Redskins are just like the Baltimore Orioles of the late '90s early '00s. You may ask how are these two teams in different sports the same? Well its simple... The Orioles had just come off back-to-back ALCS appearances. They seemed to be a team on the rise and had a group of solid veterans like Cal Ripken, Roberto Alomar, Rafael Palmerio and Mike Mussina leading the way. Following their 2nd straight ALCS apperance and a Divsion Title, Peter Angelos fired Davey Johnson. 1997 was the last time the Orioles have had a winning record. In that time span, Angelos would bring in aging veterans to fill holes because he was convinced that the O's were just a player or two away from being competitive again. We saw guys like Albert Belle, Palmerio coming back, Sammy Sosa, Javy Lopez, and Miguel Tejada to name a few. Plenty of hitters, but little pitching. Everyone knows if you want to win in baseball you need to have pitching. Well after years of losing and the fans walking out of a game to show Angelos their displeasure, he decided to bring in a real GM in Andy McPhail. McPhail started by trading solid players like Tejada and Erik Bedard in order to bring in young players, especially pitching, and restock the farm system. After a few years now, the Orioles have a solid young core of players and have one of th better farm systems in baseball. Now to the Redskins and Dan Snyder. Snyder became owner in 1999, a year when the Redskins had won the NFC East and were thought of a being a real contender in the coming years. We had some guys like Chris Samuels, LaVar Arrington, Champ Bailey, Stephen Davis, and Brad Johnson. Johnson had just come off a monster year throwing for over 4,000 yards. Things were going well in Washington. In the offseason Snyder brought in veterans Bruce Smith, Deion Sanders, Jeff George, Mark Carrier, and Dana Stubblefield. That didn't work, so we tried high profile coaches like Schottenheimer, Spurrier, and Gibbs again. Still nothing. So now we bring in Haynesworth and Hall. So far, not so good. And just like how the O's had avoided pitching, we've avoided the offensive and defesnive lines. In football, you win in the trenches, I thought everyone knew that. I guess Vinny and Dan don't. So how are the Skins and O's related? Well for the longest time, Peter Angelos thought the O's were a few players away and wanted to do things his way. After a decade of losing, he brought in Andy McPhail to shake things up. And the O's look to be on the right path. Snyder has believe in his 10 years as owner that we have been just a few players away from a Super Bowl. So far, we've gotten 2 playoff apperances and 1 playoff win. No division titles. Will Snyder realize he needs to find his Andy McPhail to help right this once proud franchise? One can only hope. It took Angelos 10 years to realize his way wasn't going to work. Snyder has had his 10 years, now its times to do something new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Main-Maine Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 doubt he will change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMOSS89 Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 its even worse when, like me, you are a die hard fan of both teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HailYeah Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 (sigh) my two favorite sports teams. One thing I would point out (and I am a huge O's fan) is yes, I like what McPhail has done so far, getting younger, drafting pitchers, etc. But he has forces working against him in that sport that go beyond Peter Angelos (ie. no salary cap, those two teams up north). The O's have some exciting young players, but lets be honest, you also need to back up the dump truck sometimes in baseball to really be relevant. But I like the analogy of the the lines to pitching, building the team with a GM, etc. Yes, we need a GM and Snyder needs to be hands off. I just dont know how many times it can be said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HateYanksDukeCowboys Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 great analogy. Growing up in Maryland, I'm one of the dwindling hybrids who bleed burgundy & gold and orange & black. Could care less about the nationals or ravens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBnotBlades Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 its even worse when, like me, you are a die hard fan of both teams. I feel the exact same way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattFancy Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 The sad thing is I think the O's have a brighter future than the Redskins at this point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McSkin30 Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I've been saying the same thing for years. I used to go to the Yard spitting venom about Peter "Diablos" / Ange-los[er]. Great analogy with the lines to pitching comparison. One positive you CAN say about PA: he never sold the name rights to Camden. The biggest problem with the comparison, though, is that the Skins never had that little SOB Maier reaching over the wall to interfere with the game. Talk about a curse. Not having a season above .500 since that is as bad as it gets when it comes to sports superstition. I'm glad Maier's baseball career sputtered and died. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattFancy Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 I've been saying the same thing for years. I used to go to the Yard spitting venom about Peter "Diablos" / Ange-los[er]. Great analogy with the lines to pitching comparison. One positive you CAN say about PA: he never sold the name rights to Camden. The biggest problem with the comparison, though, is that the Skins never had that little SOB Maier reaching over the wall to interfere with the game. Talk about a curse. Not having a season above .500 since that is as bad as it gets when it comes to sports superstition. I'm glad Maier's baseball career sputtered and died. I don't care about the naming rights at FedEx. There' not many football stadiums around that aren't named after a company. In baseball though, its almost the opposite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntotoro Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Snyder doesn't even have to go to Baltimore. All he has to do is look at Ted Leonsis. Ted made his mistakes, took his lumps and and let GMGM build the Caps. Ovechkin was a no-brainer and would have gone to whomever got the first pick, but the team itself is 180 degrees from where it was when Ted was signing the same kind of players Snyder would sign. The thing is, we can see it's working with the Caps. It's plain as day. They can even narrow it down to areas of improvement pretty easily. It's all right there, we see it in-action working and Snyder probably couldn't care less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyDave Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Are you ignoring the 8 years of losing prior to the Danny?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattFancy Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 Are you ignoring the 8 years of losing prior to the Danny?? I'm just using Snyder's first 10 years as owner and the horrible 10 year stretch Angelos had with the O's. But you're right, we weren't doing great before Snyder, but at least JKC had some success and had brought in some smart people to help along the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SloppyOneXXVI Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 The sad thing is I think the O's have a brighter future than the Redskins at this point In McPhail I trust. In McPhee I trust. In Ernie I trust. Pre-2005, all three of my other teams were garbage. However; the GM's decided to get younger, make some smart personnel decisions, and the teams have improved. Sure, the O's have a long way to go, but atleast they are trying to get younger. The Wizards may never be the Cavaliers, but atleast they are competitive. The Caps have a chance at the Cup this year, and that makes the Redskins lackluster performance easier to swallow. Maybe Cerrato should take a page out these other GM's playbooks. Hopefully, he will be fired and not given the chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky21 Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I think the Redskins PR guy must have graduated at the bottom of his class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Blitz Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 OMG.... do you really think the O's are getting better? They are 39.5 games out of first. Let's compare the Redskins to another team and owner... this is scary.. Although...Angelos and Snyder have ran two once proud franchises into the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattFancy Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 OMG.... do you really think the O's are getting better? They are 39.5 games out of first. Let's compare the Redskins to another team and owner... this is scary..Although...Angelos and Snyder have ran two once proud franchises into the ground. Look at the good young talent on the Orioles and how they have been dedicated to rebuilding and bringing in young players. Then look at the Redskins who haven't paid much attention at all over the years to OL or DL and just keep plugging people in. I'd say the Orioles are on their way to building a solid team. The Redskins just keep trying to plug people in and its not working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlinginSammy HOF '63 Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 He'll never change. He claimed he had learned a lot and come around in 2004. And again in 2008. He hasn't learned a thing. Just because a man is a successful doctor doesn't mean he can change the brakes on a car. Snyder was successful at making other things run. As far as winning football games he's out of his element. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metskins Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Gee, how about Danny try to LEARN something from the football team that is less than an hour away! Forget about the crappy baseball team. When I lived at Ft Meade in 1994, the entire area was Redskins country. Now there's probably as many Steelers fans in that area as there are Redskins fans. The Ravens have swallowed that area whole, and to my knowledge sell out every game. I'm not talking about all the tickets were sold, every seat in the stadium is occupied. They go through bad seasons, get a good draft and THEN IMPROVE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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