BGO.C.D.-Bring Me the Head of Colin Cowherd

[ComManDersFan57]

Well done Tarhog.

Mediots are going to continue undervaluing the Skins until they start winning. They don't look at the changes that have been made and still think Danny runs the show. I agree that they don't know the teams as well as many of the fans. It's sad that many in the media are controversial and piss fans off just for ratings. To avoid getting pissed, I don't listen to the idiot. I see us winning more than six this year. Last year's team wasn't that bad overall. If it wasn't for the turnovers, we would've won at least two more games. We have players returning who are healthy now, we have more depth and a new QB. Things are looking up.

[elkabong82]

How any Skins fan can listen to Cowherd, much less enjoy him, after his comments on Sean Taylor is beyond me

[Tarhog]

cowherd is an elitist windbag who makes a lot of money pissing off fans of bad teams or teams he doesn't like. he has a west coast/east coast/front running bias and anyone in between is complete garbage and shouldn't even be thought about.

that being said, do you know how many people on this board threw a hissy fit last year when the media had us between 2-6 wins? that was impossible and after 4 weeks we were a powerhouse out to prove everyone wrong.

how did that end up?

the truth is we play in the toughest division in football and we are a rebuilding team. 5-8 wins is more than acceptable, but the progress of the team is more important than the record.

so before you get all pissed off about something some guy in california says about our team, put down the kool aid and look around. we're not good and haven't been for a long time, so maybe that's why no one has faith in us.

until you pull a detroit and actually win convincingly, no one is going to believe in you except hopefully your own fans.

How dare he predict this team will not be a winner. We've been nothing but awesome for the past 20 years.

Obvoiusly - I get this perspective. I think you miss my larger point which Brotherz reiterated though. I don't mind Cowherd predicting only 6 wins, its when he and other broadcasters refer to the Redskins as if they're literally irrelevant (sometimes failing to mention them in NFC East conversations entirely). What rubs me the wrong way about guys like Cowherd is that they really either don't know their subject matter well enough to comment intelligently, or they're too lazy or too busy plugging products to do more than a fly over parroting conventional wisdom on which teams matter and which teams don't. Ultimately, I agree. We'll get acknowledgement and respect when we earn it.

[hail2skins]

Yeah Tarhog, but around here we still try to have it both ways.

2009 (prior to Game 1): "This is gonna be Zorn and Campbell's second year together. The Giants (and the rest of the league) aren't going to know what hit them......."

2010 (prior to Game 1): "McNabb at QB......and Shanahan at HC......and you're still saying 6-10??!! You must be crazy!!"

2011: "Shanny has two rings.......he definitely knows what he's doing at the QB position....."

Fact is we always decry the lack of content in the predictions, but mostly every year of late when the dust has settled, the Skins have been on the bottom. And then instead of acknowledging that we were wrong, we use excuses.

I do hope you're right about the "at least eight win" thing, but am not going to getting overly anxious in 2012 if we fall a little short of that. We've made supposed upgrades before at skill positions and not seen results. And as for the QB play, even taking into account Rex's penchant for turnovers and how he's best suited as a backup, I'm going to be try to be easy on RG3 this season. 2013 is the first season I'll look at Griffin in a more critical eye.

[Tarhog]

Hail,

You're only looking at the vocal minority. I think there are plenty of fans, even among desperate-for-success Redskins fans, who are quite realistic in their expectations. I will argue till I'm blue in the face that my own 'prediction' of at least 8 wins is realistic. Barring some ridiculous melt-downs and epically awful performances by Grossman, we were easily a 7 win team last season.

Like I said - I agree with the 'Show Me' sentiment. But there's also nothing wrong with acknowledging the Redskins are building and making strides in the right direction. Personally, I think the 'I'm not predicting anything until this team shows me _______' is as much a defense mechanism for fans suffering from PSTSD (Post-Snyder Traumatic Stress Disorder) as it is anyone being 'realistic' and 'reasonable'. Let's face it, it's hard to have optimism of any kind when, as you so rightly referenced, year after year that optimism is crushed and goes unrewarded. At some point, you have to start to have some faith and belief, otherwise, what's the point of even being a fan?

[hail2skins]

Like I said - I agree with the 'Show Me' sentiment. But there's also nothing wrong with acknowledging the Redskins are building and making strides in the right direction. Personally, I think the 'I'm not predicting anything until this team shows me _______' is as much a defense mechanism for fans suffering from PSTSD (Post-Snyder Traumatic Stress Disorder) as it is anyone being 'realistic' and 'reasonable'. Let's face it, it's hard to have optimism of any kind when, as you so rightly referenced, year after year that optimism is crushed and goes unrewarded. At some point, you have to start to have some faith and belief, otherwise, what's the point of even being a fan?

Hear you Tarhog. We've had discussion over the past few days in the office over the Barnwell article on Grantland (linked below). My answer for the 6.5 total has been "over," because, as I tell folks, "I'm a fan......what can I say." Having said that, it has been difficult for me in recent years to stray from a 7-8 win prediction for this team.

It'll be interesting to see what happens if Griffin has a solid year but, due to some mistakes due to his inexperience and perhaps to a defense that I'm still not sold on, we finish in the 6-10/7-9 range. Will we then be seen as an up-and-coming team, or will the litany of "same-ol-Skins" prevail into 2013? We shall see.

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/27740/nfl-win-totals-hot-off-the-sportsbook-press

[SWFLSkins]

Amen, Tarhog. I, like you, have had enough of the dissing and overlooking that comes with so many years of mediocrity. I wonder what the talking heads will say when we've reclaimed our rightful place at the top of the NFL?

What they always say, I told you so! Great job again Tarhog, appreciate you sharing it over here.

[Redskin-All-In]

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[SWFLSkins]

When we start winning, it will silence the media critics.

Until we start winning, we have no right to *****.

We seem to be moving in the right direction, but until we get the W's, it's all still speculation.

ESPN has been speculating every year that the Cowboys are going to be super, but being wrong doesn't stop them.

[Bat~man]

I've always been in the minority here, but I like Cowherd. Skins fans hate him because he calls it like it is and the truth kinda hurts. He gives us credit, but he's trying to be realistic. He says under 6.5 wins for us this year..I can see the argument that we will be better than that, but you're kidding yourself if you think it's a given. We have 6 tough divisional games this year, we swept the Giants so they are going to come to play hard, the Eagles/Cowboys sweep us more often than not, they did last year..so why are you guys all of a sudden thinking that won't happen again? Because we got a new Qb and some WRs? A rookie QB, 2 WRs we have no clue about in our system, on our team. Have you seen our secondary? With Eli, Romo sits to pee and Vick?

I can see anywhere from 5-8 wins this year for us, but, it's really hard to say when we haven't seen even a little bit of action yet. I understand people hate Cowherd because he was really disrespectful about the Sean Taylor passing, I get that..but you really can't honestly say he is clueless about the Redskins when we finish under .500 and miss the playoffs damn near every year. So what we got a new QB, we got a new QB several times over the past few years..all duds. I do think and hope RG3 is the real deal, but we aren't gonna get an ounce of respect until we earn it and we haven't earned a thing so far. While we have improved, so has everyone else.

Outside of our division we have the Steelers, Saints, Rams, Panthers, Bengals, Bucs, Falcons, Vikings, Ravens and Browns. You guys can't be realistic and say we're going 10-6 with that schedule..

[RedCapital]

I actually did agree with him that the Rams are the best bet in the NFL for over 6. Obviously I disagreed with his Redskins assessment.

[hail2skins]

Outside of our division we have the Steelers, Saints, Rams, Panthers, Bengals, Bucs, Falcons, Vikings, Ravens and Browns. You guys can't be realistic and say we're going 10-6 with that schedule..

The non-divisional games are the ones I'm most hopeful about. The Steelers are the Steelers and the Saints, despite the defense/coaching issues, will likely still have Brees starting and it's tough to imagine outscoring him. Out of the four teams that were definitely not good last year and are anticipated to remain down (Rams, Bucs, Vikings, Browns), it'd be nice to take three out of those games. And then the Panthers, Bengals, Falcons, and Ravens, all at home, where granted we've struggled, but splitting those should be doable.

[authentic]

Cowturd never seen an ignorant, uneducated, wreckless comment he didn't like.. very nice assessment of the situation.. I'm certain as soon as we turn things around he will be the first to stick his pencil-neck, skinny long nose, right into the bandwagon.. But then again that typical ESPN for you.

[2cents]

I actually did agree with him that the Rams are the best bet in the NFL for over 6. Obviously I disagreed with his Redskins assessment.

I live in Rams country and I really don't know why people think they will be massivley better this year. They have very little talent, and honestly, didn't really do a whole lot in free agency or the draft to get a whole lot better IMHO. But that's why ya play the games. Hope to be in downtown St. Louis week 2.

[ZoEd]

Unfortunately I'm in the Philly market here in DE and I'm stuck listening to his ignorant ass at lunch because you can't get a decent radio station around here. Anyway, how in the hell this idiot even has a show is beyond me, he brings absolutely nothing to the table, nothing! I swear he has shrine of Romo sits to pee in his closet and molests himself in front of it every night. He's a douche, plain and simple.

[ECU-ALUM]

Okay the comments about based upon our records..okay fine can't argue with it...the facts are on his side.

However the comments about Sean Taylor...over the line. The body hadn't even been laid to rest and he was already taking a dump on his grave.

He did an interview about a year ago and basically stood by what he said. Expressed no regrets about jumping the gun or anything like that.

Coward is right that is what he should be called. I was listening to him once and he used to trash Bill Romanowski especially concerning steroids...but when Romanowski was on his show...you'd thought he was Romanowski's press agent.

If you listen to him...fine your call...but for me...I don't care if he predicts us someday to go 19-0...still not gonna listen to him in this lifetime...ever.

I used to work in radio seen a LOT of people use that schtick he does of saying things just to get people to listen...sorry...not buying it...it's boring...as much as an egotist as Jim Rome can be...he at least uses facts in his arguments and when he's wrong he owns up to it.

[Hitman21ST]

We have 6 tough divisional games this year, we swept the Giants so they are going to come to play hard, the Eagles/Cowboys sweep us more often than not, they did last year..so why are you guys all of a sudden thinking that won't happen again?

That's outstanding logic:

We swept the Giants, so they're going to use that as motivation and beat us this year.

We got swept by the Eagles and Cowboys, but we're not going to use that as motivation and it'll happen again.

When we win, that's fuel for the other team, but when we lose, that just means we'll keep losing.

[Mr. Nostril]

It's really kind of pointless to refute the opinions expressed by a man who freely admits his only job is to express opinions that will rile up the average fan.

And to the over under of 6.5, I feel like it's an appropriate total, and I wouldn't bet either side. I feel like this could be a year where we are a better team that doesn't translate into many more wins. Last year we played the NFC West, this year we play the much tougher NFC South. Last year we played the AFC East, this year we play the AFC North; that's no better than a lateral move. And I can't pretend like our own division isn't good. And we're starting a rookie at quarterback. However, It's really difficult to predict that a team who won 5 games one year will win 6 or fewer the following year, when they've upgraded at the most important position in football. That's a stay away bet if I've ever seen one.

[Bat~man]

That's outstanding logic:

We swept the Giants, so they're going to use that as motivation and beat us this year.

We got swept by the Eagles and Cowboys, but we're not going to use that as motivation and it'll happen again.

When we win, that's fuel for the other team, but when we lose, that just means we'll keep losing.

Sorry man, get as upset as you want..but we get smoked and finished last in our division more times than not and it hasn't worked out for us as of yet. The Giants are a better team who got swept by a bad team... how can you not see the logic?

If the Redskins can get swept by the Cowboys for more years in a row that I care to remember and not be motivated, then until we prove it, nothing is set in stone for us.

[Hitman21ST]

If the Redskins can get swept by the Cowboys for more years in a row that I care to remember and not be motivated, then until we prove it, nothing is set in stone for us.

We split with the Cowboys and Eagles two years ago, with McNabb. We've only gotten swept by the Cowboys for one year in a row...

[CRobi21]

Okay the comments about based upon our records..okay fine can't argue with it...the facts are on his side.

However the comments about Sean Taylor...over the line. The body hadn't even been laid to rest and he was already taking a dump on his grave.

He did an interview about a year ago and basically stood by what he said. Expressed no regrets about jumping the gun or anything like that.

What did he say about ST?

[Tarhog]

What did he say about ST?

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2007/11/colin_cowherd_on_sean_taylor.html

Serious grown-up talk here. If you can't handle grown-up stuff, then turn the radio to another channel right now, give you about five seconds. We're going to talk about Sean Taylor's death...If you can't deal with that, I have no problem with that at all, none. Right now turn the radio to Oldies 107.8 or another station....All right, now it's just grown-ups, we've gotten the kids out of the room, let's proceed.

Sean Taylor, great player has a history of really really bad judgment, really really bad judgment. Cops, assault, spitting, DUI. I'm supposed to believe his judgment got significantly better in two years, from horrible to fantastic? 'But Colin he cleaned up his act.' Well yeah, just because you clean the rug doesn't mean you got everything out. Sometimes you've got stains, stuff so deep it never ever leaves.

My gut feeling with this story, and we said yesterday, yesterday was not really a day to go out, yesterday was sort of a day, you know, grieving, but we're past the memorial part. It's grown-up time, ask yourself realistic questions....Just because somebody cleans the rugs doesn't mean there aren't stains. No matter what those commercials, OxiClean, tell you on cable TV, some stains you can't get out. And if you have bad judgment for 23 years of your life, even if you clean it up, your judgment doesn't get great over night.

I want to know the truth. I want to know the details. It's not pretty? I don't care, I'm a grown-up. I can handle not pretty. A lot of people can't in the media, a lot of people can't, 'Oh, wah wah wah, sensitivity, he's a great person, wah wah wah.' Hey, I don't care, that's fine, he died, let's get to the truth. We're all about the truth. We always say on this show, we're not always good, we're always honest. Just give me honesty.

I didn't grow up African American. I grew up middle class. I wanted Stephen A.'s perspective on the story. And during this story I leaned on Stephen A., Michael Wilbon and Jason Whitlock for a perspective I don't have. You walk around ESPN, it's in the halls, on the posters, Diversity, Capital D, big letter. You know why Diversity's really important at ESPN, a big company? Because it gives you more people with unique perspectives. And if you're a growing company, you want to stay fresh, you need to have a 23-year old Hispanic gal or guy tell us what's going on in your community. Asian, white, black, Hispanic, everybody, new voices, young voices, old voices. You walk the halls of ESPN, it's the United Nations. It's great. Canadians, Hispanics, Europeans. They give us a perspective we don't have.

No, all the information's not in. But I feel pretty confident that my gut feeling, like any of yours, by the way, is right and was right.

[CRobi21]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2007/11/colin_cowherd_on_sean_taylor.html

Wow, what a maroon indeed.

First sentence was, "Serious grown-up talk here." And then he proceeded to ramble like a child, tough talking a murdered man. A guy that was ambushed at his home while his daughter and fiancee slept near him. What the **** does the guys' past have anything to do with that? That could happen to anybody, and has happened I'm sure, to people with a clean record and no past incidents.

Yea. I'm glad I didn't hear it at the time. He seems like a total tool.

[Punch it in]

As soon as, (no whammies no whammies) RG-3 turns this ship around we will get some love from the media, but until than what do you all expect? Love for the Redskins? aint happenin. this is nothing personal, this is what happens when our team goes on a twenty year run of stink.....

[Veretax]

I only listen to him because there are no other sports talk stations nearby during lunch time. He's a shock jock, always saying things to stir controversy. Every now and then I may agree with him, but its all about getting people to listen to him i.e. ego driven.