WP: Scott Van Pelt on the Redskins: ‘Is anyone at Redskins Park listening?’

[Sticksboi05]

The Redskins spent the final few days of 2018 soaking in an acrid stew of criticism: From fans, from sports radio hosts, from the New York Times, from The Washington Post, and from just about anyone who spent any time thinking about the Redskins in the final few days of 2018.

 

The onslaught may have been unexpected — only two months ago, the Redskins were in first place and favored to win the NFC East, and the franchise seemed to have made at least a small step or two in the right direction. That’s all been forgotten now. And with just minutes to go before 2019, the team took one final broadside, which may have been among the most powerful of the week, if anyone was listening. Because it came from ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt, a longtime Washingtonian who speaks for D.C. fans as well as just about anyone, and with a national pulpit. He did not pull his punches.

 

+++

 

For those who haven't seen yet, SVP's take down of Skins management on his One Big Thing segment was amazing. The best quote that sums EVERYTHING up [coaches, individual players and draft picks and schemes yada yada don't matter - there's no point is spending hours pretending that is the issue] ...

 

"What's equally hard for me to fathom is somehow, ownership seems blindsided that fans are done. I ran into some executives last year at a party for the Super Bowl in Minneapolis and was blown away by their arrogance. They still carry themselves like their brand is royalty. You’re like Sears: something that once was. In what make-believe space do you exist where you convince yourself of some alternate reality?"

 

 

Truthfully, I am proud of every fan who yesterday decided nope, not me. I will not be a party to these snakes as they finish off a once proud franchise.

 

 

[Redd]

I had an opportunity to watch a game in December and decided to see the FDR monument instead. 

[Voice_of_Reason]

The guy who would know the answer to this is Cooley.  He’s close enough to the principals to know.  But he’d never admit it because he works for them.

 

Also, Dan gets his information from Bruce.  I doubt Bruce tellls him everything.

 

And my old punching bag, Larry Michael our there spinning the propaganda doesn’t help either

 

Larry is more like the Iraqi Foriegn Minister every day.  I also think it’s underestimated the damage he did between the team and the media with a lot of his schtick back in the day with the Sourcerer and everything.  I think he emboldened Dan to blame the media for a lot of stuff which wasn’t even remotely accurate.  Hell, he made JLC look professional, and that takes a real talent.

[TradeTheBeal!]

If the Skins had beaten the Titans the joint would’ve been rowdy and packed...yes or no?

[Idaho fan]

I don’t know if it it’s arrogance or dillusion or stupidity or what but how can ownership no see what is happening?

 

for the past three years my son and I have made a trip to an away game.  It’s been fun (we are 3-0) with just the two of us.  But I’m not crazy about the 2019 away game options so we thought about a game at Fed Ex.  Unless something miraculous happens I think we will stop our short lived tradition and go to a NHL game.  Somewhere.  

[NoCalMike]

Simple answer is, No. 

[Chump Bailey]

[Die Hard]

When the Skins were leading the division (2 games up) 6-3... with pivotal matches against NFC opponents.... how was the attendance at FedEx? Dismal.

 

And you think a game with Johnson at QB against the Eagles would have mattered? The possibility of finishing the season 2-5 and backing into the playoffs with your 4th string QB would have resurrected the fans hopes?

 

They weren’t even there in week 2, first home game against the Colts, after dominating the Cards and starting off a rare 1-0 record.

 

The fans have spoken. This is as bad as I’ve ever seen it.

 

 

[NeverSurrender]

28 minutes ago, TryTheBeal! said:

If the Skins had beaten the Titans the joint would’ve been rowdy and packed...yes or no?

Dude, it would have been JJ mania.  People would be losing their minds if we made the paloffs.  The sad reality is that with 1 injury, our season was done.  And that's all it took for everyone who was already screaming and whining that we weren't putting up 300 passing yards a game to completely lose it and move on.  As I have said before, hate Dan and Bruce... Who cares about them.  THEY DONT EVEN PLAY THE GAMES!!!!  Its very hard for a team to rebound from losing 2 QBS and honestly it was a miracle we were as close as we were.  

 

The only thing that discourages me from watching the NFL is the increasing level of entitlement from these overpaid players.  :)  But thats a story for another thread. 

[spjunkies]

15 minutes ago, NeverSurrender said:

Dude, it would have been JJ mania.  People would be losing their minds if we made the paloffs.  The sad reality is that with 1 injury, our season was done.  And that's all it took for everyone who was already screaming and whining that we weren't putting up 300 passing yards a game to completely lose it and move on.  As I have said before, hate Dan and Bruce... Who cares about them.  THEY DONT EVEN PLAY THE GAMES!!!!  Its very hard for a team to rebound from losing 2 QBS and honestly it was a miracle we were as close as we were.  

 

The only thing that discourages me from watching the NFL is the increasing level of entitlement from these overpaid players.  But thats a story for another thread. 

 

If anything the players are underpaid compared to bow much the owners collect off of them.

[hail2skins]

49 minutes ago, Idaho fan said:

for the past three years my son and I have made a trip to an away game.  It’s been fun (we are 3-0) with just the two of us.  But I’m not crazy about the 2019 away game options so we thought about a game at Fed Ex.  Unless something miraculous happens I think we will stop our short lived tradition and go to a NHL game.  Somewhere.  

Not sure which places you went to the past three seasons, but I can think of three places...….Green Bay, Buffalo, and Dallas...…..that would probably be good bucket-list type places to see the Skins play at.  The first two dependent on when in the season from a weather perspective, of course.

 

For NHL, I went to see the Caps play the Golden Knights at T-Mobile in Vegas in December. That's a pretty cool hockey environment. 

[Skinsinparadise]

 

 

[goskins10]

2 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

 

 

I am not on twitter so you can you elaborate on what he means by seeing a lot of surprise? Please tell me fans on twitter are not shocked. 

[TradeTheBeal!]

47 minutes ago, Die Hard said:

When the Skins were leading the division (2 games up) 6-3... with pivotal matches against NFC opponents.... how was the attendance at FedEx? Dismal.

 

And you think a game with Johnson at QB against the Eagles would have mattered? The possibility of finishing the season 2-5 and backing into the playoffs with your 4th string QB would have resurrected the fans hopes?

 

They weren’t even there in week 2, first home game against the Colts, after dominating the Cards and starting off a rare 1-0 record.

 

The fans have spoken. This is as bad as I’ve ever seen it.

 

 

 

I was at the Houston game.  It was a pretty good crowd.

[London Kev]

I don't buy into the narrative that Snyder is totally unaware of all the negativity surrounding the team and only hears what his close confidants care to tell him.

 

In this day-and-age everyone has access to instant information and I don't believe that he is some sort of Neo-Luddite living in his ivory tower, cut off from all technology. He may choose to dismiss it, he may choose to blame others rather than himself, but he just can't be unaware of it.

 

If it's the former then he truly is a stupid man. If it's the latter then surely he must eventually start to question Bruce's credentials. He better wise-up soon because this ship is sinking fast.

[Skinsinparadise]

31 minutes ago, goskins10 said:

 

I am not on twitter so you can you elaborate on what he means by seeing a lot of surprise? Please tell me fans on twitter are not shocked. 

 

Its hard to quantify but I'd give it a variation of with some critics of the status quo the perception is:

 

A. Dan and Bruce get that fans are unhappy and get the intensity of it but decided to ignore it

B. That there is some humility in that under Dan's reign they haven't gotten it right and mediocrity is nothing to celebrate but they are hoping the fans can hang in there and give them time because they are close to figuring it out.

 

They think they are stubbornly ignoring them and hoping for patience on our end -- their take is they don't trust Bruce in particular so they have no patience and screw them back for ignoring how much they despise how Dan-Bruce operate things.  Bruce being the bigger target of the two from what I've seen on twitter.

 

But guys like Russell, Sheehan, Finlay (though he says it nicely), Paulsen paint a different picture and the only difference with SVP is SVP has a bigger platform so it gets more traction when he says it.  Their reality is this:

 

A. Dan and Bruce are Frick and Frack.   I get hammered on this once in awhile ironically from the Dan critics -- even though I am one of the loudest Dan critics myself -- when i repeat pretty much everyone's claim which is they hear Dan doesn't interfere the way he used to and that Bruce is the biggest problem at this given time with the backroom culture.  But they don't paint Dan nicely either.  They paint them both as jerks who establish a petty political culture in that FO.  And both are arrogant as heck and think the only thing that's foiled them is bad luck.  Bruce being the bigger purveyor of the arrogance-bad luck narrative because his job clearly depends on selling that behind the scenes.

 

B.  Dan is likely detached from being aware of what fans think because of how reclusive he is, doesn't do email, social media, listen to talk radio, etc.  And much of his social life seems to be to go out drinking with Bruce.  As for Bruce, there seems to be competing narratives as for how aware or not aware he is of how much he's despised by the fan base.  I suspect he is aware but blames it totally on the media.

 

But yeah I think to some fans the idea that Dan would have no clue about how much the status quo bothers them -- is surprising considering how long and loud its been.  Ditto the notion that the 8-8 give or take 4 year era of mediocrity has them strutting around and puffing up their chests behind the scenes like their crap doesn't stink -- that I gather surprises some, too.  On twitter you can't really go too deep but reading some things and throwing my own thoughts into it, that's my best summary. 

 

The thing that I think helps me understand though even though I vehemently disagree with their whole mindset is some posts we've gotten here over the years from some of the FO defenders.   I've debated them as you have and we've encountered some of those arguments about how they got it going on and fans are wrongly giving them a hard time, etc.  That argument that we've battled seems to reign supreme at Redskins Park.  On twitter specifically, I've noticed Bruce-Dan has lost most of his vocal supporters one in particular who was really vocal on their behalf for a long time and I've even debated on this board at one point on the very subject -- is even among those pushing the firebruceallen hash tag. 

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

18 minutes ago, TryTheBeal! said:

 

I was at the Houston game.  It was a pretty good crowd.

Pretty good by 2018’s standards, probably.  

 

Also, of every team to come to FedEx this season, they clearly have the least amount of fans that would make the trip.

 

Cowboys, Giants, Eagles always show the ability to draw a crowd at Fed Ex.

 

Packers draw a road crowd everywhere.  Falcons have a larger national appeal than the Texans. Colts don’t typically travel that I’ve seen.  Panthers have more national appeal as well.  So the Texans game was literally the best chance to have a decent crowd given the point of the season and who they are.

[Voice_of_Reason]

2 hours ago, TryTheBeal! said:

If the Skins had beaten the Titans the joint would’ve been rowdy and packed...yes or no?

Skins vs. Texans were two 6-3 teams and nobody cared.

[Taylor 36]

1 hour ago, NeverSurrender said:

Dude, it would have been JJ mania.  People would be losing their minds if we made the paloffs.  The sad reality is that with 1 injury, our season was done.  And that's all it took for everyone who was already screaming and whining that we weren't putting up 300 passing yards a game to completely lose it and move on.  As I have said before, hate Dan and Bruce... Who cares about them.  THEY DONT EVEN PLAY THE GAMES!!!!  Its very hard for a team to rebound from losing 2 QBS and honestly it was a miracle we were as close as we were.  

 

The only thing that discourages me from watching the NFL is the increasing level of entitlement from these overpaid players.  But thats a story for another thread. 

The bolded part speaks heaps more to how pathetic the division is, not about the state of the Redskins being good or great.  Even if the Redskins would have beaten the Titans (another bad division, AFC South, that we went an amazing 1-3 against, yea us), the last game would have been taken over by Eagles fans.  Road games are one thing; it is the only chance that fans get to see their team play close to home, and it happens only once every 8 years (unless they are in Dallas, Philly, or NY).  Fans will take advantage of that rare opportunity.  Home games, not so much.  Fans get eight chances a season, and those local, are just done seeing the product that Bruce has put together and Snyder signs off on.  This team is losing its fans, and is on the brink of not be able to get them back, yet leadership is barring their collective heads in the sand.  It is a sad, sad joke!

[hail2skins]

1 hour ago, TryTheBeal! said:

 

I was at the Houston game.  It was a pretty good crowd.

Where were you sitting? Lower bowl Is not the issue. The club and upper levels are a dumpster fire. 

[TradeTheBeal!]

47 minutes ago, Voice_of_Reason said:

Skins vs. Texans were two 6-3 teams and nobody cared.

 

About 62,000 cared.  Or, about 5000 more than the 57000 that showed up at Soldier Field for the Bears home opener.

[hail2skins]

6 minutes ago, TryTheBeal! said:

 

About 62,000 cared.  Or, about 5000 more than the 57000 that showed up at Soldier Field for the Bears home opener.

Good point, but Soldier's capacity is only 61500. I don't think FedEx's capacity is the 82K as listed, but probably somewhere in the low-to-mid 70K range. A crowd of 61,593 presents a horrible optical look as far as empty seats. And that is also best case scenario...….that is still paid attendance, and I would have to think there are still no-shows.

 

Of course, I'm all in favor of removing and/or tarping more seats over at FedEx. We are planning on the new stadium being 60K, so why not get a head start where we are?

[Birdlives]

Not surprised, not one bit. Snyder owns what is essentially a multimillion dollar company and actually chooses to completely ignore social media and media in general. Obtuse.

[TradeTheBeal!]

1 minute ago, hail2skins said:

Good point, but Soldier's capacity is only 61500. I don't think FedEx's capacity is the 82K as listed, but probably somewhere in the low-to-mid 70K range. A crowd of 61,593 presents a horrible optical look as far as empty seats. And that is also best case scenario...….that is still paid attendance, and I would have to think there are still no-shows.

 

Of course, I'm all in favor of removing and/or tarping more seats over at FedEx. We are planning on the new stadium being 60K, so why not get a head start where we are?

 

No doubt that the stadium is far too large.  Being in the middle of nowhere doesn’t help either.

 

In fact, let’s face it...as much as we love JKC, that stadium has been a huge albatross for the fan base since it opened.  Empty seats and opposing fan presence are nothing new and were happening in meaningless games since before Snyder even arrived.  

 

I took some some friends who are Texans season ticket holders to the Houston game.  They were stunned by the stadium...no hotels, no restaurants, no public transportation?!?  I tried to explain to them how it happened...JKC, DC city council, Golf courses, etc...but they still couldn’t make sense of it.  No one really can.

 

Anyway, yeah 60-65K is all the seats anyone needs in the 21st century.  If we can somehow get something like that in DC or Arlington it would be hugely beneficial to all concerned.  Except Eagles fans...

[hail2skins]

3 minutes ago, TryTheBeal! said:

In fact, let’s face it...as much as we love JKC, that stadium has been a huge albatross for the fan base since it opened.  Empty seats and opposing fan presence are nothing new and were happening in meaningless games since before Snyder even arrived.  

 

I took some some friends who are Texans season ticket holders to the Houston game.  They were stunned by the stadium...no hotels, no restaurants, no public transportation?!?  I tried to explain to them how it happened...JKC, DC city council, Golf courses, etc...but they still couldn’t make sense of it.  No one really can.

I do wish the stadium had been built closer to the city too. And to be sure there were issues as far as Beltway traffic tie-ups on the stadium's opening day, as well as people who had upper level seats at RFK were none too happy that they had been pushed upward in Landover by the club and suite levels. And I do think construction of the place was rushed in a race against JKC's mortality, and he didn't get to see it open.

 

But this was 1997, not too far removed from the Gibbs 1 glory years. There was still a legit demand to go to Redskins games. And sorry, but they did pack them in, up to the 29th row upper level all the way around that place.  And the atmosphere was better. Play area for the kids (big and little!) outside the stadium, Phil Hochberg on the PA, band jamming during the games. And I sat in the lower level the first two years. Didn't have to stand up all game due to some idiotic dream seats, and no, there were not as many opposing fans as there are at games today.

 

Then Snyder happened, and started mucking things up. The home viewing experience has gotten better, the club level pricing is out of hand, removal of upper deck seats started about a decade ago, the team has remained poor-to-mediocre, and Lafemina's best-laid plans were, well, not successful, at least short-term. So here we are.