afparent Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 Struggling savior If Skins' Joe Gibbs isn't having second thoughts, perhaps he should Posted: Monday November 15, 2004 9:07PM; Updated: Monday November 15, 2004 9:07PM In case you hadn't noticed, the returning hero routine isn't going so well for Joe Gibbs in Washington. It's apparently tougher to be a savior for the Redskins than any of us realize. If you're scoring at home, the Redskins are now 3-6 (.333) under Gibbs, 15-26 (.366) from the start of 2002 on (the Steve Spurrier and Gibbs eras), 24-36 (.400) in the 60 games since owner Daniel Snyder ran Norv Turner out of town with three weeks remaining in the 2000 season, and 25-40 (.385) since mid-season of 2000, when Washington was 6-2 and appeared to be sailing to a second consecutive playoff appearance. That's about the point when Snyder, with that impeccable reverse Midas touch of his, decided that Jeff George should take over for Brad Johnson as the Redskins' starting quarterback. All Johnson had done was go 11-7 as the team's starter in 1999, leading Washington to its first playoff berth since 1992, and won six of his first nine starts in 2000, when the Redskins' grotesquely overpaid roster featured the likes of free-agent has-beens Deion Sanders, Bruce Smith and Mark Carrier. As a starter in Washington, Johnson was 17-10 at that point, a .630 winning percentage. To repeat, the Redskins have played less than .400 ball since benching Johnson, and finished at .500 or below every season. Come to think of it, maybe what the Redskins have been dealing with the past four-plus years is the Curse of Brad Johnson. Nah, it's just Snyder's plain and simple old incompetence. On Sunday, the Redskins were beaten 17-10 at home by Cincinnati, which happens to be coached by Marvin Lewis. Snyder, of course, had several cracks to hire Lewis as his head coach. He could have done it after the 2000 season, when Lewis served as Baltimore's defensive coordinator and helped the Ravens to the Super Bowl title, and he could have done it in early 2002, when he lured Lewis away from Baltimore to be Washington's defensive coordinator. But that wouldn't have been splashy enough for Snyder, who was too busy hiring the likes of Marty Schottenheimer and then Spurrier as his head coach to notice that Lewis might be a much cheaper and wiser alternative. Lewis already had a successful first season with the Bengals under his belt by the time Snyder cranked up his hype machine last winter and landed Gibbs as his latest blockbuster coaching hire. But now even the coup of restoring Gibbs to the sidelines after an 11-year absence looks dubious. Despite Gibbs' pedigree for offensive genius, the Redskins rank 31st in scoring (125 points, just two ahead of hapless Miami), and their quarterback situation proves that two wrongs don't make a right. It's finally Patrick Ramsey's turn to take over for the humiliated Mark Brunell, but you get the feeling that there are no quick fixes coming in D.C. If Gibbs comes back for another fun-filled year in Washington -- and after the mini-drama that was the Spurrier denouement, I don't think anything's a lock -- I'd be willing to bet that he requires further assistance on the personnel side of the front office in 2005. With nary a Bobby Beathard or Charley Casserly in sight, Gibbs has smiled and said all the right things about the decision-making team of himself, Sndyer and vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato being up to the job. But who's kidding whom? With the leveling effects of the salary cap, coaching in the NFL is much tougher in 2004 than it was in 1992, and Gibbs needs help. First-rate help. Since you can't fire the owner, that spells trouble for Cerrato's tenure, or at least his assignment near the top of the Redskins management flow chart. As one veteran front office executive in the league told me last week: "Vinny's a disaster, and Joe needs somebody in personnel who can help him get quality players. I think Gibbs was flabbergasted at the change in the league since he last coached, and the effect of not having Beathard, Casserly or (former Redskins owner) Jack Kent Cooke surrounding him. I don't know if he was prepared for the reality of how the league is today. "The players have changed since Joe last coached. You have to put up with more. I don't know whether at his age (63), he's willing to tolerate fools. You get less so the older you are. It'd be a shocker, but if things get real bad and start falling apart, I could see him citing his health concerns and walking away after this season. He already looks like the job is wearing him down.'' Has it really already come to that kind of speculation in Washington? Wasn't it just the other day we were arguing about whether Spurrier would return for Year 3 in old D.C.? As absurd as it sounds to be discussing Gibbs' future, with the change-happy Redskins, you never say never. It's too early to tell how the 2004 story in Washington will end. But if that long-shot scenario comes true, and the second Gibbs era ends after one desultory season, Redskins fans will have only one common denominator to point to in the whole, sorry five-year saga: Snyder. The owner who just can't seem to win for losing. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/writers/don_banks/11/15/banks.shots/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCRoughrider Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 I repeat. Don Banks is an ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cscmtp Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 anyone have an address for Don Banks? I'd like to deliver a flaming bag of my golden retriever's sh!t to his front porch.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkey66 Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 Since when did Marvin Lewis become the next Lombardi? I beleive his CAREER record is a game under .500... And oh yeah, Don Banks GO **** YOURSELF... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost of Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 Seriously, I wouldn't care if this Banks jerk died in a car wreck, so long as it was just his car and that the damage to the car wasn't irreparable. What's HILARIOUS to me is that the only really bad move has been the most important position on the team. Anyone here disappointed with Griffin? He's a BARGAIN at that money now. Anyone mad at Springs? Pierce(remember he was THIS close to being a Vike)? Lemar Marshall being kept? ANyone not wanting Portis still? Or how about STaylor? Or Ryan Clark(granted that was likely Williams' call) BUt are you getting the picture? Fact is, most of the SKins new faces have contributed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bird_1972 Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 The title should be: Don Banks: Struggling Writer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagletooth Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 Don Banks is a POS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntotoro Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 KC's sucking hind teet, Dallas sucks, Carolina is pathetic... all three in the playoffs last year, one of those in the SB and all Banks can talk about is the 'Skins. These guys must really, really be struggling to come up with stuff. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pr11fan Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 I wonder if he's gonna write the same article about Parcell's, he's as old as Gibbs and has the same record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzSkinsFan63 Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 Oh man if we had just hired Marvin to HC..all things would be different..Man........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzSkinsFan63 Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 Originally posted by bird_1972 The title should be: Don Banks: Struggling Writer Amen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pez Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 Don Banks should be writing humor columns, not sports columns Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzSkinsFan63 Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 This guy doesn't even recognize the Skins are a passing game away from taking on the elite.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECU-ALUM Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 This jackass needs to get a visit from LaVar & Sean Taylor...I would love to see him say these things in front of the players instead of hiding behind a monitor. Oh yeah...Parcells always turned things around in one year...along with Vermeil and oh yeah and Herm Edwards mismanaged the game clock...wow maybe the game has past him by just like it has past Gibbs by according to so many experts. Gibbs made a bad move by getting Brunell...okay granted but you know what this team is 3-6 and I feel a lot better about it being 3-6 with Gibbs then I did when we were 3-1 with Spurrier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skins24 Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 Didn't Marvin Lewis say he wasn't leaving Baltimore, after they won that super bowl? I don't know...maybe not. And in 2002, we had already hired Spurrier and Lewis was flip floping on his decision to leave Baltimore. Short term memories these writers have. when Washington was 6-2 and appeared to be sailing to a second consecutive playoff appearance. He doens't know Norv very well.....or at all :doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenchild Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 Originally posted by AzSkinsFan63 This guy doesn't even recognize the Skins are a passing game away from taking on the elite.. I don't think that ANY of the media recognizes this. I really don't get that either. I think it's impressive to a degree what Gibbs and the Skins have done. It's rare that any team could have so little a passing game for so long, and yet we have 3 wins and should have a couple more if the refs didn't screw us. And we were in essentially every game, even the ones we went down by too much to come back. If Ramsey has anything in him, despite the tough schedule, I think Gibbs will have this team turning heads down the stretch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TC4 Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 An article like this is to be expected, since Don Banks is a f--king a--hole!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooper Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 Don Banks is a complete hack. 90 percent of his columns are the same -- he goes out of his way to bash the skins and praise the Ravens. He's obsessed with both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonsofwashington Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 I'm selling this guy out after 1 article, at least he gave Gibbs nine games. What a loser. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba9497 Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 Originally posted by pez Don Banks should be writing humor columns, not sports columns he's not funny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard Washington Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 the tone of that article is just uncalled for....i hate these kind of article, independent if they are about the redskins or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radagast5 Posted November 16, 2004 Share Posted November 16, 2004 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/writers/don_banks/11/15/banks.shots/index.html <cough> I'm personally embarrassed for anyone who reads that bilgewater and thinks, "Yeah, good points!" Included in the article were such noteworthy comments as: All Johnson had done was go 11-7 as the team's starter in 1999, leading Washington to its first playoff berth since 1992, and won six of his first nine starts in 2000, when the Redskins' grotesquely overpaid roster featured the likes of free-agent has-beens Deion Sanders, Bruce Smith and Mark Carrier. As a starter in Washington, Johnson was 17-10 at that point, a .630 winning percentage. To repeat, the Redskins have played less than .400 ball since benching Johnson, and finished at .500 or below every season. Brad Johnson's absence is not the problem, though I suppose if you're intellectually incompetent, the association-causation relationship is the only thing a feeble mind could grasp. Banks's is a completely arbitrary starting point. You could make an equally damning statistical point by using Tre Johnson's injury in the Tampa game in 2000 as the real start of the downhill slide. But give Banks credit. He presents an argument that at first glance seems plausible to a gullible, uneducated reader, which is pretty much 95% of his audience. On Sunday, the Redskins were beaten 17-10 at home by Cincinnati, which happens to be coached by Marvin Lewis. Snyder, of course, had several cracks to hire Lewis as his head coach. He could have done it after the 2000 season, when Lewis served as Baltimore's defensive coordinator and helped the Ravens to the Super Bowl title, and he could have done it in early 2002, when he lured Lewis away from Baltimore to be Washington's defensive coordinator. Snyder could also have hired John Fox at that same point in time, or Rich Kotite. Good coaches and bad coaches were available. Actually, any number of teams could have hired Marvin Lewis at that point, and several interviewed him. Tampa, after the 2001 season, went so far as to interview him a number of times. They had so much egg on their face with their bungling of their coaching position (casting out the best coach in team history in Dungy, getting completely duped— through failure of due diligence—by The Tuna) that they were flat-out desperate for anyone to coach them. Yet they refused to hire Lewis. In fact, no one hired him at that point. I wonder what that tells you? I'm not sure it tells Banks anything because I'm not sure he's capable of formulating a cogent opinion. But that wouldn't have been splashy enough for Snyder, who was too busy hiring the likes of Marty Schottenheimer Wait a second. Not only was Marty Schottenheimer eminently more qualified in terms of his résumé than Lewis, but he's about as interesting as a three-bean salad, and this somehow qualifies as "splashy" in Banks' book? Errmm, OK. Lewis already had a successful first season with the Bengals under his belt by the time Snyder cranked up his hype machine last winter and landed Gibbs as his latest blockbuster coaching hire. Lewis is 12-13 so far with the Bengals. Big, freaking, deal. And it is members of the media, a cult in which Mr. Banks holds membership, that made the Gibbs signing into an event. Away from the media, and on simple paper, the Gibbs signing was a matter of hiring the best person on the planet to be the Redskins head coach. It may have turned out to be good press fodder, but it was a smart signing FIRST. It's too early to tell how the 2004 story in Washington will end. But if that long-shot scenario comes true, and the second Gibbs era ends after one desultory season, Redskins fans will have only one common denominator to point to in the whole, sorry five-year saga: Snyder. The owner who just can't seem to win for losing. Oh, Mr. Banks? Yes, sir. One comment on your closing argument: If you are going to base your final comment on *if* a scenario, which you yourself admit is a long-shot, comes true, then you don't have anything to say. I may as well say, "If, Eli Manning accidentally runs into a subway car on the way to work today, then the Giants' pick will go down as one of the biggest busts in the last 25 years." I don't know what is more reprehensible, that Mr. Banks is gainfully employed as a journalist; that he thought this ill-conceived buffalo fart of a piece passed muster; or that an appalling number of people will actually read this article and think they've been enlightened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost of Posted November 17, 2004 Share Posted November 17, 2004 Bravo, Radagast. Bravo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoCalMike Posted November 17, 2004 Share Posted November 17, 2004 I think this new media backlash against Gibbs is quite hilarious. Basically Gibbs garnered so much sports media hype that now all these idiots that said we were going to the superbowl this year are looking stupid. I didn't know that not making the playoffs in your first year back when you INHERITED a 5-11 team means you shouldn't have comeback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenmdixon Posted November 17, 2004 Share Posted November 17, 2004 Originally posted by PCRoughrider I repeat. Don Banks is an ass. No no no no no. You have it all wrong. He is an assHAT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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