Author: DefeatingTheCurse
Fail to the Redskins??
R-E-L-A….wait, wrong team. EVERYONE PANIC!? The Washington Redskins have restored order…as the MOST dysfunctional, idiotic, ass-backwards franchise in ALL sports. They’ve done it again. 1 step forward, 6 years back! Its a known and sad reality that victims of abusive relationships blame themselves. There have been a few media outlets saying we the fans are to blame. “Stop giving the team your money”, “Don’t buy season tickets” etc etc…Its not us. It’s the front office. The millionaire megalomaniac and the needy narcissist running the show are the ones messing everything up.
If you haven’t been following the Redskins the past few weeks, (which is impossible because in D.C., local news is national news) you’ve missed a lot. Scot Mccloughan apparently disappeared, had a grandmother pass away twice, and fall off the wagon and drunkenly walk his dog to whole foods in his Redskins pjs. Talk about an eventful week for the guy right? We should give him a break, send him to rehab, try to help him get back on his feet before the draft. NOPE! Fired. Why was her fired? Its all speculation now, but basically Bruce Allen was jealous and stomped his feet and set our team back years….or so we think?
Aside from the fiasco that was the firing of Scot McCloughan, Jay Gruden had his contract extended and Kirk Cousins signed his tag. We also signed two run stopping defensive tackles, a safety and brought in Terrelle Pryor to replace one of the 1000 yard receivers we lost. Don’t get me wrong, I loved me some PG and DJax, but they were going to demand too much money and were on the wrong side of 30. I can make my peace with losing them, especially if we also add Cordarrelle Patterson, which is currently a possibility. I call this the Patriots theory….release the player a year early instead of locking them in with a contract and seeing them fall off. As of the writing of this post, there has also been speculation that the Redskins are interested in hiring Mike Mayock as our new GM or Mark Dominik, both of which could help me forget about ol’ Scotty boy.
The truth is, yes the Redskins completely botched how they handled the firing of their GM on the first day of free agency and right before the draft. Yes, the main problem is our team showed there is still a major structural issue in the front office, and unfortunately, those issues don’t seem like they’ll be leaving anytime soon. However, Scot, his wife, his agent and an unnamed NFL official are also to blame. We wish Scot well, and hope he finds success with another team. With that being said, I’m over it. Call me an optimist or a fool, but I truly believe we can put this all behind us and get back on track.
So let’s all take a deep breath, woosah, and hope that Dan and Bruce hire a proven GM in the coming days, not a yes-man, and we have a successful draft. Remember, it could be worse! We could still have Vinny Cerrato.
The DTC Podcast: Kirk Tagged, Wizards Beat Warriors
A big day for DC
Washington DC has a lot going on right now in the world of sports. Aside from the Nationals, every team has something noteworthy going on. Lets dive right into it and break it down.
Redskins:
The Redskins finally tagged Kirk Cousins. Some people were surprised it happened essentially a day before the deadline, some are surprised it was an exclusive tag. If you don’t know the difference between a franchise tag and an exclusive tag, it just means the Redskins earned themselves just a tiny bit of control. The major question now is what happens next? Can they turn this into a long term deal? My belief is that the exclusive tag was the only move possible. San Francisco was not going to give up two first round picks, and really they shouldn’t have. They could essentially wait it out and see if they can get Cousins next year for even less. So no sweetheart deal was coming our way. Cousins bet on himself and won. If the Redskins are ever going to DEFEAT THE CURSE they need to get Kirk to commit to a long term deal now before he has yet another productive year and we get put between yet another rock and hard place next off season.
Capitals:
The Capitals can smell the silver polish of the Stanley Cup. They salivate at the idea of skating around the rink and hoisting up that massive trophy. They define success by the simple phrase their GM Brian MacLellan was quoted saying: “Winning a championship”. Enter Kevin Shattenkirk. Easily the biggest fish available at the 2017 NHL trade deadline. The Caps paid a premium, took a risk, and won out in a bidding war with the Pittsburgh Penguins to bring in one of the best puck-moving defensemen available. Why is this move so huge? The core is shifting. Alex Ovechkin is closer to the end of his career and on his way down. The Caps most likely won’t be able to retain TJ Oshie AND Karl Alzner. Its simple, the Capitals have the best team in hockey by a large margin right now, but that can all change next year. Hopefully this move will catapult us back into the Stanley Cup playoffs and allow our whole city to smell that damn silver polish.
Wizards:
The Wizards will face the Warriors tonight. Steph Curry went 0-11 from the 3 point range last night. That was not a typo, Steph Curry tanked all this 3-point attempts. This does not bode well for a Wizards team that lost their last two games and have had a slow start since the break. Tonight will be a true representation of where this team stands and will magnify any glaring weaknesses we have. It’s no mystery we need help off the bench, especially at PG so that Wall can get quality resting minutes. Maybe we bring in Brandon Jennings, who as of this post, has given a verbal agreement with DC. The goal tonight will be to stay sharp on defense, not to turn over the ball and to hope and pray that Steph is off his game yet again. Typically, that doesn’t happen. Lucky for us fans, the Wiz tend to play up to their opponents and impress in the phonebooth. #FilltheBooth
Wizards Fast break: The Good, the Better, and the Ugly
It’s been a while since we last posted about the Wizards, mainly for a couple reasons. The All-Star break was a snooze fest, the Wizards only played 2 games in the past 11 days, but then there was the trade deadline in which the Wizards made a move to acquire some bench help. I am feeling positive so in this blog series I am going to break it down to the good, the better, then the ugly.
Good
I am going to list Bojan Bogdanivic in the good category as of now. It’s too early to tell, this can easily move to the better or the ugly category. The Wizards gave up 2 players who haven’t played much this season, or haven’t lived up to their off season expectations and a protected first round pick for bench help and a developmental player in Chris McCollough. Bojan didn’t play too well in his first game as a Wizard on Friday against the 76ers, then picked it up against the Jazz scoring 15 points. Bojan hasn’t been able to create shots on his own, which is really what the Wizards needed. You have to give Bojan time to settle in, learn the style of play, the players, then see what he can offer. So far so good…let’s see what he can do mid March and beyond. I am excited to say the least.
Better
In this category one major thing happened, or I will say didn’t happen. None of the teams in the Eastern Conference really got better at the trade deadline. I was dead afraid of the Paul George to the Celtics rumors. That would make them a top contender in the East no doubt. They are still a scary team, but I would take my chances in a 7 game series. The Cavs you can say maybe got a little better with the trade in acquiring Deron Williams, a bona fide point guard. However he is probably past his prime, and who knows how the chemistry will work on that team. We all know that cry baby James is sensitive when things don’t go his way. In addition the team potentially took a big hit with the Kevin Love injury. Cleveland is still the favorite in the east but what we learned when they played here in D.C. is that the Wizards can contend with them. Then there is the Raptors who got better with a Serge Ibaka trade but got significantly worse today with the news of Kyle Lowry’s injury. I’ll never wish an injury on a player and I hope Kyle a full recovery, however this team is just not going to be the same without Kyle.
Ugly
There is no question about it, the Wizards backup point guard play is just plain old ugly. During Friday’s game against the 76ers, the ‘6ers pressured Trey Burke in the back court and he just had no answer. Pressuring your point guard and getting to him should not be a thing in the NBA. On Sunday Scott Brooks tried the Satoransky hand at PG, but that didn’t go much better. In turn having to pull John Wall off the bench after just a short rest. This is going to be the biggest Achilles heel in the Wizards lineup for the foreseeable future. Word on the street is that the Wizards are in play for Brandon Jennings’ services. At this point, I doubt it can get worse, so I am all in for it. The Wizards HAVE to find a way to give John more of a break, and this may be a possible solution. The Jennings watch has started..
Defeating the Curse 