Die Hard Sports Fan

This has been a decision I’ve been contemplating for about 24 hours now.  How do you decide who gets the game ball when the team as a whole pretty much won us the game?  Both sides of the ball were executed phenomenally, however my Die Hard Redskins Fan game ball goes to…Chris Cooley.

While I was quite impartial, debating between Cooley and Clinton Portis, I decided to go with Chris Cooley for a number of reasons. One, he had his first touchdown of the season yesterday, an 18 yard option toss from WR Antwaan Randle El that gave us the go-ahead in the third quarter.  Which, by the way, was the first visiting team touchdown scored at Lincoln Financial Field since last season. Two, he had a career-high 109 yards versus last weeks #9 power ranked Philadelphia Eagles.  Three, with the biggest concern for the Eagles defense being tight end coverage, Chris Cooley walked into the game ready to eat it up!

He credits “Tana Man” Santana Moss for his production in his official blog today.

“I finally put a touchdown on the stat sheet. I knew I was going to have a great opportunity to help the offense this week and really I felt it was a compliment to Santana Moss. Although he was catch-less, he opened up all kinds holes for the rest of us.”

Now, let’s move onto grading the team.  Beginning with the defense, I am handing out a B+.  Granted, Brian Westbrook isn’t healthy, but his presence did offer the Eagles their only touchdown in the game on Sunday.  Our defense was missing three key starters- Marcus Washington, Shawn Springs and Jason Taylor, however as a whole, they only allowed 58 yards on the ground.  DE Andre Carter recorded six tackles in the game, a team record so far this season.  And despite the mishap in the first quarter where WR Desean Jackson returned a kickoff for a touchdown, the most notable performance by the Redskins defense was when the Eagles pushed to the two yard line, followed by a no-gain second down and a 3 yard loss on third down, both on the account of Brian Westbrook. Ackers came in for the field goal where the Eagles were finally able to put up points after the Skins had posted 23 unanswered points.

Onto the offense. CLEARLY I am going to give the big O an A for their performance Sunday.  Between 204 yards on the ground against the #1 rushing defense in the league, along with a career-topping performance by Cooley, a brief taste of what may be to come with WR Devin Thomas, and the distraction methods used by Santana Moss, our boys worked together as a whole and executed beautifully in this win.

K Shaun Suisham racked up the points in field goals the first half yesterday, scoring us 9 points.  While at the time we were probably squirming a bit trying to catch up to the 14 points Philly scored early, those critical field goals won us the game in the end.  And they were all LONG balls too, and therefore I will be giving special teams an A as well.

CONGRATS TO COOOOOOOOOOOOLEYYYYY for having your best game yet in your career and scoring the Die Hard Redskins Fan game ball!

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The DHRF Gameball is awarded to the entire Redskins Defense and Greg Blache. While I’m tempted to give it to Durant Brooks for hanging in there after a challenging first week and improving, I ultimately had to go with the defense.

So, although there were no Redskins turnovers, the defense still had to overcome an offensive slowdown in tempo that allowed the Cardinals to build some momentum at the end of the first half. Moreover, they created two turnovers by intercepting Kurt Warner and forcing a fumble by Edgerrin James. Reed Doughty and Rocky McIntosh were the leading tacklers in the game with seven each.

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I grew up in Silver Spring, MD. In our house, there was no other team except the Washington Redskins. I learned the game during the George Allen era; watching the QB battle between Billy Kilmer and Sonny Jurgenson. I developed a strong sense of hatred for the Dallas Cowboys. Even as a child, I was elated when Roger Staubach got knocked out of the game and the back up, Clint Longley, had to come in and try to finish the game. Well, that game has become a legend today. But, it is still not the game I remember the most.

One late Sunday afternoon, the 4:00P game featured the Cardinals vs. Redskins. My recollection however does not maintain anything more than the final seconds of the game. Specifically, in the days before instant replay, the game was halted while the referees discussed amongst themselves if the Cardinals WR had crossed the goal line before “little” Pat Fischer tackled him.

The first conclusion of the referees was that Fischer did indeed stop the WR and the Redskins had won the game. I remember my mother, who one could say was not a vocal fan, nor even a regular watcher of the games, jump up off the sofa and holler with excitement like I’ve never seen or have yet to see since then. My dad, too, sat on the sofa. When the initial call came through, he merely smiled. But, to be fair to him, I think he and I both were taken aback by my mother’s reaction.

Sadly, the initial call was followed by a second on-field referee conference. Thereafter, not only was the game lost, but my entire week at school was affected. The referees reversed their initial call and gave the touchdown and victory to the Cardinals. I recall being profoundly saddened by the game; even more so than the time when Chief Jay Strongbow was betrayed, humiliated, and beaten by the Valiant Brothers on the WWE.

Clearly, the game took place decades ago. It may even have been played before many readers of Die Hard Redskins Fan were born. But, I still remember that game…as if it just happened yesterday.

Which game do you remember the most?

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As we approach the season opener, I took the time to ask Keith, our Die Hard Giants Fan a few questions about our upcoming game, and the New York Giants team in general. He was kind enough to provide his feedback. ~ ~ ~ 1. How do *you* feel about the possibility of Michael Strahan returning to the team this year? I have wanted him to retire for years already. So I cannot be happier that he did not come back. 2. Former Redskin Renaldo Wynn is with the Giants now. Could he become the starting DE now that Umenyiora is gone for the season? I do not believe that Wynn will be a starter now. Mathias Kiwanuka is moving up to DE to start in place of Umenyiora. More linebackers will probably get a chance to start as a result of this than defensive ends. 3. David Carr is now the third QB, behind Anthony Wright. If Eli Manning goes down, who do you prefer in the backup role? I do not want either one of them out there in a real game. Anthony Wright is out for the season due to a back injury so David Carr is our guy. 4. What is your take on Kenny Phillips, the No. 1 draft pick? I love when the Giants select defensive stars in the 1st round. 5. Plaxico Burress is still not running full speed, according to the USATODAY Inside Slant. Is he going to avoid practice during the week and be a game day receiver only again this year? Honestly, I have no idea. 6. Who will be the top 3 WR’s for the Giants this year? 1) Burress 2) Toomer 3) Smith 7. Do you miss Jeremy Shockey, or is Kevin Boss really that good? I used to have a mancrush on Jeremy Shockey because he played offense like a defensive player. He was physical and hit. I’ve been done with this guy since he called out the coaching staff up in Seattle in 2006. He has gotten worse and worse off the field since then. The guy isn’t a factor anymore because he gets 20 yard taunting penalties whenever he catches a ball. Boss is good, but not as good as Shockey. Shockey’s list of issues is too long to detail in this post. 8. Now that the Giants won the Super Bowl, Tom Coughlin gets to keep his job a while longer. Is that a good thing? It is a good thing because Tom Coughlin changed his ways prior to them winning the Super Bowl. He is the only Giants coach not named Bill Parcells to win a Super Bowl. I still give more credit to Steve Spagnuolo then I do to Coughlin. 9. Steve Spagnuolo was courted to become a head coach in the league at the end of last year. Is he waiting for Coughlin to leave? Or, do you think this might be the year Spagnuolo takes a head coach job elsewhere? I believe that Spags will leave when the right opportunity comes his way. I thought he was gone after winning the Super Bowl. 10. Who do you predict to be the teams MVP for this season? Justin Tuck 11. What do you perceive as the critical success factors for the team to repeat as Super Bowl champs? Defense and they have to keep feeling like they are being disrespected in order to be on edge all year long. 12. Which team in the NFC East will give the Giants the greatest challenge? Cowboys 13. What worries you about this upcoming game against the Skins? Last year, the Giants had trouble defending big, physical Tight Ends. So I am concerned about Chris Cooley. 14. What should be the Giants strategy against the Skins? The Giants should double team Cooley and shut down Santana Moss. This will force Jason Campbell to throw to Antwaan Randle El and James Thrash if he is your third WR. The Giants showed that they can shut down Joey Galloway, T.O., Donald Driver, and Randy Moss in the Playoffs so let’s see if they can continue to do that in ‘08.

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Welcome to the new Redskins fan site, Die Hard Redskins Fan, on Die Hard Sports Fan. I will be writing daily about the ‘Skins so please check us out this season, offer your thoughts to my posts, and send in pictures so we can put them up. I have been a Redskins fan since I could pronounce the word football. Growing up in the DC metropolitan area, I am just young enough to not remember the Vince Lombardi era. Yet, I’m old enough to recall with clarity the era of George Allen, and the QB drama of Sonny Jurgenson and Billy Kilmer, followed by Jack Pardee, Joe Gibbs, Richie Pettibon, Norv Turner, Marty Schottenheimer, Steve Spurrier, Joe Gibbs (again), and the present Jim Zorn.

In short, I grew up, came of age, and matured as a Redskins fan. While it would be too easy to create and nuture conversation about the glory years of the Redskins past, I’m most interested in talking about here and now, and what needed to get us back to the days of glory. Moreover, I also believe that football is no longer just a seasonal game. Rather, it’s a 24/7, 365 day, billion dollar business. Aside from an occasional vacation or two per year, you can expect to get a steady input of our comments, editorials, opinions, concerns, and “constructive” rants with the entire Redskins family of fans.

Hail to the Redskins!

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