Miss the Skins?

Miss the Redskins on Sunday?

Sunday’s TV listing called for three NFL games, Denver @ Baltimore, NY Giants @ Philly and Minnesota at Green Bay. All three games were well worth watching even if none ended up being close. Again, did we miss the Redskins not playing? Nooooooooo! Who needs the agony?

Who needs anymore of the talk radio on what’s wrong with the Redskins. We all know the solution. Dano needs to go out and hire the best football man available and let him run the team. Not a coach, a football general manager and let him choose the coach. Snyder needs to say to the GM I’ve got a $100 million, but not for new players. The money is for a new scouting staff to find talent and build a young successful team through the draft.

There is no reason to hold your breath until it happens. This is a pipe dream.

As one looks north to Baltimore in dreams that someday the Redskins could be run as well as the Ravens, what is obvious is the similarity between Dan Snyder and the Orioles’ owner Peter Angelos.

The comparison between the two is Halloween scary. Both made enough money to buy their favorite sports team. Each had visions of grandeur of leading them to glory. Both have followed similar paths of total failure.

Angelos started off with some success, hiring Pat Gillick (now of the 2008 World Champion Phillies) as General Manager. Gillick hired Davey Johnson as Manager and in 1996 made the playoffs and in 1997 won the AL East Title.

Then Angelos took over. Fired Gillick and hired yes-man Syd Thrift. Can we say Vinny? He backed second baseman Roberto Alomar in a dispute with manager Johnson despite the fact that Alomar committed baseball biggest No-No when he spit on an umpire. The 1997 playoffs ended with call strike three on Alomar.

The same year Angelos ran popular broadcaster Jon Miller out of town. Can we say Frank Herzog? Or, how about replacing professional RFK stadium announcer Phil Hochberg with some clown, who can only scream “Third and Looooooooonnng.”

In 1998 Angelos gave record money to Albert Belle, who didn’t run out grounds. The bust was the beginning of the end. Let’s shout Jeff George, Dion Sanders or Bruce Smith.

There may never be a comeback for the Orioles. With the Washington Nationals opening in 2005 the sellout crowds are now limited to Yankee and Red Sox games. The O’s may never have the money needed to contend with New York or Boston.

In the salary capped NFL, any team can be rebuilt into championship teams. All it takes is an owner who lets good football people run the show. Talk about a pipe dream.