1 post tagged “football”

My beloved Washington Redskins opened their season yesterday. I was happy to be at the game and take it all in.  For true fanatics, every new year is ripe with expectations, and this year is no different.  And while a fan may have an idea of whether his team will be good or bad, there are NO guarantees.  The preseason should be some clue as to what is to come during the regular season.  But the reality is that the preseason performance is, many times, not reflective of the quality of the team. It is merely something to reflect back on a couple months into the season and determine what you should have known from having watched the games.  That's not to say that I don't do the same thing.  I do.  I watch the preseason, and try to get information about what will happen during the year.  But it's funny, I have so many hopes built up for the coming season, if the team struggles in the preseason I'll write it off and say that its exhibitions that don't matter.  However, if the team is playing particularly well in the preseason, I'll proclaim that the team has turned the corner and will play well in the regular season.   It just the way it is as a fanatic.

With all that being said, when the regular season begins, it's Christmas, and you haven't a clue what you're getting.  That was the situation yesterday.  The Miami Dolphins were coming into FedEx field to open the year.  Miami was a wild card:  New coach, new offense, new quarterback, new philosophy.  The Dolphins hadn't performed well last year, but as I mentioned before, that doesn't mean they won't be a surprise team this year.  The Redskins were no world beaters last year either, going 5-11 after having made the playoffs the previous year.  I know I'm bias, but Redskins fans should have every reason in the world to be optimistic.  The Redskins have a Hall of Fame coach(not a future Hall of famer, he's already made it), they have a rock solid offensive line, two excellent running backs, playmakers at wide receiver, a yong defensive line with quickness that had been lacking, quick and hard hitting playmackers at linebacker, quite possibly the hardest hitting ground covering safeties in the entire league, depth at cornerback that had been severely lacking, and a young quarterback that had shown great potential in the closing games of last season. 

I was at the standium, I was excited, I was hopeful, I was nervous, and I was wary.  It was kickoff time.

TBC...