[And NOT the other way around.]

Or rookies, same difference, via Redskins 360:

"Rookies are fine and dandy, and I'm glad to see them progressing," said Blache, a notoriously blunt coach. "But I don't fall in love with rookies. You're better to fall in love with a stripper than a rookie, because they'll break your heart. They really will. We will give them some time and let them prove themselves if they are worthy of it."

From Redskins Insider:

(For the record, Blache disavows any personal knowledge of falling for those who remove their clothing for a living. However, he has friends and associates who have come back from clubs saying, "She loves me." As Blache said: "I've heard tales." Again, he is not speaking from personal experience...

Uhh, yea, we've all got friends who have been there before.

Blache joins Coach Zorn in his use of contrasting praise (in Blache's case, for Chris Horton, Matteral Richardson, and Rob Jackson) with criticism of our players' performances. Via Curly R, another Redskins Insider quote:

Zorn liked what he saw from the draft class for the most part. QB Colt Brennan's performance grabbed some headlines, as he went 9-of-10 for 123 yards and two touchdowns, but after reviewing film of the game Zorn wants to see fewer passes put up for grabs. "He has to become a more disciplined quarterback, and not risk as much as he risked in the game," Zorn said, while praising Brennan's exuberance and flair.

This is called "coaching" and was not missed by CptChaosSidekick who thought it reflected well on Zorn. I'll extend that praise to Blache, as a healthy dose of cynicism* is in order after all the heaping, effusive, probably largely undeserved praise the team has received for winning a fake game. The purpose of this post is my attempt at discouraging insane expetations heading into the season on the weight of preseason wins. The fact remains: We open the season @ New York Giants, against New Orleans, against Arizona, and then @ Dallas and @ Philly. We could lose four of those games, will probably lose at least two, and I'd predict something like a 2-3 start. It's dubious whether anything that happens in the preseason (even a 5-0 string of wins equally as convincing as the one last Sunday) either will or should dramatically alter that prediction. Three road games against division opponents (one of whom won the Super Bowl, another that one 13 games) is tough no matter how good the team looks in the fake football season.

So... calm down or something. Or don't:

via misterirrelevant.com but Jamie Chris Mottram credits Awful Announcing and I trust them both.

Also I'm going to Las Vegas this weekend and will be scarce. I have a post scheduled for tomorrow morning but beyond that I should have a hard time finding a computer. Tomorrow's post will be sufficiently Bills related such that I don't feel bad for not doing a game preview. You will have to entertain yourselves for a bit, unless Ben or TexSkins or BnG or zknower takes over.

* I tend to think cynical people are simply more accurate in their world view than are optimists in much the same way that mildly depressed people apparently better understand the feelings of others:

People with mild symptoms of depression pay more attention to details of their social environment than those who are not depressed.

For the record, I'm a cynic.