This is your Pro Bowl open thread, we'll get into it here in a minute.
In the meantime, lots of other great bloggers went unnoticed in my last blogger roundup which. One of my favorite blogs, My Brain Says Rage, is none too happy with this hire. They open with Jim Fucking Zorn? and don't stop:
"We're proud that our search was diligent, thorough, and resulted in today's announcement," said owner Dan Snyder, who will hopefully die in a car accident. "Jim's track record and reputation as a player, great teacher, and as a coach makes us confident that they will translate to success for the Redskins."
No, he is going to give us three mediocure seasons until you fire him and hire Vince Lombardi's dead corpse to replace him.
That's funny.
Deuce of Davenport channels Billy Maddison:
I went to a football game and a donkey show broke out. Wow. What can you say about the debacle that is the Washington Redskins? If you're Vinny Cerrato, you say "Who done what in the who?" and grab Mr. Dan another POM. If you're a Redskins fan, you're probably praying for the return of Jack Kent Cooke. I think they'd almost take George Preston Marshall back at this rate, racism and everything.
Big Daddy Drew appears skeptical, though KSK commenter
signal to noise raises the more important question: Will this hiring force famous Redskins blogger extraordinaire Unsilent Majority to off himself? Nothing new from him since 2:00PM yesterday on KSK, I may have to email UM to make sure everything is ok. Reader(s) who find him alive and well on the internets somewhere should notify the rest of us immediately.
Scott Van Pelt Style: Jim Zorn? Redskins Done F'd Up Now. He also notes that Pete Prisco pulls no punches on Dan Snyder.
Deadspin's Daulerio points out that Jim Zorn is perhaps the 2nd fundamentalist coach in a row for the Redskins? Read for yourself:
Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder has picked another Christian fundamentalist as the team's head coach. Christian fundamentalist Jim Zorn will replace Christian fundamentalist Joe Gibbs.
Someone else's words, not mine, and I'm not even going to get into a religious discussion about it. But I thought that might interest some of you one way or the other.
Finally a positive prediction from Doug Farrar at Football Outsiders. But even he has to wonder:
Will he run into trouble because popular assistants like Gregg Williams were run out of town instead of being given the job? Will this be a successful example of the trend toward younger and/or less-experienced coaches combined with a greater presence from the front office?
I'd add: Can anyone succeed in this front office unless they're already in the Hall of Fame? Also, bonus, Doug Farrar talked with some clown named "Will Allensworth" about Zorn earlier this week. I've heard good things.
I already linked to the AOL Fanhouse MDS post with short-shorts video of Jim Zorn, though Sports By Brooks runs with it as well. You should just watch the video:
After watching the video, I don't really know what the big fuss is about being all super duper negative nellies on Jim Zorn. I quote: "I've got to improve on everything. Uh, mentally, uh, throwing the ball..."
Maybe I'm alone on this, but I think the ability to alter the ball's trajectory with merely the power of one's mind would be an incredibly valuable head coaching quality. Shaun Suisham should have a big year.
Quick note before we get into the Pro Bowl. yesterday I said: "No bloggers were awarded points for going with some variation on the popular Bourne trilogy, which is obviously the first place I'd go. Will this be the Zorn Supremacy or Dan Snyder's Zorn Ultimatum? You see what I did there? I suck at this." I open up NFL.com this morning and staring back at me is a video titled: The Zorn Identity. I'm unemployed, NFL.com, and will work on the cheap. I could be writing this shit, just give me a chance. Related news, Adam Schefter's diction is simply phenomenal.
(Some) Players react to Zorn hiring. Red Snapper:
"Things I've heard is that he's a players' coach, an excellent teacher," said Albright. "Some coaches have it all up here (in the head) but can't get it across to the players. He's very good at communicating. He's very good at getting his ideas across to his players."
Cooley:
"Personally, I was actually excited because it was someone that was already involved. It was someone they were obviously happy with as the offensive coordinator. I think it's a good decision for us.[" <-- OH SLAM DID YOU SEE THAT NFL.COM'S ANDY FENELON? YOU FORGOT TO PUT IN A CLOSING QUOTATION MARK. I AM ALL OVER THAT GARBAGE WHAT TIME IS IT????]
Cooley had the chance to have a long discussion with Zorn by phone when the Redskins hired Zorn as their offensive coordinator Jan. 26.
"It was kind of like a get-to-know-you conversation," Cooley said. "He was hired as the offensive coordinator, so obviously we're going to be spending a lot of time together. We talked a lot about our backgrounds. And I really enjoyed our conversation."
And of course Matt Hasselbeck had nothing but good things to say, he would, though:
Hasselebeck [OH SHIT NOT AGAIN: HASSELEBECK???? WHO THE HELL IS THAT? IM ALL OVER YOU, ANDY FENELON. REEROO GOES THE GRAMMAR POLICE CRUISER!!!!!] believes Zorn is more than prepared for the task he inherits in Washington because of how Holmgren has prepared him.
There is a
Pro Bowl today. A quick glance at the starters reveals no Redskins (unless my eyes deceive) which is strange, since apparently the starting special teams includes a kicker with no one to snap the ball to him. You need Ethan Albright to start, give the man his 15 minutes. Chris Cooley, Chris Samuels and Albright should all see some field. HTTR.
PS: I have no beef, Andy Fenelon, please don't destroy me!
DC Sports Bog, Vintage Zorn
