I'm not really sure what this is. It claims to be a Timeline of the Santa Maria Valley (something to do with wine) since 1824. Exciting entries include:
March 18, 1881: A heavy sandstorm in Guadalupe blew down trees and buildings.
No bullshit, huh? Trees? And who could forget:
March 1901: The Ladies Literary Club sent its first letter to Andrew Carnegie asking for his help in building a community library.
But the biggest news in this slice of America's history:
March 4, 2004: Quarterback Mark Brunell (St. Joseph High School graduate) signed a contract with the Washington Redskins.
As The Redskin Report points out in a lengthy FA and Cap post, Santa Maria's timeline may soon be added to with: March 1, 2008: Quarterback Mark Brunell (St. Joseph High School graduate) no longer with the Washington Redskins. As The "good" news, however, is that on March 1st, Mark Brunnell's remaining contract voids (I call this good news only because of the Cap; with the possible loss of Todd Collins, Brunnell is the only veteran backup quarterback option on the team). That frees up about $3-3.5 million in Cap. Note, however, that voiding Brunnell's contract does not mean he won't be back with the team next year; the Redskins could very well void his contract, making him a free agent, and offer a veteran's minimum to come back as a backup going forward, which saves the Redskins a decent amount of money. However, the Redskins cannot restructure his contract and make those savings, so one way or another, you'll hear headlines saying that's he's gone on March 1st. Just don't believe that's the final word on his status, not yet at least.
I'm not averse to keeping Mark Brunell, but it will have to be on the cheap. Redskins Insider has Zorn on Brunell:
"We're trying to figure out his situation too. He's trying to figure out his situation. He wants to be a number two as well. He's highly competitive. He's had a great career and he still has some stuff left. I know he wants to be a number two.["]
If we can keep Todd Collins, than Mark Brunell ain't number two and I haven't the foggiest idea whether he'd really want to stick around. I think he could be a backup quarterback somewhere, if not here. If he can swallow pride and stick around in Washington for a minute, I'd be happy to keep him as a reliable, cheap 3rd string veteran quarterback who can continue to assist in the development of Jason Campbell. Seeing as he bought a 3.7 million dollar mansion just weeks ago, I hope he's comfortable staying in town in whatever capacity he's needed. Or else he just retires. Oh well.