Washington Examiner columnist Rick Snider's first Redskins story was in 1983 and his work can be found at the WashingtonExaminer.com and WarpathConfidential.com.
So our topic of debate was: What do the Redskins have to do to top Strasburg's amazing night, short of winning the Super Bowl?
Rick: Beat Dallas on opening night. That tops everything short of a Super Bowl victory. Besides, that will be almost three months from now and everyone will have largely forgotten Strasburg's debut by then. At least, the fever will have died down. He'll pitch a dozen or more times by the Redskins opener. Given how fast people move on to the next event, last night will be ancient history by the Redskins opener.
Kevin: Yea, it's hard to argue that one. DC fans are very much a "right now" fan base. A better question is what will the Fedex Field opener crowd be like for the Shanahan and McNabb era? I know of a lot of people that have handed in their tickets, and the fact it's a 90,000 stadium makes for plenty of tickets available for Dallas. There certainly was a buzz with Gibbs' first game back, which he won....but of course he lost his next four. I'm really curious to know when the Redskins fan-base will return to what it was or how Nationals Park was lat night.
Rick: I know lots of people who didn't renew their tickets last year or this year for a lot of reasons -- economy, long game days, losing. In the end, Washingtonians will always support a winner because we rarely see it anymore. That's what made Strasburg so special - he was even better than advertised. I think FedEx will have 10,000 or so Cowboys fans, which is less than some years. Being the season opener I don't think as many tickets will be online as usual. I would expect the usual raucous crowd because people will be excited.
Kevin: I guess the difference with the Nats is there are no expectations they should be winning. It's just gravy if they happen to. Flip to the Redskins and even after a massive roster over-haul, they're still touting the "future is now." I just can't buy it yet after the 4-12 season last year. Even after the Dallas game, the Redskins have a very rough road to the playoffs. Ken and I have had the debate many times where he thinks beating the Cowboys twice almost trumps a playoff berth. If the Redskins do win week 1, even if it's by 30 points, it'll be hard for me to take this team seriously as a playoff contender.
Rick: The first game of the No-Joe Gibbs era under Richie Petitbon, the Redskins creamed the Cowboys on Monday Night Football before finishing 4-12. So, beating the Cowboys even twice isn't better than making the playoffs, but it does often help reach the playoffs. I think the Redskins are probably 8-8 so a break here and there might mean nine wins and a wild card. But, this is not a real Super Bowl contender just yet. That's 2-3 years away if lucky.
Well, I certainly feel less excited about this season. Maybe a Rex Grossman to Mike Furrey pre-season touchdown will lift my spirits. Sigh.