Looks Like Someone Has a Sixpack of the Mondays
1. While there was never any major fear that we would miss regular season football, the exercise of watching rich folks fight over our money was nasty enough to engender at least some ill will from NFL fans. Now that they have agreed to a deal, we have a whirlwind month ahead of us and I am rather excited. Sure, I had some negative things to say when this all started. Perhaps our general discord and unhappiness with the situation was as much posturing as the posturing that the owners and players engaged in for months. Perhaps our anger and displeasure were necessary and helpful components of the process. During the lockout, I found myself staying as far away from the NFL Network as I could get, even watching reruns of NHL hockey games to avoid viewing Rich Eisen and company run with the same story all summer. But I am back...all the way.
2. Did you ever break up with your girlfriend for a period of time, all the while knowing events would transpire to bring you back together at some point in the near future? Cooler heads eventually prevailed and you found yourself back in a meaningful relationship. You remember that first night back? Come on...you do. That's what this free agency/training camp/preseason/circus is going to be for us. There will be something old about it, but there will be something new and exciting about it, too. You know...it will be that perfect mix of familiar and novel. Any adventurous tendencies will be amplified and encouraged...perhaps for the last time in what could be a long, long time. You wake up the next day and think, "No way that would have EVER have happened if we didn't break up!" Hmmmm...not sure how much further I want to go with the sexual references given we are talking about a cast of characters made up primarily of dudes. Just do yourselves a favor and make the owners wear a bag over their heads. OK, I'm done.
3. Did I set out to compare the lockout ending to having make-up sex? No, I did not. But it felt very, very, very right.
4. I expect Shanahan and Allen to lead the league in undrafted free agent rookie signings. We need numbers for training camp and we can't fill all of our needs with high-priced free agents. Ron Jeremy would struggle to fill all the holes on our roster. I am hopeful that guys who went undrafted will see the Redskins as a legitimate place they could earn a spot. Shanahan will be unafraid to keep an unheralded player on the roster.
5. The possibility of a Marshal Yanda/Ryan Harris right side is making me crazy. We have kicked those tires a lot in recent months--what chances do you think that we end up with both? A new guard and tackle on the offensive line would put us in such a better place. It also would allow Bruce Allen to target one of the top centers in the second round of the 2012 draft. Assuming we can get a left guard to stick, the offensive line would have been completely rebuilt in three seasons.
6. Finally, a note to Matt Terl, the former Redskins blogger at Redskins Park. Matt--your contributions at Redskins.com were highly thought of by many of us here at Hogs Haven and your work "from the inside" rarely seemed slanted. I will miss your perspective in that space, but am confident you will land on your feet soon enough. Thank you for your time and effort informing us the last few years and thank you for tolerating our humor and antics. Redskins.com is a weaker site without you indeed. (Sorry for making you share room here with all the make-up sex analogies.)