Trent Williams, world championships, and fan interest in Washington

One story dominates the headlines in Washington, DC today: The Nationals won Game 7 of the World Series, bringing another championship to our nation’s capital!

Earlier this year, the WNBA Mystics brought home a championship trophy. Of course, in June last year, it was the Washington Capitals winning the Stanley Cup that made news. Teams need to take a number — there’s a waiting list for the championship parades on Constitution Avenue!

Oh yeah... below-the-fold news is that Trent Williams returned to the Redskins just before or just after the trade deadline on Tuesday afternoon.

Surprising no one at all, the Redskins reported on Wednesday that Trent had failed his physical — not because he was out of shape from eating pizza during his holdout, but because his helmet was uncomfortable.

Yes. Really.

No one is sure exactly what will happen in terms of Trent and the Redskins roster, but with Strasburg & Scherzer’s pitching and Rendon & Soto’s batting, that doesn’t seem so important right now.

Washington residents have better things to worry about than what Bruce Allen’s next move will be with his disgruntled pro-bowl left tackle. We have another parade to plan!

In fact, although the survey was collected before the trade deadline, it would appear from the latest FanPulse poll that there’s no one left in Redskins nation who much cares what happens in Ashburn at all.

The Week 5 survey had the confidence of Redskins fans at 0%. With a win against the Dolphins, it “peaked” for two weeks at 2%, but consecutive losses to the 49ers at home in the mud and the Vikings on the road in the dome have seen the fan confidence settle back in at the lowest number possible.

Zero. Zip. Nada. Goose egg.

Headlines that might’ve excited Redskins fans a few weeks ago — Trent Williams reporting and Dwayne Haskins taking first team reps in practice — are met with a scoff and an eye roll, or worse, with a yawn and a dismissive wave of the hand. Nobody really cares.

Nothing that the Redskins do with Williams now matters. The pooch can’t be unscrewed.

There is not passion. There is no hope. There is very little interest in what the Redskins are doing.

If it were possible for the poll results to go into negative numbers, I have no doubt that Redskins fans right now would make it happen. It’s hard to imagine, but ice hockey is likely to be the dominant interest of Washington-area sports fans for the balance of the calendar year. Everyone is turning off the Danny & Bruce show. If the NFL would allow it, Redskins fans would likely vote to cancel the rest of the season; that is, if anyone mustered the motivation to vote one way or the other.

At least three Washington DC professional sports teams have won championships in the past 17 months. I might’ve missed one or two...it’s getting hard to keep track. Champagne is being drunk, songs are being sung, hugs are being hugged, dances are being danced — and no one cares much about the irrelevant Redskins.

In about nine weeks, the franchise will begin the search for its next head coach. For most franchises, that is a time to reignite the passions of the fan base. In the case of the Redskins fans, I wonder if anyone will still be around to notice.

#FireBruceAllen

#SellTheTeam

#SnyderHasToGo

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