Tue Oct 27, 2009 7:45 pm EDT
If the Redskins keep running their team as they are, we're going to have to do a Washington-only offshoot of Shutdown Corner, dealing with nothing but the exploits of Danny "Commodus" Snyder's Declining Roman Empire. There are a lot of great stories in the NFL this year, and it's not our intent to ignore or shortchange them, but geez ... how do you not whack hanging sliders like these over the wall?
Dan Steinberg of the indispensable D.C. Sports Bog put up a post today based on signs he picked out of various garbage cans outside FedEx Field. The signs were brought in by fans who actually watched the Redskins' 27-17 debacle against the Eagles on Monday night, and had their signs taken away and torn up by security for their trouble. Clearly, Snyder didn't want the nation knowing how dysfunctional his franchise is, and taking away signs from fans would hide that fact. After all, when your head coach is stripped of his playcalling duties and replaced by a bingo caller, and your running backs are bickering, and your top free agent spends time calling out the whole team when he's not limping to the sideline, and your quarterback is getting killed because your lackey of a general manager neglected to reinforce the offensive line in the last two drafts that were chock-full of great linemen ... sure. Taking away the signs will fix everything.
Of course, the security goons at FedEx were about as discerning as everyone else Snyder's hired in the last decade -- according to Steinberg, they removed a sign from a woman telling her husband, who is stationed in Afghanistan, that she loves him, and a guy who wasn't allowed to keep the old standard "D-(Fence)" combo.
It's astonishing, really. When you consider all the problems this team has, to throw all your efforts toward blocking the free expression of the people who are still spending their hard-earned money on your colossally inferior football product, you make yourself look to all the world like an insecure, clueless dimwit. Problem is, Mr. Snyder, so many of those other moves of yours have already set the facts in stone.
Shutdown Corner is an NFL blog edited by Matthew J. Darnell. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.

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46 Comments
1 - 23 of 46
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Also, Doug, "hard-earned", not "herd-". Just a heads-up.
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And wear all black to the games. Still cheer for the players....not their fault.
Take away Danny boy's high margin revenue streams and he will wise up fast. Or at least trick us into thinking so...
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Everyone needs to do what we did starting in 2007 - stop going to home games, don't buy merchandise, don't do anything to put money in Snyder's wallet. The FedEx Field experience has been horrible for 10 years - everyone there is a jerk or a cheat (beer guys who charge extra and pocket the difference). We've been to games in Cincy and Charlotte over the last two seasons and, other than losing, the entire gameday experience has been great.
Dan Snyder doesn't deserve the fans that he's been shafting in every way possible for the last 10 years.
John from harryhogfootball(.com)
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Go Bolts!! - Moved to San Diego a few years back, became a Chargers fan for good and quit the skins.
BUT - I won't give up on the entire NFL because I hate Danny Boy, just his team.
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Al to scouts,"Quick, find a superspeedy wide reciever. Guidelines: Fast, willing to play on the Raiders (100 millino, 50 million guarented 4 years contract), and the awesome ability to drop balls when thrown to. That will throw the stupid Vinny guy of my tracks. Quick, block hot dogs too! The ketchup might get into your eyes!
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And John Y, how is Obama's not talking to a fake news station the same as Dan Snyder's "I'm going to fire you if you don't do what I say and exactly how I say it" the same? Is Obama taking away Fox's broadcasting license? Are Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly being arrested and jailed? Has Sean Hannity been sent to Gitmo? no, then Obama really isn't silencing anyone.
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Seriously though, Snyder has treated Racial Slur "fans" as suckers for years. You have to wonder how long its taken for a fan revolt. If Washington was New York or Philadelphia, Snyder would have been burnt in effigy over a bonfire of season tickets several years ago and the Racial Slurs would be playing in front of seas of empty seats (unless they were playing the Eagles, Giants, Cowboys, Ravens, or Steelers - and then the majority of fans would be supporting the opposing team). Maybe Snyder has finally realized that no matter how bad of a product he puts out, the suckers will pay top dollar anyway because a lot of the seats are bought by lawyers and lobbyists as "client development" expenses (tax deductable, you know). Heck, he probably doesn't care if they even show up as long as they pay. And really, its the lobbyist market which has masked for years that Washington, DC is actually a horrid sports market. So you have a bad team with an inept owner in a horrid sports market.
Seriously, though, living in Virginia it is quite painful to be stuck watching the Racial Slurs every week - and I am an Eagles fan, so you'd think I'd at least get some comic pleasure from watching them lose, but I don't. then you have those constant commercials for the Virginia Lottery Racial Slurs scratch off game (where the "lucky" winner gets Racial Slurs tickets for 20 years).
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I live in Texas, for years and years we used to love the games between the Cowboys and the Redskins. Love the " Skins", or hate them, it didn't make any difference, it just made for one hell of a game.
Now Danny Snyder has all but destroyed the Skins, they are but a shadow of their former selves. Please, people of Washington D.C., and surrounding areas, voice your opinion, boycott the games, do whatever you have to get that little self-absorbed midget out of football, before it's too late. Give us back a time when Dallas vs Washington meant something.
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I live in Texas, for years and years we used to love the games between the Cowboys and the Redskins. Love the " Skins", or hate them, it didn't make any difference, it just made for one hell of a game.
Now Danny Snyder has all but destroyed the Skins, they are but a shadow of their former selves. Please, people of Washington D.C., and surrounding areas, voice your opinion, boycott the games, do whatever you have to get that little self-absorbed midget out of football, before it's too late. Give us back a time when Dallas vs Washington meant something.
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1 - 23 of 46