Sports

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Report scores and results to 425-339-3470 or 1-866-6-SCORES (Call after 4:30 p.m.) E-mail information including items for Tuesday's Communities Sports Roundup and Thursday's Outdoor Calendar, to sports@heraldnet.com Kevin Brown, Sports Editor kbrown@heraldnet.com   Published: Saturday, November 7, 2009 The Redskins: Back-stabbing at its best By Mike Wise The Washington Post WASHINGTON — During a week of more off-field chaos, brought to you by the franchise that just keeps on giving, Jason Campbell answered the phone. It was 8:30 a.m. Thursday morning, and miracle of miracles, he actually spoke about his thoughts regarding an upcoming NFL game. “I’m not thinking, ‘How in the world can I keep my job?’ That doesn’t even enter my head,” the embattled quarterback of the 2-5 Washington Redskins said. “It’s, ‘What do I have to do to beat Atlanta?’ Not, ‘Where am I going to be next year?’ Results, not negative things.” Granted, it’s not exactly as juicy as typing a manifesto next to a woodpile outside a Glen Echo cabin or, going on cable television to announce Dan Snyder is evil incarnate. But Campbell was kind of busy preparing for the Falcons, so busy he didn’t even want to fire back at any of his public critics — some of whom once wore the same colors he does now. “At this point you can’t do much else than laugh at some of it and block the rest of it out,” he said. “No offense, but we got nine games left. That’s my focus.” In this season of the Redskins’ malcontent, that’s not just refreshing — it’s exceedingly rare. For all the talk about who’s really calling the shots and who’s undermining whom, the current situation comes down to the same cheeseball proposition confronting a struggling high school program: You’re either part of the solution or you’re part of the problem. And during this septic season, very few are on the right side of that divide around this no-fault franchise, where coming together to beat an opponent hardly has the same priority as splitting apart to be the next to point a finger. The bonding continues, all right — over the perceived common enemy, over someone you played with, worked with or were employed by. None of them, of course, can be found on a Falcons’ roster, which begs the question: Who, really, was part of the Redskins’ solution this week? Not John Riggins on Showtime, forever crossing himself off Snyder’s holiday-card list. Greg Blache? That bear of a defensive coordinator finally broke his media silence, not to defend his players or his head coach. But instead, he felt compelled to slam Riggo while defending the owner. The critics of this team — and the critics of the critics of this team (all of them, unfortunately, seem to be multiplying like rabbits) — need to consider that their words might be doing as much to pollute the air as anything coming, or not coming, from management. There is no issue here with glib former Redskins trading on their celebrity to squawk and, in some corners, occasionally tear down the very franchise they helped build. It’s a nice cottage industry they have going. But because so many have concluded Campbell is not part of the solution, consider this: If you’re Sam Bradford or Colt McCoy or Jimmy Clausen, would you want to cut your NFL teeth in a town where every football icon shares his wisdom not during private moments in training camp but in front of a mike during drive time? Sonny, Joey T, Doc, B-Mitch, LaVar and Riggo can all say they’re paid now to be media members with opinions, not team consultants with advice. But once that route is taken, it becomes a little more difficult to knock Dan Snyder alone for selling out burgundy-and-gold tradition for the sake of personal profit. Most of this season’s wounds are self-inflicted, including the decision to strip Jim Zorn of his play-calling duties. But if Zorn is deemed to be part of the problem, the idea that any supercoach would take this job with the expectation of making his own decisions is ludicrous. A rash, quick-fix decision made in October might just prove harmful while head-hunting in January. Prospective employees are watching. From the gray lot to the owner’s box, disenfranchisement abounds. Yeah, the people who ban fans’ signs at FedEx Field are gutless suits hiding behind the changing definition of “stadium policy.” But what do you call the people who make the obscene, tasteless ones, calling the owner a “cancer” when his wife is in fact fighting it? And does the media get a free pass? No, we’ve certainly preyed on all the enmity. (Full disclosure: I host a radio show for a station that competes with Snyder’s sports-talk station.) But remember that we’re essentially wallflowers inside a mixed-martial-arts cage, chronicling happenings good and bad. Bad can often make decent copy, especially historically bad. But no one buys, frames and hangs in their den the copy of The Post that reads “Fail to the Redskins” after the loss to the Lions. They do that for Super Bowl wins. Or at least they did. Remember when this organization was facetiously christened annual champions of the offseason, getting ink for its free-spending ways? Given the attention a 2-5 carnival has gotten, everyone involved should be congratulated for a tremendous accomplishment: the offseason now feels like 12 months. If page views, radio conversation and primetime national television shows are any measure, the Redskins have become exceedingly good at being bad in their own perverse way. They encourage us to prattle on. On our Twitter accounts, on our radio shows, we search for the next target and who’s taking aim. At not yet the midway point of the season, we become something Jason Campbell and many of his struggling teammates refuse to: part of the problem. All these toxins, seeping through the vents, further poisoning how people feel and think about these underachieving players and their immensely unpopular brain trust. Why would anyone want to be part of that all the time? Why would you want to be around anyone who did? READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

1. Early morning gunfire wounds 2 in Everett 2. Father guilty of manslaughter in girl's death 3. ZZ Top fans get Everett buzzing 4. Crash devastating for toddler 5. Snohomish County budget passes, with a caveat 6. Fall 2009 Wesco All-League Teams 7. Laundry fire sparks concerns over smoke detectors 8. Two people injured in Highway 9 collision 9. Northrop: Boeing's 767 ‘no longer commercially viable' 10. Lynnwood police seek hit-and-run driver 2 - Top 10 Stories Most Talked about 3 - Top 10 Stories Most Emailed

• Holiday Lightings & Santa Sightings • Ruling in the pool • Archbishop Murphy takes title • A season of performing arts • Budget numbers have official fuming • Wildcats move on to 2A semifinals • Holiday Bazaars & Fairs Calendar • Edmonds’ Westgate Chapel serves up hospitality for holiday • Mavericks fall • Boeing will build, flight test and deliver 787s in South Carolina to spe ... • Snohomish County EDC promoting job growth in key industry clusters • $4 million grant to advance brain tumor research has Everett links • Providence medical center construction tops off its 12-story steel frame ... • Tulalip affordable housing project to be financed by KeyBank, Raymond Ja ... • Arlington's Lak of Ink has a growing following for Luke Kooyman's creati ... • Bank of the Northwest formed • Cascade Bank earns $1.6 million