After an impressive win over the defending NFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers in our first exhibition of the season, I find myself looking forward to the coming football season. ‘Skins fans once again have hope and renewed enthusiasm and belief in our beloved Redskins.* We’ve got that swagger around the office and the bounce has returned to our step. We’re even starting to playfully mock our friends who are Steelers fans (of whom there are many in the DC area).
For the moment at least it seems like all things are possible. Don’t you love it? Forget about all the problems in the world for just a second – the Redskins have given us hope. One big move they’ve made to improve the team was jettisoning Albert “Big Al” Haynesworth to New England. It seems that Big Al has picked up right where he left off. Word out of the New England training camp is that he hasn’t practiced in a week and is in danger of not making the team. Hmm…that reminds me of a Weekend Words I wrote this time last year…
Memo to Albert Haynesworth: “You Can’t Make the Club in the Tub”
A lot has been said about Redskins defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth in the last few months. Just last week everyone focused on his physical condition and his reasons for missing practice. I don’t want to add to the media circus surrounding this man. However, my firm belief is that how you practice has a direct correlation to how you play when it counts. As famed University of Texas coach Darryl Royal once said after a huge win, “Preparation, not opportunity” is what leads a team to victory.
Maybe Albert should subscribe to the following slogan I borrowed from the front of former Redskins coach George Allen’s playbook: “Every morning the slowest gazelle on the African savannah wakes up and knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be eaten. Every morning the fastest lion wakes up and knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve. So it doesn’t matter if you are the lion or the gazelle. When that sun comes up, you better be running.”
Have a great weekend,
Ro
*For another perspective on our annual Redskins hope-fest, check out Tracee Hamilton’s column “Washington Redskins Fans: Beware of Optimism Creep” at the Washington Post.