Here's your daily link to Dave McKenna's brilliant "Cranky Redskins Fan's Guide to Dan Snyder," which we'll be posting until Dan Snyder's dumbass libel suit takes a torpedo to the ammunition hold.
The latest development in the sitcom that is the Dan Snyder-era Washington Redskins has to do with an alleged wristband. Specifically, it's about an alleged wristband with plays on it that Mike Shanahan allegedly wanted Donovan McNabb to wear. McNabb allegedly refused because he allegedly thought it would make him look dumb. It's impossible to know if any of this is real. Some members of the media say no. Others say yes. I'll spare you from having to read all their blather and entering a wormhole of petty vendettas and PR gobbledygook. (If you must, this Dan Steinberg post sums up the madness in comprehensible fashion.) What's important to understand is that the alleged wristband has become the latest McGuffin in an ugly narrative involving McNabb, Shanahan and Dan Snyder, one in which the Redskins and their proxies will do anything to look less culpable in the mismanagement of the quarterback situation. Of course, everything they do only makes the situation worse. Because they are idiots.
The voice of reason turns out to be LaVar Arrington, blogging for The Washington Post:
The specifics of the reports, and the denials, aren't as important as the fact that the Redskins yet again find themselves in the headlines for division and confusion within the organization. Even in May, in a year when labor issues have shut down the NFL, the Redskins are making the wrong kind of news. ...
These kinds of reports have always been a part of this team, and if there is no more loyalty and accountability for one another within the organization than this, then it's perfectly clear why this team is coming off a 6-10 season that followed a 4-12 campaign. ...
This team has not been able to completely pull together from top to bottom during Snyder's time as owner. The organization has too much separation and not enough accountability: Anyone and everyone can be sold out at any time by management, coaches or players.
Above all:
The propaganda machine in Ashburn needs to be destroyed. This franchise cannot continue to be compromised from within.
Please put on your wristbands and help destroy the Ashburn propaganda machine with a donation to the City Paper's legal defense fund.
Redskins' latest flap indicative of a much larger problem [The Washington Post]