a good time was had by all

(photo by Brian Murphy)

You might have heard that the Washington Redskins invited players, team employees, their families and select VIPs out to Six Flags yesterday. Well, for some reason, an invitation was extended to us (even though last we checked, we are not a player, team employee or VIP).

And right out of the gate, let us say this event was a blast. The environment was completely family friendly and the weather was absolutely perfect. We never waited more than a few minutes to ride any of the roller coasters and regularly ran into many of the players and their families, who were more than happy to pose for photos and/or sign autographs for fans. Clearly these guys were just as happy to be at an amusement park as the fans who flocked to see them.

We want to take a minute to specifically mention Clinton Portis, Rocky McIntosh, DeAngelo Hall and Mike Williams.

We hope anyone who has ever dreamed of being a superstar athlete saw the hoard of fans surrounding Portis throughout the event. We never actually saw him partaking in any of the rides or festivities because any time we ever caught a glimpse he was simply signing autographs for dozens and dozens of burgundy and gold fans. Here’s hoping the players got in before the gates were opened to the fans just so C.P. might have actually had some fun too.

McIntosh was great because, as noted by Redskins blogger Matt Terl, he loves roller coasters. But unlike his teammates who happily used “jump-the-line passes,” he had no issue standing among the unwashed masses and waiting in line like the common folk. He was all smiles and was happy to chat with whoever was nearby (which is something media types rarely see from him). We’d be shocked to hear that anyone at Six Flags had more fun than Rocky did yesterday.

When we caught up with Hall he was busy scamming one of the guys from Comcast Sportsnet. He was playing one of the games where you have to sink a basket in a ridiculously tall hoop to win a prize. He paid his money and took a couple warm-up shots, all of which he missed. Once he and the Comcast guy (who shall remain nameless) had a dinner wager, Hall promptly sank three out of four shots while letting his buddy know he got played. All of this was going on while Hall signed autographs and posed for photos with dozens of ‘Skins fans (who also enjoyed the show).

And finally there’s Williams, who up until yesterday we had had little to no interaction with. At 6-5 and roughly 400 lbs., it’s impossible not to notice when he’s nearby. And every single time we saw someone go up to Williams, he kindly stopped what he was doing and was happy to oblige. Dan Steinberg just did an interview with Williams and said it’s tough not to cheer for the guy. We walked away with the same feeling.

All in all, yesterday was a very enjoyable evening that was made possible because the Redskins decided to do something nice for their extended family. We were lucky to be able to attend and immensely enjoyed seeing many of our favorite people – from both on and off the field. For better of worse, the Redskins brain trust gets blasted whenever someone feels they don’t get the job done, but let us take this moment to thank everyone who made this possible. We can’t think of a single way to improve the event.

8 comments

  1. Huly
    June 2, 2009 at 2:07 pm

    I had so much fun yesterday! It was a blast to see you and be able to ride rollercoasters with you and everyone else. I hope the continue this event as it was a blast!

    I agree with the CP thing. I was disappointed in some of the fans yesterday as CP had to be escorted away by 6 cops and even then fans were trying to get through. I hope he was able to have a little fun too.

  2. Brad
    June 2, 2009 at 2:39 pm

    Glad to see Danny could do something nice for his employees, considering he’ll probably fire all of them after the season. Also nice to know that after he’s already fired 60 of them this year due to “economic troubles” that he can suddenly afford to put on events like this. Glad to see all those lay-offs weren’t done with an itchy trigger finger. Way to go, Danny!

  3. HapHaszard
    June 2, 2009 at 3:12 pm

    I”m still waiting for my VIP pass. Guess it got lost in the mail.

  4. HOF44
    June 2, 2009 at 3:44 pm

    Man, if they do this again next year I wanna go!

  5. Dave at Nats News Network
    June 2, 2009 at 4:50 pm

    not that i want to make too big a deal over this, but Daniel Snyder took employees to the amusement park, Ted Leonsis took his season ticket holders.

  6. Mark The Homer
    June 2, 2009 at 10:02 pm

    I was very impressed with the whole thing. The place was immaculate. No litter, the walkways were spotless, almost eerily so. There wasn’t even any tree petals or pollen or pine needles on the walks. Nothing. Landscaping was done perfectly. Plantings. Flowers. Lawns cut and edged.

    The employees were well-trained, well-groomed, and courteous. Their uniforms looked brand new.

    All the rides were clean and in excellent shape. Most had very short lines. The Bat Wing towards the end of the night was the one exception.

    Free chow, free ice cream. Unlimited. You want ten ice cream sandwiches? They’re yours.

    The players were extremely accommodating – especially CP. He must have signed five thousand sigs. It was ridiculous. He just stood there and signed stuff for a good 2-3 hours straight without a break.

    The only bad thing about the whole experience is how wonderful it was. This is bad. Because now word will get out, and next year when they do it again, everybody and their brother will want to go and the place will be jammed.

    So Murf, please consider shutting down this entire URL before too many people read it.

    Thanks 🙂

  7. Milhouse44
    June 3, 2009 at 8:11 am

    I’m confused. What’s with all the comments? You mean there was an article under the picture of my girlfriend….you guys went somewhere?

  8. skinsfan44
    June 9, 2009 at 10:33 am

    I had a blast also. It was nice to see Snyder do something for us Skins fans besides collecting our money. My hat is off to you, sir. It was a fun time and I plan on going again next year if they have it again.

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