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08May

hail to the chief

In football by b murf / May 8, 2008 / 1 Comment
(photo by Brian Murphy)


I know this is going to come as a shocker, but rookie head coach Jim Zorn is not Joe Gibbs. None of this is groundbreaking, but to recap – he doesn’t have the Hall of Fame credentials, his friends call him “Z-Man,” and he looks like he’d be more comfortable in shorts with a surfboard, rather than running an NFL franchise. I’d go as far as to say that if Seattle QB Matt Hasselbeck wasn’t considered a Pro Bowl quarterback, then Zorn would simply be known as the inappropriate coach who brought a Slip n’ Slide to practice.

Redskins fans almost universally agreed Zorn was a solid choice as the young and upcoming offensive coordinator when he was brought on board in February, but weren’t nearly as convinced two weeks later when he won the Redskins reality show and earned the chance to run the biggest team in town. When he began talking about opening the offense up and rumblings of five-receiver sets started making the rounds, more than one skeptical ‘Skins fan invoked the name of the ol’ ball coach, Steve Spurrier.

While it’s still really early in the game, I’m here to tell you that things might not be as gloomy as the pessimists portray. During minicamp, I was interested to see what changes would be implemented by the new regime. Little things like names on the backs of jerseys to help the rookie coach didn’t bother me. Neither did the lack of NFL referees on site, although they’ve been a staple of Gibbs’ camps for years. And yes, while Zorn still looks as though he could easily spend an afternoon jamming to Bob Marley with proverbial pothead Ricky Williams, he just might make it as one of the 32 NFL head coaches.

Very early on, those of us on the sidelines couldn’t help but notice the confidence and authoritative tone with which Zorn speaks during practice. He’s not a disciplinarian in the mold of a Marty Schottenheimer (he’s much more likely to have players use video games than the Oklahoma Drill), but he’s very much in command of the situation, in the way a veteran quarterback commands a huddle. When rookie wide out Devin Thomas cut one way and Sam Hollenbach’s pass went another, Zorn met Thomas en route back to the huddle.

“That was a good throw right there, but you were still in college,” the Z-Man said.

No wasted words. No sugar coating. At that moment, only one of the guys in the conversation seemed to be a rookie.

Later in practice, veteran cornerback Shawn Springs picked off an errant pass and pitched it back to fellow cornerback Fred Smoot, who juggled the ball for a few steps before tackle Jon Jansen sent him flying. Immediately, Zorn came flying in and ripped into both defensive players, essentially saying, “Cut the crap. We don’t do that here.” More than any other minicamp moment, this is what I’ll remember. As one veteran writer put it, “I guess the inmates won’t be running the asylum around here anymore.”

The purpose of this entry is not to suggest that Jim Zorn is going to be better than Joe Gibbs, with his three Super Bowl rings. It’s simply to point out the stark contrast between the two individuals and to suggest that maybe, just maybe, taking a chance on this promising young first-time coach could end up working out for a Redskins franchise in search of stability, over the long run.

07May

let’s go racin’ boys

In nascar by b murf / May 7, 2008 / No Comments

Here is the final batch of my photos taken of the Dan Lowry 400 NASCAR race from this past weekend. After these, we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming.

I’ve done a few laps on the Richmond International Raceway, but I’m fairly certain that all the cars are supposed to face the same direction. Maybe someone should give Juan Pablo Montoya a head’s up.

Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne battle for position on the track, and the love of fans off of it. Oddly, my friend Kurt Krol owns this shirt. None of us have the heart to take it away from him.

Red Bull car driver A.J Allmeninger shoots fire at his pit crew, in hopes of teaching them to work faster during pitstops.

NAPA Toyota driver Michael Wiltrip and Kellogg’s driver Casey Mears can be apart no longer.

Army driver Mark Martin pulls into the pits one final time during the Dan Lowry 400. Martin finished the race in third place.

(photos by Brian Murphy)


07May

rubbin’ is racing

In nascar by b murf / May 7, 2008 / No Comments

Here is a small sample of some of my photos taken from this past weekend’s Dan Lowry 400 NASCAR race.

Denny Hamlin, of Joe Gibbs Racing, started in first place and led for nearly the entire Dan Lowry 400. Unfortunately, he ran into some tire trouble with less than 20 laps to go and had to settle for a 24th place finish.

Fellow Joe Gibbs driver Tony Stewart fared a little better than Hamlin, starting in 15th place and earning a fourth-place finish.

Two of the most popular drivers in NASCAR, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon, fight for positioning during the race. Earnhardt Jr. came within for laps of winning the Dan Lowry 400 and breaking his 72-race winless streak.

I don’t know a ton about NASCAR, but I’m fairly sure sparks are a bad thing. That would probably explain why Johnny Sauter is pulling the Haas Automation Chevrolet in for an unscheduled pitstop.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a diehard Redskins fan, and for that, we love him. Plus, he’s driving the Army National Guard car, so he’s patriotic and a ‘Skins fan. Seriously, how could anyone root against this guy?

(photos by Brian Murphy)


06May

our nation’s capitals

While we weren’t given a ton of notice to prepare for the special occasion, D.C. sports fans had to be pleased to hear that today was declared Washington Capitals Day by the D.C. city council. With Alex Ovechkin and friends at the world championships, Shaone Morrisonn attended the ceremony with owner Ted Leonsis.

And while this has almost nothing to do with anything, I’m excited to report that I’ve somehow convinced my wife to let me purchase a two-foot-tall replica of the Stanley Cup. I can think of nothing in the world I need in my life more than a replica of the Holy Grail, and thankful she’s given up fighting me on this. Now let’s see how long I last until I’m renting it out for local baptisms and bar mitzvahs.

One final note, apparently John Pappas of Skinscast is upset that I called him a twit for his take on Redskins rookie tight end Fred Davis oversleeping and missing the final day of minicamp. In the interest of fairness, here’s a link to his rebuttal. My problem isn’t with Pappas, personally, but rather the fact that the media didn’t mention the phrase “character issue” until AFTER Davis missed practice. The only thing we heard the day after the Redskins drafted him was that Davis was the Mackey Award winner, for the nation’s best tight end and that the ‘Skins thought he was too good to pass up. No one mentioned “character issues” until they saw fit to pile on a kid who made a mistake. If I’m going to be the bad guy for calling a spade a spade, then so be it.

05May

pillow talk

While I was down in Richmond sneaking my way onto the racetrack, it looks like one of the Redskins newest additions was making headlines of his own.

Fred Davis, the rookie tight end out of USC, has caused an uproar after missing Sunday’s practice because he overslept, which has prompted some folks to jump on the ridiculous “he had character issues in college” bandwagon.

Before I get into it, let me John Clayton explain exactly what happened.
According to Clayton:Then there was second-round pick Fred Davis. He couldn’t sleep Saturday night because his roommate wouldn’t shut up. So he went to the desk of the hotel and asked for a different room. He slept until 11 a.m., and the team couldn’t find him because he wasn’t in the right room.”

When asked for comment after the final practice of minicamp (and before he knew all the details), rookie head coach Jim Zorn was refreshingly candid and honest about the situation.

“If it is [oversleeping], he’s got to be mortified,” Zorn said. “But that’s a young guy, let’s set the alarm. You can call for a wake-up call, whatever. And some of these guys are young enough, I’m serious, to not even understand that. He thought maybe somebody else was going to wake him up, I don’t know. But he’ll learn, he’ll learn real quick.”

Here’s the thing about this — this is a non-story. Anyone saying otherwise is a twit. Even coming from an established program like USC, this entire NFL experience is still a culture shock for a 22-year-old kid. I equate it to when I first joined the Army and suddenly found myself in Panama and way out of my comfort zone. Being fairly responsible, I had never had issues with forgetting my wallet or oversleeping during my youth, but almost immediately after I arrived in country I started screwing up left and right. Making a mandatory formation was no longer routine and more than one my sergeant had to put a foot in my ass to guide me in the right direction.

As best as I can tell, this has more to do with Davis ending up with loquacious roommate than him being a knucklehead. Let’s all take a deep breath and chalk it up to a little bad luck for this young man. I guarantee, with his professional career at stake, he’ll be too scared to have anything like this happen again.

And just to drive home the fact that I think that Davis is a good kid, I want to share my interview with him from Friday’s practice. Out of all the interviews I did at Redskins Park that day, he was the most enjoyable person to talk to. The biggest gripe I have with him is he grew up idolizing Michael Irvin, but as you can hear in the audio, I took care of that real quick.

05May

all you can eat

We officially live in a “no fun” world — where every kid in the league gets a trophy regardless of whether their team wins a game or not and character-building games like dodgeball are almost universally banned. So it should come as no surprise that moments after Papa John’s put together some timely t-shirts with LeBron James’ number and the name “crybaby,” they issued an apology for offending people.

Papa John’s will sell Cleveland residents a large, one-topping pizza for 23 cents this week, and will also donate $10,000 to the Cavaliers Youth Fund. I realize this is a no-brainer for them because they get a ton of free publicity, but this is not cool. Either have the stones to call someone out or don’t. This is no better than playing both sides of the feud — sticking whichever side is winning.

Sports are all about trash talking, and it should be a good thing if D.C. establishments want to get in the game and support the local franchises. But don’t wuss out and bail the second you get a phonecall complaining (even if it’s from the commissioner David Stern). You had the grapefruits to think up the t-shirts and to have them made. Stand by your decision and tell Cleveland to, once again, quit crying.

05May

shake and bake

In murf, nascar by b murf / May 5, 2008 / 4 Comments
(photos by my wife)


“America is all about speed. Hot, nasty, bad-ass speed.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

Let me start off by saying that this is a D.C.-themed sports blog. The focus is, and will always be, on anything and everything pertaining to the District’s sports franchises. Having said that, from time to time we might wander off the beaten path just a little bit.

This past weekend, I hit the road down to the Richmond International Raceway to shoot photos of The Dan Lowry 400 race Saturday night. The way I look at it, Redskins Hall of Fame head coach Joe Gibbs has a NASCAR team, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a diehard ‘Skins fan, so we’re justified in taking a “Ricky Bobby” moment or two on a slow news day. Which transitions nicely to this –
Hey Jeff Gordon, “if you ain’t first, you’re last.”

I don’t personally have anything against Gordon, and I’m not enough of a NASCAR fan to put him in the same category as the hated Dallas Cowboys or the Pittsburgh Penguins, but I was able to do something he wasn’t this weekend — be the lead car on the Richmond International Raceway.


That’s right, when no one was looking, I snuck out onto the track and did two laps around the raceway. The best part, we had already been stopped by a security guard (who we’ll refer to from here on out as Roscoe P. Coltrane). As soon as we came through the tunnel to actually enter the infield area, Roscoe immediately appeared out of nowhere, honking his horn to flag us down. One of the individuals in the vehicle, whom (in keeping with the Dukes of Hazzard theme) we’ll refer to as Cooter, got out of the car and gave the Obi-Wan Kenobi “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for” speech and “Richmond’s finest” let us go with the understanding we’d take a quick look at the track and get out of there.

Well, “we’re just the good ol’ boys, and we’re never meaning no harm,” so we slowly cruised near pit road holding the camera out the window looking all innocent and tourist-y. We figured if he stayed there watching us, we’d snap a couple shots and get out of there, but thankfully, Roscoe didn’t let us down. He inexplicably vanished during the five or so minutes we were playing possum and that’s when we got the brilliant idea — let’s go racing!

So I took one final peak behind us to see if “Richmond’s finest” was anywhere nearby and after verifying that the coast was clear, steered the vehicle out onto the track at turn one as I hit the accelerator. We did two glorious laps (hovering around 65 miles per hour) and pulled into the pits. A quick Chinese fire drill later, and my wife was now driving. She did one lap around the track (never going more than 45 mph because she was bouncing between terrified and euphoric) and as we came around turn three I spotted a familiar foe.

Seeing us on the track after his specific orders against doing so did not sit well with Roscoe, who at this point was hauling ass to cut us off at the end of pit road. As luck would have it, we were able to make a sharp turn back into the pits and quickly head back into the infield while he was still tearing down towards turn one. Two quick left turns and we were speeding through the tunnel and off the premises before our good buddy was able to radio for help. Had we not been fortunate enough to see him as soon as we did, there’s no doubt that this story ends differently — most likely with the phrase, “and that’s how I spent the weekend in jail, your honor.”

A special thanks goes out to my wife, Cooter and Cletus (who was kind/dumb enough to let us use his vehicle for our joy-riding adventure, so that when Richmond security watches the surveillance video they’ll have his plates, not mine). Now I understand why people love NASCAR.

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