We’ve Moved!

That’s right. We’ve loaded up the imaginary internet trucks and relocated the Redskins Blog to the easier-to-remember http://blog.redskins.com, so update your bookmarks accordingly.

See you there.

A Coincidental Tribute To Sammy Baugh

At last night’s San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, TCU defeated Boise State by a final score of 17-16. One of TCU’s most famous football alumni passed away a week ago, Redskins great Sammy Baugh. (You may remember this being mentioned here a few times.)

When Baugh was with the Redskins, his jersey number was 33 — the same as the total score in last night’s game. Not quite the same as all the occurrences of 21 toward the end of last season, but a nice incidental tribute nonetheless.

When you’re taking grade school math, one of those questions you ask is “When is this going to be useful in real life?”

And now you know the real answer to that question: “When you need to use the awesome power of arithmetic to assign false significance to arbitrary events.” Also, “When calculating gratuity on a restaurant bill,” but that’s less important here.

Ryan Plackemeier: NFC Special Teams Player of the Week

Photo by Ned Dishman

Ah, I remember the halcyon days of this season, when it seemed like we were posting awards like this every other day. Chris Horton, rookie of the month? Sure! Clinton Portis, FedEx Ground Player of the Week? Let’s do it!

It’s been a little while between awards, what with the losing skid and the falling-out-of-the-playoff-picture deal, but we’re back on the right side of things this week: Ryan Plackemeier is your NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.

It was hard to imagine this day, back when people were savaging the initial Pro Bowl balloting that had Plackemeier as the leading vote-getter in the NFC, but I think we all knew it would arrive eventually. I mean, when you pick a guy up mid-season to replace your rookie draft pick, you always expect that guy to become Player of the Week just a few weeks later. It’s inevitable.

And speaking of inevitable, here’s what I wrote about Plackemeier during the fourth quarter of the Eagles game:

Plack attack! Ryan Plackemeier pins his third punt inside the ten, and his second inside the five. Part of me is deeply frustrated that so many guys are showing up now that things don’t matter, but the more optimistic part of me is pleased to see that no one’s given up on the season just yet. He’s making a strong case for himself as Redskins special teams player of the week.

Redskins Special Teams Player of the Week? I was aiming low.

Wednesday, December 24: More Holiday Cheer With Rocky McIntosh

Yesterday, I posted pictures of Rocky McIntosh‘s stunning Christmas ensemble, but you really can’t appreciate the awesome majesty of the Rocky Holiday Experience without seeing it in motion and hearing the dulcet tones of “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer”.

Thank goodness for this video, then. Happy holidays!

Tuesday Redskins Links – 12/23

• So the 49ers are growing throwback mustaches to go with their throwback uniforms this Sunday, which has prompted an outbreak of Redskins Mustache Nostalgia. Leading the photographic charge is Mr. Irrelevant, with the Sports Bog combing through the archives for text ‘staches. The Clint Didier picture above is my contribution.
• Riggo’s Rag argues both sides of keeping Coach Zorn, while Fatpickled takes a bittersweet run through the ifs of 2008.
• The epic struggle of Chris Cooley attempting to conquer a gingerbread house.
• Oh, and also: FOX 43 in Hampton Roads, Virginia, will still be broadcasting the Redskins game, even after the flexing of the schedule. Just a public service announcement to save people from having to call the station.

Pictures From The Vaults

There’s a lot of history here at Redskins Park — trophies, memorabilia, things like that. And pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. Most of them are tucked away in file folders, out of sight and out of thought until you need them (like the Sammy Baugh photos until the sad events of this past week), but today I stumbled across a stack of photos and thought a few of them were worth sharing.

Photo by Robert Peyton Sherwood

Mark Moseley and Joe Theismann, presumably on the set of some kind of talk show. Both of these guys look remarkably the same despite the passing of 25-ish years.

‘Tis The Season At Redskins Park

Only two shopping days left until Christmas — and if you’ve been meaning to give Chanukah presents, now would be an excellent time to do so — and the folks at Redskins Park are getting into the spirit of things. Andre Carter was wrapping presents in the lobby, a Redskins-ornamented Christmas tree stands in front of the 70th anniversary team picture, and the training room has its own tree, complete with holiday CD collection.

Players are ducking in briefly before heading out to finish their holiday shopping. “One more gift left to buy,” said Pete Kendall. I asked if he had an easier time bulling through the crowds, given that he blocks for a living, and he shook his head. “I hate crowds, because I don’t try to plow through ‘em. I always find myself–” and he mimed twisting and turning through a crowd.

I suggested that this made him more of a Barry Sanders type than a Jerome Bettis type, and he laughed. “I don’t know that I’d use that exact analogy,” he said, before leaving to take his daughter shopping.

If you’ve ever worked in an office, it’s pretty standard holiday workplace stuff. And every workplace has the Wacky Guy Who Gets Very Excited And Dressed Up For The Holidays; at Redskins Park, it’s Rocky McIntosh.