Going Forward...

There have been some questions as to the future of this page. As of right now, I’m 50-50 on whether I’m coming back next year.

Let’s start with college basketball. As excited as I am about Maryland’s chances next season, especially considering how bad the rest of the ACC coaches are becoming, the new expansion rule will completely kill college basketball’s regular season as we know it. A 96-team field would devalue the regular season for most of the power conference teams. As of right now, all Maryland has to do is win 20 games and they’ll be in the tournament. In a new 96-team postseason, the Terps will probably only need to win 16 or 17 games. They’d only have to go 8-8 in the ACC. So what’s the point of talking about 16 conference games and the biggest three-to-five out-of-conference games if Maryland only has to win half of them?

Maryland would almost be assured of a NCAA Tournament bid before the season began. It would take a .500 overall record combined with a 6-10 ACC record to keep the Terps out of the New Dance. Even without Greivis Vasquez, I put the chances of Maryland winning at least 17 games next season at about 90-10. So again, I don’t see a point in writing about 20 or so virtually meaningless games. I can only make fun of Sidney Lowe so many times.

Now to the Redskins, which is the real reason I keep this page up. The Skins have gone from Jim Zorn-Jason Campbell to Mike Shanahan-Donovan McNabb. Even the most anti-Redskin football fan has to see that as a significant upgrade. However, even with that changeover, will it make the Redskins a playoff team? Probably not. As of right now, I see a maximum four game improvement from the Redskins, which would probably put them squarely in 3rd place in the NFC East and at least one game out of a playoff spot. And that’s if everything goes well. 6-10 or 7-9 is more likely at this point. I know that the off-season isn’t close to over. I know the Redskins haven’t even drafted yet. Maybe they’ll do the right thing by drafting Russell Okung and then turn around and sign a free agent lineman (of which there are still plenty of attractive options). Maybe they’ll make a couple of smart trades for additional draft picks.

But take a good long look at this team. I can’t be expected to root for Larry Johnson. I can’t be expected to root for Albert Haynesworth (even though I defended Big Al last season, his actions in the offseason have made him completely unworthy of any fan affection). Most importantly, I can’t possibly be expected to root for McNabb. I have spent the last decade rooting vehemently against him. I’ve never liked him, not for one second. I can’t even pretend to like him. If he somehow wins ten games, maybe he’ll start changing my mind. Chances are he’ll oversee a team that’s going to finish close to .500. Chances are I’ll blame him for the Redskins shortcomings. How many times over the four months of football season can I write the same thing over and over again? It felt like I did exactly that last season when I criticized Greg Blache every single week. I’m not going to go through another football season like the last one. By October, I was tired of writing about the Redskins and I have a strong feeling that you tired of reading about them. And I have a feeling 2010 will be a lot like 2009.

Hopefully the Redskins will keep taking steps towards improving the team. As usual, I become more optimistic about the Skins the closer it gets to September. So maybe by July, I’ll be a little more inspired to keep doing this page. I would also like to see more reader interaction in the comments section. The first few years I did this page saw a good deal of readers' comments. The last couple of years have been pretty poor. If I can get more interaction from the readers, then I would commit right now to coming back for my sixth season. As of this moment, I’m going on my typical summer hiatus. Don’t expect anything to pop up here until late July or Early August. Everybody have a great summer, and if all goes well, I hope to see you back here for Redskins football in the fall.