The disease has hit me again
 

This happens to me all the time, I fall ill with dilusion about the Redskins. At first, I always say what I think will really happen (which in this case is I initially thought that the Skins were going to suck), but then I start thinking, and thinking, and thinkings some more. And I always find a way to convince myself how the Redskins will kick ass. I initially thought that our D-line was a joke, Carter is OK, Griffin is OK, Daniels is junk, Golston is below average but might be good(and neither golston or griffin are run stoppers), and Salevea is junk. Our corners are a mystery (Rogers might improve, Springs always gets injured, and we dont know how Smoot will be with us even though he sucked last year), Our MLB is too old and will be productive but not great, Washington is still good but is 31 and on the downfall of his career, McIntosh is unproven, Taylor seems to be regressing but that might be a cause of our poor defense and not his fault, so that is a mystery, and Landry is a rookie and therefore is unproven. But the disease has now hit me and hit me hard. My heart now says that the skins Defense will be studly next year (even though my brain keeps telling me im wrong, that voice is fading away and will soon be gone). I now think that we have studs at every position except D-line, where Carter and Griffin are quality, and Daniels will be good against the run. Golston is now my only worry. Hes just not a run stopper, hes a pretty good pass rusher, but that makes both our dts pass rushers. (for the record, my ideas on offense have stayed the same, it will be ok averaging maybe 20 pts a game) Am I the only one who is constantly convincing himself to believe things that go against his better judgement. I know this is the NFL and anything can happen, but in all probability it wont.

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

Dude, we all catch it as we closer to September. Look back on my own posts, I've ripped GW and Gibbs up one side and down the other. But now they aren't looking so bad. I love them all over again.

That's the great thing about being a fan. It's a love/hate relationship. But usually any hate for your team gives way to the fan inside you.

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

...and the only prescription is [I]more cowbell![/I]

[IMG]http://www.forumspile.com/Needs-More-Cowbell.jpg[/IMG]

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

I'm relieved....I thought you had the Ramsey Rash. We've finally got that disease under control around here.

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

Sometime thinking can be a dangerous asset.

Check out "Why the 2007 defense will be in the top 10" posted by diehardskin 2982.

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

As much as I try to be a realist, I catch the fever in late summer too. A lot of it depends on preseason, but I'm already more positive than last season, since the [I]alleged [/I]starting quarterback isn't a geriatric feeb that throws five yard checkdowns on 3rd and 8.

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

Sorry, I can't help.
I'm a Classic Enabler!

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

I too am an enabler. While I try my best to think realisticly/Anti-Washington's success however you want to put it, I'm like Captain Optomism over the Summer. I could give you every reason why the Redskins would make it all the way to the Bowl. I sit in my office and think about how empty my building would be because everyone, well not everyone but at least me and about 5 other guys would be at the parade......BLASTED !!!!!!

I think everyone should be able to dream up their respective Super Bowl hopes, it's your right as a fan to do so. Now if we're in pre-season and the team looks like they did last year then we might want to squash those hopes and dreams. I have a friend who always gets mad, LITERALLY, because I always think the Skins will be good every year. He's a Texans fan, I tell him that you're allowed to dream big and have faith in your team at least until they look like utter shit on the football field.

Hail Joe Gibbs' 4th trophy !

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

[QUOTE=ArtMonkDrillz;308536]...and the only prescription is [I]more cowbell![/I]

[IMG]http://www.forumspile.com/Needs-More-Cowbell.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]

Man i love that sketch!

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

a dude in my office stopped by & asked about the draft yesterday. I proceeded to spend 10 minutes on what a solid draft if was for us, how JC & the O will be awesome, but that it all depends on how well the D comes together.
I started to say 10-6 or something like that, but I realized that I think that every year we're going to be good. Catching "the disease" is simply part of being a skins fan in the spring. Every year we do something, even this year we picked up Fletcher & Smoot and we're all starting to think the D will be back in the top 10.

So what I told the dude is that I see us as 7-9 at worst, but if team chemistry is rebuilt then we can win 3-5 more of those close games & have a great year. I think fans of any team have a hard time seeing things in the big picture because we spend all our time reading about our team & exaggerating every positive trait of every player & prospect. I mean is it realistic to get excited about Justin Hickman, an undrafted free agent? Probably not, but I couldn't help seeing this guy in my head speeding around Flozell Adams and tomahawking the ball out of Tony Homo's slippery right hand.

So yeah I get the disease & relapse every year. I honestly see this season as more about rebuilding the team's chemistry & identity, more than how much talent we have. We have enough talent to make the playoffs, but to me the real question is can we get back to playing inspired football as we saw in 05?

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

to me it is not a disease. It is enlightenment. Us that are enlightened are the few that know the truth.

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

Preach B.S.B !!!!

Preach !!!!

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

I've got the same affliction but not as bad as years past. Last year I just KNEW we were destined for the playoffs and convinced myself that the pre-season was meaningless. Anything less than 11 wins was inconceiveable.

Now I am optimistic we will be better than last year but not deluded that we are a budding powerhouse. I expect great things offensively but similar struggles on defense. I think our divsion is weaker with no Tuna or Tiki but I don't expect us to run thru it at a 6-2 clip as I expected last year.

Last year I had the full blown fever, now it just a bad case of the sniffles.

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

Personally, I go to a camp every spring where I am forced to pray b4 a cardboard cut-out of Joe Gibbs and scream "He is our savior". The counselors (Matty, Saden and Daseal) force me to give them money to recruit others to our cause and yell at me to do more. Sometimes they make me cry, but that's okay cause I am a Skinner and should cry when I have impure thoughts caused by looking at an Eagles Cheerleader calendar.

The crazy thing is I keep going back year after year. It makes me feel good.

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

[quote=12thMan;308531]Dude, we all catch it as we closer to September. Look back on my own posts, I've ripped GW and Gibbs up one side and down the other. But now they aren't looking so bad. I love them all over again.

That's the great thing about being a fan. It's a love/hate relationship. But usually any hate for your team gives way to the fan inside you.[/quote]

I'm still thinking disaster, but give me Schobel, Keyshawn, a stud DT, and a viable backup for Campbell ( rather than Brunell or Collins) and I'll start to lose my mind again.

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

[quote=Crazyhorse1;308581]I'm still thinking disaster, but give me Schobel, Keyshawn, a stud DT, and a viable backup for Campbell ( rather than Brunell or Collins) and I'll start to lose my mind again.[/quote]

I just can't imagine a sitution where the defense declines futher or that JC won't be better.

Those two things alone should be good for at least 2 or 3 games.

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

Please note that the is no cure for this disease! Even if you are not currently having flare ups it is still possible to spread this disease to others.

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

I think we are all infected with this disease. It's called being a FAN. It's a love/hate relationship that goes up and down with each incident. It's an automatic defense mechanism that engages when someone, who is not a Redskin fan, attempts to criticize our beloved team. We are the eternal optimists or pessimists depending on the circumstances. But what you can't do is discount our passion for our team and the sport.

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

[quote=Crazyhorse1;308581]I'm still thinking disaster, but give me Schobel, Keyshawn, a stud DT, and a viable backup for Campbell ( rather than Brunell or Collins) and I'll start to lose my mind again.[/quote]

keyshawn would do more than make you lose your mind - if we signed him, the warpath site might come down w/a virus!
Please Vinny, Danny & JOe; no Keyshawn in b & g!

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

See a doctor and get rid of it.

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

Some of you won't be able to believe this, but I too have become somewhat optimistic about this upcoming season.

Maybe it's because enough time has elapsed since that dreadful Giants game at the end of last season; because many people, including me to an extent, are starting to forget that ass-whipping and believe that we might not be as bad along the front four as conventional wisdom says.

Of course that can all change in an instant when the first preseason game rolls around and we start getting gouged up the middle.

But yeah, I've got a mild form of the 'disease' too.

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

I'm in denial of the disease.

I'll have family members continually come up to me and ask "Do you really think the Redskins are going to do anything this year?".

I'm always like... "oh man... you just wait, I can't wait...oh man... We're going to be solid.. (I then list off every reason why we're going to be solid).

They always reply to me "Oh, yeah, you say that every year".

"But no, this ones different. I'm telling you, you just watch, oh boy, you just watch"...

And then we go 5-11... and the cycle repeats itself.

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

[quote=RobH4413;308590]I'm in denial of the disease.

I'll have family members continually come up to me and ask "Do you really think the Redskins are going to do anything this year?".

I'm always like... "oh man... you just wait, I can't wait...oh man... We're going to be solid.. (I then list off every reason why we're going to be solid).

They always reply to me "Oh, yeah, you say that every year".

"But no, this ones different. I'm telling you, you just watch, oh boy, you just watch"...

And then we go 5-11... and the cycle repeats itself.[/quote]

I hear you Rob.......but this year I really, Really, REALLY, mean it!

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

I like that we are once again under everyone's radar (a la 2005). NFL Live is in the midst of their "8 divisions in 8 days" segment. They did they NFC East yesterday, and the only mention they made about the Skins at all was the fact that we are 9-21 against our division since 2003 (which almost made me puke).

Everyone thinks we'll stink, and we didn't have the ridiculous $offseason$ that normally surrounds our team with a media frenzy. And you know what, that's fine with me. Last year we were on everyone's top 5 list of superbowl contenders and we won a whopping 5 lousy games. I am so excited for this season. A lot of that is because I move back to DC in a month, but I think this team has so much potential. Sure the jury is out on the D-line, but we addressed every other need we had, Portis and Betts healthy together, stability at QB... Man, bring on Miami!!

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

Just wait until HESS returns in a few months when the Redskins can do no wrong and are on their way to the SB.. ;-)

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

[QUOTE=Beemnseven;308589]Some of you won't be able to believe this, but I too have become somewhat optimistic about this upcoming season.

Maybe it's because enough time has elapsed since that dreadful Giants game at the end of last season; because many people, including me to an extent, are starting to forget that ass-whipping and believe that we might not be as bad along the front four as conventional wisdom says.

Of course that can all change in an instant when the first preseason game rolls around and we start getting gouged up the middle.

But yeah, I've got a mild form of the 'disease' too.[/QUOTE]



Wouldn't it be nice if our defense could consistently play the way they did the first series of the first pre-season game against the Bengals? That initial effort was enough to cure any disease.

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

The NFL is a league where teams that were terrible the year before suddenly can break out and make a deep playoff run (see New Orleans Saints).

Anything is possible, and the fan in me can't help but be optimistic. But I try to remember what I saw with my own eyes during the season. After all the free agency talk and all the draft talk, it's easy to forget what we saw with our own eyes at the end of last season.

To me, our hopes basically boil down to two people: Gregg Williams and Jason Campbell. GW needs to scheme something up for our personnel. And our offense is only going as far as JC takes us. I don't have the fever, or the disease, but I do have hope.

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

[quote=Beemnseven;308589]Some of you won't be able to believe this, but I too have become somewhat optimistic about this upcoming season.

Maybe it's because enough time has elapsed since that dreadful Giants game at the end of last season; because many people, including me to an extent, are starting to forget that ass-whipping and believe that we might not be as bad along the front four as conventional wisdom says.

Of course that can all change in an instant when the first preseason game rolls around and we start getting gouged up the middle.

But yeah, I've got a mild form of the 'disease' too.[/quote]

I am not optimistic about our defense because of that game against NY. I mean Tiki just ran wild. Wasn't it like 235 yards??? You just don't see that in the NFL very often. Plus we made Travis Henry and Cadilac Williams look like Barry Sanders. Watching 65 year old Bob Whitfield maul Andre Carter does not make me optimistic about anything. Every team we face is going to run at the right side of our defense. AC is not strong enough at the point of attack and can't hold his ground. He should only be playing on passing downs. I am optimistic that we will tackle better. That's a correctable problem.

The bottom line is we can sit here and hope things get better. But the reality is it's going to take some time to rebuild the defense becasue of the lack of draft picks. We are simply going to have to outscore people in 07. 7-9 wins is what I'm expecting.

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

[quote=Schneed10;308615]The NFL is a league where teams that were terrible the year before suddenly can break out and make a deep playoff run (see New Orleans Saints).

Anything is possible, and the fan in me can't help but be optimistic. But I try to remember what I saw with my own eyes during the season. After all the free agency talk and all the draft talk, it's easy to forget what we saw with our own eyes at the end of last season.

To me, our hopes basically boil down to two people: Gregg Williams and Jason Campbell. GW needs to scheme something up for our personnel. And our offense is only going as far as JC takes us. I don't have the fever, or the disease, but I do have hope.[/quote]

I see your point but a HUGE part of why NO turned it around was Drew Brees. Can JC play to that level in his 1st year starting? Probably not. Plus they got back Deuce from injury and drafted Colston and Bush. Plus NO does have some high draft picks that have played well on their D-line. I sure would like to have Wil Smith and Charles Grant on our D-line. Plus they got Hollis Thomas from Philly. And I'll say this. Sean Payton is a really good coach. I love his aggessive play calling! The GM of NO ( Micky Loomis) did one hell of a job putting that team back together cause after Katrina that thing was a complete mess.

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

[QUOTE=Beemnseven;308589]Some of you won't be able to believe this, but I too have become somewhat optimistic about this upcoming season.
[/QUOTE]

You're right Beems! I don't believe you! lol j/k :laughing-

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

I have hope for the team and one of the reasons I think they can do great is the conference we are in! If we were in the AFC I would be much more worried, (kind of reminds me of the NBA Eastern Conference compared to the loaded Western Conference). As long as we don't have to go through New England, Indy or any of the other powerful AFC teams in the regular season and playoffs we have hope.

Overall even if we go 9-7 that is still not bad considering it will be the 1st full year with Jason Campbell as the starter. Yeah the Defense had a bad year last year, but maybe the additions of Smoot and Fletcher will really turn things around and get us to the level of the previous 2 years.

I was kind of glad that we did not go out there and become huge players in free agency and that the team showed some restraint. I think this year there were a large number of teams way under the cap and a lot of the teams decided to spend lavishly on players that are not going to live up to their contracts. Is Dockery really going to prove he is worth the massive signing bonus he is getting? How about Nate Clements - would you as a GM want that much of your cap tied to one player? I think depth is something that needs to be addressed as injuries are probably going to occur. Hopefully on D the Skins have got some depth at LB and the secondary and lets hold our breath and hope the D-Line gets by with what they got.

Finally I love that the media has counted the Skins out. We are on noone's radar and we are going to surprise some teams come next year.

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

For as long as I can remember I am always pumped during the offseason. "this is going to be our season" But over the last 10, there really hasn't been any thing to back that up. 1 season or 2 season's of playoff births is not the norm around here. The norm seems to be, overhyped offseasons, with mediocore seasons. I am as pumped up for this season as any. However, I am all ways sceptical about OUR team. This season is no exception. Our secondary is looking really good, quality players, quality depth. LB's are looking better. but the games are won in the trenches. I am sorry for just thinking our D line is just not that good. I have a hard time putting my faith in two 5th round draft picks from a couple of years ago. Golston may be situational, but Montgomery has never seen the field on a consistant basis. Griffin, I have no idea what happened to this guy, but he disappeared last year. Plus going to a different style of defense this year, may lead to some tough times in the early part of year. Which will lean heavily on the offense. I see us struggling again with our idenity. Our offensive line are comparable to big mack trucks. They like to run,run,run, move people out of the way, push them around and beat people up. Saunders offense just isn't that style. Now, if they can form some sort of hybrid offense of Joes and Saunders mixed together....maybe they will be ok. Obviously Campbell is the Key to this thing. I think he played well last year. I am big Campbell fan, i think he will be a good QB, but with everyone getting better in the division, its going to be really tough for us.

cautious optomism?? or realism?? who knows. But win or lose...I hope we go down swinging.

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

[QUOTE=skinsguy;308642]You're right Beems! I don't believe you! lol j/k :laughing-[/QUOTE]


Remember though, I said "[I]somewhat[/I]" optimistic. ;)

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

[quote=BeastsoftheNFCeast;308530]This happens to me all the time, I fall ill with dilusion about the Redskins. At first, I always say what I think will really happen (which in this case is I initially thought that the Skins were going to suck), but then I start thinking, and thinking, and thinkings some more. And I always find a way to convince myself how the Redskins will kick ass. I initially thought that our D-line was a joke, Carter is OK, Griffin is OK, Daniels is junk, Golston is below average but might be good(and neither golston or griffin are run stoppers), and Salevea is junk. Our corners are a mystery (Rogers might improve, Springs always gets injured, and we dont know how Smoot will be with us even though he sucked last year), Our MLB is too old and will be productive but not great, Washington is still good but is 31 and on the downfall of his career, McIntosh is unproven, Taylor seems to be regressing but that might be a cause of our poor defense and not his fault, so that is a mystery, and Landry is a rookie and therefore is unproven. But the disease has now hit me and hit me hard. My heart now says that the skins Defense will be studly next year (even though my brain keeps telling me im wrong, that voice is fading away and will soon be gone). I now think that we have studs at every position except D-line, where Carter and Griffin are quality, and Daniels will be good against the run. Golston is now my only worry. Hes just not a run stopper, hes a pretty good pass rusher, but that makes both our dts pass rushers. (for the record, my ideas on offense have stayed the same, it will be ok averaging maybe 20 pts a game) Am I the only one who is constantly convincing himself to believe things that go against his better judgement. I know this is the NFL and anything can happen, but in all probability it wont.[/quote]

the only thing that differs between you and me is that my bipolar swings occur in a condensed timeframe. Like, sat night I'll be talking about how much the skins blow (for the same reasons you mentioned- porous D, little O,...very frustrating), yet on the way to the game (or bar) I will have begun to fool myself into thinking that we will win, so much so, that by the time I arrive in my seats (or stool), I'm confident that CP and Betts will run for 300 yards (bc they can), Santana will catch 3 Tds (bc you can't stop all our weapons), and our D will hold whatever team we are playing to under 10 pts (usually led by spectacular plays by ST and MW).
Its a very, very mentally draining process (which starts the moment i leave the stadium or bar), but without it, we would have little hope these past many seasons (save 1). So i say, embrace our psychological imbalance, as I see it, its the only certainly in our Redskins lives...

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

It's too damn good knowing that I'm no the only one that catches that damn disease. I'm angry during the season but every time we acquire new faces, hope hits me again and I start being positive once again.

What a damn disease!!!!!

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

I'm a little bothered because for some reason, it's just not hitting me this year. It might be because I've been so damn busy recently that I haven't been able to take the time to think about football. It also may be that the O's have sucked the life out of me...AGAIN! Don't know, just not up for it quite yet.

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

Damn dude you got that crap again? I think it's gonna get the best of you yet

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

[quote=jdlea;308985]I'm a little bothered because for some reason, it's just not hitting me this year. It might be because I've been so damn busy recently that I haven't been able to take the time to think about football. It also may be that the O's have sucked the life out of me...AGAIN! Don't know, just not up for it quite yet.[/quote]

The O's have been sucking the life outta me for a long time. At least they can sweep Tampa Bay. Sigh....

Re: The disease has hit me again
 

Stop crying about the disease. Just do what I do. Stay drunk until they start winning. It numbs the pain.