Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

I don't know how many Wizards fans there are in this forum (or how many Wizards fans there are period), but I am always #1 a Redskins fan; and #2 a Wizards fan.

I never thought I would actually say this, but reading about and watching the Wizards is giving me more pleasure than reading about and watching the Redskins.

One of the main reasons for this is that the Wizards are a well managed team. They brought in an established general manager two years ago, and he promptly made a key FA acquisition and a great trade that have turned the Wizards into a contender in the east. Furthermore, the Wizards have been working hard to resign their own young free agents and develop a sense of continuity amongst the players.

I think the Redskins (and Dan Snyder in particular) should take a long hard look at the Wizards, and realize two things:

1. A good general manager can go a long way.
2. Owners should own; general managers should manage the team; coaches should coach; and players should play.

Its not rocket science, but it is amazing how often ego gets involved and has negative side-effects on sports franchises.

What do you guys think?

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

That's a pretty true statement. It seems like the deepest correlation to any type of problem with the Redskins organization lies within the ego department. We have Smoot not wanting to take a few million less than he wants. We have Coles asking to be released because he wasn't happy with the way things were headed. We have people like Brunell who are now sitting the bench and should have earlier possibly due to Job Gibbs' ego.

It is a true statement indeed and I believe is seen all across the sporting world.

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

I mean when I really think about it, if I were to have the skills and talents to be a professional athlete, all I would really want is to have enough money to have a truly comfortable life for me and my family. If that would be a 10 mil signing bonus, so be it. But after that, it would truly be for the love of the game.

It's hard to say that even 1% of players in the NFL take the game first and the payday second. If people played in the NFL truly for the love of the game, they would forgo the fleet of Escalades, the 12 mansions and all of the other ludacrous things that rich people blow their money on and use what money they are paid to get by.

I mean it must truly take some nerve to get paid 4-10 million dollars a year and then ask for more. I mean think about that, I bet the combined income of pretty much all of the regulars on this board in their ENTIRE lifetimes will never equal even one year of salary for a pro-athlete.

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

the thing is, pro-sports have only been in recent years starting to get paid really high amounts. it doesnt help the fact with the yankees having probably close to a billion dollar pay-roll. but then again they do fairly well every year. if i played sports the league minimun would be great for me what is it, 300,000-500,000? thats really nice. you can still own a fleet of cars with that. you can still own more than 2 houses with that. whatever.

good analysis of the wizards analysis. most basketball teams are well managed i would have to say. its a shame that people dont follow basketball as much as football or baseball. i am going the wizards vs rockets game on march second thank god for college night.

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

Maybe it's me but Abe Pullin (sp?) is a real cock and makes Daniel Snyder look like an angel when it comes to owners.

I'm suprised the Wizards haven't choked yet. They've looked great before, and lost it at the last minute every time. I'd still like to see Arenas moved to SG and Larry at PG. Oh well!

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

yeah ive been a wizards fan my whole life

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

Am I the only one that hates the new name/jerseys? I liked the Bullets!

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

[QUOTE=Daseal]Am I the only one that hates the new name/jerseys? I liked the Bullets![/QUOTE]

I'm a big Lakers fan. But it still bugged me when the "Bullets" threw out there history by changing there name & jerseys. :vomit-smi Why? Becuse it might offend somone? The "Bullets" were cool.

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

go 76ers. ai deserves more than what he's got on his team. but i dont think he'll ever want to leave philly

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

ABE POLON SUX!!!! So does Danny boy!!! Go Wizards good to be able to enjoy a basketball game from time to time now.

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

Hey sorry guys, I'm only down with you guys, because we love the Redskins, but I reside in San Antonio, Texas, and the Spurs are the Shit....so I don't like the wizards, capitols...nothing like that....lets agree that the Redskins are love of our lifes...and not bring BBall in this......

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

Good post Drift:

I agree that the Wiz are coming out of a very dark period due to good managing and a calm coach. But don't give up on the Skins yet.

Remember that last year the Wizards had Coach Jordan and Ernie Grunfeld and they were horrible, in large part due to injuries and a bad quarterback, uh, I mean Jerry Stackhouse. Continuity has been one of the reasons for the Wizards' success, even if it means resigning role players like Etan Thomas when the price may have seemed a bit steep. That is why team guys like Smoot are so important to resign, even if the price seems high.

I believe that the Redskins are progressing and will make similar strides to the Wizards next season under Coach Gibbs. This past season, however, the Skins looked a lot more like the Knicks than the Wiz. (Spend a ton, high expectations, no playoffs).

Arenas for three.....DAGGER!!!

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

P.S. Wewhite, Manu Ginobili is awesome. Easily one of the most exciting guys to watch in the NBA (makes up for Duncan being so boring to watch).

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

Yeah they get rid of the Bullets because it might offend somebody? I hate to be the bearer of bad news to Washington sports fans but our own beloved team also seems to offend other "certain" people and you don't see the SKINS changing their names. It's just about tradition. Too much PCness these days.

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

Not to mention - at least Bullets was descriptive of DC! If they were going to change it they should have been called the Traffic Jams.

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

I'm glad you brought up Le Bule'!

Nothing worse than a Never-Ending-Basketball-Association game to take up air waves! Ugh! Less than 22% of Americans like the game! I'm in the Majority!

Talking heads spend way too much time on both the scores and the game!

The college game is great, but the NBA, is not as well played! Guys don't even know how to run a decent inside-out offense, few screens, fewer backscreens, and skip passes, and payers only know how to either Dunk, or shoot 3 pointers! No medium range game!

NFL, MLB yes! NBA, & NHL, No!

Don't get me started on Nascar! My favorite time to listen to Nascar, is with my table saw, or router running full blast, or I never stop the dial to listen at all! Give me a break! A fair assessment of any race is as follows:

Cars go fast!
Then, turn left! Big deal, I do more than that to get to work!

Most of all, why are we talking about NBA on the Redskins talk forum? Shouldn't this be parked in the parking lot, out on M street someplace?

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

I'm NFL > NBA > Soccer > NHL > Ping Pong > MLB . NASCAR > Wrestling. Last two are debatable. Nascar isn't even a sport, in my opinion. But as far as television events that aren't regular programs!

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

i love the wiz!!! i'm so glad they are having some success after sitting through two decades in the doldrums. i remember the days of bernard king and jeff malone... but also the days of pervis ellison and sky walker.... and the trades were made by senile wes unseld (ben wallace for ike austin, rasheed wallace for rod strickland, chris webber for 60 year-old mitch richmond and some shoes)...

but i think one thing has me thinking positive about the nba- it's lebron james. if some of you b-ball enthusiasts stopped watching a few years ago, go ahead and check this guy out. as doug collins said during a game, "this kid can do it all... it's refreshing."

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

LeBron James career could shadow MJs. I remember downloading some Lebron high school clips when he was getting hyped still in high school. It was unreal how he dogged top tier guys. He was playing against the basketball farm teams who take kids with bad grades, help them out (easy classes) so they can get into college to play ball. I mean, he was going against the best kids his age, and no one was close.

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

Lebron is one of those rare athletes who seems to have actually exceeded the hype bestowed upon him. The remarkable thing about him is that, while many players in the past decade have been anointed the next Jordan, before King James came along you really never heard of anyone being anointed the next Magic Johnson. But Lebron has the size and court vision to be the next Magic (on the court) and that's remarkable.

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

I was amazed at his maturity in his rookie season - and his modesty. I think he'll be an amazing player.

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

Interesting how this thread moved on to LeBron.

I have faith in the Redskins - but it certainly looks grim now...

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

Yea if we truly were getting rid of the name the Bullets then why are they wearing those trowbacks with the name the Bullets and better yet allowing Arenas to use that jersey in the All Star Skills Challenge.

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

[QUOTE=maxknee]the thing is, pro-sports have only been in recent years starting to get paid really high amounts. it doesnt help the fact with the yankees having probably close to a billion dollar pay-roll. but then again they do fairly well every year. if i played sports the league minimun would be great for me what is it, 300,000-500,000? thats really nice. you can still own a fleet of cars with that. you can still own more than 2 houses with that. whatever.

good analysis of the wizards analysis. most basketball teams are well managed i would have to say. its a shame that people dont follow basketball as much as football or baseball. i am going the wizards vs rockets game on march second thank god for college night.[/QUOTE]

Hey Maxknee.......football is MY PASSION, NBA is my HOBBY! The Wizards have improved dramatically this year. Yes good scouts and a decent GM certainly help. I'm a Spurs fan myself, and our winning formula is to select players that are willing to share the ball and be unselfish in order to win games. While many basketball teams are successful...the exceptions have to be Clippers, Warriors, and look at the Atlantic Division in the
East only one team above .500. I'd take the NBA minimum of $250,000 and sit on the bench and waive a towel. "Tough" work if you can get it. Good Luck to the Wizards and please BEAT the Rockets, my Spurs haven't. I can't stand Tracy McGrady
!

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

[quote]go 76ers. ai deserves more than what he's got on his team. but i dont think he'll ever want to leave philly[/quote]

Well, Maxknee... The 76ers just acquired Chris Webber and Jamal Mashburn -- someone got their wish!

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

[QUOTE=Riggo44]I'm a big Lakers fan. But it still bugged me when the "Bullets" threw out there history by changing there name & jerseys. :vomit-smi Why? Becuse it might offend somone? The "Bullets" were cool.[/QUOTE]


Your a Lakers fan................... :smashfrea
Spurs fan here..........please dont mention the .04 shot by Fischer last year............... :biggthump

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

[QUOTE=Daseal]Well, Maxknee... The 76ers just acquired Chris Webber and Jamal Mashburn -- someone got their wish![/QUOTE]

that move was done to keep AI happy and in Philly.............

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

Mashburn is bad as hell - Webber I still have questions about! Let's see if AI stops taking 90 shots a game now!

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

Mashbun is done. He's not playing another game this year and most likely will retire once the season is over. Getting Rodney Rogers though, that could be big. He has playoff experience with the Nets and with AI driving and Webber in the low post that should free up room out on the perimeter for Korver and Rogers to bury some threes

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

Really? Damn -- I'm out of it. Mashburn used to be so good!

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

LOL I'm soooo out of touch with the NBA

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

NFL >>>>>>> NBA >> Ping Pong... imho, of course...

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

Is it just me or does it seem that pretty much the NFL has dominated other sports recently even more than it did a few years ago?

Re: Wiz and Skins: A Tale of Two Teams
 

[QUOTE=Mattyk72]LOL I'm soooo out of touch with the NBA[/QUOTE]

lol, this was really funny to read. This is a message board 'for teh knowledable fan.' And it is, but we have one thread about basketball and I just have to laugh at some of the things ive read. Clearly most people on this board concentrate on football more than basketball.

In responce to the thread though im extremely impressed with the Wizards this year. Playing as a team is so important in basketball, and instead of trading teh wizards gm came out and say that our blockbuster move was bringing back two of our best players from injury. They have a very young team thats always getting better. They have proved that they can lose two of their starters and still win, and now their bench has even more experience. Basically, they are doing what the patriots have been doing. Congrats Wizards