Season's Greetings from The Curly R

From all of us at The Curly R, best wishes for this holiday season, and I hope Father Christmas brings you some special gifts too.

-Ben Folsom

Other Curly R season's greetings: 2006 :: 2007 :: 2008 :: 2009



Lantern Waste from here via here.

BULL FUCKING SHIT

Are you fucking kidding me

What the fuck is this fucking shit, I sit here minding my own business eating my lunch when I see a headline pop into Redskins Insider:

Rex Grossman to start over Donovan McNabb Sunday

That would be this Sunday, at Dallas, bitter NFC Beast Division rival Dallas, a team the Redskins can still sweep in the season series.

And Mike Shanahan is going to bench Donovan in favor of Rex Grossman.

This is really over the line, I have watched how coach Shanahan has handled himself this season and I am very disappointed, cutting Ladell Betts then Willie Parker and Larry Johnson left the team with no experienced tailback backing up the injury prone Clinton Portis and Ryan Torain, the Albert Haynesworth standoff in training camp went too long into the season and hurt the defense. Benching Donovan in the Lions game then spinning bullshit about it. Cutting the holder after the kicker missed two in a winnable game then making up a bullshit excuse.

Maybe that year out of football did nothing to shrink his ego, maybe he is mad with the power Dan Snyder has given him, maybe he is showing off for his son, maybe he just wants to piss Redskins fans off, maybe he really needs to see the place burnt down before he can rebuild it in his own image.

Whatever the deal, this is wrong.

And it is not just wrong because I support Donovan and want to see him play and get some return on that investment. It is wrong because the team will net nothing by playing Rex Grossman.

Washington may win Sunday with Rex, sure, even Danny Wuerffel won games as a starter, that is not the point. The point is that we already know everything we need to know about Rex. He has had his shot, he was in Chicago for six years and could not hold the starting job the year after he took his team to the Super Bowl. His success came largely from the scheme the Bears employed at the time and he is a turnover machine. Years of future success in Washington will not be achieved with Rex Grossman under center.

You only sit a healthy established starter at the end of a season when you have no postseason to play for, and when that starter may not be there next season. But Dono is under contract so it is the team's option, not the player's to have him back.

If Mike Shanahan was serious about seeing what is in the kitty for 2011 he would be starting John Beck, the darling of Kyle Shanahan, my guess is that head coach Shanahan would not start John Beck on a dare meaning this is not about Rex or the future, it is about putting Donovan in his place.

And all the bullshit about lowest rated passer and worst season of his career, that is all bullshit. This is just wrong and win or lose Sunday Redskins fans just lost some more faith in their team.

=====

Some quick reaction I have received in person, by phone, email and text since 11:30 am when the story broke:

Lifetime Eagles fan, season ticket holder and Curly R reader/lurker Wilbert Montgomery, via email: Talk about a place in total chaos at this point. I thought Shanny would prevent this sort of shit from happening. Didn't DMac have an over 100 passer rating last week?

The wife, Mrs. Curly R, via phone: They have no idea what they are doing, didn't they cut the holder after the kicker messed up?

Former co-worker Rob, via phone: Dude our team is sooooooooo dysfunctional.

Eagles fan and former roommate James, via text message: Sexy Rexy to start? McNabb out of gas or out of favor?


Post your quick reaction in comments.



Donovan McNabb: Getty Images from here.

What Should I Do?

Jamie Lee Curtis?

Comedian slash Redskins fan slash radio host Danny Rouhier is out with his week twelve video that I first thought was supposed to represent Danny's internal dialogue then I see in the video description that it is a parody of a LeBron James commercial, not only do I not know this commercial, I am not even sure I could pick LeBron James out of a lineup because you see I AM A FOOTBALL FAN.



YouTube from here.

Thanksgiving Football Thread

Grilled

A Happy Thanksgiving to you and all your family and hangers on from us here at The Curly R, this year we are back in Dumfries at the home of the Folsom parental units, grilled turkey and football all day. And now on to the timeline:

0230 Realize neighbor and cable TV holdout Tony Almeida and I have been talking about his project to distribute media into all rooms of his house and drinking whiskey for way too long, depart, corn chips and a big water, asleep on the couch.

0600 Awakened by kids ready to watch TV, move to kids room, fall back asleep.

0900 Once again the wife offers the option to stay home and sleep or get up and go with the family to a Turkey Trot road race, once again she seems surprised when I choose to stay home and sleep, move up to my own bed, close eyes and quiver.

1045 Hear family coming back into house, get up and pretend oh yeah honey I'm up, why do you ask? Shower, pack kids for overnight at Grandma's.

1215 Depart Alexandria for Dumfries, realize too late the early game, Patriots at Lions, starts at 12:30pm, not 1pm, fail to get football picks in for this game.

1305 Arrive Dumfries, realize parents no longer have wireless router I left with them specifically so I can get wireless in their house, go to plan B, fire up wireless hotspot app on iPhone, what an awesome feature.

1400 Halftime of Patriots-Lions game, blink hard to be sure I see what I think I am seeing, Lions leading by seven points. Cringe in embarrassment for Kid Rock in the halftime performance, it is an obvious lipsync and even so he sounds terrible.

1430 Time to eat, grilled turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, ambrosia, stuffing and gravy, cranberries, deviled eggs, rolls. My mom can still bring it on Thanksgiving.

1620 So much for that Lions lead, they get killed, on to the Saints at Cowboys, FOX is really lathering on the we heart our troops bit, I think exploitative is too strong a word, and if it improves troop morale then maybe it is ok, I tend to think the job of our deployed troops is sufficiently serious that we should not be mixing it up too much with broadcast entertainment. It kind of smacks of permanentizing wartime. Oh by the way I hate the fucking Cowboys.

1715 So far this game is going the way I want, off from parents' house back to Alexandia, sans kids, the wife and I will be taking a food coma nap then going to see a show later at 9:30 Club, Donavon Frankenreiter who is the guy that does the I wish that I knew what I know now song.

1830 Returned home, wallowing in post meal fatness for an hour or so before drinks with friends before the show, we are kidless for the evening.

2100 Crash wife's friend's family Thanksgiving party, feel lucky I brought a flask, this is a beer and wine crowd. Now heading out to show.

2330 Show over, it was great, Donavon Frankenreiter put on a great show, we head to Nellie's sports bar in the neighborhood for a nightcap then head home.

0130 26 Nov 2010, the wife is in bed, I am cleaning up the scene, final water and chips and I head to bed, hope everyone had a good turkey day.


Other Curly R Thanksgiving threads: 2006 :: 2007 :: 2008 :: 2009




Photo by me of the turkey being grilled by the other Redskins fan named Ben Folsom.

Allistair Spotswoolingtonworth

This season McNabb has fallen over several times

Comedian slash Redskins fan slash radio host Danny Rouhier is out with his week eleven video, a sober introspection on how the fuck Donovan McNabb keeps tripping on his center's feet at the snap. If you thought it was Casey Rabach's size eleventeen sneakers that were getting in the way, the Titans game with all its injuries provides useful insight: DONOVAN TRIPPED OVER WILL MONTGOMERY'S FEET TOO. WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH THIS?

Get on over to Danny's YouTube channel and give some loves.



YouTube from here.

"We rob them of their dreams"

Fallen

In pitch perfect style Redskins fan slash comedian slash radio host Danny Rouhier goes Behind the Music with the Redskins for his week ten video, ever notice how you cannot get on BtM unless you made a bunch of money then lost it all or got hooked on drugs or lost a limb or something? Yeah the Redskins are like that.



YouTube from here.

Handy Accessory

Let me get that for you

Quick Saturday bye week post to show off my latest piece of Redskins gear, a coworker was kind enough to gift me this Redskins keychain bottle opener and as it happens I have an immediate and relevant use for it, lifetime Eagles fan, season ticket holder and Curly R reader/lurker Wilbert Montgomery has invited me to join him tomorrow for the Colts at Eagles game in Philadelphia and I think we may want to open a beer or two in the process.

Now that I have a real communications device check me on twitter.com/curlyr throughout the day as I microchronicle the oh so pleasant experience of attending an Eagles game as a (plausibly) neutral fan, I will also photochronicle this game for your enjoyment.

Hope you are having a great and Redskins free bye weekend.



Photo by me.

You Tell Him I Will Straight Up Bench His Ass

Donovan's like so fat

Danny Rouhier is out with his week eight video on the Lions debacle, among his best work yet. For just a second this season I thought the Redskins were going to be good and we would not need Danny.

WRONG AGAIN BEN



YouTube from here.

Got to Get this Out Before It Goes Away

99.9%? Me?

I have been participating in the ESPN football pool with college friends every year since 2000, during the years when I first had kids my performance dropped off precipitously, then again when I first started up Curly R and had little brainspace for the rest of the league. Still I stuck with it, the pool is a constant and besides the other guys shame me into it when I waffle.

Apparently I am in tune with this NFL season, the image you see above is my profile, 69 games picked correctly through seven NFL weeks, straight up no spread, good enough to place me in the 99.9th percentile, and 307th overall in the game. Tony Almeida first pointed this out to me two weeks ago when I was ranked in the hundredth percentile, with a top hundred ranking.

Looking at some numbers, check the leaderboard for non spread games, 76 is the overall leader, seven games separate me and the leader, 306 spots ahead of me.

On the backside though the competition is much stiffer. I am in two non spread pools, in one the second place player has 65 wins, four fewer than me, placing him in the 98.2th percentile and nearly seven thousand spots behind me.

In the other the second place player is seven spots behind me, the same distance between me and the leader, 62 games is good for the 92.0th percentile, and over thirty two thousand spots behind me.

There is no way that I can see to measure the total player community, conservatively if the top tenth of one percent is rounded to 300 players then the total community is ((300*10)*100) = three hundred thousand players, estimated.

Of course now that I have recognized my performance I expect to tank out of the top echelon, one bad week can drop a player thousands of spots



Screencap of my ESPN Pigskin Pick'em profile here.

Whatever...

...Dallas is 1-5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Redskins fan slash comedian slash radio host slash newlywed Danny Rouhier is out with his video wrapping the week seven win over the Bears, money quote:

You realize that when [quarterback Donovan] McNabb threw that [second] pick six, we were saved by our own ineptitude, on the delay of game penalty. We screwed up to prevent ourselves from screwing up even worse. That's our offense right now. [munches nuts]

Even in paradise they know Dallas sucks.



YouTube from here.

Outlased?

Srsly?

Great to see the NFL has their best copy editors on the Redskins beat.



Screencap of NFL Gamecenter from here.

Little Bit Like an Episode of Full House

A show I never watched but I don't hold this against Danny

Danny Rouhier is out with his week six video wrapping the loss to the Colts, Danny tell us what you really think of Cris Collinsworth, and double internets for the David Terrell reference.



YouTube from here.

Happy Birthday LaRon Landry

Harbinger of BOOM

Please join me and the entire staff of The Curly R in wishing a happy birthday to Redskins safety LaRon Landry, LaRon turns 26 years young today.

A first round pick of the Redskins in 2007 out of Louisiana State University, LaRon is in his fourth season with Washington, LaRon has truly come into his own in 2010 with a defensive scheme that allows him to maximize his talents for roaming sideline to sideline and knocking the shit out of opposing players. In five games so far this season LaRon leads the NFL by one measure in total tackles and solo tackles and there is no question he is one of the NFL's most improved players this season, he is laying a streak of fear everywhere he goes and even Sports Illustrated's Peter King is wondering if anyone in the NFL right now is playing better defense than LaRon Landry.

After projecting as a strong safety, playing near the line, coming into the NFL, LaRon was forced into duty as a pass covering free safety after the shooting death of teammate Sean Taylor in 2007, in 2008 LaRon seemed to embrace this position and like the team overall thrived in the first half of the season before looking vulnerable and falling prey to weaknesses and lack of discipline as a 6-2 started ended with an 8-8 finish.

In 2009 LaRon seemed to suffer from a lack of coaching and or a lack of focus as his vulnerability to receiver stutter moves became the stuff of jokes among football fans, last season ended with LaRon moved back up to the line, though still looking out of position and making mistakes and many Redskins fans wondered if LaRon was always going to be a headhunter, looking for the big hit, at the expense of the less than occasional late hit, and not able to assess the play developing at the line.

Come into 2010 and LaRon is the poster child for what is working in the Redskins switch to a 3-4 defense, LaRon can present so many looks and is so versatile in this defense that opposing offenses must account for him on every play. LaRon has one forced fumble and pulled in one interception, both in the Green Bay game Sunday, the forced fumble ended the Packers opening drive after two plays and the interception saved the game for the Redskins.

That is by no means the extent of LaRon's defensive contribution this season, he is laying some of the hardest wood I have ever seen and opposing players know what happens when LaRon meets you: You lose, a visibly exhausted receiver DeSean Jackson pulling up rather than be creamed by LaRon on the next to last play of the Eagles game two weeks ago happened right in front of my seats, I am telling you that for every hit LaRon lays this season there is a video session happening for all future opponents where the skill position players look at each other in silence and hope they are not the guy to get bricked.

Give him a new contract and I MEAN LIKE RIGHT NOW.


Happy birthday LaRon!



LaRon Landry: Getty Images from here. Apologies to Speed Racer the movie for the tagline.

It's Getting Harder

But I'll try

Danny is out with his week five video wrapping the Packers game, in which he sports the rocking Washington Bullets throwback jersey and nitpicks a few things about the 3-2 Redskins. Bonus points for the Matt Bowen reference.



YouTube from here.

Conflatulations Danny Rouhier

Marriage and the Redskins are sacred bonds

Danny Rouhier is out with his week four video, we learn the terrifying details of Danny's Eagles gameday experience, Danny actually flatlined and for a time was clinically dead.

As a married man I can say with authority that faking your own death is not sustainable as a method of blocking game time on Sundays.



YouTube from here.

They're Calling it 'The Clinton Portis'

Film at eleven

Danny Rouhier is out with his week three video, a sneak peak at the evening news, team coverage of a disturbing new trend and visual confirmation of a long assumed theory on news anchors work attire.

Get over and subscribe to his channel, Danny makes us laugh in good times and keeps us afloat in the bad.



YouTube from here.

They're Here

Gotta support the team

The set is complete, the kids' jerseys arrived today, Brian Orakpo for Josh and a refresh of Clinton Portis for Will to go along with my Donovan McNabb and the three year old's non numbered jersey, these jerseys replace the ones they got in 2005, they have long grown out of those. Unfortunately I read the sizing wrong and these are a little big for eight year olds but what the heck, they will grow into them. Football Jersey Rule One does not apply until you can buy your own.

The boys will be christening their new jerseys in thrilling fashion, lifetime Eagles fan, season ticket holder and Curly R reader lurker Wilbert Montgomery has invited them to join us for our annual trek to Eagles Stadium, Sunday's game will be our 22nd of the past 23 Redskins-Eagles games, my twentieth straight rivalry game and my eleventh Redskins-Eagles game in Philadelphia.

Tonight I tried to tell them it is not going to be all fun and games wearing burgundy and gold to an Eagles game in Philadelphia, not least Donovan's return, not leaster a game for the Division lead, kids younger than Josh and Will have cursed me a blue streak in that city, usually in tandem with their fathers. They were not ready to hear it, tonight was a night to let them wallow in the joy of graduating to a ritual their father and godfather have executed since before they were born.

We will talk personal safety later.



Photo by me.

It's Here

Looks good in burgundy and gold

After some unnecessary delays in the ordering process, mainly having to do with outfitting new jerseys for my eight year old sons who have outgrown their Clinton Portis and LaVar Arrington jerseys from 2005, we finally decided their new jerseys will be Clinton Portis and Brian Orakpo, my number five Donovan McNabb jersey arrived today.

After never wearing a football jersey in my life before the 2005 Redskins-Buccaneers playoff game, I have worn number 89 Santana Moss every gameday the past four seasons. With Dono coming to Washington there was never a question about whether I would change.

I will be christening this jersey on a fitting gameday, this Sunday lifetime Eagles fan, season ticket holder and Curly R reader/lurker Wilbert Montgomery and I travel to Philadelphia for our 22nd rivalry game in the past 23, this will be my twentieth straight(!) Eagles-Redskins game, our streak of games goes back to the 1999 season, Donovan McNabb's rookie year.



Photo by me.

An Open Letters

Who needs a lead?

Danny Rouhier is out with his week two video, open letters to the Jason Campbell apologists, Redskins personnel staff and DeAngelo Hall, we also get an intimate and unscripted look at Danny's reaction to Sunday's collapse. Head over and subscribe to his video channel.



YouTube from here.

Giant Shitburger

Little bitchpants

Comedian, radio host and Redskins fan Danny Rouhier is back, one of the best parts of last season's 4-12 debacle was Danny's weekly YouTube videos, here Danny riffs on the game one victory over the Cowboys. Enjoy and head over to Danny's YouTube channel and subscribe.



YouTube from here.