I am the son of a die hard Red Sox fan. As long as I can remember, my dad has worn a Red Sox hat everywhere he went. He would go to Orioles games in the late 70's and early 80's with his Red Sox hat on and get heckled by O's fans. His retort was that if these O's fans were to travel to Fenway to root for the Orioles, the Red Sox faithful would treat them with gracious respect. Unfortunately, with the recent success of the Red Sox, those 39K+ seats in Fenway are always sold out, forcing those rabid fans to the far corners of the country to see their beloved Sawks. They even went to California. 

I was at the Angels - Red Sox game in Anaheim this past Friday, and I really got to see up close plenty of obnoxious Red Sox fans. They were drunken loudmouths, screaming obscenities in earshot of small children. You know, the kind of behavior usually reserved for Yankee fans. What a bunch of collossal douchebags. 

Papelbon prepares to perform fellatio on his oppenent. 

In the modern NFL, the Head Coach is a much more influential position than in any other major sport. In baseball, the manager just sits in the dugout, inexplicably dressed for the game (try to imagine an NBA coach suited up in shorts and jersey on the sideline, wouldn't that be great? Especially if they wore the shorty shorts they wore as players), and basically decides when to pull his starting pitcher, bunt, steal, and other minor decisions. A pro basketball coach inspires his team, sets the defense, draws up pick and rolls, but with only 5 guys on the floor, a great coach can't do much to change the course of a game if he's overmatched talent-wise. 

In pro football, the Head Coach can dictate much of how the football team operates. Even if a Head Coach has superior talent on the field, he can take his team out of a game by not allowing his talent to touch the ball. He draws up plays, puts coordinators in place to get the best out of his players, he gets the players motivated and hyped up to play on gameday. WIth only 16 games, the NFL is a crucible where one or two plays can make or break an entire season. 

Look at the new coach of the Washington Redskins, Jim Zorn. Zorn is coming into his first head coaching job, and at 55, he's been around long enough to know how tenious an NFL Head Coach opportunity can be. He's making the most of it, because he's hungry and has waited his whole post-playing life for this moment. Look at the coach he replaced, Joe Gibbs. Gibbs came into the job in 2004 as a stop-gap, thrown a lot of money by an owner embarrassed by the awful hire of the Ol' Ball Coach, Steve Spurrier. 

Gibbs was, from the start, just trying to get the team back to respectability. He already had 3 Super Bowl rings, a bust in Canton, and a successful NASCAR team. From the start, he seemed out of touch with the 21st century NFL. His players openly joked about not returning his calls, and there were whispers of team meeting misdeeds going unnoticed or unpunished. On the field, he played to not lose, getting small leads and then trying to hang on for dear life that the other team wouldn't score again. He couldn't even watch field goal attempts. He called 2 consecutive timeouts at the end of a crucial game last year during a potential game winning field goal, resulting in a 15 yard penalty giving the opposing team a chip shot to win. 

Zorn is a breath of fresh air. He gets his team ready to play, he preaches no turnovers, and Campbell is the only quarterback in the NFL without an interception. The players respect him, they play for him, and they are winning for him. 

I think it's great that former Redskins Head Coach Norv "the Neck" Turner is running the Chargers into the ground. At 2-3, the Chargers are sputtering, and I'm sure Norval's whining isn't going to change that tide any time soon. 

Huge win for the Redskins in Philly against the high flying Eagles offense. Again the Redskins defense has shut down a vaunted passing attack, and again they did it as underdogs. Many of the so called experts picked the Eagles to win, and they were 6 point favorites going into the game. My boy Pete Prisco picked them to lose by almost 2 touchdowns, but that's no shocker. He's picked the Redskins to lose every game this season, and they're 4-1. 

The funny thing about the game was that the refs blew 2 huge calls that resulted in 7 points given to the Eagles and took away an easy 7 from the Redskins. In the first quarter, the Eagles blocked a guy in the back clearly on the returned punt for a touchdown by DeSean Jackson, but the refs got confused and talked themselves out of holding up the penalty. Then, in the fourth quarter, Randle El was clearly not touched after a reception, no whistles blew, then he ran in for an easy touchdown, but a very late whistle blew, saying that he was down. 

Now comes another test for 4-1 rookie head coach Jim Zorn. How can you respond to now being heavy favorites in their next 3 games. Can Zorn Star get the Skins ready for 3 straight cupcakes on the schedule? Then, they have 2 home games against the Steelers and the Cowboys at home. The Redskins are 2-1 in hands down the toughest division in the NFL. Plus, all their division games left are at home. While nothing is a given in the modern NFL, it looks like the Redskins could be 7-1 going against the Steelers at home 4 weeks from now. 

The Washington Redskins marched into Texas Stadium and dominated the Dallas Cowboys for the last regular season matchup between the fierce rivals. No one outside of Washington believed the Redskins had a prayer against the vaunted Cowboys offense. Shockingly, Romo threw away the victory in the fourth quarter with a costly interception, vindicating those who think he is highly overrated when it comes to crunch time with the game on the line. 

The Cowboys were lauded as being the best team in the NFL before the Redskins came into their house and beat them soundly, far more so than the score would show. The recipe for beating the Cowboys? Run the football, control the time of possession, and take shots deep against their weak secondary. On defense, shut down their running game, and contain TO. After the game, the world's greatest teammate not named Randy Moss complained that he didn't get the ball enough. TO was thrown to or handed off to 21 times. The Cowboys ran 61 plays, and 1/3 of them went to TO. TO cried about it after the game, in typical me-first prima donna fashion, which Dallas receivers are famous for (see Irvin, Michael and Johnson, Keyshawn for other examples). 

The Redskins, hysterically 11.5 point underdogs, came into Dallas on a mission. Earth to sportswriters everywhere: DALLAS IS OVERRATED. Big time. And the Redskins? Highly, highly underrated. I don't think any national sportswriter has watched the Redskins after their 16-7 week 1 loss to the defending Super Bowl champion on the road in the first game with a totally new offense and a rookie head coach. Every national sportswriter wrote off the Redskins as being awful after that first game, even after solid wins against 2 previously undefeated teams, the Saints and the Cardinals. Virtually every power rankings listed the Cowboys, the Giants, and the Eagles as the 3 best teams in the NFL. The Redskins? Barely in the top 15, in some as low as 19. 

It was a very satisfying day of football, watching fatty head coach Wade "Son of a Bum" Phillips looking angry, confused, and blustering about missed calls. Hopefully, he knows where he left his keys. Of course, meddling douchebag owner Jerry Jones was on the sidelines, whining about the officials and generally getting in the way of his team coming from behind to steal a win. Meanwhile, Jim Zorn (-star), the new head coach of the Redskins looked comfortable and confident, smiling and coaching his protege, Jason Campbell. The Washington Redskins have a +6 turnover margin through their first 4 games, and are the only offense in the NFL without a turnover. Now that's called coaching. 

I hope that all you Cowboy fans out there lost money betting on your 'Boys. I hope TO loses all confidence in his "teammate" Tony Romo, and becomes the Locker Room Cancer that he was destined to be. Head coach Wade Phillips better watch out, because Jerry Jones' red headed stepchild coach in waiting Jason Garrett is eager to grab the keys (maybe he stole Wade's keys?) and coach the Dallas Cowboys. Be careful, Garrett, you might get what you wish for. 

For the 4th straight week, Pete Prisco of CBSSportsline.com has picked the Redskins to lose. For the 3rd straight week, he's been wrong. This week, he predicted the Cowboys would win 31-17. His rationale? "The Redskins can make a real statement with a road victory here. It won't happen. The Cowboys are too powerful on offense and the Redskins won't keep up. Jason Campbell or Tony Romo? Easy call." Yeah Pete, very easy call. I'd take Campbell any day of the week over Romo. Romo loses games, Campbell stays calm, adjusts, and makes plays. Pete, keep picking the Redskins to lose. We're on the road next week against a Philly team that just lost a close one. I know you're thinking the Redskins can't win it!  

Even after the historic 38-13 beatdown the Dolphins gave the Brady-less Patriots in Foxboro this weekend, the die hard Pats fans were out in force defending their beloved Red Sox, er, Pats. Yesterday I got an email from a Bill M. from Brunswick, ME, who is a die hard Patriots fan. Bill M. is the quintessential blind faith New England fan. Bill M., along with his father Clarence, actually believes that the 2007 New England Patriots, on the verge of a perfect 19-0 Super Bowl win, which would have cemented their place as the Greatest Team to Ever Play the Game, instead chose to deliberately lose the game at their coach's urging. Why? According to Bill M., the reason is simple: "To make Spygate go away." He reasoned that the Pats had dominated every other team they played all season, and so they must have lost only because they wanted to lose. Oh, and his explanation for The Catch? The Patriots let Eli get away, not taking him down when they could, giving him time to throw the long completion. How exactly the Patriots "allowed" the ball to stick to David Tyree's helmet (or how a Super Bowl loss would magically make Spygate "go away") was something Bill M. did not elaborate on.

Now, after a decade of domination and extremely good fortune, full time Red Sox fan/Patriots Apologist Bill M. is convinced that the Patriots, fresh off throwing the Super Bowl, had Tom Brady fake his season ending injury to ensure a very high draft pick, which would make up for the lost draft pick that Roger Goodell stripped from the Patriots in the 2008 draft. "Brady WALKED off the field. He wouldn't be able to do that if he had his ACL and MCL torn, would he?" Well, since the Patriots haven't actually released any official info about Brady's injury, we don't really know what injury he had, do we? "Exactly!" Bill M. is convinced Brady is actually fine. Also, Bill M. points out, by losing this past weekend in such ridiculous blowout fashion to the worst team in football, Belichick and Kraft were able to bet against their own team to reclaim the $1.5 million that Goodell fined the organization and Belichick last season. 

Bill M., you are insane.  Your team is old, smug, and a little too used to winning easily by halftime. The only reason you've won so much over the last 7 seasons is that your coach caught lightning in a bottle with Tom Brady, who shocked the world by going from a college backup to become one of the greatest NFL champions of all time. Belichick is going to be exposed as a sub-mediocre coach who happened to have an electric quarterback at the helm for most of his coaching tenure in New England. It's going to be a long 2008 for the Pats, and not because they're trying to lose on purpose. They actually got beaten Sunday, and soundly, by a truly awful (but very fired up) Dolphins team. Get used to a little Karmic Payback for last year, Bill.

Another avid reader of this blog, Josh M., a huge sports fan from sunny, fair-weathered utopia Olney, MD, believes that Brady doesn't have the motivation to undergo the "grueling" rehab necessary to come back from such a difficult injury. Brady is a "first ballot Hall of Famer, no doubt" right now. Plus, he gets to go home to Gisele Bundchen and can kick back and spend his millions of dollars in Stetson endorsement cash (not to mention his plush NFL salary), and live his superstar lifestyle. "Why work hard if you have 3 rings already and have already accomplshed every dream you've ever had growing up," Josh M. wonders. 

Josh M., you're crazy. Brady will be back. He's only 31 and will want to gun for a fourth ring to cement him as the best ever in the Free Agent era, and maybe a fifth if he can. Brady's a competitive dude. Maybe he'll have a high first rounder next year as a teammate! Here's hoping the Boston magic has run it's course and the Red Sox crash and burn in October! Go Rays/Angels/Cubs/Dodgers!