As the preseason in football comes to an end teams are ready for the real season to start. The Washington Redskins played their last preseason game last night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. No starters played during the game, only second and third lines played (whoa, that sounds like a hockey term). One thing about the back-up players for the Skins that differs from so many of the other teams in the NFL is that most of the guys (unless they were just drafted) played last season because of all the starters that had injuries. So they have the experience to play in an NFL game and they're just making the coaching staff's jobs harder. All the teams need to have their final 53 man roster by Friday. They can sign some of the players to the practice squad after the final cut. The players in last night's game proved that the Skins finally do have more than one talented player.
Speaking of talented, Chris Cooley was released by the Skins on Wednesday. Cooley has been one of the bright spots on the roster for years, he was one of the players that kept fans watching and hoping that something would change. Fans kept watching to see him make the big plays, even if he had a bad year something inside still told you that it wasn't the end. I really didn't see what the Skins saw to cut him, if only that he was older side of the players on the team (the average age of a player on the Skins is 21). This season was shaping up to be one of his best. There's one thing I don't understand (besides this whole thing in general) is the fact that he announced it by himself, no Snyder or Shanahan in sight. He was the only one at the press conference. I don't know if that how he wanted to do it or not but the team could have sent someone form the coaching staff out there with him. Give him the respected he deserves, he has stay with your lousy team for eight seasons after all. I don't think this is the end of Cooley in the NFL, he most definitely could be picked up by another team who sees that he still has something left. So Cooley, you will be one of the greats of the Redskins in my mind and in many others. Wherever you go in the NFL people will be pulling for you (unless it's with the Cowboys, then all bets are off). Instead of HTTR (Hail to the Redskins) I say HTCC, Hail to Chris Cooley. Oh, the Skins did win 30-3.
Some in the baseball world were convinced that once the Nationals started to slide that they wouldn't stop till they hit rock bottom. Well, they didn't slide that far and they didn't even come close to hitting rock bottom. They lost five game straight before winning yesterday against the Marlins 8-4. Harper added another first to his growing list with two homers in the same game. I can understand how people could start to panic. This is the best season the team has had in years and after all those bright spots in seasons past but to be let down later on can wear on a person. This season was different, it wasn't just a bright spot it was a mega-watt light bulb shining in their faces. So when it came loose even for a little bit you begin to panic thinking that the bulb was fading when it just need to be fixed. As soon as it was fixed the light was back, nothing had happened to it, it was still as bright as ever. So if you're a Nats fan who was concerned that things were about to start coming apart at the seams, take a chill pill, Johnson knows what he's doing.
One last thing. I don't know, I don't think anyone knows but Lance Armstrong and his doctor if he used drugs. It doesn't matter if he did or didn't, what matters to me is that an agency thought that they had the right to take away all his titles. (I mean it's still really wrong to use drugs to get better at a sport but that's not the point of this post.) The USADA shouldn't have that kind of power. They should give their opinion to the Tour de France and other races and let those organizations make the choice to take away the titles from an athlete or not. Let the race officials choose, not some guys in lab coats and business suits. I'll leave it at that.
The NFL regular season starts on Wednesday Sept. 9th Cowboys vs. Giants at 8:30.
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