The R*dsk*ns: Holding Firm to the Past and Learning Nothing From It

lastangryfan.com

As you all know ( or should know...read some earlier posts, would ya?) I am an avid Washington R*dsk*ns fan. I've written articles on why Peyton Manning should have come to DC and why RG3 is my guy (good thing we never got Peyton!). I've also written an article based around a possible name change for my beloved team. This topic seems to come up fairly often. It peaks during the off-season and then by the time September rolls around, the sports media is too busy with the game to worry about such silly matters as a team name. This off-season, however, the criticism seems to have stuck to the wall a little more than usual.

Pundits are talking about the racist team name in the mainstream media. ESPN has conducted full conversations and polls about the feelings on this name. Even the US Federal Government has gotten in on the issue. Ten members of congress have written letters to every NFL team, commissioner Roger Goodell, FedEx (the stadium sponsor) and Dan Snyder, the owner himself. In these letters they show disgust for the use of the word (only referring to it as the R-word) and compare it to the N-word.

Dan Snyder seems to have disregarded these letters and has vowed to never change the team's name.


This whole process seems eerily familiar to me.

Are you a Survivor!?

A decision has been made. The Pros and the Bros have discussed. The tribe has spoken. The votes are in. It is time for an announcement.

It's time for the first ever Sports Pro & the Average Bro Survivor Pool!

That's right Pros and Bros! If you liked our March Madness Bracket Battle, you'll love our Survivor Pool! 

You can sign up here through ESPN!

It's easy to sign up and even easier to Play!

You simply pick a team every week that you think will win! Easy enough! But once you select a team, you cannot select them again. It takes strategy, patience and some times old fashioned good luck!

Prizes will be announced as the season goes on. Could it be two tickets to the Superbowl!? ...Nope...but it will be something cool!

So hop on over to ESPN and sign up for our "SPAB Survivor Pool" group. Hurry up! The season will be starting before you know it! 

I know! We're excited too! 

Your Beautiful, Dark, Twisted, Fantasy Football: The Draft

Hey there Sports Pros and Average Bros! It's nearing the fall and you know what that means!

And even cooler than that, is everyone's favorite football based past time!

That's right! It's fantasy football time again! Some drafts are going on now and the rest are coming up fast! As any good Fantasy player will tell you, you must prep for this wonderful event. If you're idea of pre-draft research is picking up a two bit fantasy magazine on the way to the draft, you might as well buy a box of tissues too, cuz you'll be crying all season long. Studies have shown that last minute preppers come in last place 150% of the time. That's a legit study!

So of course you'll buy your ESPN Fantasy Football magazine, and study depth charts and listen to Matthew Berry. And I'm sure you will have lots of fun in your league while you come in fifth place.

FIFTH PLACE!

Cuz that's where you're gunna be if you consider all that "enough research"! Is that where you want to be!? If so, then fine. Enjoy mediocrity and being able to say "If only Ray Rice didn't get hurt in week 7, I totally would have made the playoffs!" You hold onto that. I'm sure someone cares.


If you're not fine with that, keep reading.

A House Divided: The 2013 Jets

The Jets need to get on the same page, or that page will be out of a history book.

Stop me if you've heard this one before.

So, a Quarterback, a head coach and a general manager walk into a stadium.

Even if you don't think you've heard it, you probably have. It's one of the biggest jokes in the NFL.

Mark Sanchez is a Quarterback seemingly on the downside of what had the potential to be a decent career. Since taking the Jets to two AFC Championship Games in his first two seasons, he has fallen short, posting an 8-8 record followed up by a 6-10 debacle of a year. Only two years removed from those playoff runs, he is faced with the possibility of losing his starting job and his chance for redemption.

Sanchez was drafted in 2009 by first-time head coach Rex Ryan. Rex, the son of famed Eagles head coach, Buddy, had his roots in defense before coming to the Jets. He had worked with the defensive lineman and linebackers with the Cardinals and all over the defense with the Ravens. In his first draft he took Sanchez at fifth overall. He's been trying to workout an offense ever since. He is also faced with the possibility of unemployment.

Rex and Sanchez were joined early this year by new GM John Idzik. Idzik had spent the past 6 seasons as a front office exec for the Seahawks. In some of his first acts as GM, he wrestled personnel control from Rex Ryan and drafted the QB that stands poised to take on the job should Sanchez fall flat for a third year in a row. His job is probably more secure than anyone in New York.   

3 Men. 2 different goals. 1 NFL team headed full speed off the tracks.

9 to 5 Between the Lines

Once their greatest passions, are athletes starting to look at their jobs as...jobs?

Fun Fact Time!

When I was about nine years old, I played right field for Dig'm Installers at Levittown Pacific Little League. I was on the team with my little brother and some friends and it was fun to be apart of the team. We ended up winning the championship and, as a reward, the coach took us to a Phillies game (my first Phillies game that I've written about before). I thought I was pretty good and had nothing but potential to get better. It was right around this time that I read in our class "Weekly Reader" that A-Rod became the highest paid baseball player ever. He was even making more money than the president! At this point I thought to myself:

 "Hey Lil' Average Bro! I bet you could play baseball for a living!"

And that was it. I would be a pro baseball player when I grew up. Done. Deal!

I thought it through completely. Everything from the position I would play to my number was all hashed out and ready to go. But there was one thing I was concerned about.

Lil' Average Bro: Hey Mom.

Mom: Yes Average Bro.

Lil' Average Bro: Do pro baseball players have to practice every day?

Mom: Yes, definitely.

And in that moment, my dreams were dashed.

Devin Mesoraco Before the Bigs

In February of 2012, I was interning for Nine Baseball, a youth baseball organization designed to aid young athletes headed for the MLB draft or Division 1 Ball. At one of their events, I got the opportunity to interview Cincinnati Red's catcher, Devin Mesorco. At that point, he hadn't spent a full year in the pros, having only been a September call up the season before. Now he's having a breakout season and well on his way to becoming an everyday MLB player. This was the story I wrote before all of that happened.