Why the sudden meltdown by so many fans?

[Mike Bass]

In all my years as a Redskin's fan I've never saw such a complete meltdown by so many of our fans. The end of  this season has been dissapointing but the over-reactions are astounding. I know that "we get upset because we love the team" but DAMN by some of comments that I have read and actions from our fans, I think that we are treading that proverbial thin line that is said to lie between love and hate . I know that we all have our "freedom of speech" but sometimes we should take a look at the situation and respect the surroundings before excercising that freedom. IMHO, I think that venting is cool but going on and on about how terrible we are and forever will be is not necessary.

I try hard to understand all of the reasons presented and to not react to all of the negativity because that can only make the situation worse, but I am curious about why we are so upset this season as opposed to any other.
The main reason, from my perspective seems to be that we are in the Snyder-Cerratto era. This is something that we can not control but we can hope and pray that they can either get it right or hire someone on to help them out while we keep rooting for and supporting the team that is on the field in any given year. If we continue to do that, I think that our jobs as fans has been done and we can, at least be proud of our contributions. 

In six years after Gibbs I, starting in 1993-94 and ending in the 1998-99 season, before Snyder came aboard we were like 35-60-1 but the fans perservered and have been perservering up until this season for some reason and it is really baffling. Are we really that fed up and if so why everybody all of a sudden?...Could we be victims of "Group Think", where we see that a few people are, overly angry and decided to get, overly angry with them without any known reason?

It seems as though we can, easily throw out reasons about why "we stink" because that is all that we've heard lately from media AND fans but when a topic is opened  on how we can possibly get better, from fans points of views (even in the "Snyderratto" era), we are quieter than mice pee-peeing on cotton.

Winning a Superbowl or even a playoff game may or may not take awhile so all I think that we can do is either take it as it is right now and let's discuss possibilities, or not except it and choose one of the other 31 teams available if we are not willing to wait until whenever.

My choice is and will always be to ride or die with my Redskins.

Let me add though, I do have faith in our fans because I have been in it for so long and have seen how they produce so I do not agree with the "fair weather"' comments about  members ,however colorful we want to put them. I just can not get into the songs and sh$t about people without even knowing where their heart's lies... It's cute but is it fair?

I just want to know why this particular year for the meltdowns?

[stwasm]

It's a number of reasons for me.  It's getting to expensive and I see an owner who really doesn't care about the fan base -- or at least that's the way he acts.  I touched upon it in the blog I posted yesterday.  The only fan-friendly thing he's done during his tenure is allowing fans who wanted to camp out overnight in the cold for the home playoff game against Detroit to sleep on the club level and make it so that they didn't lose their places in line.  Since then, every move he's made, from player acquisitions to charging for training camp to jacking up prices, has been to squeeze more money out of the fan base.  He also meddles in football affairs, which undermines the coaching staff, and selects players based on how many jerseys he can sell.  And I'm spending my time, energy and money on this?  Whether the Redskins win or lose, at the end of the day, he'll make boat loads of money and that's all he cares about. 

I might also add that I'm missing quite a bit in the way of church activities and, with the economy the way it is, I'm having a VERY hard time justifying the money I am spending.

[GnarlyT]

I'm mad about the lack of focus on Sundays in our two loses vs. the Rams and Cinci.  I know anyone can win any given Sunday but we were flat those games and shoulda won.  I'm mad about our fans selling there tickets to opposing teams fans....part of the reason we stink at FedEx and will continue to.  25%-50% of season ticket holders aren't real fans.  They are owned by corporations that hand them out to clients, people that go to 2 games and sell the rest for profit, people that go just to get drunk and fight, or people that go and sit down and get mad when people stand and cheer.  I agree with Stwasm about our owner and ticket prices...both crappy.  I also think some of the play calling is extremely predictable on offense.  I guessed run or pass ~80% of the time in the last couple games.  Typically Run-Run-Pass on 3rd and long.  I'm also mad that we don't draft and we only seem to care about free agency. This is because of Vinny (who needs to be fired) and Danny.  Additionally, seeing Portis shaking his head during the game instead of rooting his teammates on or firing them up really got to me.  I love Portis but that wasn't a team player.  LaRon is now my new hero.  He was standing up, firing up every player on both O and D.  What a player.  Finally, I'm mad we can't find a decent kicker.  Danny needs to sent me to Australia or Europe and I'll find someone who can kick a 60 yarder as well as make 95% inside the 40.

HOWEVER, I don't think we should be this upset.  I still believe in Jason Campbell and I still believe in Zorn.   He is a first time head coach with an average team.  We don't have a good O or D line and it showed during the long season.  We have alot of talent.  Our defense is great.  We don't get turnovers because we get zero pass rush but we still play solid and don't give up many points.  With time Zorn figure it out and will be great.  We just need time and consistency ( I hope Snyder doesn't ruin this again).  Looking back, I'm also very happy that Art and Darrell made it into the H.O.F.  Seeing them in Canton made my season right there.  We started so strong and got too high hopes and everyone is pissed now.  I can't fault people for being mad, but we still need to support our troops.  I pissed at those that sell their tickets online because they are mad.  If your a ship jumper than drop your seats so a real fan can go.  This is part of the problem but with such high prices and such a large stadium, I don't know the answer.  BOTTOM LINE- we can finish with 8 or 9 wins in a very tough NFC east. We can ruin the Eagles season.  We can beat Vegas's preseason total wins odds for the Redskins, which was 7 wins.  We have a rookie head coach and a new system.  We need to stick with it and keep our players and draft picks.  We can't go after the big names just to sell jerseys.  AND US FANS NEED TO SUPPORT OUR TEAM.  Like my boy Chris Louis said, I'm in this for life and not just a season.  We wouldn't go far in the playoffs this year anyways so lets back our team and finish strong to get a good vibe for next year.

-As always Gnarly

[NCSKINSFAN]

My choice is and will always be, to ride or die with my Redskins.

Great post Stan!

No matter how much we love Redskins football, it’s just football. Faith and family comes first in my life. My job also plays big role in who I am. Sports are for fun and entertainment. Life is way too short to lose sleep over a bad season or a lost game.  Cheer up Peeps and be happy for the blessings that you have. Cause I can promise you this the Redskins players, coaches and owners could care less if your kids are sick or if you have a lot of bills to pay.

I would love to see us win on a regular basis but I can't control it. But I can tell you this I am going to stick by my team!

Now I may get mad about the play of the team and why not. That's what being a fan is. But in the end they are still my team and I will come back next year and the year after and so one. So keep your heads up peeps and one day we will be doing that Super Bowl victory dance


 

[redskin_ty]

I will always be a redskin fan and it hurts me to see a good start then all the loses in a row.  But the thing that really hurts me is that I think we have some play makers on offense but we just do not use them properly!!!!

[LuvDaSkins]

I agree that the fast start did make this season much more disappointing(wins at dallas and philly) but Skins football will go on and there have been worse years.

HAIL TO THE REDSKINS!

[AlexandertheGreatestFANEV]

I completely agree with the comments by GnarlyT and Stewart. I honestly LOVE this team and its history, but there are some REAL problems with this team as an organization and its fan base consisting of true fans. Also, when I think about it, I'm glad that I won't renew my season ticket after 2009 with the way Danny is pricing everything and how he's managing the team. However, as was stated by many, we the fans cannot control it and the best we can do is love and stick with our team through the bad and good. At the same time I can't blame our true fans being upset because the problems being faced seem to be occurring time and time again, and it all goes back to being a once famous team almost 20 years ago and now being barely average/on the verge of mediocrity. Plus, we HAVE been bringing in high-priced free agents year after year and despite being good on paper, we can't cut it during the season on the field. Not to rant and spoil our optimism as fans too much, but we gotta know what we're dealing with when giving allegiance to a team in this kind of state.