As I sat down to write my first entry of 2009 and my first piece in this space in over three weeks, I reached for my moment of Zen: that single shining moment that more than any other encapsulated the Washington Redskins 2008 season.
A few scant moments later I began to realize there wasn't one.
I suppose that's somewhat to be expected; I am nothing if not introspective and self-analytical, in truth counter-productively so... but my mind's eye always seems unable or perhaps unwilling to truly dissect those things about which I have always been passionate. I am grateful for that. As Nietzsche himself said in his treatise Human, all too Human, "people who comprehend a thing to its very depths rarely stay faithful to it forever. For they have brought its depths into the light of day: and in the depths there is always much that is unpleasant to see." In lay terms, familiarity breeds contempt.
I've gone over this very thing in this space before, so I won't rehash it now. Suffice it to say that I'm reasonably sure I won't someday unexpectedly gain some heretofore unheard of understanding of my beloved 'Skins, thereby stripping them of their mythical status in my mind forever.
Reasonably. But I digress -
As I was saying, when I sat down and attempted to pick out that single moment in time which summed up this season, that single instance which more than anything else typified the 'o8 Redskins...I drew a blank. Nothing came to mind.
And you know what? The more I thought about it, the more it made perfect sense.
It's simple, really. Winners and champions are often described in the briefest terms possible, with words like masterful, dominant, unsurpassed, destined, and lesser adjectives like heart, character, poise, and composure thrown in for a little flavoring. Their seasons can be boiled down in much the same way: watershed moments, do-or-die plays that were going to either make 'em or break 'em. I've long believed that some of the most forgiving jobs in the world are those of the contributors to these "Championship Season" yearbooks and highlight dvd's that become available for purchase scant weeks after a team becomes world champs. How can one go wrong with the content? Let's face it: when one of your teams wins the whole shebang, anything and everything becomes not only the fondest of memories, but also played a vital role in the team's post-season run.
[Riiight. That mid-season game when the Gatorade was unknowingly spiked with a whole elementary school's supply of dental fluoride pills was critical to the team's metamorphosis. They wouldn't have been champs without 'em.]
Mediocre, average teams, on the other hand -- say, this year's 'Skins for example -- tend to be a lot harder to neatly characterize. Conversely, recognizing the true defining moments of a humdrum season -- like this one, for instance -- becomes much more of a chore. They are there; pinning them down usually involves sifting through a heck of a lot of train wrecks you'd rather forget, however. This Washington team, like nearly every team since the 3rd and last of those glorious Lombardi Trophies was garnered an unbelievable seventeen years ago, is a muddled mass of fix-it to do's and problem spots, sprinkled here and there with the occasional surprise and feel-good story for good measure.
In case you're wondering, I'm still working on it. Stay tuned. You'll be the first to know -
A few scant moments later I began to realize there wasn't one.
I suppose that's somewhat to be expected; I am nothing if not introspective and self-analytical, in truth counter-productively so... but my mind's eye always seems unable or perhaps unwilling to truly dissect those things about which I have always been passionate. I am grateful for that. As Nietzsche himself said in his treatise Human, all too Human, "people who comprehend a thing to its very depths rarely stay faithful to it forever. For they have brought its depths into the light of day: and in the depths there is always much that is unpleasant to see." In lay terms, familiarity breeds contempt.
I've gone over this very thing in this space before, so I won't rehash it now. Suffice it to say that I'm reasonably sure I won't someday unexpectedly gain some heretofore unheard of understanding of my beloved 'Skins, thereby stripping them of their mythical status in my mind forever.
Reasonably. But I digress -
As I was saying, when I sat down and attempted to pick out that single moment in time which summed up this season, that single instance which more than anything else typified the 'o8 Redskins...I drew a blank. Nothing came to mind.
And you know what? The more I thought about it, the more it made perfect sense.
It's simple, really. Winners and champions are often described in the briefest terms possible, with words like masterful, dominant, unsurpassed, destined, and lesser adjectives like heart, character, poise, and composure thrown in for a little flavoring. Their seasons can be boiled down in much the same way: watershed moments, do-or-die plays that were going to either make 'em or break 'em. I've long believed that some of the most forgiving jobs in the world are those of the contributors to these "Championship Season" yearbooks and highlight dvd's that become available for purchase scant weeks after a team becomes world champs. How can one go wrong with the content? Let's face it: when one of your teams wins the whole shebang, anything and everything becomes not only the fondest of memories, but also played a vital role in the team's post-season run.
[Riiight. That mid-season game when the Gatorade was unknowingly spiked with a whole elementary school's supply of dental fluoride pills was critical to the team's metamorphosis. They wouldn't have been champs without 'em.]
Mediocre, average teams, on the other hand -- say, this year's 'Skins for example -- tend to be a lot harder to neatly characterize. Conversely, recognizing the true defining moments of a humdrum season -- like this one, for instance -- becomes much more of a chore. They are there; pinning them down usually involves sifting through a heck of a lot of train wrecks you'd rather forget, however. This Washington team, like nearly every team since the 3rd and last of those glorious Lombardi Trophies was garnered an unbelievable seventeen years ago, is a muddled mass of fix-it to do's and problem spots, sprinkled here and there with the occasional surprise and feel-good story for good measure.
In case you're wondering, I'm still working on it. Stay tuned. You'll be the first to know -
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