Cooooley!

So we heard about a week ago that Chris Cooley was going to be in Williamsburg on Saturday, and Sunday signing autographs at a hotel/pushing the upcoming Redskins Beach Blitz event. Williamsburg, only being about forty-five minutes away, was feasible so Lisa and I make plans to drive down their to see him on Sunday.

The night before, I went into the Skins closet and pulled out some Skins clothing/shoes for both of us to wear. I also had to determine what items I wanted to take with me for Cooley to sign. I read on a Redskins message board that Cooley would sign up to three items per person! Looking around the Redskins room I decide to take with me the cover of "Game Day" magazine with Cooley pictured on the front, Cooley's official draft day cap from his draft year, and a football with other Redskin Player signatures.

We leave the house headed for the Burg at 10:30 in the morning, planning on being at the place by 11:30am to get a ticket to see Cooley starting at noon. We hear the night before there was a huge draw on Saturday so we expect to be there a while. Headed down 64 we jam out to Chris Paul's Redskins raps making the drive a bit easier. We arrive to what appears to be a pretty open parking lot with a sign for Cooley/Skins to the left and a Wedding party to the Right. Just imagine sharing the hotel with Skins fans and your wedding reception. I am sure they were happy about that. We head to the Harrison ball room where Cooley is supposed to be meeting and we are given a ticket by one of the workers which marks our place in line. We were number 817 and 818. I hear from some guys walking around that they stopped autograph signings yesterday around number 350, but they expect most people from yesterday with tickets not to come back. This could be a very long day or even worse we might not meet Cooley since he is leaving at 2:00pm.



In the room they had some Skins merchandise for sale and game worn Jerseys and used footballs. We decided to walk around and take a look at everything. Before we made our move I looked up and saw "MY BOY JIM" the manager of the Skins store in Chesterfield! Lisa and I head over to him to get the story on the store closing. He tells us they are just moving location in the mall to allow a larger retailer to have more space. The new store should be open within the month and actually be larger then the original! So excuse my comments about the Chesterfield Town Center in my prior blog. As we stand talking to Jim he points out Cooley's dad who walked past us. Jim takes a second and says hello to him and makes sure all is well. He tells us Chris and Pops just hung out at the hotel last night and stayed out of trouble. I am sure they hung out at "Pitchers" the bar in the hotel lobby a bit. I tell Jim that Lisa and I had met Cooley's ex-wife at training camp his rookie year and how much has changed since then with a chuckle. He said Christy did not make the trip with Chris. Guess it was a boys weekend.

Finally noon comes and Cooley appears on stage. He gets on the microphone and tells everyone hello and says make sure to buy up his Jersey. They start calling numbers 350-400, 400-450. We finally get our number called about 1:45 only fifteen minutes to spare. We walk up to Chris and he signs all of our stuff as Lisa snapped a few pictures. He was real nice with everyone chatting a bit with each person. I tell him to make sure to get that contract signed ASAP and he said he wished it was already done. I mention that we will be up in the 400's during the year and he says sweet!


All and all a good day, long waiting time but it could have been worse. Good free autograph opportunity and lots of Skins fans which is always good company.

2nd Guessing...

As Skins fans we are always looking for signs of the Skins via cars, stickers, clothing etc. Always guessing between ourselves how hardcore these other Skins fans are. It is a good sign though after a 5-11 season we are still being surrounded by fellow Skins supporters with various memorabilia. Something tells me though that most of these people probably don't have a full room dedicated in their homes for the Skins, but we've all got problems and it just so happens the Redskins are ours.

The day started with us driving our burgundy SUV to the shop to get inspected. I gave my sister a call to talk about the days plans. I mentioned we were heading to get the inspection done and also joked about the new "Gold" ride we just purchased to complete our burgundy and gold fleet. There has been some doubt in the family about the true shade of gold in the new ride. I tell her the gold shade is all the maker had to offer at purchase time as it was termed "gold" on the sales packet. After we got the car inspected we had some time to kill so we head over to the mall to check out the Official Redskins Store. There are two Skins stores in the Richmond area. This is the first Redskins store in Richmond that opened about five years ago and is quite a bit larger then the store closer to our house. As we pull up in the mall parking lot we see an open spot close to the front door. As we put the car in park I look to my right as I go to climb out and in the next spot is a "GOLD" Hyundai Tuscon. At first glance it looked a pukey mustard color and I mention to Lisa to look at this crappy looking color. I then start to second guess my comment and get out of our car. I compare the two cars next to each other and all of a sudden I say, "These burgundy and gold colors together are beautiful". We start joking about the color which was not offered in the specific model that I picked and this must be a custom color. Either way the two cars accented each other terrifically. Maybe a trade in our future???

We enter the Department store to head towards the Skins store in the mall. Talking between each other about making sure we had the coupon from the Skins ticket invoice and wondering about any possible sales or new merchandise. We have become friendly with the store workers over the years and enjoy chatting with them about the team during our frequent visits. They always make sure to point out the new merchandise knowing that Lisa and I would be all over the new items and they could make a quick sale. As we get closer to the store I notice something is very wrong. The metal gates into the store from the mall walkway are pulled down, and the store looked dark. I say to Lisa, "It's gone, the Skins store is gone!" We put our faces closer to the gate and peer inside seeing nothing but empty shelves and two paper Skins posters laying on the floor and a CSN postgame live sticker across the TV cabinet that once displayed games to onlookers walking by in the mall. Just earlier this week I thought I received a great sign with the Bible from Gibbs, but now was this a new sign? And not to mention NOT a good one at all. We continued to stand questioning why the store would close and thinking that maybe they just moved down the mall a bit. I say "nah", knowing they would have a sign stating their new location if that is the case. I feel hot and pissed so we head to the food court and get a soda and take a seat. Still talking about the store closing and why? Lisa makes a good point saying the 5-11 season probably didn't help merchandise sales. I mention to Lisa that this would be the last time I head into Chesterfield Mall - my purpose is now gone. We finish our drink and head to the mall exit again passing the closed store taking another look I say again "its damn closed". I start singing outloud "As I close my eyes - all we are is dust in the wind" like Will Ferrell in Old School only this time Jim the store manager's "my boy" and Lisa tells me to shut up because people are now looking at me. I am in awe as they even took the large Skins entrance sign down, this would have been a nice addition to my Redskins room, again I say -"SHIT ON THIS PLACE!"

And the day goes on... On to our next destination I am still in disbelief over the loss to our family. I tell Lisa maybe the Danny had to close up the shop to get extra cash for the Danny Rocket's deal. So we head over to a few model homes we've been touring over the past few weekends and low and behold I head down the steps to the basement of the first house and see a Redskins wall. The wall includes an official game helmet, a Carlos Rogers framed jersey, a Superbowl pennant, and a few posters. I tell Lisa, will take the house or even better maybe she should pull the car around back and I can make a quick exit through the basement doors with memorabilia in hand - things are looking better.

We head to dinner at the local Ruby Tuesday's. We walk through the bar headed to our booth and see a very large homemade wood cut out of a Redskins helmet nicely painted in Redskins colors over the bar. On either side of the helmet I notice pictures of Gus Ferrotte in all his glory. Yes, a little outdated I know, but still a part of the Redskins history. We take a seat and are talking with Lisa's folks and enjoying our dinner. The time comes to pay and I whip out my Redskins MasterCard and hand it over to the waiter. He brings the slip and card back to me and says, "It was a pleasure swiping this beautiful card". He starts talking about his passion for the Skins and about his autographed Joe Theisman football. I mention to him our pending trip tomorrow to Williamsburg for a meeting with Captain Chaos, Chris Cooley....

Though we had a major downer today with the store closing, all in all, there were a few positive signs from the day that hope is still alive for a Redskins victorious season. I will keep my eyes open but stay tuned. Hail to the Redskins and shit on Chesterfield Town Center!

A Sign From Above!!

So a few months back, well actually January 31st to be exact, I went to joegibbsonline.com to hear about Joe's announcement of his sick grandson. The site talks about Gibbs' "game plan" on and mostly off the field. While on the site I noticed he was offering a free Joe Gibbs bible. I have purchased a few of Gibbs's success books over the last few years and have seen minor success on the field for the Skins. So now that we are in the 4th season with Gibbs, I had to step up and order one of these bibles to get the ultimate advantage from the man upstairs.

Since the time I input the order, I have gotten a few emails from Joe Gibbs Chaplain saying they received my order and were backed up a bit with getting the bibles out, but I should be receiving it shortly. Well today is March 19th and I received my Gibbs bible with a letter enclosed from Gibbs himself talking again about his "game plan"!

I think to myself after opening the bible that today is the first official day of voluntary (your ass better be there) practice at Redskin's Park. THIS IS A SIGN! I think this could be a very good year! My "game plan" is the Superbowl this year! Lets stay focused now... but you have to admit this could be more then just a coincidence.

Numbers are Numbers

Dan Snyder has paid a bonus and given an order to Sean Taylor not to change his number for marketing purposes of the new Smoot merchandise. I am starting to think that it's not the players who want to change numbers all the time it's actually orders from the Marketing Department.

Just imagine if Snyder was not so smart then Smoot could threaten Taylor to take him to the Peoples Court and fight over the #21 stating he was the original owner after "Pion". I don't think Taylor wants to step inside another courtroom anytime soon. Taylor might consider a boxing match for the jersey similar to the fight over #26 between Portis and Ohalete, but I don't think that even Smoot would want any of this especially since he just got that jaw unwired from the car wreck. Sources are telling me before Snyder stepped in with his orders that an agreement was met to split the #21 every other game as long as Taylor agrees only to knock down/out Smoot 4 times this season in making plays on the ball.

There are 99 numbers available can't we all just get along? But has Portis said in the past about #26 "it's like Superman without his cape". The most important number to them are their salaries based on the number of digits and we all know that especially with dick, oh I meant Dock.

The only numbers that I care about are the number of "W"'s at the end of this season.

Ahoy Captain Smoot / Hit the Dock

Welcome back aboard 1st Mate Smoot, oh I meant Captain Freaky Smoot. You have some experience both on the field and on the waters from what we all know. At least the Skins will celebrate their 75th anniversary in style as we know Smoot was always game to make uniform recommendations and supply lots of spandex for everyone. I am sure he is glad to be back home as he used to say "in the burgundy and gold".

I think the real reason Smoot wants to come back is that his Captain's license was taken away for everywhere except DC. The DC Courts are so behind with their paperwork by the time they go to process the restriction of Smoot's Captain's license he will be sailing his ship into Del Boca Vista. My sources are also stating that Smoot advised his agent that his future team's home had to be near the water so the Potomac fit just fine. I hear he has already been in contact with a local marina owner and is in process of getting his boat "Lover21" transported out of storage and to the DC area.

Additionally Smoot is still responsible, as part of his community service, to promote water safety. Supposedly the Danny has agreed for the 1st game of the season to pass out Redskins colored life jackets for adults and floaties for the kids (sponsorship for this event is still needed).




Oh and as far as Dockery leaving for big bucks Buffalo. Let him go, he was a dick to me and other fans this past season in the parking lot. He did not even have the decency to acknowledge us looking through a fence when he was standing outside of his car after a big win against Dallas. He was to busy jammin' out to his tunes as seen from this self captured picture. Yes I did have a robe on and was yelling at him but come on our tickets pay your salary show a little love back. At least the Skins play the Bills at home this season. I will make sure Dockery hears me that game.

My prediction for the "dick" I mean "Dock" is he will beef back up as he was prior to this past season and lead the league or at least the AFC in false starts and holds. Maybe he can get lucky and get involved in some illegal activities and beg to come back to the Skins and Buges in a few years.