Byline: Dick Heller, THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Some thoughts that pop to mind while waiting for Dan Snyder to slide down the chimney and go, 'Ho, ho, ho ...'
*You better watch out.
You better not cry.
You better not pout.
Or the Redskins will change quarterbacks again.
*News item: Orioles sign Deivi Cruz to play shortstop next season.
Comment: Are we sure that's not Todd Cruz, one of the immortal Three Stooges back in 1983, when the O's actually won a pennant?
*I keep having this dream, see.
Bobby Bowden retires as Florida State football coach because the Seminoles haven't been quite as dominant the last few years and, after all, he's about 94 years old.
Florida State, offering half of Tallahassee, hires Steve Spurrier as coach - the most astonishing such move in sports since 1948, when Leo Durocher switched from the Dodgers to the Giants.
Like I say, it's just a crazy dream.
*Do I hear Michael Jordan practicing his swan song, courtesy of Paul Anka and Frank Sinatra: 'And now the end is near/And so I face the final curtain ...'?
*They keep playing 'Winter Wonderland' on the radio and in malls these days. Doesn't anybody realize the Redskins are 5-9, the Capitals 14-16-3 and the Wizards 12-13? But there's at least one thing to be joyous about in these sporting parts ...
Deivi Cruz?
*With Georgetown at 6-0 following Monday night's victory over Norfolk State, shouldn't we acknowledge what a good job Craig Esherick is doing as the Hoyas' coach? Any minute now, I expect Mike Sweetney to pick up Craig and kiss him right on his bald spot.
By the way, what was the name of Esherick's predecessor - the big guy who always carried around a towel and a scowl? I think he does a radio show now.
*Over in College Park, there probably is some hand-wringing going on because Maryland's defending national champions are 4-3. Not to worry. Gary Williams is giving those talented freshmen lots of PT, and the Terps will be ready for the start of ACC combat.
That doesn't mean, of course, that they'll beat Duke or rapidly revived North Carolina. Maybe the Terps can play those two home games at Cole Field House, just for old time's sake.
*Too bad the Caps and Wizards can't return retroactively to Capital Centre. That way their seasons really could blow up in their faces.
*Personal note: I saw Frank Sinatra at the Cap Cen in 1974 and 1987. Funny thing, the place didn't seem all that depressing those nights.
cNews item: Tiger Woods will undergo knee surgery and miss the first PGA event of 2003.
Comment: Gosh, I never suspected he was human.
cEven if he is a filthy rich jock who makes more money in a year than we will in a lifetime, it's hard not to feel sorry for Stephen Davis. First, he gets punched out by Michael Westbrook in training camp a few years ago. Then, after achieving legitimate stardom, he finds himself playing for a coach who views the run as something you do only when your quarterback's arm falls off. Now, dislocated shoulder and all, he's about to be cast aside by his club because of salary cap considerations.
Happy holidays, Stephen.
*I tell you, if Joe Gibbs had elected to stay with the Redskins in 1993, they wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years either.
Where's good old Joe when we need him - watching his race cars go around a track somewhere?
For that matter, where's Norv Turner?
Or even Marty?
*Nothing personal, but I wouldn't mind seeing Charley Casserly's Texans add to the Redskins' miseries Sunday. Dan Snyder ran off Casserly, thereby losing one of the NFL's best general managers, and look at the front office mess that has ensued.
Casserly sort of symbolizes the dozens of loyal employees at Redskin Park who were 'Snyderized' so that Danny Boy could get his own people in there. If Charley's little expansion team comes to town and smites the Redskins hip and thigh, it might be a simple case of what used to be called poetic justice.
Which reminds me ...
*Fail to the Redskins.
Fail victory ...
*This being the holiday season, let's end on a positive note.
Only 467 days until the Washington Nationals play their first game at RFK Stadium.
