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I keep writing lately about how tough life is much of the time, and I do feel that way.
Then there’s this whole other side of life that is wonderful. The best things are often the good things that we don’t expect to come into our lives, and these happen again and again also: a grandchild is born, a child gets married, college acceptance letters arrive, job promotions elevate, a great book gets written and read, optimism gets shared.
Life – it’s the ultimate mixed bag.
Right now the good thing, the surprising thing, the arousing thing, the really cool thing, the galvanizing thing, is this: My first and favorite sports team since I was a little boy, the Washington Redskins (now the Commanders), will in two days be doing something that makes my heart feel something different, something I don’t remember feeling for a long time – since 1991 to be honest which might as well have been 1691.
My squad, my homeboys from my hometown where I grew up and where my deepest roots are still planted, is playing in an important football game that could lead, if they win, to a potential Super Bowl run.
My Skins are playing on Wild Card Weekend which is the most under-rated annual sports event. Wild card games are more alluring than the Super Bowl because the teams are less likely to go to the Super Bowl, and if they do their joyride is more exhilarating than when the expected teams get there. Underdogs play on Wild Card Weekend and all Americans love it when they win. When favorites win it’s ho-hum at best unless it’s your team.
None of this Redskins rejuvenation was expected. For what feels like ten million years the Skins had been beyond terrible, embarrassing, and repugnant. Thank you, not one scintilla, Dan Snyder, for that horrendous experience. Sure hope none of us ever see you again. You are a guy we can all agree isn’t upstanding or worth respecting. You ruined something all Washingtonians loved but got your billion bucks you didn’t earn.
But the new owner took the helm and then hired a new coach, Dan Quinn, and they drafted the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Jayden Daniels, and charcoal-tinted darkness turned to lucid light. The skies opened; clouds floated off the panorama.
You can almost imagine hearing “Here Comes the Sun” by the Beatles reverberating down K Street and over to the Capitol Building and in all the Metro subway’s red, blue, green, and yellow lines, and all the city’s Metro Buses
Our beloved team from Washington, D.C. has been resurrected from football’s forgotten graveyard.
Soak in this slice of life: from the abyss to the zenith, from 2-14 to Wild Card Weekend, from the lowest place ever fathomed to center stage of the NFL.
This much success this quick wasn’t expected – and it would not have been unreasonable to figure it would never happen again, “it” being this eclectic, international, political, and contentious city unified around its only unifying force: its pro football team.
The new coach isn’t a dope like Norv Turner was who began the Redskins slide into oblivion.
Daniels is an accurate passer and deft scrambler, but I love him more for his work ethic and humility.
Unlike Dan Snyder, he’s not a cuss. Off-putting arrogance is not what Daniels is about. He’s a guy we can all rally around and feel proud of.
Life’s latest surprise, the rise of our team, scintillates.
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Sammy Sportface, a sports blogger, galvanizes, inspires, and amuses The Baby Boomer Brotherhood. And you can learn about his vision and join this group's Facebook page here:
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