Hot dog vendors will work tonight at FedEx Field. So will parking lot attendants, custodians, concessionaires and security.
The Redskins? Not so much.
Redskins fans are paying Broadway prices to see a dress rehearsal by understudies. You want Randy Travis, you get Travis Tritt.
Nobody leaves FedEx Field happy except Redskins owner Dan Snyder, who collects 10 percent of his season ticket money while paying $1,100 per game to players. The preseason is a money-maker for NFL owners and players no longer want to risk themselves for pennies on the regular-season dollar.
The offense needing to be cajoled into playing a series or — can we dare hope — two against Jacksonvile in the preseason finale is laughable. Actually, the thought of mostly watching 22 players who will be cut on Saturday is offensive. Just re-sign the 1987 strike team. At least they went 3-0.
Who decided starters shouldn’t play at least a quarter in a game everyone pays full price to watch? More than 60,000 will leave work early, endure traffic jams entering and leaving the stadium and either put in a leave card for Friday or work on little sleep. Fans deserve better for their effort.
The preseason is a waste, but the final game is especially a time and money-burner. The NFL needs a two-game preseason and 18 regular-season games. They won’t do it because the owners would make less money. With the next labor agreement iffy even before the death of NFL Players Association chief Gene Upshaw, there’s no way the NFL shortens the preseason for at least six years.
A fan boycott of the game would be proper. Let an empty stadium and uneaten hot dogs teach NFL owners not to take their following for granted. The problem is you’ve already paid for the tickets so you might as well use them. The only persons punished for not going would be the fans.
The talk of players not wanting to get hurt in a meaningless game? Brother, you can be hurt crossing the street. Most accidents happen in the home. Remember busted free agent Dana Stubblefield’s season ending on a staircase?
The argument they’ve already played four preseason games so why play a fifth is stupid. It’s scheduled. Tickets were sold. Fans deserve something more than people headed to the waiver wire. Ironically, most players want to suit up. This is what they live to do. It’s the NFL system that needlessly bars them.
The Redskins offense needing some work after the 47-3 loss to Carolina, but the defense doesn’t despite leaving down 31-0 makes no sense. The defense should get off the sidelines, too.
The Redskins are a week away from opening against the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants. They need all the momentum they can muster and not playing for 12 days isn’t the way to do it.
Oh well, at least fans can go to bed early. Maybe they’ll dream the Redskins looked good.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
