Wow, what a fantastic weekend of football it was. It was like I had a fairy godmother, going around and sprinkling every match-up I watched with some sort of magic dust to make it exciting. Only the last two games of the weekend - the Dallas/Philly and Baltimore/Pittsburgh pro games were blow-outs, and by then I was mostly concerned about my fantasy team (and I had a great weekend on that front, as well).

Saturday I woke up in time to catch the start of the Navy/Notre Dame contest. Notre Dame drove right down the field and scored, and Navy fumbled their first posession, and I thought that it could get carried away early. But Navy held, and soon they and UND were off to the races in one of the most exciting games I can remember. Both coaches were channeling Les Miles and going for it on 4th down early and often - I think I only saw two punts all game. By the time regulation ended, each team had put 28 points on the board, and we were headed to overtime.

Notre Dame won the toss, and so Navy started posession one on offense. They drove and scored a TD, and converted the PAT. UND followed suit, so onto posession two it went, with first Notre Dame and then Navy being stopped and forced to convert field goals, both of which did so successfully. On the third posession, Navy uncharastically threw the ball down the field for a 25 yard touchdown completion on the first play, and then passed again to convert the mandatory (in the 3rd OT and beyond) 2-point conversion attempt. UND scored a TD of their own, but then Navy stopped them twice on 2-point attempts (the first time they were hit with a very dubious pass interference call). Just like that, 43 years of frustration were released.

The LSU/Alabama game also was extremely entertaining, as was the Florida State/Boston College game.

After last weekend's completion, my power 10 stand thusly:

National Championship - 1 LSU vs. 2 Oregon - Sorry, Ohio State, but how am I supposed to take you seriously enough to put in this game?

Fiesta Bowl - 3 Oklahoma vs. 10 Hawaii - I would give my left kidney to see Oklahoma get beat in this game by a WAC opponent again.

Rose Bowl - 4 Ohio State vs. 9 Arizona State - A nice traditional match-up for the Big Ten/Pac 10 match-up, but unfortunately the only way I see a Big 10 school in this game is if Michigan beats OSU in the season finale.

Orange Bowl - 5 West Virginia vs. 8 Boston College - There should be at least 8 conferences screaming about how the BCS is unfair and we need a playoff: the 5 mid-major conferences, the ACC, the Big East, and the SEC. The season that these two schools are having, and the amount of play they are getting as potential national championship game participants, definately should lead their conferences to believe that a playoff is the only way they are going to be competing - unless their names are Florida State or Miami, of course.

Sugar Bowl - 6 Georgia against 7 Missouri - I see Kansas going to this game, unfortuantely, as Missouri will pick up their second loss in the Big 12 title game and Kansas will jump them even after losing to them in the season finale, but Missouri should go to this game.

The NFL was great, as well. The Redskins game was very dramatic - they came back and won after moping their way to a 17-3 defecit - and of course the Colts/Pats was another classic. I wanted the Colts to win, of course, but all that really matters now is that there is a challenger for New England. I didn't want this whole season to be the Patriots Show and now it isn't going to be - there is actually a team that wants to and has the players to compete with them.

The NFL Power Rankings:
1. Patriots (AFC East) - Last unbeaten standing, and without another contest left on their schedule except for the AFC Championship Game.
2. Colts (AFC South) - Never mind that they didn't have Harrison - injuries are part of football and the Pats won that game fair and square (well, presumably); the important thing is, the Colts will get a rematch with much higher stakes.
3. Cowboys (NFC East) - Does it even matter from this point on?
4. Packers (NFC North) - How does the rest of the NFL let a team with no running game get this high?
5. Steelers (AFC North) - Sure, they looked impressive last night. But they've also lost to Arizona and Denver.
6. Giants (NFC WC) - Not missing Tiki a bit.
7. Jaguars (AFC Wild Card 1) - This is assuming Garrard makes a complete recovery this season.
8. Titans (AFC Wild Card 2) - Vince Young isn't quite the man, yet, but the defense is doing a great job holding the fort until he is.
9. Redskins (NFC Wild Card 2) - Play the way they played after getting down 17-3 to the Jets on Sunday, and they'll shoot up this list. Consistency has been the Skins biggest problem, however.
10. Saints (NFC South) - Finally, the team we knew and loved last fall.
11. Seahawks (NFC West) - Wow, the two western divisions have really fallen off the map, huh?
12. Chargers (AFC West) - I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt - for now - over Kansas City because of the talent levels of the two squads - especially if Larry Johnson has to miss significant time - but Norv Turner is turning a predictably awful performance in San Diego, and the Chargers better figure out that he is not the answer, and that right soon.

It's time for the Redskins to flex their villian muscles.

So, the Patriots like running up the score, do they?

I think it's time someone responded in kind, and the Washington Redskins are just the team to do it.

Of course, I'm not talking about on the football field. We saw what happened when the Redskins took the Patriots on on the gridiron. I'm talking about attacking the Patriots from your point of strength.

It seems to me that it is completely impossible for the NFL to level the playing field for all 32 franchises. It seems to me like an uber-high revenue franchise like the Redskins - actually, not "like the Redskins", more like just "the Redskins" - has to be able to wield it's financial weight in some way.

Which is why the Redskins need to go after Scott Pioli.

Do you see what I mean by flexing their villian muscles?

Now, Scott Pioli has been offered jobs before, by teams like the Seahawks and Giants, but he has turned them down. The Patriots might not expect Pioli to entertain such an overture from us, and so permission may be more easily come by than I anticipate, but this probably won't be the case. So, the Redskins are going to have to do some underhanded shit (more underhanded than videotaping someone else's coaching signals? No.). They need to make the fact that they are seeking Pioli to be made known before the fact that they are going after a GM, so they can use the press conference announcing this fact - which will have come out once news breaks that the Skins are after Pioli - to pull some sly negotiations. Sports press corps are so easy to predict the responses to the questions could be perfectly scripted.

Snyder: The Washington Redskins are going to be taking a new direction with our front office soon. We will be looking for a General Manager to run the team soon. Questions?
Press: Is it true you sought permission from the Patriots to speak to Scott Pioli?
S: Yes. We were denied permission, however.
P: Did you really believe that, even if Pioli had been granted permission, he would have entertained an offer to leave New England?
S: We believe that we could have made Pioli an offer it would be in his best interest to sign.
P: What does that mean? (or something like that)
S: I can't get into specifics, of course, but let's just say that whoever gets the job will sign a contract unlike any other ever signed by an NFL GM (he'll probably get fined - a lot - for that; but it will be worth it).
P: Is there any timetable for a decision?
S: We will search until we have our guy, however long that takes, even if that is more than one offseason.

That should keep Pioli, or any other GM for that matter, from signing any long-term extensions.

Of course, there always is the possibility that the Pats would grant permission for Scott to talk, thinking there is no way we can lure away Pioli, with his iron-clad loalty.

Loyal like a dog.

Yeah, dogs are loyal.

To whoever gives them the biggest piece of sausage.

And the Redskins have the biggest sausages of all.

"Ok, Scott, here is the deal. We here at the Redskins believe that you are the man in that organzation who makes everything else go right. When we look at the amazing job you have done identifying and procuring talent for that organization, it is crystal clear to us that you are the most important piece of the puzzle. And think about it this way - if you come to Washington and do the same thing, it won't just be us that know it - it'll be the whole world. You'll go in the Hall of Fame, for sure, probably generally recognized as the best executive in League history.

But I'm not going to blow any more smoke up your ass. Let's get down to brass tacks. The New England Patriots are valued right at around one billion dollars. That's pretty good. Of course, when you've won 3/4 (depending on how many he has when we're talking to him) Super Bowl Championships in a decade, the team value is going to shoot up like that.

Now, the Washington Redskins, on the other hand, are worth one-point-four billion dollars. Consider this, in the last decade, the Redskins have won virtually nothing. 2 playoff appearances, with 2 post-season wins. That's it. And yet the team still outvalues the Patriots by 33%. Can you imagine the worth of the Redskins if you could build another Super Bowl team here? Two billion? Three for a dynasty?

And you beginning to see what kind of money you would be worth to me? I'm talking a five million dollar base salary. If the value of the team tops two billion while you are emplyed by me, that salary will double. It'll double again if it gets to three.

And that's the base. Look, I am comitted to winning championships, and it is performance that I am most willing to reward. If we win a divisional championship under your stewardship, I'll give you another 2 million at the end of the season. I'll give you another five if we win the NFC, and another 10 if we win the whole thing. So, a Super Bowl winning season after our franchise value hits two billion dollars would net you 27 million dollars.

That sound like a job you'd be interested in?"

Of course, once the Redskins did that, there would be no turning back from the black hats. The Redskins would be the team that everyone hated - especially if this worked (and I have no reason to believe that it wouldn't).

But at least being a Redskins fan would be fun again.