The Washington Redskins Suffer Another Loss

This loss isn't as extreme however. After the toughest season of his Hall of Fame career, Joe Gibbs knew he needed to walk away from his Washington Redskins family to be closer to his wife, children and grandchildren.

He retired from football, stepping down as coach and team president of the Redskins on Tuesday. The announcement came three days after a playoff loss ended an inspirational late-season run that followed the death of safety Sean Taylor.

The 67-year-old Gibbs said Redskins owner Dan Snyder tried to persuade him to stay on during a conversation that lasted until about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday.

"My family situation being what it is right now, I told him I couldn't make the kind of commitment I needed to make," Gibbs said during a news conference at the Redskins' practice facility, standing a few feet from the three silver Super Bowl trophies he won during his first tenure with the team.

Speaking about his family, Gibbs added: "I felt like they needed me."

He had one season left on the five-year, $27.5 million deal that lured him out of his first NFL retirement and away from his second career as a NASCAR owner.

Gibbs went 31-36, including 1-2 in the playoffs, in his second stint with the Redskins, always maintaining he intended to fulfill the contract.

Gibbs called this his hardest season, making reference to Taylor's shooting in November, but pointed to his family as the chief reason for his resignation.

Among the candidates to replace him will be two former head coaches who have been members of his staff, Gregg Williams and Al Saunders. Former Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher (he would be my pick) also could be a candidate. The team will have to interview at least one minority to comply with the NFL's "Rooney Rule" as it seeks the sixth coach since Snyder bought the team in 1999.

Bill Cowher needs to stop analyzing sports with the rest of that gang and get back into coaching like Bill Parcells did (well, Parcells isn't exactly a coach, but you get the idea). He retired after he won the Super Bowl with Pittsburgh for reasons I am unsure of. However, because he's an analyst, he would make a good coach since he seems to know what he's talking about as he breaks apart the games and tries to figure these match ups out every week. Also, he hasn't become a fossil yet; he's still relatively young enough to still be coaching.

Joe Gibbs won three NFL titles during his first stint with the Redskins. The second time around he took Washington to the playoffs in two of his four seasons.

Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs clearly had a better first tenure than second as head of the Washington Redskins. Below is a comparison of both stints in the nation's capital.

	'81-'92	'04-'07	Totals
W-L	124-60	30-34	154-94
NFC East Titles	6	0	6
Playoff W-L	16-5	1-2	17-7
Super Bowl wins	3	0	3

Seattle Seahawks Advance In The Playoffs

The Seattle Seahawks weren't about to play along with the sentimental favorite of this year's playoffs.

The first of four Wild Card games this weekend between the Washington Redskins and Seattle Seahawks was extremely exciting in the second half. Washington overcame a 13-0 deficit thanks to interceptions by Matt Hasselbeck and a screwed up kick return by the Seahawks , but the Redskins now trail Seattle in the fourth quarter, 28-14 due to dropped passes, a failed running game, and a questionable pass by Todd Collins. This play was horrible. He was hit as he lobbed the ball in the air...but even worse, Santana Moss just gave up on receiving the ball and looked like he was lost as the ball entered the hands of a Seahawks defensive man.

Washington came in on a wave of emotion. Seattle was unmoved, even after the visitors rallied for two scores and a fourth-quarter lead. The Seahawks roared back and won the NFC wild-card game, 35-14.

The Redskins rode the passion and momentum of the last month one more time, overcoming a 13-point, second-half deficit. Then the Seahawks came back with three touchdowns of their own for a 35-14 NFC wild-card victory Saturday.

Matt Hasselbeck hit D.J. Hackett with a 20-yard scoring pass, and Marcus Trufant and Jordan Babineaux picked off Todd Collins' first interceptions in a decade, returning them for touchdowns.

Seattle, 8-1 at home, beat a team that finished with a winning record for the first time since Week 1 and will travel to Green Bay next Saturday.

"I think two teams that cared a lot slugged it out," Seattle coach Mike Holmgren said. "And we won it."

The Redskins go home with their four-game winning streak over, their mission to play and win for slain teammate Sean Taylor coming to an emotional end.

"I can't believe it's over with for us," Washington linebacker London Fletcher said. "It just seemed our story was going to be written all the way to the Super Bowl for us."

Next up for Seahawks? Packers in Green Bay

Football Predictions for Week 13 of the NFL

I have to start writing out my predictions earlier during the week now that the NFL network will be airing games on Thursday night. Speaking of which....

Thursday

Green Bay At Dallas - If the Pats-Colts game was the most anticipated game of the year, this has to be the second. A battle of 10-1 nearly perfect teams (and the Cowboys would have been perfect if it wasn't for those pesky Patriots). Let's look at this game scientifically:

Receiving : Dallas > Green Bay - Dallas has T.O. whos tops in the league next to Moss
Rushing : Green Bay > Dallas - Grant on the Packers has convinced me the Packers do have a very good running game now, even though Favre doesn't use him much.
Special Teams: Green Bay = Dallas - About even. No one has a Hester to stand out.
Passing: Green Bay > Dallas - In no way am I saying Romo is anything less than an amazing quarterback, but Favre is having his career year and experience will beat out inexperience when it comes time to make crucial plays or even more important, not screwing up at the wrong time.
Overall: Green Bay > Dallas

I figured I'd give that game special treatment. Now for the rest of the games:

Sunday

Houston At Tennessee - This game can go either way because at this point I don't know what to expect from Young and the Titans, except perhaps not scoring like they used too. Houston has more offensive power and I select them to win.

Jacksonville At Indianapolis - This game seriously decides the division. The Colts are playing at home and there players are only getting more healthy as time goes by. Peyton and Dungy know they have to win and they'll put the suddenly surging Jaguars in their place.

San Diego At Kansas City - San Diego was just charging their battery all year to go on a tear at the end of the season and the Chiefs are just another team in their way.

Atlanta At St. Louis - The Rams at home should be able to put up more points and take care of the Falcons

New York Jets At Miami - I've been hearing lots of talk about how the Jets are actually as bad as Miami. Well, this is there week to prove they are not. However, to be fair, this is the most evenly matched game Miami will have for the rest of the season. The Jets are 0-5 away, but the Dolphins are 0-5 at home. It doesn't get any worse. I'm going to take a risk and say the Miami Dolphins will get their first win at home (it worked when I called the Rams beating the Saints).

Detroit At Minnesota - This is a great game because Detroit has to win to say in contention for the Wild Card (but they have been slipping) while the Vikings are coming off a tremendous momentum shifting win against the Giants. I call the Vikings to win this game and ruin any chances the Lions have of making the playoffs.

Seattle At Philadelphia - Another great game because the Eagles, coming off a terrible start, are right there for a Wild spot. However, the Eagles only did as well as they did last week because Feeley know how to pick apart the Patriots defense. The Eagles are not that good and if McNabb plays, he will cough up the ball like he always does. I pick the Hawks to win this game.

Buffalo At Washington - Even with Edwards starting, after the terrible tragedy that happened to Sean Taylor, the Redskins are going to win to honor the fallen member of their team.

San Fransisco At Carolina - There isn't really a lot to say about these teams. The Panthers are big disappoint to me and they are no where near the team they were a few years ago. However, they are still better than the 49ers.

Denver Vs Oakland - Denver is in a dogfight with the Chargers to win that division and this game against Oakland is simply one of those games they must win to stay in contention.

Cleveland Vs Arizona - Poor Arizona. Just when I thought they actually had a shot at a Wild Card and even winning their division, they have to play the powerhouse Browns. This will be a tremendously high scoring game because the Cardinals always find a way to keep things interesting, especially with Warner as their QB, but the Browns will score more and win.

New York Giants At Chicago - If this was the Bears defense of the last 2 years, then I would enjoy watching Eli throw another 4 interceptions. However, the Bears are not what they used to be and the Giants need to bounce back after that terrible loss last week.

Tampa Bay At New Orleans - Perhaps the most quietest team in the league, the Bucs sit at the top of their division with a respectable 7-4 record. Maybe that division is so bad nobody wants to even bring them into conversation. The Saints are another 5-6 team fighting for a Wild Card spot, but they'll be one of the 5-6 teams that lose this week.

Cincinnati At Pittsburgh - Last Monday's sloppy win didn't tell me anything about the Steelers. The Bengals are coming off a three touchdown performance from Palmer and that offense looks like the Bengals offense it should have been. Even still, the Steelers should be too much for the Bengals in another high scoring game this week.

Monday

New England At Baltimore - Another national televised night game for the Patriots and another chance too show off how good they are. My only hope is that the Ravens follow the so called "blurprint" that the Eagles drew up to beating them, but that won't happen. The Ravens are a completely different team from the Eagles.

Sean Taylor And The Inventor of Gatorade Will Be Missed

Today is truly a sad days in sports because we must mourn the loss of two individuals who impacted the game in remarkable ways.

Pro Bowl safety Sean Taylor died Tuesday after he was shot in his home by an apparent intruder. The 24-year-old player died at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he had been airlifted after the shooting early Monday. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league will honor Taylor's memory at all games this weekend. Taylor's No. 21 will be painted in a grass parking area leading into Redskins Park in Ashburn, Va. In addition, No. 21 will also be painted in front of the Redskins Hall of Fame store. Fans already began a makeshift memorial by laying flowers on a field near the front entrance to the practice facility. Several people paid respects at Taylor's parking space.

Sean Taylor was one of the fiercest and most competitive safetys imaginable. After much success in college, he was drafted in 2004 by the Redskins and became the starter in just the third game. He recorded his first interception in the sixth game which sealed a victory for his team. The potential he had was incredible and his efforts will not go unnoticed.

I find eerie how the players I draft in video games have been dying in reality. First, Joe Kennedy on my MVP baseball team died in reality and now Sean Taylor, who I drafted on a fantasy team in Madden, was killed. I am not joking here.

The news in this post doesn't get any happier. I grew up on Gatorade. I absolutely loved the deep-quenching cold taste of Gatorade. Today, I came home to find out the inventor of Gatorade passed away. Dr. Robert Cade, who invented the sports drink Gatorade and launched a multibillion-dollar industry that the beverage continues to dominate, died Tuesday of kidney failure at age 80.

What people don't realize (such as myself who drank Gatorade his whole life) is that Gatorade and other sports drinks are treated like a science and experimentation goes into developing the perfect drink. Cade's researchers determined a football player could lose up to 18 pounds (90 to 95 percent of it water) during the three hours it takes to play a game. Players sweated away sodium and chloride and lost plasma volume and blood volume. Using their research (and about $43 in supplies) they concocted a brew for players to drink while playing football.

What happened next is a nice, light-hearted story. According to ESPN:

The researchers added some sugar and some lemon juice to improve the taste. It was first tested on freshmen because coach Ray Graves didn't want to hurt the varsity team. Eventually, however, the use of the sports beverage spread to the Gators, who enjoyed a winning record and were known as a "second-half team" by outlasting opponents.

After the Gators beat Georgia Tech 27-12 in the Orange Bowl in 1967, Tech coach Bobby Dodd told reporters his team lost because "We didn't have Gatorade ... that made the difference."

So, there you have it. Gatorade was named after the Florida Gators. Gatorade has expanded tremendously since. Instead of the original four flavors, there are now more than 30 available in the United States and more than 50 flavors available internationally.

Washington Redskins' Sean Taylor Shot And Wounded At Home

Taken from ESPN:

Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor was in critical condition after he was shot at his Florida home Monday, police said.

Sean Taylor

Miami-Dade County police officers were dispatched to Taylor's home at about 1:45 a.m. and found him shot. He was then airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital, police Detective Alvaro Zabaleta said. He didn't know where on Taylor's body he was shot.

The Miami Herald reported paramedics found Taylor with a gunshot wound to the groin. A family friend who did not want to be identified told ABC-TV 10 in Miami that Taylor was shot twice.

A brief statement from the Redskins said Taylor was undergoing treatment at the Miami hospital and that police were investigating. His family has asked that no information about his condition be released at this point, said hospital spokeswoman Lorraine Nelson.

Taylor has a home in the Miami suburb of Palmetto Bay that he bought for $900,000 two years ago.

Taylor, 24, is in his fourth season with the Redskins after playing at the University of Miami, where he was an All-American in 2003. He leads the team with five interceptions but has missed the last two games with a knee injury.

In 2005, Taylor was accused of brandishing a gun at a man and repeatedly hitting him during a fight that broke out after Taylor and some friends went looking for the people who had allegedly stolen his all-terrain vehicles.

Taylor reached a deal with prosecutors last year after they agreed to drop felony charges against him. He pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors in the assault case and was sentenced to 18 months probation.

The man, Ryan Hill, also sued, seeking at least $15,000 in damages. Hill suffered bruising to his body, incurred medical expenses and lost wages because of the fight, the lawsuit said.