Classic Rivalry? Washington vs. Dallas

Everyone who knows me knows that I pride myself on being a born and raised Washingtonian. Despite the fact that I have lived in Maryland most of my life and that I currently live in Virginia; those of us living here know that we refer to ourselves as Washingtonians. As such, my loyalty remains with our much-loved though controversially named Washington Redskins. Football season began two weeks ago and with it came the renewed hopes that Washington would make believers out of all their die-hard fans and begin winning again. For those of us who fondly remember the heydays of Theisman, Riggins and and Hogs, it is sad when you realize that the last time Washington won a Super Bowl was in 1991. Many of us have resigned ourselves that it will still be a few more years before that happens again (though it's only week 2 and I'm still hopeful). These days we're content to make it to the playoffs. But the true spirit of a Washington football fan comes from when they think of the two games that matter the most during the season, those are the games against Dallas.

The rivalry between Washington and Dallas has been a long standing one with the balance in favor of Dallas by about twenty wins. But every year there is the hope that this will be the year in which we'll push the balance a little more in our favor. My mom is the one who got me so interested in football in the first place and she and I are among those who feverently hope to beat Dallas every year. We've been burned by the team so many times that we've sort of become numb to the whole situation but we try to remain optimistic. Still, all that was for naught at the end of the game yesterday. Washington handed the game to Dallas by helping them move down the field by committing ridiculous penalties that ended up costing them the game. But even at it's lowest point, when it appeared that there is no hope remaining, we still remained hopeful because of what happened last year.

In 2005 the same situation was in play. Washington had lost its first game of the season and looked ready to lose the second to Dallas. It was a Monday night game so I was up late watching the game flipping back and forth between the game and "Speed 2". I didn't know which one was worse. As the last five minutes of the fourth quarter began counting down I decided to watch and go down with the ship. What I witnessed in that short time was nothing short of a miracle. In fact, that's what many consider it to be. The Miracle of Moss. Santana Moss caught two passes from Mark Brunell that seemed impossible. It was almost 1:30 in the morning and I was sitting on the floor with my jaw laying beside me. I went to sleep happy that night in the miracle that was to be the turning point in our season that year. The icing on the cake was that this happened in Dallas where the din of the normally noisy stadium was reduced to nearly a murmur.

The second meeting with Dallas was even better since it was at home and we trounced them completely. Last night I know there were many Washington fans hoping for a repeat of last year. Many of them, myself included, probably kept looking to the corners of the screen wondering where that ball would come flying from to reach the hands of Moss. At the end, we remained looking up. At the post game conferences there were a lot of the same statements that we've been hearing for the past fifteen years. "We have to come together," or "things aren't meshing well," or "it's a totally new offense," or the ever popular, "had INSERT NAME HERE been playing and not been injured, it would have been a different story." Now that last one was interesting to me because there were at least four individuals hurt who could have made a difference in the game; primarily our star running back Clinton Portis. But the fact that he was out should not have meant that our entire team would collapse under its own weight.

One cliche sports movies tend to focus on is the fact that there is no "I" in "team." If that is true and if that lesson is to be carried over into real life then why can't Washington get that into their heads as well. Washington's roster of players and coaches is often times dynamite on paper but in real life, the concept doesn't work out so well. You can have all-stars on your team but if they don't play together then there's no benefit to having them. There are some sports where without a good team playing together, there is no hope. Football is definitely one of them. I had truly hoped that this year would be the year Washington. After all, the Washington area has been in a slump as far as all teams go. The Capitals aren't up to par in Hockey, the Nationals are hit or miss, the Wizards are improving and will undoubtedly get better and better. But the Redskins, they are the ones I really hold out hope for. There may be no "I" in "team" but there's definitely and "I" in "patience" which is something the fans in Washington have been showing a lot of.