Bucs is a 4 Letter Word

Last night, after a successful weeknight Costco run, I sat down on the couch to watch the Thursday night tv shows. Since The Office had already started, and I didn't want to start watching in the middle, I flipped around the channels until I got to the NFL channel which has started to to show exciting quarters from past games involving teams that are playing each other in the coming Sunday.

I thought, sweet, if its the Redskins and Bucs, maybe they'll show that classic nail biter from October 2000 at Fed Ex that went to overtime, and was won on a field goal after Deion Sanders took a punt down to the Bucs' 5. Or maybe they'd show Joe Gibbs' first game back in September 2004 when Clinton Portis scored on a long touchdown run on his first ever carry as a Redskin.

Instead, the NFL channel decided to show that nightmare of a game from November 2005. In this one, the Skins were up 35-28 but gave up a td pass with less than 2 minutes to go. We tried to block the extra point, jumped offsides, and Gruden went for 2. They said Alstott got in, but he was clearly stopped. It was total bullshit, and what made it worse was that I had to watch the second in my dad's basement while on a conference call with my law firm about a bunch of useless shit.

So instead of going 6-3, we fell to 5-4, and went to lose the next 2 games. I remember walking down the front stairs, feeling like I had been punched in the stomach. Redskins memories, ahhhh. My whole body kind of tensed up as I watched the Skins punt back the ball before the Bucs final drive. Joey suggested I watch something else, which I did.

So its Friday, which means that the gloom has been replaced with irrational hope and excitement. Completely baseless, but its there. Maybe its the fact that Greg Blache admitted that he sucks, its his fault, and he's going to do better. There! That's what Redskins fans can hang their hats on as of now.

The Bucs are 0-3. They benched Leftwich for a guy named Josh Johnson. Let's assume the Redskins are an average team that does average things. That would mean a Redskins fan could day dream about a confused Josh Johnson getting flustered in the pocket, getting his elbow smacked, the ball popping up in the air, and a cornerback snatching it out of the air and running it down the sideline with a convoy for a touchdown. That kind of thing doesn't happen for us, but that's what the proper day dream is.

I want to see some good shit this week, and I want to feel good. I want to pump my fist and do a couple of stupid joyful dances around the living room. I want to yell, "Hell Yeah," and watch Clinton Portis spike the ball in the end zone. Can we get going or what?

Wishful thinking prediction: Redskins 17, Bucs 10.