Gridiron Gala: Party Like It's 1991!

"Some men are born with greatness, some men achieve greatness, and some men have greatness thrust upon them. A combination of the 3 makes you immortal."

I'm not sure who said that quote first, but I use to hear it on the Greaseman show back in the day...spoken by the one and only Don King. Ha Ha. But speaking about back in the day, and speaking of greatness, a special event is coming to RFK featuring the dynasty that was the 80's-90's Washington Redskins.

It's called the Gridiron Gala, and judging from what I've seen about this event, I'd give half my c&%k to be there. First of all it starts with a tailgate party outside of legendary RFK stadium. That's cool enough, because you haven't tailgated at RFK in a long time unless your a soccer fan...or the last time you did there was no cornhole!

Later, the party moves inside RFK, where the honoring of those great Skins players fully begins. Break bread and rub elbows with Gibbs, Clark, Theismann, and Rypien to name a few. It's a fantasy camp of your all-time favorite Skins for the cost of an NFL game ticket...in 1983!

There's also a Madden Gaming Challenge in which you could win the chance to play Chris Cooley in Madden 10. I personally would beat Chris using the Redskins and only using pass plays to Chris Cooley, and talk shit the whole time. Talk shit like "hey Chris, how's Madden Chris Cooley's ass taste?" But...that's just me. Maybe you'll beat him using only Clinton Portis's running plays.

Here's a preview of the Gala, and you can also get updates moving forward on Facebook and Twitter.

Cheers and Hail

Big Boy's Take On The Redskins-Cowboys Rivalry

What does the Cowboys/ Redskins rivalry mean to me? Very simple....everything. It's the good guys against the bad guys. The blue collars against the white. It's the greatest rivalry in professional sports! George Allen, a journeymen coach arrived in Washington in the early 70's with his brand of football. He had no time for rookies. Just give him veteran players with something left in the tank, and something left to prove and we will be successful. Oh, one other problem....he also knew that to be successful with the Redskins, he had to beat the Dallas Cowboys. And so it began. It just seems that over the years they have been a tuxedo and we have been a pair of brown shoes. We had pickups they had BMW's. We had something to prove and they had what we wanted.

At the age of 37 I am still a big sports fan, however I'm not near as emotional about it as I was in my youth. Except 2 times a year. It just builds in me from Monday to Sunday. It consumes me. Dallas week is still as emotional in my life now as it was then. I can still hear my mom talk about how Clint Longley came off the bench for a injured Roger Staubach to beat us. How they knocked us out of the playoffs in '79. How we got some redemption in the '80's, a very successful decade for us but always a snag or two from guess who. How my childhood friend Mike Dellinger, who was as die hard a Cowboys fan as you will ever find, would chat all week about the importance of the game. I remember how each of us hated to be on the losing end the morning after and that phone would ring. Oh man!

My greatest memories of the rivalry? I have many but I will share my favorite. It was during the second Joe Gibbs era. It was Monday night September 19, 2005. My cousin Herman and I were at our local watering hole. We had been suffering a few dismal years in the rivalry. The Skins were down 13-0 and couldn't do a damn thing on offense. Some guy at the end of the bar got up to go to the bathroom and in passing, said something that did not sit well with us. Words were exchanged which led to pushing and shoving. After the altercation was broken up, the bar divided, things got settled down and the game went on. The guy left, but vowed that he would be back. And he did, he came back wearing a Cowboy's jersey with several other Cowboys fans. We we got into again, this time the result was the Cowboys fans were asked to leave and not come back. Two long passes later we win 14-13! The remaining Redskin's fans in the bar all cheered and hugged one another and all was good.

The best part about it was the reaction of the coach. Here's a guy, a Hall of Famer, Superbowl winning coach, Sprint Cup champion car owner. If you remember his reaction after the game it was very moving. He knew at that place and time what the rivalry means to him, to the players, and all of us fans.

Jeff Collins

Boss Hog

I would like to pay my respects to the greatest NFL position coach of all-time, Joe Bugle. For 31 NFL seasons, Buges has been the mark that all other coaches should be measured by. Whether you are a hall of fame coach, or a rookie coach, you know you'll be better with Buges on your staff.

Buges has been around so long that he coached Romeo Crennel at Western Kentucky 40 years ago! During this time, Buges roomed with a grad assistant by the name of Jerry Glanville in a one bed apartment! After a coin flip, Buges won the bed, forcing Glanville to the floor to sleep on newspapers! I'm laughing at the thought of Jerry sleeping on papers, and leaving Elvis tickets at the W. KTY ticket gate. Buges and Jerry lived off pizza and donuts during this time (who doesn't) because they had no $$ and had a couple players who worked at the pizza and donut shop. Many nights Buges and Jerry would stay up late drawing up plays on one of the pizza boxes. Maybe 50 gut was a specialty pizza!

Did you know that Buges was the O-line coach for Bum Phillip's Oilers in the late 70's? No wonder Earl Campbell had those big holes to run thru! The Oilers defeated the Chargers in the 79 playoffs, a Chargers team who had an O-coordinator by the name of Joe Gibbs.

In 1981 Gibbs and Buges joined forces with the Skins. Soon after, The Hogs were born. Buges took guys that were old, undrafted, and undersized, and made them the meanest, baddest, mfer's in the league.

When Gibbs came back, the only way it would have felt right was with Buges. We got Buges, and we should never let go. I was worried that Buges would ride off into the sunset with Joe, but we are lucky that he stuck around. Zorn is lucky that he has a guy like Buges to lean on. Buges coaches up the young guys, and stands behind the veterans. He is our rock.

So, for the man that was born 68 years ago in Pittsburgh, PA, lets knock this Steeler's team in the mouth! Let's make them bleed! Because I know if Joe could strap on the pads, someone would be bleeding.

Cheers and Hail

The Last Word in Big D

The Skins went into Dallas this weekend as 11 point underdogs. No one in the media predicted any upsets, and to be honest, even the most die hard fans did not predict a W. But, this Redskins team is good, and they showed how good they are by dominating this game. Do not let the final score fool you, the Redskins dominated in all phases of the game, and proved to everyone that they are a force to be reckoned with.

Who would have thought that the Redskins would out coach the Cowboys? Jim Zorn came out with a great game plan, and his play calling was awesome. For the first time in 4 years, I have no idea what the Redskins are going to do on offense. During Gibbs 2, I could guess the next play 75% of the time. On the other hand, the Cowboys ran the ball only 8 times to Barber, and Felix Jones got ZERO carries. The Cowboys also had a crucial penalty, having 12 men on the field. This happened after a timeout! That's COACHING! And you can tell that the coaches listened to TO's whining. They tried to force the ball into his hands, and it just was not there.

I have to give props to the defense, excellent game. Portis ran strong, Cooley blocked hard, Tana is amazing, and JC is playing at an unbelievable level. Hip, Hip, Hooray!

Lets take care of business this week in Philly, and show everyone why this team is not only good, it is special! We play physical, we win!