The Redskins announced last night they’d hired Larry Weisman of USAToday. Does this mean Dan Snyder cares about improving his relationship with the media? Or just one more signal that every good newspaperman’s now going or already gone to PR or government? Or both?

Seems like a great hire. Weisman’s been writing about the NFL for the Gannett paper since the early 1980s. I know him best from his frequent guest appearances over the years on the wonderful “The Sports Reporters” radio show on WTEM, a station which is now owned by Dan Snyder. And Weisman’s great on that. Weisman was never as bombastic or entertaining as host Steve Czaban, but he came off as smart and plugged in.

And in his old typing job, Weisman didn’t pull punches on the man who now signs his checks.

This from a USAToday chat in March 2006:

Ashburn, VA: Does Dan Snider have a clue? You think he would learn from his past mistakes. I wonder if looked at the number of catches El had last year or just the big pass in the Super Bowl. Even more funny is his pickup of T.O. lite from San Fran. 30 mil for a saftey that has taken one too many blows to the head? I give each player no more than two years before Dan cuts them.

Larry Weisman: Look at the bright side. He passes the costs on to season ticket holders and those who park cars at FedUpField. Ever heard that expression about people who know the price of everything and the value of nothing? Remember that Dan Snyder isn’t so much playing with house money as with your money.

“FedUpField”? Nice!

Wonder if Weisman will call him “Mister Snyder” now.

Read More “Cheap Seats Daily: Snyder Hires Guy Who Coined “FedUpField?” »

Late last week came the news that editors at the Washington Post had discontinued Dan Froomkin’s popular White House Watch Web-only column after a five-and-a-half-year run.

This wasn’t just another media-personnel story for the trade publications. The act of a powerful news organization cutting off the head of a Bush-bashing media figure gave the Internet free license to indulge in Idiot Time.

Read More “Why Did the Washington Post Sack Dan Froomkin?” »

When Red Sock Rocco Baldelli hit a home run with two outs in the ninth and his team down, 9-1, the roar coming over the radio from Fenway South was enough to drown out Dave Jageler’s call and make you think somebody on the home team just hit a walkoff HR.

The Sox fans not only stayed, they cheered til the end. Sure, they’re hatable. But, man, they’re good fans.

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The Wizards drafted University of Central Florida’s Jermaine Taylor with their second round pick last night. His dad is Kenny Green, the guy the Bullets drafted in 1985 instead of Karl Malone. The Bullets, then GM’d by Bob Ferry, also passed on John Stockton (for Mel Turpin).

Throughout the ’90s, folks traced the franchise’s woes to the Green-over-Malone pick. I called Green up years ago to ask if it bothered him.

It still did.

He asked me to pass on a message to Bullets/Wizards fans.

“Don’t blame Kenny Green!” Green said.

Read More “Cheap Seats Daily: Gary Clark’s Redskins Party Out of Bounds? Kenny Green’s Kid Over Karl Malone?” »

It’s been looking for a while like Dan Snyder’s going to have trouble filling his stadium come football season. But a Beatle could be just the ticket Snyder needs.

Shortly after Paul McCartney and Snyder announced a few days ago that the ex-Fab would be playing FedExField on August 1, the Redskins posted an offer on the team’s website: Buy club seats for the 2009 football season, and you can also purchase Paul McCartney tickets before they go on sale to the general public next Friday.

If you sign on to redskins.com now, the first page that will hit you features a McCartney/premium seats offer.

This was a rare Redskins offseason without any real ooomph — Albert Haynesworth’s skills far outweigh his name recognition, so his signing probably didn’t sell a dozen season tickets.

That means to Snyder, McCartney is this year’s Steve Spurrier, his Bruce Smith, his Deion Sanders and his Joe Gibbs 2.0. All in one.

Read More “Cheap Seats Daily: Can Macca Fill the Club Level? Snyder Eliminates Cash Parking? The Other Snyder Creeps Toward the Bigs?” »

Paul McCartney is coming to Washington! Well, Raljon, anyway: He’s playing on August 1 at the home of the Redskins, FedExField. Tickets go on sale next week.

Back to me: Yesterday’s press release announcing the show featured two testimonials of McCartney’s greatness, from Dan Snyder…and “Dave McKenna.”

Snyder got quoted (”I’ve been a fan of Paul’s all my life, so it’s going to be a memorable night for us all.”) because he owns the stadium. Makes sense. Me? I guess because whoever put out the press release was under orders to find a quote about McCartney blander than Snyder’s. And they hit gold with something I wrote about McCartney’s voice (”still strong enough to leave listeners awestruck”) for the Washington Post in 2005.

If it’s mine, I’m embarrassed by that clause, for sure. But I’ve never felt so close to Snyder. Turns out we have a bond.

Now I want to know if Snyder’s a “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” or “He Said She Said” guy? And how many times he played “Revolution #9″ backwards just to hear “I buried Paul!”?

I wonder if he had a Beatles belt buckle!

We’ll be picking out furniture soon! Text me, Dan!

***

Every little thing he does is magic, so…Nightspots are sending out press releases to let folks know ALEX OVECHKIN WAS HERE! I got this email from a Vegas  restaurant/club yesterday, a few hours before the Caps star was named MVP again.

Read More “Cheap Seats Daily: Paul McCartney, Dan Snyder…and ME? Ovie, Paris and Lindsay? DeMatha Ballers, Michelle Obama and Bobby Flay?A B.A. in B.A.S.S. Fishing?” »

Uh Oh. Looks like organizers of the Redskins “Ultilmate” Tailgate Party, whose ambitiousness was, well, breathtaking, have started removing pages from the web invitation.

The party was allegedly scheduled for August 29 at RFK and was going to bring together 20,000 fans (paying $25 to $12,500) and at least one dead Redskin.

When you click the invitation pages now, you will get a message that says “The page you are trying to access is a password protected page. Please enter the password in the text box below then click the ‘Enter’ button.”

I tried “Dionne Warwick Inaugural Ball” as a password. That didn’t work.

Cheap Seats Daily will monitor all the Ultilmate Tailgate Party developments.

Lotta weird things for the Nats yesterday. It didn’t rain. The OTHER GUYS blew the game late with a Little League-ish meltdown. And, get this: The bullpen held onto a ninth inning lead! (Where were you when the Reds needed you, Joel Hanrahan?) The Washington Times called the win over the Reds “LUCKY” in the headline. Sure it was.

So what?

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Laron Landry’s fashionably late entry was the big news of the Redskins OTAs. For all the good and bad reasons, Landry’s the closest thing the Skins have to Sean Taylor. He’s burned the base several times with no-shows at fan events, and now he’s got Jim Zorn looking as stupid as Joe Gibbs used to when asked about Taylor’s whereabouts. Zorn’s claim that he was calling the wrong cell number trying to get in touch with Landry is as embarrassing to the franchise as Larry Landover. Because of age, I’ll recuse myself from commenting on Landry’s newly pierced face.

Read More “Cheap Seats Daily:Churches Go After Redskins? Ovechkin Gets Covered, Goes to Vegas?” »

Freaks take the fun out of everything. To wit: The Bowie Baysox are planning another figurine giveaway. On June 17, the first 1,000 fans ages three and up will get a free “Matt Wieters Collectible Figurine.”

But because a few bizarros have caused problems at past events, this won’t be your father’s baseball giveaway.

Read More “Weirdos Have Ruined Weird Baseball Giveaways” »

The Nats take Stephen Strasburg.

That’s big news, in the same way that “Adam Lambert Is Gay!” was big news yesterday. (Kudos to whoever wrote the headline for the Lambert story in Strasburg’s local paper: “Adam Lambert Says He’s Gay; Also, Sun Rises in East”)

And anti-kudos to the headline Sports Illustrated gave its baseball draft story: “Nats’ days as laughingstock may be over with Strasburg on board.”

Who wrote that? The “Mission Accomplished!” guy?

Read More “Cheap Seats Daily: Strasburg Gets Picked, Lambert Is Gay, Nats Lose” »

Today, the Nats lost more than just a game (the team got blanked 7-0 vs. the Mets), the Nats also lost use of its pyrotechnics. D.C. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin put at least a temporary end to the stadium’s fireworks displays. Rubin attended today’s game, and after a fireworks display for the National Anthem ordered them to be stopped. Why?

Read More “D.C. Fire Chief Rubin Shuts Down Fireworks @ Nats Games” »

John Scheinman, also known as The Last Turf Writer the Washington Post Ever Had, has passed along his picks for today’s Belmont Stakes: Chocolate Candy, Charitable Man, and Mine That Bird. And some advice: “Box ‘em and cash!”

Sure, Scheinman in this very same space tossed Rachel Alexandra out of the mix on Preakness Day.

So bless him for getting right back on the horse and handing us the triple in the Belmont. That takes guts. Because as with any real horseplayer, he’d rather be right than rich. Because rich for a degenerate gambler, er, railbird is a very temporary state. But right lasts forever! (And Scheinman’s track record shows he has been very right on racing’s biggest days. Among them: In 2005, while on assignment for the Post, he hit the Pick Three at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day for $14,972.10.)

So, run out RIGHT NOW to your nearest OTB and put the July and August mortgages* on a Triple Box of the 1-6-7 horses. Post time for the feature is 6:27 p.m. EST.

And, as usual, if our picks don’t come in…YOU GET THE REST OF THE SEASON ABSOLUTELY FREE!

*don’t really, dumbass

The Amazin’ Nats did it again, losing 6-1 to the Mets in NY.

The only Nats run came via a home run by Adam Dunn, who by now is surely being asked by other guys in the locker room for hitting tips and, um, you know, dietary advice. Dunn has gotten himself into the mix as the Nats’ Mandatory All-Star Selection.

Race worth watching: Who’s gonna be named the Worst Team’s Best Player?

Streaky Ryan Zimmerman? Shairon “5-0″ Martis? Or Dunn, who now has 15 HRs, the fourth most in the majors. And Cristian Guzman, now leading the team in hitting at .348, has to get some votes for this Tallest Midget-esque honor.

Which all leads to this: How can a team with so much talent be so bad?

Because, seriously, we’re talking bad for the ages.

The 1962 Mets, the shit standard for modern baseball, went 40-120. At 13-32, the Nats are on a pace to lose 114 or 115 games, since you can’t win .8 of a game. But that’s with three hitters having All-Star quality stats and one starter still undefeated.

Other than Joel Hanrahan, there’s nobody to feel sorry for. Manny Acta’s got no hint of Casey Stengel in him.

Again, how can this team be so bad?

Something ain’t right.

***

Time for the Washington Nationals Run Run Differential Diffentialâ„¢ Update, in which we’ve come up with a statistic just to come up with a statistic and to fill digital column inches to save the print product: The Nationals have wracked up a 145-run run-differential differential with the LA Dodgers.

Read More “Cheap Seats Daily: Amazin’ Nats Lose, Extend RRDDâ„¢ Record, Snyder’s Ticket Deadline Etched in Sand” »

Could season ticket worries have played a part in the Redskins’ tampering case?

Albert Haynesworth’s former employer, the Tennessee Titans, have long been saying that Dan Snyder had a deal worked out with the star lineman too early. By NFL bylaw, it’s illegal to even begin negotiations with another team’s players until the free agent signing period begins. The Skins gave Haynesworth the biggest contract ever given a defensive player just hours after signing season opened.

Snyder was seen with Haynesworth agent, who also represents Redskin receiver Malcolm Kelly, at league functions before the opening.

The rule is well known. So why would Snyder, who always outbids everybody anyway and would have gotten Haynesworth in due time, want to rush things?

Well, conspiracy theorists might point out that since taking over the team, Snyder has moved up the date payment for season ticket renewals is due. This year, fans had to send those payments in by March 2. That’s the first business day after the Haynesworth signing. If Snyder hadn’t landed Haynesworth on Day 1 of the signing period, there would have been no publicity about the signing by due date for ticketholders.

The team’s desperate behavior this offseason indicates that Snyder may have felt he needed a bigger bang this year than ever before to move tickets.

Reports say Redskins officials will be interviewed soon by NFL investigators. The team could lose a draft pick if found guilty. Given the way drafts have gone of late, that’s not a huge hit.

Read More “Cheap Seats Daily: Did Snyder Tamper to Meet Ticket Deadline? Will Fenty Be Undone by WarmWatergate?” »

All things must pass: Adam Dunn singled (!) home Nick Johnson with the go-ahead run in the bottom of the 8th, and Joel Hanrahan closed out (!) the Pittsburgh 9th to give the Nats their first win (!) in 8 games.

Even with the win, Washington sits six-and-a-half games out of second-to-last place in the NL East, and on the season have an amazing 125-run run-differential-differential with the Los Angeles Dodgers — that’s nearly a three-run run differential differential per game.

Think anywhere on the planet there’s a baseball nerd so nerdulous that he keeps track of per game run differential differentials?

***

The Wizards have brought in Randy Wittman as an assistant to Flip Saunders. Wittman was a number one pick of the franchise, then the better-named Bullets, back in 1983. Don’t call it a comeback, however. Wittman was traded to the Atlanta Hawks right after the draft for Tom McMillen, one of many young-for-old swaps engineered by Bullets GM Bob Ferry.

Like pretty much all coaches, Wittman played for Bobby Knight. I wonder how Bobby Knight would treat the sort of player who wouldn’t come out of the locker room until the middle of the second quarter and then tell the Coach he was ready to play. Maybe now we’ll find out!

***

“Chang We Can Believe In!”

A proposed sign to bring to Saturday’s DC United game to celebrate carpetbagger developer Victor MacFarlane’s selling out ownership shares to Will Chang, taken from a commenter on the Washington Post’s soccer blog.

All the best writing is in the comment sections…

***

Crisis? What crisis?

Read More “Cheap Seats Daily: Nats Blow Late Deficit! Can Bobby Knight Protege Handle Agent Zero? What’s the Penalty for Fighting Satan?” »

D.C.’s second-best panda showed all the signs. There was the hormone in the urine. There was the lack of energy and changes to her appetite. There was the drop in the hormone in the urine, which happens just before birth. And, lastly, there was the fact that she ovulated and the zoo staff attempted to inseminate her with tubed-up semen from Tian Tian, the black-and-white reluctant stud.

But the zoo put out a release today to say it’s all a giant panda disappointment. Add it to the list. It’s not the first pseudopregnancy for Our Lady of the Fujifilm Giant Panda Habitat. Maybe next year: Yesterday the zoo put Tian Tian to sleep and extracted some more of his boys, destined for the freezer.

Photo of frightening panda toys by yours truly.