John Feinstein doesn't like the way the Redskins complied with the NFL mandate to interview minority candidates before hiring a coach. Feinstein doesn't believe that Dan Snyder ever really thought Jerry Gray, a black defensive coach who reportedly has interviewed for Jim Zorn's job while Zorn still has it, could be a head coach for the Redskins. Gray was already turned down by at least one college, Memphis, before he was used to put the Redskins in compliance with the so-called Rooney Rule.

Feinstein writes:

Gray has as much chance of being the next Redskins coach as Mike Krzyzewski has of being voted Man of the Decade on the campus at the University of Maryland.

Feinstein, while blasting the way the Rooney Rule is administered, takes no position on whether the NFL should adopt the Clooney Rule, the Looney Rule or Soon-Yi Rule.

It's just a joke! Remember?

***

Bring Mike Leach to Redskins Park (cont.): Jerry Gray is from Texas Tech, same as Mike Leach, who would have met the criteria for the Looney Rule. Leach got fired yesterday after allegedly mistreating a player. (Hey, Dan Snyder: The greatest offensive mind in the game is still available, 24 hours after his firing! Get him!)

In today's Washington Post, Sally Jenkins jumps in ahead of the curve and takes up for the deposed coach.

"You can hear the sound of a railroading in Lubbock," Jenkins writes, "and it's not coming from the train station."

Leach had been taking a beating in the mainstream media before Jenkins talked sense here. But when everything comes out, everybody's going to be on Leach's side, or every football coach at every level is going to be fired.

Anybody who didn't love Leach before Craig James got him fired for (allegedly) mistreating the ESPN announcer's son should love him now. While most folks who have millions of dollars at stake keep their mouths shut about their ex-employers until the last check clears, Leach fired away at the school that John Hinckley made infamous.

(AFTER THE JUMP: Leach calls everybody "liar"? Craig James is the real villain in the Mike Leach Story? Craig James is the real villain in the Washington Federals demise? Awesome Trivia™: Craig James is the last white guy to do what? Annapolis' own Travis Pastrana's gonna jump what tonight? Is he crazy? Can the NHL take New Year's Day from college football? Is the NBA heading for a showdown with Jesus?)

A snippet of Leach's goodbye-for-now statement:

Over the past several months, there have been individuals in the Texas Tech administration, Board of Regents and booster groups who have dealt in lies, and continue to do so. These lies have led to my firing this morning. I steadfastly refuse to deal in any lies, and am disappointed that I have not been afforded the opportunity for the truth to be known. Texas Tech’s decision to deal in lies and fabricate a story which led to my firing, includes, but is not limited by, the animosity remaining from last year’s contract negotiations. I will not tolerate such retaliatory action; additionally, we will pursue all available legal remedies.

Not that it would excuse real player abuse if he is indeed guilty, but: Leach also pointed out in his letter that Tech has been to bowl games for 10 straight years, and claimed that the school "has the highest graduation rate for football players of any public institution in the country." ('Course, the same school gave me a diploma, and I didn't even buy a book my last year there, so that stat's worthless.)

The Leach story ain't going to go away, and when all is said and done, I'd bet real money the villain will be Craig James.

Maybe that's just a wish. But all you need to know about James to dislike him: His real name is "Jesse James." DC football fans of a certain age don't even need to know that to loathe him. They remember James as the guy who more than any other player helped quicken the demise of the Washington Federals of the USFL. He was the Federals top draft pick and marquee player in their inaugural year of 1983. But after one horrible season for James and the team, he used an injury to get out of his contract and move to the NFL. He went to the New England Patriots and immediately became the player he never was in a Federals uniform. Awesome Trivia™ about Craig James: His 1,227 yards rushing in 1985 makes him the last white running back to run for more than 1,000 yards in a season.

By then, the Federals were defunct. Thanks, Craig!

I can think of no better payback to Craig James for what he did to DC than for Dan Snyder to hire Leach as offensive coordinator or something bigger. Leach's teams score more points during timeouts than the Skins do in whole games.

***

Like a lot of guys on New Years Eve, Travis Pastrana is gonna get behind the wheel of a car tonight and put his life at risk.

All sorts of sports are claiming holidays as their own. It's getting like dogs peeing on a patch of grass. Tonight comes the latest example, as motorsports daredevils continue their attempted takeover of New Year's Eve: Pastrana, Annapolis' own former motorbike phenom turned suicidal entertainer, will take a long drive off a short peer tonight in Long Beach, hoping to fly a Subaru about 250 feet onto a barge while the television cameras roll. It's all sponsored by caffeine-pusher Red Bull. Last New Year's Eve, Robbie Knievel jumped the fiery fountain (or did he?) at the Mirage in Las Vegas before a national TV audience.

America loves the sports/holiday nexus. For most of the last century the whole country linked Memorial Day Weekend and the Indy 500. Football and Thanksgiving have been paired forever, too, first with high schools and then the pros.

And, as college football stupidly let its grip on New Year's Day slip — the big games won't be played until next week — hockey steps up and says, "Thank you very much":  The NHL makes a power-play for New Years Day, promoting the crap out of a Boston Bruins/Philadelphia Flyers game to be played outdoors tomorrow at Fenway Park.

This is the NHL's third stadium-hosted Winter Classic, and good for Gary Bettman for coming up with an idea that is simultaneously stupid and cool.

But, I see trouble ahead for some sports/holiday pairings. Because America also loves Jesus, here's a New Year's 2010 Prediction: The grumbling about the NBA taking Christmas as a day to hypermarket itself is gonna get louder soon. The NBA started putting a marquee matchup or two on Christmas during the Michael Jordan Era, but really kicked its holiday promotion into overdrive this year, with five games telecast nationally this Christmas.

Even some of its own were blasting this year's tacky tack. "I actually feel sorry for people who have nothing to do on Christmas Day other than watch an NBA game," Orlando Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy told the Associated Press, in a story that appeared in the Washington Post. Van Gundy's complaints were about family issues. I bet if the NBA doesn't tone down its Christmas blowouts, this'll become a Jesus issue. I can't wait!

Though, it's hard to deny that the Christmas games do get basketball attention the game wouldn't otherwise get. Should the WNBA to plan an Easter Eggstravaganza or somesuch? Looking at my sportswatching calendar, Easter's still pretty open.

***

Story tips? Wanna Play the Feud? Tube amps for sale? Send to: cheapseats@washingtoncitypaper.com

Yesterday afternoon, law enforcement arrested Marlo Antonio Garcias in connection with the Christmas morning triple shooting at 5401 4th Street NW that left one man dead and two other individuals critically injured. Garcias was charged first degree murder while armed.

For the first time, court records reveal a narrative of the shooting scene. At about 4:55 a.m. on Christmas, Fourth District officers responded to 5401 4th Street NW "after being flagged down by citizens in reference to a shooting." The affidavit in support of Garcia's arrest goes on to state: "The officers arrived on the scene and discovered three shooting victims in the basement suffering from apparent gunshot wounds." Two individuals were transported to an area hospital. The third victim, Miguel Romero, 21, was pronounced dead at the scene. Romero was shot three times, with entrance wounds in his back, head and neck.

The two survivors sustained serious gunshot wounds. One was shot once in the head. The other victim was shot in the mouth. The victims were unarmed at the time of the shootings. Both are in critical condition.

One witness told police that they heard a gunshot coming from the rear of 5401 4th Street. They then went outside and observed Romero, Garcias, and one other Latino male entering the basement. They then heard arguing coming from the basement area. They then went down to the basement and observed Garcias "racking a gun." They then "observed [Garcias]  pointing the gun at [Romero]."

The witnesses says they then ran upstairs to the kitchen and "heard additional gunshots coming from the basement."

The witnesses was shown a series of nine photos. They failed to identify the shooter from the pictures. Hours later, the witness came back and requested to look at the photos again. They then ID'd Garcias. The witness reported that they didn't immediately identify Garcias because they were afraid for their safety and their family's safety.

A second witness told police that they heard gunshots coming from the basement. Seconds later, they say Garcias, "with gun in hand," attempted to force his way upstairs to the kitchen. Police showed this witness nine photos as well. The witness pointed to photo No. 9 and stated: "It looks like him, the person I saw with the gun. With different hairstyle, mustache and facial hair."

No. 9 was Garcias.

In the supplemental narrative supplied by a D.C. Police Department detective, police admit that Garcias was a hard man to track down. Police went to two addresses listed for the man and came up unsuccessful. After his arrest, he gave an address he hadn't lived in for six months.  He apparently had no real fixed address.

Police say that its investigation revealed that Garcias is a member of "STC," a street gang known as "Street Thug Criminals."

*photo by Darrow Montgomery.

It's that time of year again—city legislators are handing out trinkets to their colleagues. Here's what LL's got on this year's haul...

Jim Graham, Ward 1: individualized gifts. Some got old-fashioned Christmas tree ornaments.

Jack Evans, Ward 2: his bobbleheads, signed and numbered

Mary Cheh, Ward 3: custom 18-month calendars featuring pictures of all the councilmembers

Muriel Bowser, Ward 4: boxes of Griesson Café Musica cookies

Harry Thomas Jr., Ward 5: copies of The Beat: Go-Go Music From Washington, D.C. by Kip Lornell and Charles C. Stephenson Jr.

Tommy Wells, Ward 6: hardbound albums of council inauguration pictures

Yvette Alexander, Ward 7: individualized gifts; Wells says he got a beer stein

Marion Barry, Ward 8: TBD

Michael Brown, at-large: copies of The Life and Times of Ron Brown: A Memoir by Tracey L. Brown, introduction by President Bill Clinton

Kwame Brown, at-large: Starbucks mugs with personalized pictures of each councilmember inside

Phil Mendelson, at-large: TBD

David A. Catania, at-large: his usual Godiva chocolates

Chairman Vincent C. Gray: illustrated books featuring the Aesop's fable "The Wind and the Sun." To quote: "the Sun retired behind a cloud, and the Wind began to blow as hard as it could upon the traveller. But the harder he blew the more closely did the traveller wrap his cloak round him, till at last the Wind had to give up in despair. Then the Sun came out and shone in all his glory upon the traveller, who soon found it too hot to walk with his cloak on." (Says Gray's chief of staff, Dawn Slonneger, "It's a metaphor for how you deal with people.")

Good morning, City Desk readers. I hope you all had a happy [insert holiday here].  My household celebrated the day by lounging around in tall tees, eating ice cream out of the carton, and watching the entire fourth season of Weeds (OMG! The ending so totally threw me off. Deets later–don't want to spoil the show for n00bz!)

And now some news:

• New Columbia Heights reports on a new gang cruising 14th St. called the "Whipsters"–not what you think, trust me. (Unless the first thing that came to your mind was a variation on "hipsters," in which case you're kind of right.) The Whipsters have open membership on Facebook! (Keep your eyes open for gang signs painted in raw breast milk and crushed berries from local berry collectives.)
• On Dec. 15, Christmas Eve (aka, Dec. 24) developers broke ground for the new Anacostia library. And Now, Anacostia has more info and some floor plans.
• The folks at Congress Heights on the Rise have the final 2008 numbers from the MPD's All Hands on Deck initiative: "MPD officers made 462 arrests, recovered nine firearms, and seized $35,925 worth of drugs. All five AHOD’s netted more than 2,300 arrests. Overall, assaults involving a gun are down 13 percent and robberies committed with the use of a gun are down 12 percent compared to this time last year."

$35k worth of drugs yet only nine illegal firearms? Ya'll know what that means, dontcha? The price of pot is going up, up, up! So much for catching an after-Christmas fire sale on qp's of purple haze...

Btw: Every single one of those 2,300 arrests that was drug-related translates to an adult, teen, or pre-teen, who–for the rest of his or her life–will be ineligible to receive federal financial aid for higher education. Two thumbs up, Cathy Lanier, for perpetuating the urban-poverty cycle!

Photo courtesy of Flickr user indi.ca

Others take it to another level. To wit, At-Large Councilmember Kwame R. Brown, who is distributing to his colleagues custom bottles of hot sauce:

Yep, that label features Brown together with the president-elect, along with the inscription: "OBAMA-BROWN: The Year We Made History!!!" The sauce is actually produced by local outfit Uncle Brutha's—it's their Fire Sauce No. 10—but it carries a custom label. It reads, in part, "A Change to Uncle Brutha's™ is a Change to the BEST!...As an advocate for change in this historic election, Uncle Brutha's™ wants to show its support for Councilmember Kwame Brown and Senator Barack Obama, and help them bring a 'Brand New Flavor' to Washington, D.C."

Brown's not the only one opting to embrace Obamamania. Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. is handing out framed copies of the following poster:

Bloomingdale (for now) wonders if there are two Bloomingdales. A letter from a District official confuses things.

The Triangle reports on new developments for a project called the "Yale Complex." This has to be the worst name for new housing development.

Upset the Setup has already determined what the new Common album is really worth.

Southwest...The Little Quadrant That Could previous a really cool X-Mas event: "The Washington Waterfront Association invites all to attend the annual Parade of Lighted Boats in the Washington Channel on Saturday, December 6th, 4:00pm, Flotilla at 5:00pm..." Too bad Duke Cunningham won't be part of these festivities.

Black Plastic Bag reports that the Vinyl District has some big news.

D.C. Foodies tests a recipe for curried carrot and sweet potato ginger soup:

"This is the perfect time of year to create vegetable stocks because there really is only so much you can do with carrots, celery and onions. You can then freeze the stock using freezer bags, a freezer hearty container or in ice cube trays. And since it’s winter, you will need a lot of stock for the many, many, many soups and pot roasts one inevitably makes when it turns cold."

Wonkette has a theory on why downtown smells like shit.

A must read.