For years, messages about the wheres and whens of the pep rallies/wakes were posted each week on Dan Snyder's message board, extremeskins.com, so fans could celebrate with or lift the spirits of Skins players and coaches as they returned from the road. The gatherings have long been put together by the renowned husband-and-wife superfan tandem known as Pez and Huly.

But, starting with yesterday's game in Atlanta, the couple's announcements will no longer be made public. Turns out that there's just too much hate in the community to let everybody in on the soirees without inspiring fan-on-fan ridicule.

A memo about the shift was posted on the Redskins official message board yesterday:

"Extremeskins Members: Huly and I and other members will continue to hold the Send Off and Welcome Home events at Redskins park. For the rest of this season, we are (tentatively) NOT going to post a thread for it, because we believe that the fans who still want to sincerely attend and support their team should not be attacked within the thread for doing so. We will contact the typical members who normally attend with meet-up times. However, if you would like to attend, please contact Huly or myself.Thanks,Pez

(Pez and Huly happen to be the couple also behind the all-points bulletin for Stephette Hogette, the bogus Hogette, a few weeks ago.)

(AFTER THE JUMP: Skins fans flock to FedUpField South, take advantage of First Amendmentish freedoms denied by Dan Snyder? Will Dan Snyder have the brains to reverse the signs ban at FedEx this week? Will Ron Nolan, an early victim of Dan Snyder's dickishness, return the disfavor? Sam Huff spews the painful truth, and Larry Michael surrenders? Brett Haber has crisis PR advice for Dan Snyder?)

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The Georgia Dome turned into FedUpField South for the Redskins/Falcons game, as a lot of visitors fans showed up just to vent about Dan Snyder in ways that the owner has banned from his stadium.

The Great Dan Steinberg once again traveled with the insurgency and got a lot of photos of folks with their posters.

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The animosity thrown at Dan Snyder has waned a bit since John Riggins went from offbeat to ugly with his "dark heart" riff.

Snyder could stem the hemorrhaging even more by pulling the disastrous Redskins sign ban this week, as Denver comes to town, and going back to the old allowances for home games.

What would it cost him? Snyder should have learned by now that the networks limit shots of the Snyder-bashing signs on national broadcasts, since the NFL doesn't want any more harm to come to one of its cornerstone franchises. (How else to explain how few shots of Redskins fans' discontent showed up on "Monday Night Football" two weeks ago or during the FOX network broadcast from Atlanta yesterday? One of the few that made the airwaves from the Georgia Dome: "Skins need a stimulus plan!")

My sense is even the local media is just about burned out on the sign-ban story. From a competition standpoint, Redskins games are already worthless, with half a season to go.

If Snyder doesn't loosen up, the rest of the year will turn into a "How can we humiliate Dan Snyder and get away with it?" contest in the grandstand, both on the road and, especially, at home.

I'm no Eric Dezenhall, but from a crisis PR standpoint, lifting the FedExField sign ban would be the easy and smart thing to do. Snyder's put a world of hurt on his business this season through one tone-deaf move after another.

We've been told since 1999 that Snyder's a marketing genius, with zero proof to back up that reputation. Let's see how he handles this.

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Not all those who've been screwed over by Dan Snyder will be in the stands this weekend: Denver defensive coordinator Ron Mike Nolan, who held that same position with the Redskins from 1997 to 1999, was among the first guys to whom Snyder revealed his prick side.

During the 1999 season, shortly after taking over the team, Snyder repeatedly delivered vanilla ice cream to Nolan’s office at Redskins Park as a supremely dickish way to say he thought the defensive scheme was too bland. Though involved parties kept that story hushed for years, by now it has become among the most infamous examples of Snyder's mean and horribly unsuccessful managing style.

Nolan's Broncos are 6-1. Snyder's Skins are 2-6. Denver's defense has given up an NFL-low 96 points this season.

If this were pro wrestling, Nolan would ship a pallate of Rocky Road to Snyder's box before the game.

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Hints of the horribleness from yesterday's various Redskins broadcasts:

*Repartee between Sam Huff and Larry Michael, very early in the second quarter during the official broadcast of the Skins/Falcons game on the Redskins Broadcast Network:

Huff: "I think we're in a heap of trouble."

Michael: "Yeah, we are."

(When Larry Michael lets even the most honest slam of the team go unchallenged, things are bad all over.)

*Al Galdi on the team's postgame show he hosts on Dan Snyder's sportstalker, WTEM: "This season is a necessary evil. There are basic things about this franchise that need to change."

Galdi then quickly added "I'm not breaking any news by saying that."

*WUSA's Brett Haber offered some basic crisis PR advice for Dan Snyder during last night's 11 o'clock news telecast: "Dan: Smile, like once a year!"

It's ugly out there.

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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.

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Weisman will work under Larry Michael, the team's minister of propaganda "Senior Vice President/Executive Producer-Media."

Michael had an odd quote in the release welcoming Weisman: "Larry’s credibility and experience will give Redskins fans something new and compelling to look forward to this season and beyond.”

So having somebody with "credibility" in Redskins Park is something fans will regard as "new and compelling?" Wow. An era of honesty kicks off!

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Weisman's first task will be to shmooze Rick Maese, the new Redskins beat reporter for the Washington Post. Maese replaces Jason La Canfora, one of a boatload of writer who Redskins officials have held vendettas against in the Snyder era. Mister Irrelevant introduced the new kid with a great Q&A.

Redskins Release after the jump, as well as Nats getting broomed, and local boy made good Maury Wills is HUGE in...North Dakota?

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(Groundhog) Day Game for the Nats under the Miami sun: Manny Acta protects a young arm (Jordan Zimmermann), turns lead over bullpen, bullpen blows lead, Ryan Zimmerman makes an error, Nats lose game.

And, another sweep. The Nats should get an endorsement deal from Swiffer.

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I let Joel Hanrahan's passing go too quietly. The guy who took the "C" out of closer lost the race out of town with Manny Acta. Hanrahan was shipped to Pittsburgh a couple days ago. This town's tolerance for bad baseball is big, but not big enough for the both of 'em. Hope Hanrahan turns into an All-Star, but, damn, he sure earned a bus ticket.

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Went to see the DC Grays and Fairfax Nationals of the wood-bat Clark Griffith League at Maury Wills Field on Georgia Avenue NW last night. The rain stopped play in the fifth inning, but, the game was fab. This just in: The college kids today are good!

The rebuilt field, located across the street from where the Negro League Homestead Grays and Major League Washington Senators used to play at Griffith Stadium, looked great, was easy to get to, had plenty of parking and was an all-around great place to watch a game. I'm guessing, though, that whoever from D.C. Parks and Rec decided to put the fences just 295-feet down the lines wasn't a big baseball guy or gal. A concessions table should be added to the scene, too.

As disseminated yesterday: The D.C. Gray's field, next to Banneker Rec Center, is named after D.C. legend Maury Wills, who was an all-sports star at Cardozo in the 1950s and a base-stealing wizard with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1960s.

But it's not the first tribute to one of the greatest athletes ever produced in D.C.

No, there's already a Maury Wills Museum - in Fargo, N.D.! How'd that happen?

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Skins Press Release:

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA. —

The Washington Redskins announced today that Larry Weisman has left USA Today to become Editorial Director of the Redskins Media Department.  Weisman will start on July 20.

Weisman comes to the Redskins with an extensive background covering professional football.  In his 33 years as a professional sports writer, Weisman has authored more than 5,000 published stories, primarily with USA Today.  He has also covered college basketball, professional hockey, championship boxing and soccer, but has specialized in pro football since 1983.

Weisman began covering pro football in 1978, including 29 Super Bowls.  He joined USA Today, the nation’s largest general-interest daily newspaper, in 1983.  During his tenure with USA Today, he has covered and authored stories on all 32 NFL teams.  His writing and reporting have won awards from the Associated Press Sports Editors, the Pro Football Writers Association and the New York State Associated Press in the game story and spot news categories. Prior to joining USA Today, Weisman worked for what is now called the Westchester Journal News in White Plains, N.Y., where he covered the Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders. He has also been a contributing writer to The Sporting News NFL Preview, Street & Smith Football Annual and Patriots Football Weekly.

He has made various appearances on ESPN, CNN, NFL Films and CBS News programming.  He has been a regular contributor to ESPN Radio, Fox Sports Radio, Sirius Satellite Radio, and has frequently made guest appearances on local, national and syndicated radio stations throughout the United States and around the globe.

A graduate of the University of Maryland, Weisman is also the author of three books: “The Terry Bradshaw Franchise Football League,” “Companions in Courage in Courage; Triumphant Tales of Heroic Athletes,” co-written by Pat LaFontaine, Chas Griffin and Ernie Valutis, and “Let’s Go to the Videotape All the Plays and Replays from My Life in Sports,” with Warner Wolf.

Weisman also made it to Hollywood with a cameo appearance as a sports writer in Adam Sandler’s box office hit remake of the “The Longest Yard.”

“It’s exciting to have Larry Weisman join our media team,” said Senior Vice President/Executive Producer-Media Larry Michael.  “Larry is one of the most recognizable NFL writers in the country, and his work at USA Today was second to none. Larry’s credibility and experience will give Redskins fans something new and compelling to look forward to this season and beyond.”

Weisman will contribute to various Redskins television, radio and print properties.

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