Ahh, the Metrodome

Early this week, our buddy Steinz used the phrase ”runaway optimism” to describe the feeling of the masses after the Redskins downed Eli Manning and his 36 incompletions Giants. Even if Steinz was being a tad sarcastic/ironic/smarmy (he did, after all, declare the Redskins ”doomed” before a regular season down had been played), he nevertheless summarized nicely what could be the most optimistic football days since just before the season began.

Heading to Minneapolis this week, the Redskins look to fully resurrect their playoff chances in the place they last reached ultimate glory: the eternally magnificent Metrodome. Yes, remember those days when the Super Bowl was still in its XXs (most Redskins fans fondly recall the 20s of the Super Bowl in the same way I fondly recall my recently departed 20s), and still undefiled by Michael Irvin and Ray Lewis? Remember that 14-2 team that went into that little white bubble of a stadium with its charming Hefty-bag baseball outfield walls and justified all the hopes we had in them? I remember a little 8th-grade optimist watching his team ply that artificial field and coming away from it with the very thing they sought.

Ok, perhaps I’m reminiscing a bit too much and making an imperfect comparison here, but the point is: the Redskins again go to Minneapolis in the wintertime seeking something related to the playoffs. Once it was a Super Bowl championship. Now it’s just a chance to get back on the road to that Super Bowl championship, but the parallel works well enough. Repeat success is imminent.