T-Boz Leaves Anonymous Comment, References DCO

While our most-favorite Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell has recently been teetering on the brink of 'tism-hating with his wary Redskins columns, doing such unmentionable things as questioning the team's makeup and actually worrying about what certain meaningless games amount to, all has since been forgiven. In Sunday's analysis of the skins' T-Boz once again nodded in the direction of the DC Optimist, referencing one of our hallmarks of pertinent Redskins offseason analysis.

"After the misery of 5-11, everyone, especially Gibbs, who claims he has the
right personnel in hand to build a fine team, wants clarity and rapid
improvement."

Hmm, that wouldn't be the same, slightly offensive 5-11 term first referenced in this very webspace in July, would it? We have already altered the site to better cater to T-Boz's navigation, and we pleaded for him to give us a quick shout out for providing great column suggestions during lull months, and he (sort of) gave us our due, not-so-much as dropping the t-word in another Nats lovefest, but we didn't expect this sort of tribute. I am guessing that being awarded two and a half MAO of the Weeks amounts to something in this great blogosphere, no? Now, the sudden burst of fame that ultimately will bestow itself on this site as a result is making us a bit weary. Which 'tism term will we need to turn into fashionable t-shirts for Jamie and D-Steinzz to rock on the next blog show? What if we are linked to Deadspin and subsequently cared about by the rest of the Sports Blogging community of basement-dwellers? What will our ballhype numbers look like then?

Some may think we would be upset that Boz again stole from us, but we can't be mad at him after he decided to bless our not-so-often utilized comments section in lieu of his latest material mining.

"I come here daily (since your endorsement from the Sports Bog) but don't see
many comments, which is a shame because this is the most entertaining DC Sports
Blog out there. I assume it reflects not a lack of interest, but the nature of
those who typically leave comments to be 'tism-haters. Rest assured that many of
us appreciate your efforts to accurately editorialize the goings on of our
beloved DC teams and fail to comment because there is really not much to comment
upon when someone simply gets it right. Thanks."

We are pretty much positive that this "anonymous" comment was from Boswell, who we now happily count as one of the fifty regulars getting their 'tism fix from us.

The New and Improved Brandon Lloyd

In this discrete Redskins offseason of impassioned frugality and level headedness, one of the hallmarks of what will become — in our often-correct analysis — the ultimate team-comeback story, will be the Redskins' everlasting faith in projects that had yet to matriculate positive results. Beginning with the grasping of Saunders' hallowed playbook and continuing with faith in a Portis-Betts biumverate and furthering through trust in the often snickered-at defensive line makeup, there were experiments made before 5-11 that many unfaithful individuals would have since aborted. One of the more embarrassing additions to 5-11 (yes, we are drawing slightly offensive parallels here), was wide receiver Brandon Lloyd.

Blessed with the ability to make sportscenter highlight packages that make Stuart Scott erupt with akwardly out-of-touch references to urban rap music, Lloyd was supposed to be that guy that made the defense think twice about doubling Santana. He was going to be the guy Brunell would pitch to when he wasn't targetting his check-down route on third down. Unfortunately, after his lone highlight (that diving catch on second down in the worst preseason game, like, ever), he completely vanished, turning up only to exhibit overall shame with tantrums, drops, avoidances of contact, and ahem, rap albums. After these Archuleta-like grievances, the skins braintrust should have layed down the axe upon his uniquely-coiffed head and proceeded to procure another source of catches that may not end up having the worst season in the history of wide receivers, right?

But trusting in the braintrust knows no bounds here, and The DC Optimist enjoys the manner in which the braintrust offers unwavering support to Lloyd, and we feel that there is no doubt that because of this, Lloyd will bounce back from this most unfortunate of seasons. Why check the photographic evidence courtesy of fans at extremeskins.com. Lloyd's newfound gunnage are David Boston-like in their definededness. We figure that running routes with another bouncing-back skin Shawn Springs in an offseason Arizona training compound can only help. Springs is convinced of Blloyd's ability:

"I can't think of too many guys I've ever played with that have the ability that
Brandon has," Springs said. "That's why I wanted to work out with him as a
veteran guy. He can do anything he wants on a football field. He's got that much
talent."

Nice to see a guy like Springs, who many had given up on or thought the team had given up on, working so hard to boost the talents of a player people think the team should have given up on, or never given a chance. No, Blloyd, or as my mother calls him "Lil T.O.," will fullfill the prophecies of Springs in 2007, upping his catch numbers, and his touchdown lack of number. We see physical improvements in Blloyd's fantastic website as well. New website, new biceps, new attitude — could this end positively? If we were Stuart Scott and also insufferable, we might say booyeah.