The Sports Rumors

Preseason: A Blessing or a Curse?

I don’t think there is anything sports related out there that I am more on the fence about than preseason. There is nothing more that I want in the hot summer days of July than to turn on TV and watch some football. The preseason brings this relief, even if it’s only a few quarters of quality ball in an entire month. August seems better knowing that football is back, even if it’s just in preseason form. I get excited watching players I’ve never even heard of make big plays in the fourth quarter of game number one. Truth be told, half of them won’t even make the team and will be a distant memory. But I don’t care; its football on TV.

For the second straight preseason however, I felt my heart sink and my chest tighten. I felt the hairs on my neck stand up. I felt dizzy and needed water. Well, maybe I wasn’t that bad but I was pretty damn close. My beloved Washington Redskins, (hold your laughter please) almost had their season of high hopes snapped just as quickly as quarterback Jason Campbell’s knee did in an awkward sideways motion. Some lineman from the Steelers launched himself at Campbell’s legs after he had thrown the ball, and it drew a fifteen yard roughing the quarterback penalty. I could feel Campbell’s pain in my knee as I saw him squirm around on the ground as Redskins’ trainers ran onto the field. I saw Joe Gibbs’ face and I knew exactly what he was thinking:

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

All I would have had if Campbell was done for the season was a fifteen yard penalty… in preseason.

For those of you who don’t remember, let me refresh your memory about what happened to the Redskins last preseason. Clinton Portis was chasing down a defender who had either scooped up a fumble or intercepted a pass (don’t remember which it was) and was racing down the sideline for a touchdown. Portis caught up to him and made a great tackle. In the process, he separated his shoulder. He wouldn’t be 100% again for the rest of the season and was eventually placed on IR. Joe Gibbs uses a run-run-run-maybe a pass style of offense. No Portis, no running. No running, no winning. We finished 5-11.

While Campbell was rolling on the ground in pain, the cameras went to a shot of our two backup quarterbacks warming up. Todd Collins and Mark Brunell. Todd Collins’ warm up consisted of watching a video teaching how to throw a football, since he’s played what, two games in his life. Mark Brunell’s warm up consisted of rubbing arthritis cream on his shoulders and parking his wheelchair. I wanted to vomit.

Luckily, Campbell only has a bruised knee and it looked a lot worse than it was. I highly doubt he’ll play another snap in the preseason and I couldn’t be happier. I definitely don’t want Portis, Santana Moss, Sean Taylor, or any of the key linemen out there either. I’m very divided on whether preseason is good or bad. The positives are that young guys can get out there and work for starting jobs. Rocky McIntosh, second year linebacker out of Miami, played superb. The defense as a whole played great. We had no injuries. I felt really confident watching them and it boosted my hopes for a solid regular season. So in that sense, the preseason is good. You get the kinks out and young guys get to shine.

But what happens when you lose your franchise left tackle, or quarterback, or linebacker to injury? Then, is it worth it? I’ve heard people say that you don’t need to play any of your key players during the preseason, but that doesn’t really work either unless you’re Peyton Manning. Say the Redskins didn’t play Campbell all preseason, and come week five of the regular season, he’s starting to pick up after a slow first four games. Everyone will say, “Well, if he had played those four preseason games, he would have been ready to go Game 1,” and there may be some truth to that. The young guys have to get out there and play but the preseason is so risky.

I often hear people suggest that the preseason should be shorter. What does that really do though? If the preseason was two games instead of four, Saturday’s potential injury to Campbell still would have been in game two. Yes I know that less preseason games means less chance of injury but if you want to look at it that way, less practices mean the same thing.

I guess what it really comes down to is what so much of sports is based on; luck. You could sit out all preseason but get a season ending injury game one of the regular season. Or you could get hurt on the first snap in the first preseason game. Luck of the draw controls players’ careers, coaches’ careers, franchises as a whole; and last Saturday night, luck almost led a remote control to go flying through my TV, carrying my hopes of a winning season with it.

(You don’t want to see your starting QB like this, ever)