Opinion: A Redskins Fan No More, Or How Dan Snyder Made A Grandma Cry

By Scott Nance

We're not serious sports fans, but being as my wife's from Baltimore and I've lived most of the last 15 years around Washington, DC, a little friendly rivalry developed.

She'd root for the Orioles and Ravens; I'd side with the Nationals and Redskins. We'd rib each other, with our Baltimore-born daughter usually chiming in on her mother's side. It was all in good fun.

Today, though, I'm as committed a Ravens fan as you can find. The Washington Redskins — and owner Dan Snyder — can count me out.

Somehow I figure I'm not the only one, either. Most anyone who saw the same huge photo of a weeping Pat Hill on the front page of today's Washington Post likely feels the same way.

The Post reported how the Redskins filed suit against the 72-year-old Hill and others like her who could no longer afford the expensive tickets they had purchased in advance years earlier in better economic times.

But there Hill sat in that picture of her crying amid all of the Redskins memorabilia she'd collected over decades of being a serious fan.

Hill and others tried to work things out with team, but were served with lawsuits, instead. Hill, a real estate agent whose business went bust with the recession, couldn't even afford to hire an attorney to defend herself.

She didn't even try to fight the suit. In the end, a judge granted the Redskins a $66,364 default judgment against Hill. Today, Hill faces bankruptcy.

In an industry where it can be make or break for a team based on superior relations with its home community, this is the kind of support Snyder offers.

The lawsuits aren't even recouping the lost ticket revenue for the 'Skins — the team's attorney admits in the Post that "Getting a judgment is not getting paid."

The Post goes on to document where tickets forfeited by impoverished fans actually got resold to brokers and others anyway. So Snyder is still selling his tickets, so what's the point to sue?

The 'Skins lawyer claims that all teams sue in such circumstances. The Post proves otherwise, reporting that many NFL teams do not sue fans who can't pay for big-dollar tickets. (I'm proud to say my Ravens are on that do-not-sue list.)

Somebody in the Redskins' operation wasn't putting two and two together — that these lawsuits against fans facing hard times were just going to add up to enough bad publicity to fill FedEx Field.

Well, that's just what the 'Skins and Mr. Snyder have now. Where's the revenue upside in that?

If this is how the team treats its fans, would you really want to be a fan anymore?

Stay away. For that matter, stay away from Six Flags, too. (Snyder also owns the amusement park chain.) Give your business to those organizations that show a little more compassion during the worst recession we've seen since the Great Depression.

I could go on, but I've got to go find that Ravens jersey my wife bought me.

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Video of the Day: How To Plot the Most Humiliating Sports Bet Ever

The scenario: The Super Bowl. The stakes: Humiliation. The results: Incredibly satisfying.

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My Perspective: A Path Of Redemption For Michael Vick

By Scott Nance

I'm not a sports fan. I didn't have any opinions of football star Michael Vick regarding him or his career. I hadn't even heard of him until stories of his dogfighting came to light in the press.

I'm a dog owner. More than that, I have cared for dogs for years and volunteered to help many lovable dogs find new homes, sometimes coming from abusive situations. So you can imagine my opinion of him once I learned of his crime. To describe it in words would be only cliche and trite.

My opnion of Vick began to change somewhat when I read an account of his guilty plea in court. After expected the repudiations of dogfighting, he said, "I will redeem myself. I have to."

I found it to be a somewhat surprising thing for him to say and if he is sincere, a really brave thing to say, as well.

If Vick is sincere, it is possible for him to redeem himself and I began to think about a path he could travel to accomplish that.

Vick, of course, will have to travel that path following whatever mode of spirituality he finds in his heart, be it Christianity or any other.

However, I can only describe that path within the context of my own spirtual path, that of Buddhism.

In that light, what Vick has done -- abuse and kill other beings simply for sport and pleasure -- carries very heavy negative karma. That karma is already bringing him suffering and will continue to carry suffering in the future.

But it is said that the only good thing about negative karma is that it can be purified. Michael Vick can purify his negative karma.

The history of Buddhism is filled with stories of horrible murderers even who once they sincerely dedicate themselves to the spiritual path completely purify their karma and attain enlightenment, which is the goal of all Buddhists.

Clearly, as Vick himself said, he will have whatever prison time he is given to reflect and think about his actions. That is the start.

There are reports of the Vick's employers looking to reclaim millions they paid him on his contract. I hope that after prison though he is left with some wealth.

That wealth won't be for his own benefit. Rather, it could become a valuable resource to a great number of good works to benefit as many others as possible.

In fact, to be serious about redemption, Vick has to forget about any future back in pro football. He has to begin sincerely and consistently putting others before himself.

Considering his crime is dogfighting, Vick may consider appropriate after prison his first good works will be to help homeless and abused animals, donating time and money to animal shelters, humane societies and the like. If he does have a love of football, he could also give of himself to youth sports and other youth programs, for instance.

Vick, however, should not in any way advertise or promote his connection to these good works. If he does, he may get some good PR in the short term but not actual redemption. No, Vick needs to do these good works not to shine attention to himself but rather merely for trying to help others and be of benefit. If Vick goes about these good acts but the world never hears of them or even hears much of Michael Vick ever again, he will be on the right path.

If Vick does all of this, along with prayer, meditation or whatever other spiritual support Vick finds to be authentic to him, he will find a genuine transformation within himself.

It will likely take a lifetime, but Michael Vick will be redeemed. He is right, he has to be.

More than that, if he is successful, Michael Vick will actually become a role model of all of the rest of us who need our own redemption.

A journalist for 20 years, Scott Nance is publisher of Life, The Universe Media, including the Life, The Universe ... and On The Hill news sites.

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Heat-related Deaths In School Football Players Spikes in '06

Every year, Fred Mueller compiles a sports list, but unlike popular pre-season picks or a glamorous hot-recruit sheet, nobody envies him this task. Some years the list is longer than others, but, Mueller said, there’s no reason any kid should be on it.

It’s a list of boys who died playing or practicing football, kids whose body temperatures rose so high and so fast under the summer sun that their brains couldn’t keep up, couldn’t regulate their cores, and the boys died.

“When something is preventable ...,” Mueller says, shaking his head. “Those kids could be alive today.”

Five young athletes, from 11 to 17 years old, died of heat stroke in 2006. The trend was declining. The last time there were more than five was 1972, when there were seven. In five of the past 16 years there were none. But, Mueller said, there have been 31 since 1995, and all of them could have been avoided.

Seven other players died last year of “heart-related” deaths that might or night not have been related to heat or exertion. “And we don’t know the number of kids who had heat exhaustion,” Mueller said.

With summer practice about to swing into high gear, Mueller says it’s time to remember these kids, and to keep in mind how heat-related deaths can be prevented:

-- Require each athlete to have a physical and know if an athlete has a history of heat-related illness; these kids are more susceptible to heat stroke. Overweight players are also at higher risk.

-- Acclimatize players to the heat slowly; North Carolina mandates that the first three days of practice be done without uniforms.

-- Alter practice schedules to avoid long workouts in high-humidity.

-- Provide cold water before, during and after practice in unlimited quantities.

-- Provide shaded rest areas with circulating air; remove helmets and loosen or remove jerseys; some schools have plastic outdoor pools filled with ice for cool-downs after practice.

-- Know the symptoms of heat illness: nausea, incoherence, fatigue, weakness, vomiting, muscle cramps, weak rapid pulse, visual disturbance. Contrary to popular belief, heat stroke victims may sweat profusely.

-- Have an emergency plan in place; parents should inquire about emergency plans for their kids’ teams.

Heat-related deaths are compiled as part of the Annual Survey of Football Injuries, research that began in 1931; Mueller took the reins in 1980. The survey tracks major injuries and deaths in 1.8 million football players from sandlot (organized, non-school affiliated teams), middle school, high school, college and professional teams.

There were a total of 20 deaths in 2006; two sandlot players, three in college, 13 middle and high schoolers. Only one death was directly related to the game; a 17-year-old high school player who received a spinal cord injury when tackled in a practice drill.

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