The Washington Post and others reported that the Redskins will consider Bill Romanowski while looking to fill the vacant strength and conditioning coach position. Romanowski is now denying he’s trying to get hired here. But it’d be interesting.
He may not be the sort of character guy that Joe Gibbs always said the Redskins sought.
But Romanowski’s a character.
He’s probably the biggest pill popper in NFL history. He’s also remembered for spitting in San Francisco receiver J.J. Stokes’ face, for ending Oakland Raiders’ teammate Marcus Williams‘ career by crushing his eye socket during a workout fight, and for getting indicted after getting prescriptions for a stimulant in his wife’s name. Romanowski beat the rap, but his doctor got convicted. Romo also admitted he used steroids and was somehow connected to the BALCO case that the Feds won’t let go of.
During a recent interview on WJFK with the Sports Junkies, Romanowski campaigned for an NFL coaching job, hawked his designer diet supplement shake and sounded absolutely out of his mind.
On the flip side: Romanowski played for Mike Shanahan in Denver. So he’s got the right stuff, if “stuff” can be singular.
Put him Dan Snyder’s payroll!
***
The Redskins just hired somebody named Richard Hightower as the new assistant special teams coach.
What are Hightower’s qualifications to get an NFL gig?
Well, let’s look at his resume…He spent last season as receivers coach at the University of Minnesota. Hmmm. Not much there. And as a college player he was a non-descript walk-on at the University of Texas. No tell there, either.
Oh, wait a second. He was at UT from 1999 to 2002. Wasn’t that when Kyle Shanahan, son of new boss Mike Shanahan, played for the Longhorns? Why, yes! It was!
(AFTER THE JUMP: Bring your son’s buddy to work day at Redskins Park? Caps have won how many? You talk about the ’70s Caps again? They went HOW LONG before beating the Montreal Canadiens? They went HOW LONG before making the playoffs? What are the odds of that? Chris Wright reborn in Providence? How’d the Wiz do? Can you blame Michael Jordan?)
So the new hire is a buddy of the boss’s son. And the boss already put the son on Dan Snyder‘s payroll! So why not put the boss’s son’s buddy on Dan Snyder’s payroll, too? Of course he’s qualified to be an NFL special teams coach!
That’s one of the consistencies of the Dan Snyder Era: Ready or not, people get paid!
***
Huge game for the Washington Capitals tonight in Montreal. Well, until they lose, every game is huge. The Streak is now at 14 games.
Geezer flashback: Far as I can tell, as a franchise the Capitals didn’t get a win over the Montreal Canadiens until March 1980. That was halfway through the Caps’ sixth year in the league.
The Caps of my youth were the worst sports franchise in any sport. The Caps’ first playoff appearance didn’t come until 1983, after their ninth season in the league. So, at a time when 16 of 21 NHL teams made the playoffs, the most inviting postseason scheme ever utilized by any major league, the team went 8 straight years without an invite.
I asked my brother, who got whatever brains there are in my family, what the odds of that happening would be if all teams had an equal chance of making the playoffs.
He called me a dumbass and said it would be 5/21 to the 8th power. Using my Google calculator, that comes out to 1.03277491 × 10-5, meaning the Caps beat odds of 1-in-103,277 and some change to stay out of the playoffs from 1974 to 1982. Awesome Trivia!
Then again, if every game was a coin toss, the chances of winning 14 games in a row would be 6.10351562 × 10-5, or a tad better than 1-in-610,352. So if you can find a bookie to give you 610,352-to-1 odds, bet against the Caps tonight.
I have a headache.
***
Speaking of streaking…
Hoyas win! Hoyas win! Hoyas win! The Chris Wright that Georgetown thought they recruited out of St. John’s showed up last night in Providence. The junior guard led a second-half comeback as Georgetown broke from its big-win/big-loss pattern of late and beat John Thompson II’s alma mater on the road.
Wright had 21 points on the night, 16 of them coming after halftime, when his Hoyas trailed the Friars by as many as 8 points.
Wright’s a guy who was revered during his prep days at St. John’s — he was the first D.C.-area player since NBA Hall of Famer Adrian Dantley to make the All-Met team three years in a row. But the Bowie native’s reputation took big hits after the Hoyas’ pratfall last year from a preseason title contender to a 16-15 record and one of those sponsor’s-exemption invitations to the NIT.
For a typical assessment of Wright’s play in the 2008-2009 season, his sophomore year, let’s look to something called hoopsnet.com. After pinning Georgetown’s flameout on “an unstable point guard,” we get this:
“Chris Wright’s lack of leadership may have led to the collapse of the Hoyas last year. His turnover numbers were high and his decision making left something to be desired at times.”
Ouchie! Folks from schools other than St. John’s in the WCAC began whispering that the non-leadership Wright showed last season was the Wright they remember from high school, and asserted it was no accident St. John’s never won a conference title during Wright’s run there. But those Catholic League folks are brutal! I’m no Ernie Grunfield, but Wright seemed like such a nice kid when I did a story about St. John’s basketball back in 2007. So here’s hoping last night marks a turnaround.
Go, Chris! Go!
***
Wizards lose! Wizards lose! Wizards lose! With beloved ex-Wizard Michael Jordan looking on, Antawn Jamison missed two scoop shots in the lane late, including one to tie at the buzzer, as Washington fell in Charlotte, 94-92.
So the Wizards go to the all-star break with a 17-33 record, the second-worst in the Eastern Conference. God bless the Nets! Nobody on the Wizards was named to the all-star roster.
Amazing how there’s already nothing but the draft lottery to look forward to.
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