Blache speaks 'from the heart' in Snyder's defense

Prompted by John Riggins' most recent criticism of Redskins ownership, defensive coordinator Greg Blache broke his month-long media silence today to defend Daniel M. Snyder. The organization is making no official comment about Riggins' harsh words Wednesday night on Showtime's "Inside the NFL," but Blache spoke for nearly four minutes to reporters today. He did not take any questions. In defense of the team owner, he said:

"This morning when I came in, and I turned my computer on and I was looking at Pro Football Talk, and I saw comments that John Riggins made about Mr. Snyder. And it really bothered me, the more I sat there at my desk. There's been a lot of criticism of him over the last few weeks. And this is a man I've known for six years, since I've been here. And in the six years, I've never seen John Riggins here. I met him once at Beach Blitz down in Virginia Beach. Never seen him in the building.

http://voices.washingtonpost.c...he-heart-i.html

"...this person all he wants to do is win. Thats all he wants to do. He'll spend his money,he'll spend his time. He wants to win. He's here for the people,for the fans,for the Washington Redskins....There's nobody that cares more about the fans than Dan Snyder , there's nobody who wants to win more than Dan Snyder." 

Can somebody please change the freakin script. How many times do we have to hear that "all he wants to do is win". This line has gotten really old and really hollow. And thanks for caring Dan.

What a circus! My Lord this seson can't end soon enough. Everbody in this organization is worried about everything EXCEPT winning football games!

Nice job by Greg Blache. This is a guy who works with Snyder day in and day out, and obviously he feels the public perception of his employer is unfair.  

Blache publicly defends Snyder, but where was he when his HC had his balls cut off by Snyder and Cerrato?

Oh, that's right...Zorn wasn't the one who hired him...

Oh, by the way Blache...until you pay several thousands of dollars to sit in the stands and be anally raped by Snyder's "marketing" practices, you should keep your mouth shut about Snyder, since you obviously don't know what it's like to be one of his customers.  You want to criticize Riggo since he isn't in the building?  Well that works both ways...you have no clue what it's like to be a long time customer of this team.

Now thats kissing some a$$ to keep your job.

It doesn't look like the new coach will be picking his own d-coordinator.

AlvinWalton wrote:

Now thats kissing some a$$ to keep your job.

Huh? Explain please. Blache has a contract through the end of next year so he is going to get paid either way, so how is he trying to keep his job.

Riggins has a point but the fact that he was fired by Red Zebra and hasnt been to Redskins Park in 6 year does make his rants ring a little hollow.

WillsC wrote:

It doesn't look like the new coach will be picking his own d-coordinator.

Just curious--would garlic strings ward off any further discussion of Jim Fassel?

Watch out Donovan.  Blache is after your job. 

amudgarden wrote:

Blache publicly defends Snyder, but where was he when his HC had his balls cut off by Snyder and Cerrato?

 

Oh, that's right...Zorn wasn't the one who hired him...

 

Oh, by the way Blache...until you pay several thousands of dollars to sit in the stands and be anally raped by Snyder's "marketing" practices, you should keep your mouth shut about Snyder, since you obviously don't know what it's like to be one of his customers. You want to criticize Riggo since he isn't in the building? Well that works both ways...you have no clue what it's like to be a long time customer of this team.

I don' t know, I envision something along these lines went down at Redskin Park:

Snyder calls Greg personally and tells him to meet him in his office.....

Snyder: Hey Greg, how was the ice cream last night?

Greg: Warm and runny. What's the urgency, Daniel?

Snyder: We have this problem. That son-of-a-beotch Riggins is at it again. He just won't shut his mouth about me and it's really starting to pi$$ me off in a big way.

Greg: What did he say this time, Daniel?

Snyder: Some sh/t about me being heartless and having no idea how to run a team.

Greg: Did he do it on the same pile of wood as last time?

Snyder: No, it was in an interview with Collinsworth and that trader James Brown who calls himself a D. C. man.

Greg: Sorry to hear that, Daniel. What's this have to do with me, though?

Snyder: Well, I need someone to go out there and make a statement telling the fans how bad I want to win and how much money I'll spend to prove it. I would get Vinny, but he's out getting breakfast; not only that, they're on him pretty bad too, so I need someone not in the crosshairs. Zorn's out because I publicly castrated him and no one seems to respect him anymore.

Greg: I don't know, Daniel. The way things are, if I give you a public pick-me-up right now, I might be committing career suicide.

Snyder: But you're getting pretty close to retirement anyway, buddy, so your ride's about over.

Greg: I don't know, Daniel. What's in it for me?

Snyder: How about I get you a new shotgun? I'm sure the one I bought you when you personally stabbed the other Gregg in the back is getting tarnished by now. How about it?

Greg: Uh.....Okay. But i'm going to need a new deer rifle to go along with it.

Snyder: Done. It's a small price to pay to show the fans just how much I care. Now, do you want chocolate or vanilla tonight?

That transcript is totally bogus, Champ.

I want someone to defend Snyder that isn't recieving a paycheck from him, then I'll maybe listen.

Everyone that defends him points to his desire to win and his willingness to spend money. My question is this, if he really wants to win, I mean really wants to win shouldn't he step back and be the type of owner they have in Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, New England, etc? How hard is it for him to understand he has to be a hands off owner?

No he doesn't want to win, he wants to win while being given all the credit for putting together a championship caliber team. He has a massive ego, problem is he has no idea how to build a championship caliber team because he's not a football executive. If he would just eat some humble pie and admit that, get the help he needs then we could win but because of his ego he can't allow himself to do that.

So I really wish people would stop saying he wants to win, that's an empy comment and really not true. This goes back to JC's comments about the fans yesterday.....fans are not stupid. You can't just throw these blanket statements out there and expect fans to fall in line. We are smarter than any of these so called professionals realize.

Champ24 wrote:

 

Snyder: How about I get you a new shotgun? I'm sure the one I bought you when you personally stabbed the other Gregg in the back is getting tarnished by now. How about it?

 

Look, we all know Snyder HAS done some nice things for coaches, players and other people when they've lost loved ones or another tragedy strikes. He'll quickly give them his jet and let them be with their families in such moments. So, they guy does have a heart, and it's probably not as dark as Riggo described, but it's a light gray.

And sure Snyder wants to win--we all know that. But he's doing it the WRONG WAY and doesn't realize it. And Mud's right--where was Blache when Zorn was humiliated? He could have stepped up and said something to say the coaches and players are still 100% behind JZ.

It really is amazing when you think about it.

Even the crappy owner in Cleveland stood up and literally said, "It is my fault".

The Redskins are 2-5, the franchise does not respect the fans ability to express themselves at games, the owner has the team's attorney publicly address the state of the franchise, and the entire organization from the top down is a mess.

But no one stands up and takes accountability as the main guy in charge.  All we get is the defensive coordinator defending the owner of a 2-5 team that is a joke in the industry.  No one stepping up to take charge, just an employee defending his boss.  That is truly amazing.

As long as we're reading stuff into what he says, I think everyone is missing the point.  Look:

"I just think it's time to be put out there, it's time that you guys understand that everything that's wrong with this organization is not Dan Snyder. It's so easy for the people who held... a microphone every day to point fingers and shuffle it off somewhere else. But at the same time, I'm in a ton of those meetings when decisions are made. And so a lot of the things that wrong, you can't go back and somehow it was so-and-so's fault because that's how those comments were made."

This is a tacit indictment of Cerrato and proof that Snyder is laissez-faire with his managment these days.  Blache is trying to give Snyder some cover and hold the team together.

You know, do we really want a scene like in Cleveland where the GM was escorted off of the property, mid-season?

OK, yeah we do, but maybe Snyder doesn't. 

Jurgyfan wrote:

As long as we're reading stuff into what he says, I think everyone is missing the point.  Look:

 

 

"I just think it's time to be put out there, it's time that you guys understand that everything that's wrong with this organization is not Dan Snyder. It's so easy for the people who held... a microphone every day to point fingers and shuffle it off somewhere else. But at the same time, I'm in a ton of those meetings when decisions are made. And so a lot of the things that wrong, you can't go back and somehow it was so-and-so's fault because that's how those comments were made."

 

 

This is a tacit indictment of Cerrato and proof that Snyder is laissez-faire with his managment these days.  Blache is trying to give Snyder some cover and hold the team together.

 

You know, do we really want a scene like in Cleveland where the GM was escorted off of the property, mid-season?

OK, yeah we do, but maybe Snyder doesn't.

 

Bwahahaha, brilliant tactical cover for your retreat, because damn, we all would LOVE to see Vin do the Kokinis Perp Walk!!!!

Monkster wrote:

 

Jurgyfan wrote:

As long as we're reading stuff into what he says, I think everyone is missing the point.  Look:

 

 

"I just think it's time to be put out there, it's time that you guys understand that everything that's wrong with this organization is not Dan Snyder. It's so easy for the people who held... a microphone every day to point fingers and shuffle it off somewhere else. But at the same time, I'm in a ton of those meetings when decisions are made. And so a lot of the things that wrong, you can't go back and somehow it was so-and-so's fault because that's how those comments were made."

 

 

This is a tacit indictment of Cerrato and proof that Snyder is laissez-faire with his managment these days.  Blache is trying to give Snyder some cover and hold the team together.

 

You know, do we really want a scene like in Cleveland where the GM was escorted off of the property, mid-season?

OK, yeah we do, but maybe Snyder doesn't.

 

Bwahahaha, brilliant tactical cover for your retreat, because damn, we all would LOVE to see Vin do the Kokinis Perp Walk!!!!

"Brave, Sir Robin ran away... " 

OK, fair enough.

But let's not forget that Snyder:

- left melting vanilla ice cream outside of Nolan's office when he was D-Coordinator before castrating him by bringing in Arnsparger;

- left Turner waiting for hours before letting him know he was canned after the Giants' game (talk about passive aggressive);

- screwed Arrington out of his contractual bonus in a very ham-handed negotiation where he appeared to be less than honest in what was really going down there;

- threatened Coles with the flat screen offer as the only way he would be able to see Skins' games up close;

- joked about beloved columnist Rick Snider's collapse from heart issues out in Ashburn - AS IT WAS HAPPENING!

Yes, if Dan likes you, he can be very generous. He's used Redskins' 1 and other resources to help players / coaches in times of need (Rashad Bauman, the Sean Taylor tragedy, Todd Collins and the birth of his child during the magical 07 playoff drive, etc.). I'm sure what Blache is saying is very genuine.

But let's not forget how awful this guy has been and can be at times.

And whatever Blache thinks, his general - Dan Snyder - has to hold himself accountable first. Actually, had Dan - and not Greg - said weeks ago that 'I'll go under the bus,' this board would have reacted very differently to what has transpired in recent weeks.

Instead, he humiliates Zorn, brings in Lewis to 'consult' but really to play call, etc., etc.

And let's not kid ourselves. Dan can say all he wants - as can his defenders - that he's not involved with daily football operations. But if that were true, why would Zorn have said weeks ago (before the Lewis hire) that 'I'm sure Dan and I will be meeting quite frequently this week' following another down performance of theirs?

Sorry, but I aint buying it - Dan's too involved, too emotional, and too clueless to do anything but harm with this team moving forward. Should he hire an expert caretaker and step aside to let that man run things, I'll stop my criticism of Snyder. But not before.

Jurgyfan wrote:

As long as we're reading stuff into what he says, I think everyone is missing the point.  Look:

 

 

"I just think it's time to be put out there, it's time that you guys understand that everything that's wrong with this organization is not Dan Snyder. It's so easy for the people who held... a microphone every day to point fingers and shuffle it off somewhere else. But at the same time, I'm in a ton of those meetings when decisions are made. And so a lot of the things that wrong, you can't go back and somehow it was so-and-so's fault because that's how those comments were made."

 

 

This is a tacit indictment of Cerrato and proof that Snyder is laissez-faire with his managment these days.  Blache is trying to give Snyder some cover and hold the team together.

 

You know, do we really want a scene like in Cleveland where the GM was escorted off of the property, mid-season?

 

OK, yeah we do, but maybe Snyder doesn't. 

 

What is Blache's point there?  That other people are involved in the management of the team?  Well duh.  But this quote is exactly part of the problem with this organization.  No one has any idea who does what or is responsible for what.  All we have are people defending the guy who pays them.

It's so upsetting.  Everyone in this organization cares more about protecting their boss than they do about the fans.  Cerrato.  Donovan, and now Blache.

Zorn may not be a great head coach, but I'd rather have Zorn any day of the week than these jerkoffs.  He is an honorable, decent man who is honest.  These other jerks only live to stay loyal to the guy who signs their checks.

Jurgyfan wrote:

 

 

"I just think it's time to be put out there, it's time that you guys understand that everything that's wrong with this organization is not Dan Snyder. It's so easy for the people who held... a microphone every day to point fingers and shuffle it off somewhere else. But at the same time, I'm in a ton of those meetings when decisions are made. And so a lot of the things that wrong, you can't go back and somehow it was so-and-so's fault because that's how those comments were made."

amudgarden wrote:

What is Blache's point there?  That other people are involved in the management of the team?  Well duh.  But this quote is exactly part of the problem with this organization.  No one has any idea who does what or is responsible for what.  All we have are people defending the guy who pays them.

 

It's so upsetting.  Everyone in this organization cares more about protecting their boss than they do about the fans.  Cerrato.  Donovan, and now Blache.

 

Zorn may not be a great head coach, but I'd rather have Zorn any day of the week than these jerkoffs.  He is an honorable, decent man who is honest.  These other jerks only live to stay loyal to the guy who signs their checks.

 

 

Jurgyfan wrote:

 

 

"I just think it's time to be put out there, it's time that you guys understand that everything that's wrong with this organization is not Dan Snyder. It's so easy for the people who held... a microphone every day to point fingers and shuffle it off somewhere else. But at the same time, I'm in a ton of those meetings when decisions are made. And so a lot of the things that wrong, you can't go back and somehow it was so-and-so's fault because that's how those comments were made."

But if you connect the dots--Blache tearfully rejected press interviews in frustration, but then contacts the press to defend Snyder.

I can tell by the way he and Zorn interact on the sidelines that they're supportive of each other, like they're suffering the same angst.  Hell, I doubt if Zorn even critiques the defensive game plan.

Who's the turd in the punchbowl then, if not Cerrato?  How many other people in the presumed management chain have been punished by substitution here?

Jurgyfan wrote:

 

 

Who's the turd in the punchbowl then, if not Cerrato?  How many other people in the presumed management chain have been punished by substitution here?

You're right...no question about it.

But, is Cerrato the virus, or a symptom?

amudgarden wrote:

 

Jurgyfan wrote:

 

 

Who's the turd in the punchbowl then, if not Cerrato?  How many other people in the presumed management chain have been punished by substitution here?

 

You're right...no question about it.

 

But, is Cerrato the virus, or a symptom?

So come up to the lab. And see what's on the slab.
I see you shiver with antici... pation!
But maybe the rain isn't really to blame
So I'll remove the cause, but not the symptom.

He has a contract?

So what????

You think that makes you bulletproof from getting fired?

And I've havent been to redskins Park since 1973 and and I know that Riggins is spot on.

Do you work for the Dan or sumpthin?

N0VATiger wrote:

 

AlvinWalton wrote:

Now thats kissing some a$$ to keep your job.

Huh? Explain please. Blache has a contract through the end of next year so he is going to get paid either way, so how is he trying to keep his job.

 

Riggins has a point but the fact that he was fired by Red Zebra and hasnt been to Redskins Park in 6 year does make his rants ring a little hollow.

amudgarden wrote:

 

Jurgyfan wrote:

 

 

Who's the turd in the punchbowl then, if not Cerrato?  How many other people in the presumed management chain have been punished by substitution here?

 

You're right...no question about it.

But, is Cerrato the virus, or a symptom?

Why, after two-three years of screaming from the rooftops about Cerrato is this even REMOTELY in question, mud?

I suggest you review the demise of the 49er's in the late 90's and see the similarities for further proof.

The fly in the ointment is the size of a B-52 and his name is Vinny.

Carnack wrote:

 

The fly in the ointment is the size of a B-52 and his name is Vinny.

Oh really?

Who just promoted him last year?

amudgarden wrote:

 

Carnack wrote:

 

The fly in the ointment is the size of a B-52 and his name is Vinny.

 

Oh really?

 

Who just promoted him last year?

That's a part of the theory.  The promotion happened after Gibbs resigned.  I think Cerrato got the nod to finish Gibbs's job any way he wanted.

The worse it's gone, the further Snyder has walked away from the virus.

My theory is that Snyder desperately wants to let Cerrato finish the season to avoid embarrassing him with a mid-season firing.

But he hurts all of us, teams, coaches, and fans, by delaying.  That's what I hope he figures out.  I don't see how he can wait at this point.   Things are bad now, but it doesn't take much imagination to understand how they might get much worse.

I predict Cerrato will "retire" before the end of the season.

Jurgyfan wrote:

 

I predict Cerrato will "retire" before the end of the season.

 

Ever watch the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" episode where Larry can't fire his assistant because she knows all of his dirty laundry?

Snyder would probably have to buy Cerrato's silence...