Farewell and adieu...
To one of the greatest jackasses that I have ever seen play the game of NFL football, T.O. is officially done for the season. I'm thrilled to have this pain's 4-week suspension upheld by the arbitrator, just as I am the decision by Andy Reid to bench him for the remainder of the season until he can be shipped out. Granted, I'm not happy that we haven't won any games in the meantime, but that's not really all about T.O. In fact, our QB needed to have surgery weeks ago and was never 100% this year, and our defense has been atrocious. The fact is, our whole team has been beat up, bruised, and mentally battered this season (and off-season), and it's time to take care of business. First step, get rid of distractions, step two, get healthy.

And, yes, I was a supporter of T.O. for the last two years, much like an understanding or tolerant parent. [Most of the venom I'd hear about were from fans of other teams, which I found to be ridiculous. That these people would be so preoccupied with our player and his antics certainly confirmed that (the vast majority of them:) Redskins fans desperately needed a winning season.] And, like a parent who has a troubled but talented kid, you make excuses, bend the rules, and try to see things from his perspective so that things will work out. But there comes a time when you realize your kid has been acting like a spoiled primadonna and has been consistently pushing the envelope to see just how far he can get away with things. Worse, it's likely he doesn't even realize what he's doing is hurtful, wrong, and stupid.

The parental organization, tired of his constant backtalk, beratement of their quarterback and leader, and overall whining, took the necessary step of punishing their supremely talented and unruly receiver. And like any spoiled kid, once he realized that he couldn't get away with it any more and he might have to pay for his wrongs, he immediately turned repentant and humble, trying to pull the wool over everyone's eyes. Only daddy Eagle didn't buy it for a second. Neither did the arbitrator. [Neither did my father, when I was acting like a brat, to his credit. I remember my dad telling me on the way home from some social function at which I misbehaved that I was going to get a spanking later. I can tell you that is the worst feeling to know it's coming, and I tried, like T.O. (although I'm just not quite as strong), to talk my way out of it.]

T.O.'s going to his room without supper for the rest of 2005. If he's allowed to come out and play by another stepfather who thinks he has a sterner stick, it'll be interesting to see if in the form of timeouts or spankings (for the record, T.O. just got spanked). Good luck with that. And good riddance.