How painful was it to watch Redskins coach Jim Zorn walk off the San Diego field on Sunday? We don't know. We turned off the television.
Zorn's subsequent firing, his replacement and the team's future will be analyzed more than you could imagine. The fulminating on talk radio Monday was unrelenting. We turned that off, too.
But just to wrap up our interest in the Skins frenzy, we called Ward 2 Council member Jack Evans. He's been pressing to get owner Dan Snyder to fund and build a new stadium on the site of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium.
Does he still want THESE Skins?
"More than ever," Evans said without missing a beat. "And this is a chance for them to redeem themselves in the eyes of the entire metropolitan fan base by moving back to the RFK site, where they were winners. Nobody likes that suburban stadium. While they're making these enormous changes, that's one they need to do."
Evans said a stadium deal and construction could be done in about five years, in time for the Skins to rebuild into a championship team and maybe head for a Super Bowl.
"We need to get started now," Evans said, referring to both the team rebuilding and the stadium idea.
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• Wizard wipeout?
While we're on sports, just a quick note to point out that the Washington Wizards aren't lighting any fires of support. In fact, we were stunned this past weekend when Washington Post writer Michael Wilbon -- an expert on the NBA -- called for the team owners to get rid of every player and start over. Every player!
Wilbon's words carry weight. He seemed genuinely astonished by the Gilbert Arenas foolishness with guns. The NBA won't let this off-court infraction fade away without taking stern action. At least, the NBA shouldn't let it fade away.
• It's in the Bag
We dropped by several grocery stores over the weekend to see how the new "bag tax" was working. It looked pretty routine.
There is one disturbing note that may need some watching: Some folks told us that when they ordered takeout food, they were charged for a bag. Maybe we misunderstand the law, but we thought ready-to-eat takeout was not included.
How many eateries are going to goose their revenue by charging the tax?
The new law pleases a lot of environmentalists. Shall we start a clock on how long it will be before someone starts talking about a bottle and can deposit law?
Ward 6 Council member Tommy Wells cites an environmental report saying that 20,000 tons of trash enters the Anacostia River each year, with plastic bags, bottles, wrappers and Styrofoam making up 85 percent of that trash. So, we ask again, why tax just bags?
• It's Not a "Tax"
City politicians and government staffers are constantly reminding us that the 5-cent charge for bags is not a "tax" but a "fee." They say it's a fee because it's imposed only on those who don't use reusable bags. It'd be a tax if it were applied to all bags. Or something kind of like that.
We recognize there is a difference, technically. But when ordinary people and the media talk about it, the "bag tax" phrasing wins out every time.
• School Daze
Charter schools in the District are an unabashed hit. Parents have flocked to them by the thousands despite Chancellor Michelle Rhee's intense efforts to turn around the public schools.
But the charter schools -- which receive public money -- have been missing out on one thing: police protection outside the schools.
Until this week, the charter schools had to fend for themselves as bullies and criminals preyed on students going to or leaving school.
Mayor Adrian Fenty and Police Chief Cathy Lanier have heard the cries of protest and pleas for help. This week they announced that uniformed police officers will make regular stops at charter schools, focusing on morning and afternoon hours when students are most vulnerable.
Carmen McMillan, whose 16-year-old daughter attends the Friendship Collegiate Academy on Minnesota Avenue NE, said too many of the school's 1,200 students are harassed going to and from campus. So she gives her child a ride to school and picks her up every day to avoid violence.
"To make sure she's safe and sound," McMillan told NBC4. "Education is everything."
Chief Cathy Lanier said the city has a partnership with Metro's transit police to beef up police presence at Metrorail stations and busy bus stops. But many parents say the police presence in those crucial afternoon hours isn't strong enough.
We've heard through informal conversation that there's a major problem of rowdy juveniles around the Metro stops and on the trains.
