Thanks, Redskins...for a nice season.

I had some fun watching you guys this year. There was a sufficient amount of drama, comedy, despair, ignominy, flummoxing states and ignorance to suffice for this season.

But, alas, the season is done. We now know that the Redskins are who we thought they were. They aren't even mediocre. They are abysmal and quickly becoming atrocious. Or, maybe the other around. As the weekends go by, we Skins fans will become more and more discouraged and agitated.

We will, that is, if we choose to watch any more of the games. I, myself, have declared a moratorium. There will be no more Redskins games emanating from my DirecTV box this year. It's over. We're done. To watch anymore would be redundant. And, I'm speaking from both my heart and my pocketbook. I invested three hundred fifty dollars into the NFL Sunday Ticket just to watch my beloved Skins. Hey, I got six weeks of enjoyment out of that investment.

They may squeak out a victory against Miami, Seattle or Minnesota. I'll give them two out of those three. But, that's it. They'll lose to everyone else by more than a touchdown. At the end of the non-winnable games, Beck will be throwing against prevent defenses and will be putting up some good statistics to boost his ego and to give the casual Redskins fan some hope for the future. The defense will be average but will occasionally make a nice play here and there.

But, in reality, there is no hope. The die has been cast. So, I'm going to refocus my attention to other NFL matters which have a chance of becoming more interesting as the season goes on. For example, one aspect that I'll give some attention to is Tim Tebow and his travails in Denver. The good thing about following Tebow is that Denver doesn't have to win for one to feel good about the game. And, Tebow doesn't need to play like Aaron Rodgers. He just needs to look like he could eventually be a better than average quarterback at some point in the future. I guarantee you that he won't turn into a Trent Dilfer, Jamarcus Russell or Vince Young. I'm looking for him to approach the skill level of Steve Young. I said approach, not achieve. It will be fun to watch him over the next few weeks to see if he can be a starting quarterback in the NFL.

And, I've always got my Steelers. But, man, they're old. Hines Ward is only in there because he brings a tough presence to the offense. He's no longer an elite receiver by any means. And, the defense is older than dirt. They are mean, though. They'll give teams fits with their blitzing and their toughness. They'll win games and make us just proud enough to keep on watching the rest of the year.

But, hey, I'm just overstating the obvious. I wish that I could conjure up some hope for the Redskins this season and the seasons to come. But, if success is measured only by wins and losses, I will continue to be frustrated and guilt ridden for rooting for such ineptitude.

But, to my obscure point. One can turn around this negativity and make it a positive, California style. Instead of looking at mounting defeats as reasons for despair, we can choose to take those defeats as reminders that the performance of sports teams only reflects reality rather than representing it. Those defeats on the football field hurt us emotionally, but only if we let them. We can choose to embrace the notion that those losses are only symbolic, rather than real.

If we look at the bigger picture, we can know that real life has real consequences while football games are only asides, or peripheral emotional outlets which are no more meaningful than the supposed travails of the characters on one of our favorite TV shows.

If we embrace this emotional and rational state, then we need not suffer when our team loses. Instead, we can celebrate the fact that these games need not affect our emotional state in any manner. In reality, we need not despair.

But, who am I kidding. I'll die a little bit every time the Skins lose as they stumble through the rest of the season. I'll despair. I'll even cry a little. I wish that I could think of sports victories as only metaphors for overcoming defeats, but I cannot.

But, I'll still think about the Cooleyman and his self deprecating personality. I'll think about Rex having the temerity to predict that we can win the NFC east. I'll think about Shanny giving the most God awful press briefings of all time. And, the defeats will quickly become jumbled together to form a montage of fluttering reality rather than distinct memorable events.

And, when spring comes next year, I'll be ready to be enthused again and I'll revel in the notion that flowers can and very often do spring up out of the rocks and gravel that have been kicked to the side of the road. There is a glimmer of hope. For next year.