WFT4Life

Category: Editor

  • The R Word and Why the Sports Media Needs More Diversity

    One of the reasons we started blogging on the Commanders is because we heard a lot of nonsense when reading articles about the Commanders. We honestly feel like a lot of this nonsense wouldn’t exist if there were a more diverse group of writers, editors, sports personalities, etc… working at some of these media outlets.

    The USA Today’s Bryan Manning recently wrote this disaster of an article, where he was discussing Jonathan Allen’s comments on the team name, Allen stated they will always be the R word to him. This was disappointing in many ways, but what’s even more comical about the situation is that Manning claimed that using the derogatory slur would endear Allen to Washington fans. While there is a part of the fanbase that longs for the old name, and maybe even a majority, there’s certainly a large constituency that’s glad to be done with it. Manning writes “That should further endear Allen to Washington’s fans.”

    Well Bryan, WFT4Life has some bad news for you, some of us fans hate the old name and are glad it’s gone, we’re not cool with racial slurs. Some of us didn’t always hate the old name, but as we were educated on its meaning and history, we evolved. We threw out our old gear and paraphernalia, we chose to not participate in something that was hurtful and or disparaging of others. We’re not alone in that evolution, you can look up former players, Washington all time greats like John Riggins, Darrell Green, etc… and read their well thought out opinions on the name change etc…

    Manning wasn’t alone though, some of the local sports radio personalities, Cody Shook and Grant Paulsen from 106.7 the fan, chimed in quoting Allen, with Paulsen calling Allen’s love for the slur the “Highlight of the night.” That sounds like an awful night, but if racial slurs are the highlight of your evenings, we don’t want to know where you spend your free time.

  • The 1.35 Billion Dollar Publicly Funded Wizards Capitals Arena Disaster

    On Wednesday December 13th, 2023 the owner of the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals, Ted Leonsis, joined Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin to announce a two billion dollar arena project. Perhaps the most surprising thing about the project was the total secrecy in which the deal had been made. As local residents can tell you, nothing happens in Alexandria without a healthy debate. The NIMBYs, YIMBYs, and MIMBYs always engage in a ritualistic death battle before even the smallest changes, while this might seem strange to outsiders, it’s expected in Alexandria and only added to the shock of the announcement.

    Glenn Youngkin, with a straight face, told Virginia residents that there would be no subsidies involved with the stadium, a lie that would be soon be rebuked. That he was lying was common sense, D.C. the current location of the arena was offering 500 million dollars, Ted didn’t become a billionaire turning down 100s of millions of dollars in free money. The Washington Post eventually dug up a JP Morgan analysis done for the state where they found that the Arena was indeed subsidized to the tune of 1.35 billion dollars, the largest handout ever for a project of its kind.

    Youngkin and Leonsis put together a handout package that combines the best of all handouts, maybe not for the public, but certainly for Ted. A couple 100 million in taxpayer funded improvements redirected to the arena site, then the issuance of 100s of millions in bonds, all under the guise of using money that wouldn’t be generated otherwise.

    Alexandria mayor Justin Wilson co-signed the stadium deal, which was ironic, but it’s worth noting that he’s already decided to vacate his office so he’s a lame duck mayor. The state’s Democrats appear to be willing to negotiate on the issue, Ted gets his handout and the state gets metro funding, but I suspect most of their constituency would rather just fund metro without the handouts.

  • Fans Sign Petition to Bring Back the Washington Football Team Name

    A group of local fans started a petition to change the name back to the Washington Football Team and that petition has gone viral, garnering over 250,000 signatures. To quote one fan, “Why would they change the name when we won the division the first year we were called the Washington Football Team?” The success and storied history under the WFT moniker has many fans clamoring for new ownership to bring it back.