SUNDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2010
KLMNO PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL McNabb was the gift Kyle Shanahan never wanted
the quarterback the past four months, we can all agree on one thing:Mike Shanahan’s most substantial personnel decision has become a colossal mistake, costing theWashington Redskins draft picks and a botched, wasted experiment of a season. Yet as they limp into Dallas on
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Sunday, I am beginning to seriously debate what that egregious mistake was for Shanahan:Was it trading for DonovanMcNabb or hiring his 30-year-old son, Kyle, as offensive coordinator?Was it not doing due diligence onMcNabb or just flat-out nepotism? One fact is certain. Dad
bought the wrong toy for young, headstrong Kyle. That’s why Rex Grossman is
starting Sunday, why a locker room is divided andMcNabb will soon be insultingly demoted to third string. It all went bad in Ashburn
because a father forgot to take his gifted child by the storefront window when he did some post-
hether you’ve behaved like an apostle of the coach or an apologist for
plays for an improvisational, six- time Pro Bowler—all of the Redskins’ offensive coordinator’s fears had been realized. Donovan wasn’t his prototype
MIKE WISE
holiday shopping for a quarterback earlier this year. IfMike Shanahan had, he
would have found out it’s doubtful Kyle Shanahan ever wanted a player likeMcNabb in the first place, that the moment he and Bruce Allen, the general manager, acquiredMcNabb without input from the new offensive coordinator, a shotgun marriage bound for divorce had been arranged. From Kyle’s days as a coach in
Houston, he always thought of McNabb as a guy who telegraphed his throws, never reading coverage well enough to settle on the third, fourth or fifth receiver. WhenMcNabb wasn’t nimble enough to freelance like he had earlier in his career— and Kyle was too stubborn to just run bootleg and play-action
QB.Not even close. Actually, many of those fears
came to fruition in training camp. And his father was doing his best to shield his son from criticism early, saying all the right things while having to simplify schemes as early as the second game of the season against Kyle’s old team, the Texans. I was told by a team official
during the bye week that Grossman might actually start against Philadelphia, that that’s what Rex was telling his former teammates inHouston. That they waited this long
only seems to have deepened the crevice between both sides. The result: Instead of resuscitating the Redskins in the first year of Shanahan’s tenure, instead of bolstering his own Hall of Fame candidacy and paving the way for his progeny to take the reins in a fewyears,My- WayMike has to re-gift a
disrespected Donovan and all but admit his error in judgment. And he has to hope beyond
hope that the mistreatment of McNabb doesn’t cost the Redskins free agents down the road, players who would gladly take someone else’s money knowing they will be at least respected as established professionals instead of practice- squad fodder. None of this would have happened ifMike had just asked his kid what he wanted in the offseason. And Kyle would have told him:
“Thanks Dad, no. I’ll take the Tonka truck instead. Or a quarterback likeMatt Schaub who listens to and respects me and goes through his progressions like aMadden video quarterback should.” But at least the kid admires
his father now for making what he feels is a gutsy decision—and what most ofWashington and beyond believes is about as alarming as any coaching move they have seen inWashington since Jim Zorn called a fake field goal after the Giants had been
COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONALMEN Sullinger is dominant for second-ranked Ohio State
Freshman’s 30 points, 19 rebounds pace Buckeyes
ASSOCIATED PRESS Freshman Jared Sullinger had
30 points and 19 rebounds to lead No. 2 Ohio State past South Caro- lina, 79-57, on Saturday in Colum- bus, Ohio. William Buford added 12
points for the Buckeyes (10-0), who dominated throughout. SamMuldrow scored 14 points
for South Carolina (7-2). Sullinger’s previous best in re-
bounds was 14 againstNorth Car- olina A&T last month. His 14 defensive rebounds were an Ohio State freshman record. l KANSAS 70, USC 68: Josh
Selby made his collegiate debut one to remember with a go-ahead three-pointer with 26 seconds left to rescue the second-ranked Jay- hawks at home. Selby, a freshman point guard
orderedbytheNCAAto sit out the first nine games, had 21 points, including five three-pointers. The Jayhawks (10-0) held a
10-point lead early in the first half before Donte Smith led the Tro- jans (6-5) on an 11-0 run. Jio Fontan hit two free throws that put USC on top, 68-66, with 1 minute 36 seconds left. After Sel- by’s three-pointer, Tyrel Reed made a free throw for the final margin as Kansas extended its home-court winning streak to 65 games. Smith had 20 points forUSC. l SYRACUSE 83, IONA 77:
Kris Joseph scored 21 points to help the No. 5 Orange squeeze past the Gaels (7-4), who had a seven-game winning streak snapped. Brandon Triche added 14 points and seven assists for Syracuse, off to an 11-0 start for the 11th time in Coach Jim Boe- heim’s 35 seasons. l PITT 97, MD.-EASTERN
SHORE 64: Gilbert Brown missed only two shots while scoring a career-high28points for theNo.8 Panthers at home. Ashton Gibbs added 15 points and seven assists for Pitt (11-1).HillaryHaley scored 17 points for theHawks (2-8). l VILLANOVA 78, DELAWARE
59: Corey Fisher scored 21 points and Maalik Wayns added 14 for
NATIONALWOMEN No. 18 St. John’s finishes with just four players on court in rout ASSOCIATED PRESS With just over twominutes left
in the game, St. John’s Coach Kim Barnes Arico turned to her bench looking to substitute for injured guardShenneika Smith. Therewasnobody there. At least,nobodywho couldstill
play. Her roster ransacked by inju-
ries andfoul trouble,BarnesArico hadtogowithfourplayers therest of thewaySaturday. Ithardlymat- tered in an 81-50 rout of visiting SouthernMississippi. “Itwas reallyunbelievable,” the
coach said afterward. “I’ve seen injury bugs hamper teams before, but nothing like this. It was just one after another.” The No. 18 Red Stormonly had 10 players suit up Saturday, and
one by one theywentdown. First,Da’ShenaStevenswaslost
to a concussion. Then, Centhya Hart went down with an ankle
sprain.SkyLindsaywasthenext to gooutwhenherAchillies’ tendini- tis
flaredup.Smithhadbeennurs- ing several injuries and Nadirah McKenith fractured her thumb in practice thisweek. When reserve center Jennifer
Blandingfouledoutwithfivemin- utes left,BarnesAricoputMcKen- ithback in. Aboutaminute later, sheaggra-
vated the thumb injury, running off the court in pain. Smith re-en- teredthegameandwith2minutes 14 seconds left and came up hob- bling with a sprained ankle, leav- ing the Red Storm with four healthyplayers. “I looked down the bench and everyone was icing,” said St.
John’s guard Eugenia McPher- son, who had a career-high 23 points to lead theRed Storm. “We didn’t panic.” It helped that the Red Storm
had a 35-point lead. The remain- ing fourplayers closedit out. lWEST VIRGINIA 83, ST.
FRANCIS (PA.) 55: Madina Ali scored 18 points, and Asya Bussie had17 to leadtheNo. 7Mountain- eers athome. Korinne Campbell added 11
points as West Virginia (11-0) ex- tended the best start in school
history.SamanthaLeachscored14 points for
St.Francis (5-5). l KENTUCKY 84, ALABAMA
A&M 58: Victoria Dunlap scored 22 points to lead four players in double figures as the No. 13Wild- cats coastedathome. Kentucky (8-1) played to char- acter inthe firsthalf, forcing turn-
overs and capitalizing with easy transition baskets. The Bulldogs turned it over 18 times in the first half and31 overall. Whiquitta Tobar, who came in
averaging 19 points, finishedwith 14 for the Bulldogs (4-4). She was just 2 of 12 fromthe field. lMICHIGAN STATE 88, DART-
MOUTH 33: Reserve Taylor Alton scored 14 points to lead the 14th- rankedSpartans athome. Michigan State (11-1) won its
ninth straight, equaling the pro- gram’sbest start sincethe2004-05 season, when MSU opened the season12-1. Kelsey Byrd led the Big Green
(3-7)with11points. l YALE91,FLORIDASTATE85:
MeganVasquezhad25points,and freshman Jenna Graf added 22 to lead the host Bulldogs over the 15th-rankedSeminoles (10-2).
Michelle Cashen had 11 points
and 13 rebounds, and Mady Go- brecht scored 12 for Yale (2-7), whichsnappedaseven-gameskid. l IOWA 65, SOUTH DAKOTA
STATE 54: Morgan Johnson scored a career-high 26 points to lead the No. 16 Hawkeyes on the road. KamilleWahlinadded12points
and six assists for Iowa (10-1), which used a late 13-0 run to put away the Jackrabbits (4-7). l TEXAS91,SMU73: Chassidy
Fussell scored 14 points, and the No. 23 Longhorns beat in-state rivalSMUat theBTIClassic inLas Vegas. KathleenNashadded12points,
Ashleigh Fontenette scored 11 and Chelsea Bass had 10 for the Long- horns (6-3), whose defense virtu- ally shut down SMU (5-4) in the secondhalf.
FROM NEWS SERVICES AND STAFF REPORTS
Tony Taylor had 19 points,
11 assists and 5 rebounds to lead visiting George Wash- ington to an 87-79win against Oregon State on Saturday night. NemanjaMikic also had 19
points for the Colonials (4-5), who held the lead for the last 36minutes of the game. Jared Cunningham had 21
points and four rebounds for the Beavers (4-6), which have lost four of their last five. GeorgeWashington,which
has now won two straight after losing four in a row, held off numerous Oregon State runs in the second half. The Colonials scored eight
straight points in the first 1:01 after halftime. Consecu- tive three-pointers by Mikic put George Washington ahead 45-36. Aaron Ware later scored
CHARLES CHERNEY/ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Illinois-Chicago bench celebrates in the waning seconds of the Flames’ 57-54 upset ofNo. 12 Illinois following a second-half rally. l GONZAGA 68, BAYLOR 64:
the No. 10 Wildcats in Philadel- phia. Villanova (9-1) used a 14-0 run early in the second half to seize control. The BlueHens (5-3) fell to 0-26 against Top 25 teams. l MICHIGAN ST. 90, PRAIRIE
VIEW 51: In East Lansing,Mich., Durrell Summers poured in 25 points to lead theNo. 14 Spartans (8-3), who also got 11 points, 8 reboundsand4assistsfromDray- mond Green. l FLORIDA 57, KANSAS ST.
44: Kenny Boynton scored 15 points to shake a slump and the Gators (8-2) held the No. 6 Wild- cats to 27 percent shooting in the Orange Bowl Classic in Sunrise, Fla. The Wildcats (9-2) missed 19 of 20 shots in one stretch, and their point total was their lowest in Coach Frank Martin’s five sea- sons.
In Dallas, Kelly Olynyk put the Bulldogs (6-5) ahead to stay with a three-pointer right after the ninth-ranked Bears scored four points on one possession. After Olynyk’s go-ahead basket
with1:46 left, the Bulldogsmade7 of 9 free throws. Robert Sacre led Gonzaga with 17 points. Freshman Perry Jones had 19
points for Baylor (7-1). l ILL.-CHICAGO 57, ILLINOIS
54: In Chicago, Darrin Williams scored five points in the final 1:10 and the Flames (5-7) rallied from an eight-point second-half deficit to end the No. 12 Illini’s seven- game winning streak. Demetri McCamey led Illinois
(10-2) with 16 points. l UCLA 86, BYU 79: Reeves Nelson scored 23 points to lead
the Bruins to an upset of the No. 16 Cougars in the JohnR.Wooden Classic doubleheader in Ana- heim, Calif. Tyler Honeycutt added 17
points for UCLA (6-4). Jimmer Fredette led Brigham Young (10-1) with 25 points. l PURDUE 65, INDIANA ST.
52:Senior JaJuanJohnsonscored 25 of his career-high 31 points in the first half for the 19th-ranked Boilermakers (10-1) in Indianapo- lis. Dwayne Lathan had 15 points and nine rebounds for the Syca- mores (5-6). l LOUISVILLE 78, GARDNER-
WEBB 49: Preston Knowles scored24points to lead theNo.20 Cardinals (9-1) at home. Freshman centerGorgui Dieng
added 8 points, 11 rebounds and 7 blocks in his first career start for
four straight to end a 7-0 Colonials run that made it 55-42. Oregon State an- swered with eight points in a row, four by Devon Collier. l VIRGINIA TECH 88,MIS-
Louisville, which took control with a 20-0 run midway through the opening half. Laron Buggs led the Bulldogs (6-8) with 16 points. l TEXAS 78, UNC 76: Fresh-
man Cory Joseph hit a turn- around jumper over Dexter Strickland with 1.4 seconds left to lift theNo. 22 Longhorns to victo- ry in Greensboro,N.C. Joseph had a season-high 21
points for Texas (9-2), while Jor- danHamilton had a team-high 24 points. Tyler Zeller had 14 points for
the TarHeels (7-4). l TEXAS A&M 71, ARKANSAS
62: In Dallas, Khris Middleton scored 31 points, including the go-ahead free throw in overtime, to spark theNo.25Aggies (10-1) to their seventh win in a row. The Razorbacks fell to 7-2.
SISSIPPI STATE 57: Dorenzo Hudson had 17 points and the Hokies cruised to a victory over the Bulldogs (7-3). Erick Green added 14 points and six assists for Virginia Tech. The Hokies led by 17 at
halftime and improved to 6-4.
Hokies women win Virginia Tech’s women’s
basketball team beat host William & Mary, 94-78, at Kaplan Arena in double over- time. Shanel Harrison made a
crucial three-pointer at the end of regulation and domi- nated the second overtime to spark the Hokies. Virginia Tech outscored the Tribe 18-2 in the second overtime. Five players finished in
double-figures for the Hok- ies. Nikki Davis had the first double-double of her career with 16 points and a career- high 12 assists. Katherine DeHenzel and
Kaitlyn Mathieu both scored 18 points to lead the Tribe. The Hokies improve to 6-4
while the Tribe fell to 1-7. l AMERICAN 64, GEORGE
WASHINGTON 60: Alexis Dobbs scored a career-high 16 points as the Eagles beat the visiting Colonials. American improved to 6-4
and George Washington fell to 5-6. The Colonials had three
players in double figures, led by Ivy Abiona (14 points). She made 7 of 10 field goals. l VIRGINIA 61, UMBC 46:
The Cavaliers won their third straight game with a victory over the visiting Retrievers (4-7. Sophomore Simone Egwu
led Virginia with a season- high 16 points. The Cavaliers outrebounded UMBC 42-23 and improved to 7-4.
AREAROUNDUP
Taylor’s effort sparks GWtowin
shown the play before a timeout. At least Kyle will have the
chance to evaluate all those banged-up receivers he feels McNabb missed the past 13 weeks, or the offensive linemen he feels had to change their technique because ofMcNabb’s flawed footwork. Don’t think for a minute this
isn’t about falling in love with a physically inferior quarterback in Grossman, whom Kyle actually roomed with in Houston; it’s about finding out what the Redskins have with three games left, because, yes, this disconnect between what Mike and Kyle wanted behind center also killed the goal most NFL rosters meet in the preseason. Kyle is now in for some
serious “If you weren’t the son of” treatment. “I’ve heard thatmy whole life,”
said John Thompson III, who eventually followed his father as head coach at Georgetown. “The only reason he made the high school team was because his father is the coach of Georgetown. The only reason he
got into Princeton is because his father is the coach of Georgetown. The only reason he’s playing . . . “That’s just how it is. I’msure
this isn’t the first time [Kyle] has heard that. It’s beenmy whole life no matter what I do. At some point somebody’s going to say, ‘That’s just because he’s the son of . . .’ ” From the moment he hired
Kyle,Mike Shanahan had to know, inevitably, it would come to this: that in the choice between blood and business, blood would always win out, that upsetting the locker room at work does not carry the same weight as ruining Christmas dinner at home. Unless they ended up a bona
fide playoff team, any major discord between the player and the progeny would end with his son winning out, getting what he wanted. In that way, after yet another
ruinous season—yet another delay in the Redskins’ return to respectability, DonovanMcNabb never had a chance.
wisem@washpost.com
EZ SU
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