Dear Diary: Those who laugh last laugh loudest. Those who laugh last laugh loudest. Right? Right?
These six words have gotten me through the past three days, since the NFL season kicked off and my Cowboys got kicked to the curb.
But matters were complicated and made all the more disastrous because of the 16-10 win the hometown Redskins laid on recent Super Bowl victors Tampa Bay.
As new Redskins superstar running back Clinton Portis took his first handoff from new Redskins quarterback Mark Brunell, new Redskins coach Joe Gibbs watched as Portis scampered 64 yards untouched to pay dirt.
I shook my head.
Redskins fans, though, should be excited. While Gibbs is old school, compiling a coaching staff that more closely resembles an American Association for Retired People staff than a football brain-trust, he has also compiled a young, fun team.
Based on the three-headed attack of Brunell, Portis and young receivers Laveranues Coles and Rod Gardner, and a strong defense led by linebacker LaVar Arrington, the 'Skins could be legitimate contenders as early as this year.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Washington is in a loaded division that includes the new-look Philadelphia Eagles, the New York Giants and my Cowboys, powered by the arm of forty-something Vinny Testaverde, who, by the way, threw for more than 350 yards this week.
OK, this last paragraph made me feel a lot better about things. The Redskins are not going to win in such a stacked group of teams, and then, they are the Redskins. They play in the nation's capital, where politics reign far supreme over sports.
The athletic accomplishments inside the Beltway have been well ... what athletic accomplishments inside the Beltway?
Since the glory days of the Hogs in the early '90s, the Redskins have been nothing short of pathetic for more than a decade. This year, though, they tried to reinvent those days, by bringing back Gibbs and trying to clone then-MVP Mark Rypien by bringing in Brunell.
Sadly for the 'Skins, they lost their king Hog, Jon Jansen, in preseason and now must run solely behind Chris Samuels all season.
I guess if any year could be the Skins' year, this is it. I mean, all the other contenders showed serious weakness this off-season.
The defending champion Patriots traded for a notorious locker room cancer who is sure to erupt at some point. The Vikings flirted with a former wrestler ... yes, Vince McMahon wrestling. And the Eagles signed a defensive star who's always hurt and an offensive star who never stops complaining.
So, until Eli Manning and Julius Jones develop, the Capitol Crew could dominate the NFC East.
I'm still not sold though. They beat the Buccaneers, who showed no signs of the team that won the Super Bowl two years ago, and they only put up one touchdown and a bunch of field goals.
Brunell was less than impressive , and Coles and Gardner couldn't get separation from the Bucs' secondary all day. Portis was good, but most of his yards came on his first carry.
I will say this. A win is a win is a win, and while I'm hanging on to hope that I will laugh last, and yes, loudest, I'm not so sure. Eddie George looked like he could join Gibbs' crew at the old folks home, and Vinny was forced to throw 51 times ... one per year of his age!
So, as I sit here making my annual first entry of the NFL season into my sports diary, I ask only one thing: Skin the 'Skins, Ground the Eagles and Minimize the Giants, so my Cowboys can reign supreme once again ... I mean, we are America's team, right?
