Redskins Fanatics, Anything But Calm

'Stay calm," Redskins Coach Jim Zorn told the fans before Saturday's scrimmage began. "Act medium."

Of course, by this point, it was a little late. Sharon Collins and Deana Bow ers, women of different generations who were celebrating birthdays on fan appreciation day, had stationed themselves at the front of the crowd and were ready to request kisses from Jason Campbell.

"If I can get a kiss from Santana [Moss], that'd be even better," Bowers said. "I'd pass out. I'd need somebody to catch me. I just hope it's him that catches me."

(It was also Dennis Price's 45th birthday, but he wasn't sure about the kisses thing, unless Chris Cooley's wife was around. "If he doesn't get mad," Price said.)

By this point, Charles Scites had also deployed his massive "No Vick Just Soup, Campbell Soup" banner, which elicited chants of "Camp-bell, Camp-bell" all day. Scites left College Park at 5 in the morning to secure his front-row spot; like a lot of people in Ashburn on Saturday, including offensive line coach Joe Bugel, Scites said he bled burgundy and gold. I expressed doubt.

"I got some mustard in my back pocket," he said. "I'll mix that in. Ketchup and mustard, baby, burgundy and gold."

"Bleed burgundy, [urinate] gold," someone else suggested.

(Though after Campbell ran out of bounds on the first play of the scrimmage, one of the fans near Scites yelled out, "We want Vick!")

Also displaying uncertain mediumness: the Dutch gang, more than a dozen family and friends of local product Doug Dutch, the undrafted rookie cornerback trying to make his boyhood team. They wore "Dutch: Yes You Can" T-shirts, talked about the burgundy Redskins rug over the burgundy leather couch in the Dutch basement, and recalled what Doug Dutch Sr. had once said about the prospect of his son playing for the Redskins.

"Just give me a cold glass of water and throw that dirt on me, because I'll be ready to go," was the gist of it.

"But then I had to ask the Lord to forgive me," the elder Dutch explained. "I didn't really mean that, because I want to see him on the field now."

There were some fans who stayed extremely medium, laying down on the grass and closing their eyes as the scrimmage dragged on. And there were some who went well north of medium in search of autographs. Before things started, they got autographs from questionable sources such as the Redskins cheerleaders, the team's play-by-play voice and Minister of Accuracy Larry Michael, Redskins.com blogger Matt Terl, Chief Zee, me, and the wives of DeAngelo Hall and Chris Cooley.