Confronting Len Pasquarelli in the press box. PRICELESS!!!!

[Art]

Well guys, some of you may be interested to know sitting next to us in the press box after the game was one ESPN.com writer named Len Pasquarelli. As I was getting my gear ready, I said, "So, Len, not too bad for an ordinary Joe, huh?"

Len was immediately rather upset .

I will tell this story more in detail soon, but, I thought you'd like to know Len HATES you, me, us as Redskin fans. He sees our questions during his chats on ESPN and his exact words were, "I ignore you f@&^#%s." Classic.

He was HIGHLY agitated. Die Hard and I kept trying to diffuse him.

The best part, of course, is, I accidentally recorded it . In retrospect, you never know when a guy might tell a fib about what happened in the press box .

Here's how the story goes

I'm finishing up the blog when Die Hard leans in and whispers to me, "You see the guy next to me. That's Len Pasquarelli." I looked. NO EFFING WAY. Lenny the Hutt is a gigantic squishy belly. This guy was merely a chubby, frail looking, painfully old looking man. He was small in height. Grey, thinning hair. No real resemblance to his ESPN picture. He no longer qualifies as the Hutt. He's now a Grumpy Old Man .

I can't believe it's him to be honest. I pack my stuff up and go to the rest room where I check the audio recorder, accidentally turning it on while putting it into my pocket and walking back to the area. Grabbing my stuff, taking two steps toward Lenny and offering up my opener.

"So, Len, not too bad for an ordinary Joe, huh?"

He looks at my "Washington Redskins team official" badge and quivering a little, fingers it and says, "You work for the Redskins?" said in such a way as to mean, "Suck it." I said, "Not really. Kind of I guess." He said, "What's kind of?" I said I'm just a fan who helps run a fan site and the team lets me come along for the fun.

He said, "You're probably the site that sends all those Redskin fans to my Tuesday chats." I confirmed his suspicion, telling him, "Oh, yeah, you can bet that's us. We hate you man." To which he said, "Well you know what," little shaking hands and eye twitching, mouse like, smug, "I ignore you f@ckers."

Second edit

I laughed. This guy was RILED UP. Then he folds his arms, seems to calm momentarily and asks, "So, tell me. What was the "Ordinary Joe" comment supposed to mean?" I told him, I was just having some fun with him. He said, "Wasn't he ordinary last year?" I said he was substantially below ordinary in my view, but, that wasn't the point of his column. His column was to suggest when Gibbs was done THIS time he would be remembered as an ordinary Joe, NOT just if he struggled early.

That anger came back. "Go back and read it. Go back and read it. I wish you f@ckers would get it right. I never said the game had passed him by." I said, "I never said you did." But, he was on a roll. "I said the counter trey would still work. I said the deep-passing game would still work. I said Dan Snyder would make him fail and he'd be an ordinary Joe. Go back and do a Nessus (what he pronounced, though I suspect he meant Nexis) search. No one inside the beltway can read apparently."

Well, Len, that seems unfair, as we can read, but, perhaps going from a ponderous, squishy lard butt, to a trembling ferret has caused a mental lapse. Next update will include his original story .

Third edit

http://www.extremeskins.com/forums/s...oe+pasquarelli

There's a link to his original story. Here's the closing, relevant portion.

Maybe we'll be wrong about this but, for the heck of it, here's a bet: Three years from now, the guy who accepted the Redskins job as a Hall of Fame member will be viewed as just another ordinary Joe.

I pointed out the original story was not a one-year time frame, but, a statement that Gibbs would fail OVER time, and when done this time, be remembered differently. I didn't address the flaw in the thinking that a hall of famer would be all that badly viewed even if he couldn't replicate his success. This did penetrate the parchment thin cranium though.

"Well, what's he done now? He's won one playoff game. That's nothing." I kind of giggled. Figuring this had gone on too far. The guy was a loon. I couldn't believe it. I gave him my favorite line. "Hey, look, I just wanted you to know I loved your work when you were with CBS Sportsline. Maybe one day you can be good again."

His left eye twitching, he said, "Maybe one day you can win a Super Bowl again." I said, "There you go. Maybe this year, you know, since we're still playing." To which he revealed greater contempt than I imagined he had. "Not with this coach you won't."

He turned away, but, ego is in him. Then he turned back and said, "What's changed. What's changed since then?" Since Sportsline when he was great? Before I could answer he jumps back in, "I'm a columnist. I offer opinion. Don't I have the right?" I said he sure did, but, the reason, and he interrupted. "Who are you? You're just a fan. Fanatic. A fanatic. Don't you ever offer an opinion." After a bit of spittle, I got to talk.

Sure I do Len, but the difference isn't the opinion, I told him. I said, "The difference is you come off to the reader as a bitter, angry man with an agenda." He shrugged. But I told him I did love his stuff at Sportsline. He was quality then. Money. He said, "Put that on your board then." I told him, in fact, I have. I have been very complimentary of his work at Sportsline and have remarked on the deterioration and told him so.

To which he said, "Do you want to get into it now?" Like debate it, and I told him it's ok. He should come onto the site and do a chat. He'd have fun. He said, "I ignore you f@ckers. I give it right back to you. I see the questions and I just wave them by. They ask if I'll ever talk about the Redskins and I just say no."

Man is bitter.

Fourth update

Die Hard jumped in at one point saying Glazer kind of took his spot as an information provider. Len simply wanted to know if he wrote opinion, as if that should explain away every ridiculous thing he says. Die Hard and I had to keep diffusing his anger the whole time. Laughing, making it light. Jason La Canfora kept looking back to see what was going on. I winked at him at one point. I'm sure this will make for a chilly reception in next week's box from a number of folks who will band together and actually claim this was horrible .

He did wish me well at the end as I walked away. "Good luck being a fan." No luck needed. Just being honest is enough .

These guys HATE fans. It's so weird since they exist because of us.

That's pretty much it with all this.

Bear in mind, this story is told exclusively from memory. Quotes are similar if not precisely right to what happened. This is meant to capture the story without having to transcribe stuff .

[SkinsHokieFan]

I cannot wait for this Art

[grego]

please tell me there are pics with this story.

[Dirk Diggler]

Nicely done,

[Park City Skins]

Originally Posted by Art

Well guys, some of you may be interested to know sitting next to us in the press box after the game was one ESPN.com writer named Len Pasquarelli. As I was getting my gear ready, I said, "So, Len, not too bad for an ordinary Joe, huh?"

Len was immediately rather upset .

I will tell this story more in detail soon, but, I thought you'd like to know Len HATES you, me, us as Redskin fans. He sees our questions during his chats on ESPN and his exact words were, "I ignore you f@ckers." Classic.

He was HIGHLY agitated. Die Hard and I kept trying to diffuse him.

The best part, of course, is, I recorded it . You never know when a guy might tell a fib about what happened in the press box .

Cool. This is what it's all about. Karma's a ***** sometimes and apparently Len's pissed her off something bad. I look foreward to this immensely. ( Yes. That was a pun. ).

[Skins4SB]

Video footage? Haha, sweet, I want to see this.

[Goaldeje]

Originally Posted by grego

please tell me there are pics with this story.

Gee Art, did you bring your wide-angle lens?

[redsand521]

Way to stick it to him Art!

[CTaylor42]

I can't wait for that.

[50GutCheck]

Originally Posted by grego

please tell me there are pics with this story.

Hopefully you brought the wide angle lens

[SittingBull]

bwahahahaha, OWNED.

[number twenty-eight]

Good things just keep on happening.

[Diablo23]

Oh man, can't wait for this.. haha

[Spaceman Spiff]

Oh my god, I know you'll tell us more later....but for now, did he sound like/look like a pissed off Don Vito?

[jpillian]

Art, you just made my night.

Eagerly awaiting the full de-brief