Living in Washington, D.C. has given your humble correspondent a newfound appreciation for his hometown football team’s ineptitude. Redskins czar Daniel Snyder has done a tremendous job of cultivating media support for his policies as Redskins owner, and now he has refocused his attention on the stadium.

Lon Rosenberg, the vice president of operations at FedEx Field, said in a radio interview Wednesday that the approximately 10,000 removed upper deck seats had been offered to fans on the team’s season ticket waiting list, and that “these are seats that they were not wanting to buy.”

In a telephone interview Thursday, Rosenberg described the removed seats as “the least desirable seats in the stadium,” but added that the decision to remove the seats “has nothing to do with ticket sales.”

“It’s about making a more fan-friendly experience on game days,” he said. “There will be less traffic, shorter lines and and again, enable us to better serve our fans.”

Rosenberg estimated that the capacity of FedEx Field for the 2011 season will be around 82,000 — down from 91,704, which had made it the second-largest capacity in the NFL.

Is our awful on-field product driving away fans? Oh no, we’re just trying to enhance the experience for the fans that do bother to watch McNabb throw into triple-coverage or see Landry get burned deep for the second time in a game against the Eagles.

There have been large numbers of empty seats at FedEx Field during many home games in recent seasons. The Redskins finished last or tied for last in the NFC East four of the past five years and have not hosted a playoff game since 1999.

Did I mention that the team is the 4th most valuable team in professional sports?

Snyder made his money as a marketing guru so I offer the following slogan for the Redskins 2012 season:
“Redskins football, making other teams look competent since 2000!”

Five years and $78M. Forty million guaranteed.  Two weeks after you benched him and called him slow and out of shape.  Oh, and it’s 35-0 after 15 minutes and nine seconds.  Philadelphia has five touchdowns and the Redskins have run 12 plays.  PLAYS.  For a quarterback that’s in his mid-thirties and probably wouldn’t get close to that much money as a free agent, this is yet another case of the Redskins bidding against themselves and losing.

If there ever was any indication that the inmates are still running the asylum in Washington, this is it.  Danny Boy, do what you should have done six years ago.  Please, rip up that contract before it’s finalized, fire the coaching staff and start over.  Your team is a joke.  You are a joke.