The Redskins win a game and the U-17 USNTDP

How an NFL team can win a game without their QB throwing for 75 yards is beyond me. But, the Redskins figured out how to win in spite of Mark Brunell on Sunday. And after the game Joe Gibbs admitted that he had little confidence in Brunell, that's why he pounded Clinton Portis all day long, and that Brunell was still the team's starting QB.

I guess Patrick Ramsey must be looking really bad in practice............

On a much brighter note, I got to check out the US-Russia game on Tuesday night at the U-17 Four Nations Cup being held in Rochester this week.

A few random thoughts:

I really like Mike Ratchuk from Buffalo. If the Sabres are serious about trying to add local talent, this is a guy that they should look at long and hard.

I can see why Rhett Rakhshani leads the team in scoring. I also liked the fact that the kid wasn't afraid to throw his weight around a little bit.

I really liked the little guys the US threw out there like Chris Atkinson.

Joe Palmer needs a new goalie coach. Badly. The kid has size and a good glove hand. But he needs to become a lot more explosive, better at scrambling after making the initial save, and he's got to develop a better feel for where the puck is.

The best line I heard all night while eavesdropping on a scout:

I want to like #14 (Russian defenseman Ivan Maximkin), but he just makes too many dumb mistakes with the puck.