Redskins Owner Jack Kent Cooke and other team officials
have rejected interview requests from Washington Post
reporters "for nearly six months," according to the POST'S
Howard Kurtz. Cooke has told the paper's editors that he is
"unhappy" with the paper's coverage of the team's new
stadium and that he is "especially furious" about a May
editorial that "mocked" his decision to name the stadium
site Raljon, a combination of his sons' names. The
editorial called Raljon "yet another example of Mr. Cooke's
famous ego in action." Cooke "indicated" that other team
execs "boycotting" the paper are "voluntarily following his
lead." The execs said they refused to talk to Post
reporters because the paper decided to "regularly cover" the
Ravens. George Solomon, Washington Post Asst. Managing
Editor for Sports: "It's unfair ... for the Redskins to
respond so dramatically to a newspaper's decision to cover
another team." The Washington Times recently "beat" the
Post on stories about contracts for Coach Norv Turner and GM
Charley Casserly (WASHINGTON POST, 3/24).