To get provincial about this, is the Diplomats’ hiring of Cruyff a bigger deal than the Senators hiring Ted Williams to manage? Is Cruyff coming here a bigger thing than Vince Lombardi saying he would coach the Redskins?

One word answers both those questions: Yes. Cruyff’s arrival in Washington is, in his game, more important to his team, both artistically and financially, than anything Williams or Lombardi brought with them.

Let’s try this another way. Put it into football language. For the Redskins today to do something as big as the Diplomats’ hiring of Cruyff, they would have to shanghai Terry Bradshaw and Lynn Swann.