Are Baseball and Hockey the Only Hope in DC

If you are a DC sports fan of my generation, you have been subjected to a pretty painful few decades. DC has not won a professional sports championship since Mark Rypien, Art Monk and co. took us to the promised land in 1992’s Superbowl XXVI. I was nine at the time and my parents took me down to the parade in downtown DC to celebrate. I’ll never forget it. It’s the type of celebration that everyone should get to be a part of in their lifetime.

It’s not too clear when we’ll have another world championship parade in DC. Clearly the Redskins won’t be the team. We turned the ball over 6 times today in a devastating 31-7 loss to our divisional rival New York Giants. It was embarrassing and emblematic of the types of losses we have seen from this team since Dan Snyder took ownership in 1999. I hate to say it but we will not win another NFL championship so long as he owns the team. It pains me to say it but its true.

The Washington Wizards won’t be the ticket either. Sure we’ve got John Wall but who else? Nick Young? Andre Blatch? Andre had a good season last year but is not the type of player I would invest my NBA championship aspirations in. I won’t even mention Agent Zero or whatever the hell name he goes by nowadays. I never thought he was a winner but after gungate and his actions since then, it’s clear that we will not be winning anything big with this guy on our team.

This leaves us with Hockey and Baseball. The Nationals made a huge move today signing Jayson Werth to a 7 year 127 million dollar contract. Werth brings World Series and heavy playoff experience to a young Nationals squad that hasn’t played in those big games. We lost Adam Dunn but kept the rest of our roster intact and will have Strasburg and Bryce Harper at our disposal. Combining guys like Werth with this stable of young talent could take this franchise to the next level.

We also have a lot of hope on the ice. With the best player in hockey as their star, the Washington Capitals were supposed to win the Stanley cup last season but had an incredibly disappointing loss in the first round of the NHL playoffs. It was the first time a one seed lost to an eight in hockey. The Capitals have the same team on the ice this season and should threaten for the Cup if they are able to pull things together at the right time.

Even though our basketball and football teams have no shot, its still exciting to be a DC sports fan. I can’t wait for the next parade however it comes.

Related Articles

• The 10 greatest sports dynasties that never happened (sportsillustrated.cnn.com)
• Jayson Werth Agrees To Seven-Year $126 Million Deal With Washington Nationals (bleacherreport.com)

Stanley Cup Finals

The NHL Champion will be decided in the next few weeks. The Stanley cup finals are set to begin this Saturday at 8pm in Chicago. The Blackhawks will have home ice advantage and a number of analysts have them winning the series in seven. I’m not much of a hockey fan so I’ll defer to them on this one. For the most comprehensive NHL coverage I’ve ever seen check out the Morning Skate blog.

I think the actual Stanley Cup Trophy is pretty cool. Unlike all of the other pro sports, it’s the only trophy that is not made for each season’s champion. The name of the team, its players and staff are added to the trophy after each year’s champion is decided. The winning team gets to hold onto the Cup until the next winner gets their turn. There’s something to be said for the history and tradition that surrounds this symbol of the best team in hockey. It has literally passed through the hands of some of the greats in the sport like Gretzky, Lemiux and Hull.

What Goes Around Comes Around

Those who go looking for trouble generally find it. I made up that second one but Matt Cooke should have thought about that saying before harassing Evander Kane of the Atlanta Thrashers during their NHL game on Saturday night. Matt Cooke is no stranger to contact and has been criticized for taking cheap shots at players in the past. He found himself on the receiving end of a mean right hook on Saturday night that would have made Former World Heavyweight Champion Evander Holyfield proud! Check out the video and make sure to listen to the guys calling the play…

Now I’m no hockey player, beyond the occasional floor hockey game back in the day, but Cooke got punked by an 18 year old rookie. If his teammates don’t give him a rough time in the locker room for that I don’t know what it would take. This guy was out cold!!!!