DCists and their Day Planners

I'm having a tough time understanding the Nats fans these days. I guess a lot of people are upset that Strasburg was supposed to debut June 4th according to the press, and that date got moved back. So what? They still have tickets to a baseball game, what are you going to do not go? Apparently that is exactly what some people are doing. Is there really anything wrong with spending a Friday night at a baseball game watching an up and coming team that is only three games behind a struggling first place team as we approach Memorial Day? The adage is "if you are in it around Memorial Day, you are in it for the Summer," and that certainly seems like this may be what is happening at Nats Park. If we can get through this road trip at .500 the worst part of the schedule is over and done with as an armada of healthy pitching comes trickling in over the next month or so.

Ever since the league took away the Phillies' binoculars in the bullpen they have been 6-8, with 3 runs in their last 50 innings until last night when they scored their first run in 31 innings. The Nats are winning and they aren't even getting the calls their way. (Last night was infuriating. The whole game was under protest, so who knew if it would even count, Dunn tagged out a man who was called safe, and Zimmerman was called out in the 9th when he was clearly safe. Just when you didn't think there could be anyone blinder then the first base ump, the home plate ump calls both a high strike and a low strike balls on the same batter, leaving Capps nowhere to throw it but right down the middle, leading to the single that put the winning run on base in the bottom of the ninth. How Capps kept his cool to preserve the save is beyond me because I wanted to jump through the TV to wring the ump's neck, but that is just the way things are going for the Nationals when it would have gone wrong the last few years.) The NL East is the second toughest division in the league, but its baseball, and you get a champagne bath for winning the wild card, and the Nattos are contending.

I also don't think the Nats are behind some conspiracy misleading fans to sell out the 4th. Moneywise, it would have been in the Nats best interest to start Strasburg on the 4th, and then have him a second time during the home stand against the Pirates as well. Things happen, like player development and rain, and they were forced to move it back. There will be plenty of chances to see Strasburg, just not that particular day. I think the Nats even thought Strasburg was going on the fourth, and that is why they were holding back tickets. Until they made their announcement that Strasburg would debut against the Pirates (again, taking into consideration rain, injuries, rotation, and development) you couldn't buy more than one ticket in four different sections for the faux Strasburg debut. After it was announced he wouldn't be there, all types of tickets opened up. So essentially, the Nats were holding back lower priced tickets to sell the higher priced ones. That is where I have a problem similar to the one I still have over the opening day fiasco. Don't shortchange the fan base you are trying to build by trying to make a quick buck, be honest about it. The best part of the Strasburg mix-up was I thought the scalpers who bought up the tickets were going to get hosed the way they always hose the honest fans who just want to see a ballgame. It seems the Nats drove up that market for no good reason and that is just not fair to anyone. I want the Nats to be financially successful so they can sign other big-name guys to fill the place with fans and pennants, but they can't be underhanded about it in the meantime.

I know this is an event-driven town, that is why the Redskins are so successful; there are only eight games and everyone will brave through the drunks and hours of traffic to be there. But the Nats do not have the tradition of that team, or the hearts of the city that follows them yet, so they need to tread carefully. If you bought a ticket for the fourth from anyone but a scalper you have no reason to be mad at the Nationals, but happy at the chance to spend an evening with a major league team full of talent and youth that is contending now, and will in the future. And you can probably go see another game that week where Strasburg debuts against the Pirates if you want. Well, that is if all those die-hard Pittsburgh fans haven't bought up all of tickets to see their beloved Pirates like they try to do for the Steelers and the Pens.

Speaking of bandwagon fans, major events, and tinges of BS, the Winter Classic this year will be held at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. I understood having the first Winter Classic in Buffalo, a hockey town where the temperature is guaranteed to be cold on New Years day to get everything right on the first go around. Who wouldn't want it held in Wrigley or Fenway, both of which are iconic American buildings. And then Heinz Field? "If you look to your left you can see where Bradshaw threw zero passes and there was no immaculate receptions, over to your right there is some ketchup and stuff, down in front of you is a bar where all of the underage girls hang out, you can usually run into Big Ben there, and behind you are some shut down factories." Sweet. Look, the people of Pittsburgh are some of the nicest bandwagon fans you will ever met, as compared to Cowboy fans or Flyers fans who couldn't even fill their building for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, but Pittsburgh doesn't really have a whole lot going on. Caps fans need to do their best to be there but what a disappointment.

Fedex never should have been considered, it has a hard time hosting football games. But RFK has hosted world-class baseball games, boxing matches, NFL championship games, soccer teams, is tightly confined with a third of the seats covered and would have been perfect. Plus people would have had something to do New Year's Eve. Even better than that would have been on the National Mall. The Classic is a made for TV event, and if you are trying to make the game more appealing to Americans, why not host it with the Lincoln and Washington Monuments bookending the rinks. The reflecting pool is not even two feet deep so freeze it over, pull out the bleachers from the Cherry Blossom Festival Parade and have an out-door hockey game with the best player in the world as the centerpiece. Instead we have one last gasp for Crosby by his buddy Bettman, and Pittsburgh has to be included. Yes, DC was promised to host one in three years or so, but I will believe it when I see it. It is better than nothing, but the NHL really needs to scrap the four-year old, unfulfilled marketing plan built around Crosby. Everyone knows the guy is a fraud. If the NHL is on a "three years later" plan for DC does that mean they are going to hand us a Cup in 2012? Or could they just start letting us play fair hockey and we can go ahead and earn our own? I am pretty sure Ovechkin and the boys can handle it.

Sippy Cups For All My Penguin Friends

I'm sorry, my blog yesterday was getting way to long and I didn't get to revel in Crosby's choke nearly enough. Plus, I had to somehow squeeze into the blog this priceless picture of Crosby crying into his sippy cup. I wonder if Bettman gave him that one too. I also wanted to continue what I was saying about sportswriters, and Wilbon's column today fit perfectly into what I was talking about. Wilbon is a smart guy, a great writer, and deserves all of the accolades he receives because he is quite knowledgeable when it comes to most of the sports he covers. However, he, like most Penguins fans, knows nothing about hockey whatsoever. Exhibit A is his article on OV after the Canadian victory in the Olympics, exhibit B is his article on Lebron today after losing game 7 to the aging Celts.

In both he drinks the media's self-brewed kool-aid on their superstars. This is the sycophant reference I used, Crosby is great so criticize OV, Lebron his great so trash his teammates. I don't see the logic. Lebron "had the stuff of of Magic and Bird, of Jordan and Duncan," "this can't be only about Lebron James; an entire coaching staff and a locker room full of players payed a lot of money let this happen," and Wilbon knew he would get a triple-double. It wasn't Lebron's fault, it was the expectations heaped upon him, the looming free agency and even refers to himself and others as the "sycophants (that) had him ahead of Jordan and Kolbe."

Compare this to Ovechkin, who at the time the article was published was already done playing for a rag-tag Russian team full of KHL players that was badly out-coached by everyone according to several NHL GMs. OV is referred to as "churlish," "distraught about Crosby kicking his butt," "out of control," "guilty of a sense of entitlement," "thinks he is above the law," and headed down the road of Gilbert Arenas. What? First off, the incident referred to with a camera is alleged and led to nothing. Do you think if the Canadians could lock up OV they would not have done it a long time ago? Secondly, why is the article even about OV? Shouldn't the media be reveling in how great Crosby played? As it turns out it wasn't great at all, just another cheap goal after three straight games of no points and irrelevance, much like Crosby's entire career on the ice. The media slurps up the hype that Bettman feeds them, and any small victory for Crosby is only justified by a damning of OV. Or as Wilbon says, "Ovechkin would need a telescope to see Crosby, who's that far ahead in this race."

What race? I didn't know they were racing each other. It's not Nadal-Federer, its a team game and everyone already knows OV is a more talented player. Crosby has accomplished nothing. Well, a Junior World Championship, fine. His cup is bogus. The Pens got all the calls and no-calls throughout the playoffs, and if Malkin had been called for his interference on Boyd Gordon in the Game 3 overtime against the Caps, the Pens would have been down 3-0 in the semifinals and never seen the finals. Crosby the Choke-Artist didn't even show up for the finals, going pointless in the final 3 games of the series, missing all but 32 seconds of the Game 7 third period with a pulled groin. Malkin was the Conn Smythe winner, not Crosby, but the Princess seemed healthy enough to parade the Cup around the ice while refusing to shake Wings captain Lidstrom's hand. In the Olympics, he scored 0 points against Switzerland, Russia, Slovakia, and the USA until he got his cheap overtime goal. They name an all-Olympic team: Miller, Rafalski, Weber, Toews, Parise, and Demitra all made it. Crosby did not even sniff it. In fact, the Kid is so bad that Canada won't even buy into its own self-generated hype when it comes to an Olympic medal. Crosby's lack of production left him without an invite to the 2006 Canadian Olympic team.

It would be nice if people looked at a few of these facts before they started comparing him to the best in the game. He's not even close. And his snivelling snottiness makes him oh so hateable. Out of all the whiny quotes that I cited yesterday after the game 7 loss OT the Habs, the most annoying was the complaints of the refs daring to call a penalty against him "at that point in the game" after having the Cup handed to his team the year before. He didn't even have to put up with d-men Gill and Markov most of the series like the Caps did. Furthermore, the Pens should have been forewarned after the Caps series; the Caps had no such advantage. But Crosby's whining started in game six, with his little un-called jabs, his pouty stick smashing, his cheap shot cross-check on Plekanec at the end, culminating in his dirty hit 10 seconds into Game 7. Then more whining and sippy cups with the media. He won't even go play OV in the World Championships because it is not under the protection of Bettman and Canada. He was whining so much that Lemieux finally kicked him out of his house after five years. (Literally, I can't make that up, the Princess got kicked out of the castle and there's no Igloo to squat in.) The incessant whining and choking is all Crosby leads OV in, so leave the real superstar alone Pens fans and try to enjoy your faux cup. Good riddance to the Pens, maybe they will give it to them next year so guys like Wilbon can fawn over the Princess and his cronies. Good riddance to an over-hyped opportunistic punk who never really showed up in the first place.

Sycophant Sportswriters

You know who they are, the Mariottis and the Wilbons and their wanna-bes, those who heap praise on those who they want to cuddle up to while almost vilifying those who they deem of no benefit. Unfortunately, a lot of them reside in DC as well, and they wonder aloud how the newspaper business is crumbling around them while their pre-appointed stars fall by the wayside with them. While that seems harsh, the biggest story about the Nationals since they have come to town has been the Natinals misspelling on the jerseys last year. I almost hesitated putting "Down-Town" Dunn's picture up there with the jersey, but I think it is a point of pride to any Nationals fan who withstood the beratement from both local and national media about how bad we have been. Lets take a look at this team on the up and up now.

Two days ago against the Mets, the bullpen had the breakdown that Clippard and Capps had been holding off. Ironically they lost the game in the same fashion as the last time they were four games above .500 in the worst loss in the history of the franchise in late September 2005. Then, the Nats were 2 and 1/2 out of the wild card with a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the 9th against the Padres. Frank Robinson in one of his few managerial mistakes here in DC brought out a cavalcade of bullpen guys who managed to take a 5-o lead with two on and two out in the 9th and turn it into a 8-5 loss in the 12th. The loss devastated the team and sent them into a whirlwind that ended in a 81-81 season. On Tuesday, Riggleman made a rare mistake and brought out a cavalcade of bullpen guys after Olsen only threw 82 pitches, allowing 6 runs and a Nattos collapse. The difference is that the next day the Nats came out and won a close one in cold and misty conditions on the road, led by a franchise record for a pitcher 3 RBIs by Stammen, and 2 HRs by Bernadina along with a game-saving, face-first diving catch with the bases loaded. The point is, these aren't your older brother's Nattos anymore.

Of course you can't count on your starting pitcher for 3 RBIs. Heck, Clippard leads the league with 7 wins and is on pace for a 34-5 record that probably will not happen. But these are the kind of things that lead to a miracle season that could be forming down by the Naval Yard. It might not happen, but that is why they play the games and they are getting more interesting by the day. The bottom of the lineup is huge; Desmond is hitting consistently while wowing at SS and keeping the errors down. Could Bernadina finally fill the gaping hole out in right field? Pudge would the lead the league in BA right now if his 37 year old body could still catch every game. This team is back to four games over through the hardest part of the season, and Zim-Zam is yet to wear the silver Elvis wig. The middle of the lineup of Zim-Zam, Dunn, and Willingham is good for 100 dingers in an average year, lets see what could happen in a miracle year. Morgan is electrifying at lead-off, Harris can match his speed on base and roaming the outfield, and the platoon of Kennedy and Guzman at second on the field and in the order is working out just fine. Maybe the local media should focus a little less on the highest paid star skipping OTAs for the Skins, and focus on the Nationals biggest free agent at the time Guzman, who has played second and right field to accommodate the emerging star in Desmond.

The starting pitching is consistent, with La-La baffling hitters; matching up against Jimenez on Friday for the second time this year should be another pitchers duel. We get to see what is going on with Lannan tonight and if health turns him around like it has Olsen. Atalino looks solid along with Stammen, and oh yeah, the one positively-covered Natto Strasburg should be arriving shortly. If not for the Super 2 rule, he would already be here, but in his time in the minors he has pitched 55 innings, with 4 Rs, 15 Hs, 10 BB, 53 Ks, and a 1.06 ERA. That is sick, and he might not even be the biggest call-up. Storen, another top-ten pick waiting for that June deadline, is the stopgap to bridge the starters to the Clip and Save combination in the bullpen. I'm not saying that the Nattos are guaranteed a miracle year like the O's turnaround in '89, but would it kill the media to cover it just as much as they did for a team that was never a part of this great city?

Or at least cover the teams that are trying to cheat us. In all seriousness does every team in PA cheat? I'll get to their hockey team in a bit, but the Phillies got caught using binoculars to steal signs from the bullpen against the Rockies. Look everyone in baseball steals signs, but they got caught and should be sanctioned. Instead, they are rewarded with 3 more home games than anyone else in the league. MLB decided that since the Phillies-Blue Jays series will be held the same time as the G-20 conference in Toronto, to just move the whole thing down to Philly. The DH will still be used and the Jays will bat last, but it will be in front of the vomiting, taser-prone neanderthals in Philly instead. How is that fair? If you have to move it, Buffalo has the beautiful Coca-Cola Park downtown where the Bisons play that would fill up in a chance to see the NL champs. Olympic Stadium in Montreal is still standing in Montreal as far as I know. How about Las Vegas, which is constantly pining for a MLB team, or Wrigley, which would sell out for a Little League Game? If the miracle season happens, but the Nattos finish 3 games back from the Phillies, Selig will have successfully hosed DC baseball fans yet again.

It seems sportswriters only write negatively about baseball now, mostly due to a lack of knowledge. The biggest baseball story of the decade has been steroids, hammered constantly by people who know nothing about the actual game itself. For years they cried that baseball had been sullied by guys like Bonds, Sosa, and McGwire, and the sportswriters had it right. Unfortunately, their disgust was fake, and used only to keep their newspapers afloat. The first chance they had to make a statement on hormonal cheating in sports, they went ahead and rewarded cheating Houston Texan Brian Cushing with the distinction of being the only guy in the history of sports to be named the rookie of the year twice. He got caught by the NFL for violating the banned substance policy, could have had had his rookie of the year award revoked, except the sportswriters condoned it. It could have been a referendum on cheating and sports, and the writers failed the one chance they had to influence sports in a positive way. Shame on them. It would have been nice to go back and strip writer-based awards from Bonds, Clemens, McGwire, and Sosa, but that time has passed. The sportswriters won't care, and they never admit when they are wrong.

Like maybe about Ovechkin? All we heard after the Caps got bounced by the "lowly" Habs was that Ovechkin "can't win" at the age of 24. (Wilbon, who will hob-nob and kiss up to ring-less Lebron, Barkley, Urlacher, and McNabb at every opportunity afforded to him.) Wilbon is just the tip of the iceberg, as seemingly every "hockey guru" wanted to heap shame upon Ovechkin, by going farther than merely mentioning Crosby as an equal to OV, but saying he was better. Those who actually take time to watch a hockey game or two and are not blinded by false praise and bravado knew nothing could be farther from the truth. Last night proved it. It was glorious. (Don't stop reading Pens fans and Crosby sycophants, you brought it up, let's get into it.) The fact is, OV has been and always will be better than Crosby. I'm sorry the whole Canadian savior angle didn't pan out, the world's greatest player happens to be from Russia. Heck, the Penguin's best player happens to be from Russia, but even he shut down against the Habs and couldn't pad Crosby's numbers for him. This idiotic logic that Pens fans use means they would not trade Trent Dilfer for home-town guy Dan Marino because Dilfer has a ring. Crosby had a Cup handed to him, at least Dilfer somewhat earned his by riding the coattails of a great defense. And the Great 8 and the Princess both haven't reached 25 yet, there is a way to go.

First off, the princess could not win without it being handed to him again. He was appalled at being called for a cheap-shot that would have had OV tossed from the game 10 seconds in. "I was stunned. I didn't know how that's a penalty 10 seconds into the game" he whined on his boarding call on Gorges that led to the Habs first goal. What would have been a more convenient time for you to keep cheating Sid? Crosby is the perfect narcissist, where it is clearly someone else's fault that he really can't play without it being handed to him. Even on the 4 on 3, one of the 6 power plays handed to the Pens after Montreal went up 2, Crosby's typical cheap goal opportunity went straight into the sweater of Halak. Caps say you can't spell Crosby without "cry," which evidently still holds true. Genius Pens fans came up with you can't spell Ovechkin without "choke" as their retort. But as it turns out, the true choker is the guy from Nova Scotia.

Against hot-shot Halak in Game 7, Ovechkin put up a goal that the NHL took away, a crucial assist, and 10 shots trying to penetrate Halak to no avail. But he didn't complain about losing to the "lowly" Habs. Crosby, with a -2 rating, a dirty penalty, and a paltry 5 shots camping out by the net, whined again as the media has now dubbed the Habs a great team for beating the Pens. The lines for the series against the Habs: OV 5 Gs, 5 As, 10 Pts, +5 rating, and 34 shots. Crosby: 1 G, 2 As, 3 Pts, -1 rating, and 17 shots. In all elimination games career thus far: OV 6 Gs, 5As, 11 Pts, 1.22 PG +6. Crosby: 2 Gs, 4 As, 6 Pts, and .86 PG. So maybe all of the Pens fans and media should bite their tongues when labeling Crosby "the best" and OV a "choker" when in fact the exact opposite holds true. Someone man up and report that.

Someone asked Crosby if that stopped shot on the 4 on 3 epitomized the series, and he averted giving playoff MVP Halak any praise saying "I don't know if that's the story of the series." He can't stand that someone is better than him. He blamed "bad breaks" which one can only assume are his botched 2 on 1 to get the game closer, or maybe the refs not handing it to him again. Boo-hoo. He goes on to complain by saying he is not going to complain. "I'm not going to sit here and complain about playing in the Stanley Cup Finals and Olympic gold medal games." Its all this winning I have been doing that has caused me to choke, but I am still this brat screams. Every good player played in the Olympics, five Habs to be sure including Halak. Its a team game, he did not win it by himself, and the Stanley Cup means nothing when it is given to you. Don't rest on a faux accomplishment and previous good coaching that tired you out and led you to choke now there Princess. I obviously don't like the guy, I think he is a cancer on the sport and I loved watching the Igloo melt around him. But I'm honest and up-front about it and support it with facts. I wish other writers would do the same instead of making false pronouncements and prognostications based on nothing.