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.