Let me preface this by saying that I support all DC sports teams. I have a lot of respect for all of the athletes out there, and their abilities to play each and every one of these sports at a professional level. That being said, I hate being a DC sports fan. I also find some of your sports boring. Sorry.
The Nationals: Yeah let's get a DC baseball team! "Ok let's build a stadium in your neighborhood." BOO fuck you! While I'm glad that DC got a baseball team, they are just not very good. Luckily, I don't care about baseball. I'll watch highlights on sportscenter, and I've watched pieces of games here and there, but uh, it's just not my thing. Sorry baseball. PS, learn to spell.
DC United: I think they're good? But then they shit the bed in the playoffs? I really don't follow them that closely, because I'm not that interested in soccer. They are though, probably the best team in DC. Also, their jerseys are ill. I can't hate on them, they are usually pretty good. I've been known to watch a soccer game here and there, and for those of you that do like soccer, enjoy.
Washington Freedom: Surprsingly, this team was named pre 9/11. (come on that's not offensive, we named a lot of stupid shit freedom and you know it. I'm still pissed we had to change the name of the bullets, but that's another issue entirely.) We got Mia Hamm, and ended up winning the championship in the first couple years. Then the league folded. I've been informed that it exists again. That doesn't mean that I intend to watch it. Sorry ladies.
The Caps: Ovechkin is nasty. The rookie goalie looked good in the playoffs. I'm happy for the success, but it's still hockey. I couldn't watch a game all the way through. Expect me to hype them up when they win the cup in the next couple of years.
The Mystics: I watch women's basketball on a semi
regular basis. The Mystics were tight when we had Holdsclaw and Stacey Dales. Stacey, I'm also in love with you. That being said, it's not quite as exciting when only 2 people in the entire league can dunk.
Washington Wizards:
Where to begin. I used to watch the wizards when they were just awful. Then we brought in Jordan, and he drafted Kwame. I read in the post that he wanted Pao Gasol, but was afraid taking a soft foreigner over a hard nosed inner city kid would look bad. Way to stick to your guns there. He may not have been #1 overall talented, but he's really not that bad. He did have the game winning block for the Pistons this year against our Washington Wizards. I'd rather have him then Pecherov. But we did trade him to the Lakers for Caron, so you know what? He served his purpose. Remember the other russian guy we drafted that same year as Pech? Me neither. We were so bad this year we couldn't even win the draft lottery.
I won't really mention the years Jordan played for us, and I think he'll thank me for that. He was good, he just wasn't MJ. Rip Hamilton for Jerry Stack. That worked well. He got shipped to Dallas for Antawn, so it all works out in the end. Next topic, Juan Carlos Navarro. "Yeah, he's going to stay in Spain for a couple years." Oh ok, good thing we drafted him NOW. He is a baller, and I'm pissed we let him go this year. But hey, we're set at the point guard position right? Oh is that a low blow? Well low blows happen, and then your star player misses 3 years.
Look, I love Gilbert. He is a tremendous player, he is an interesting and quirky person. He gives to charity. When he is healthy, he is an unstoppable scorer. He is just not a traditional point guard. Is he capable of getting 10 assists a game? Yes. Does he do it every night? No. There are very few pure point guards in the game right now, and I think that having a set up man could really help us and Gilbert. Also, I can't justify giving such a big contract to someone who is on the IR. I really hope that he gets healthy. I also hope that he passes the ball more (some of his teammates are actually good!).
Deshawn Stevenson: Don't poke the bear.
Overall, the Wizards do have a talented roster. I like a lot of the young players, like Dom Mcguire and big Javale Mcgee. Brendan Haywood is one of the most underrated big men in the league. Caron and Antawn are men. They hold it down even in the shitty years. I love those guys. It's just really difficult as a fan to write off an entire season because one guy is hurt. I know he wants to be in good health more than I want that, and I can't hold it against him. But in this fickle world of professional sports, you only get so many chances. I really hope he can do what Grant Hill did and stay healthy.
The Washington Redskins: Ok, so up to this point, I've pretty much been whining like a bitch. For the most part the DC teams are no worse than many other cities. But you know what, this is my blog. So either read it, or don't. I don't care. At least DC has major sports teams. Sometimes, they even win a few games. My beef with the Redskins is deeper than that.
Having Dan Snyder as an owner is incredibly frustrating. His heart is in the right place, but he makes some awful decisions. He tries to dip his hand into decisions that really shouldn't be his to make. If you look at some of the best franchises in the league, you see stability. You see established coaches, teams building through the draft. The Steelers, the Patriots, the Giants, they do things the right way. Now I know it's hard to find a good coach, and drafting isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world, but we do both of those worse than anybody.
As a country, we seem to think that the more expensive something is, the better it is. We took that approach for coaches and players too. Over the years we've had Norv, Marty, Ray Rhodes, Terry Robiskie, Marvin Lewis, Al Saunders, Greg Williams. We even lured Joe Gibbs out of retirement. If he can't save us, who can? Everyone expected us to hand the team over to one of the 2 assistand head coaches after Joe retired, but we didn't. I like Jim Zorn, and I hope we give him a long enough tenure to really evaluate him. But I was mad as hell that we didn't make Greg Williams our head coach.
We started out going after old guys like Bruce Smith, Jeff George, Primetime, Dana Stubblefield. We even got to the playoffs. Then there was a cold front, and everyone's plastic hips cracked and had to be replaced. We tried buying big names in free agency with Trotter, Armstead and Arrington. We tried getting up and coming guys with Coles, Morton, and Hall. We spend more money in free agency than almost anyone else. Who do people think is going to sign Vick? The Redskins. Snyder doesn't care about paying over the salary cap, and for that I guess I am grateful. But the thing is, you can't just throw money at a problem. We have had less draft picks over the last couple years than anyone I can think of. In the NBA you can put together veterans with that "win now" mentality and do pretty well (cough boston celtics cough). Sorry Dan, no instant gratification here. In the NFL the rosters are so big, you need DEPTH.
It's hard to do that with 2 picks on the entire first day of the draft. We'll probably lose more picks over this Haynesworth crap.
I think (no, I hope) the Redskins are on the right path now, we had relatively little turnover in our roster this offseason. Despite the whole Jay Cutler fiasco we are giving our promising young quarterback a chance to prove himself. We strategically spent big money as opposed to the usual mess. Dan wants to win, and he's trying to adapt to the NFL.
Whatever
happens, unless the Redskins and Wizards both come home with trophies, I'm probably going to cry like a little schoolgirl. I love sports- playing them, watching them, arguing about them. But the nature of the beast is that you can't win all the time, unless you're Red Auerbach. And let's be honest, I've never won much of anything as an athlete either. But the longer I bitch and moan, the better it's going to feel when we finally do win something. If you're not crushed by every 19 win season the Wizards have, then you don't deserve to be happy when they do win. So I'm going to keep complaining, and you don't have to listen to me.
