D.C. Sports Bog: March 1, 2009 - March 7, 2009
Local Teams Close in on Tourney Berths, Embarrassment
Sometimes it's the little things that carry you through the years. Today, one of those little things happened: two newly installed Washington Post flat-screen TVs, two televised matchups featuring four prominent Atlantic 11 teams, and both games 54-49 at the exact same moment. Time froze for that little moment of...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 7, 2009; 10:18 PM ET |
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Ovechkin Joins Eastern Motors
There are so many hundreds of ways of describing what has happened with the Caps in D.C. over the past 15 months, but I would argue that this, for sure, is the craziest signpost yet. Eastern Motors--yeah, THAT Eastern Motors--is going with the White Russian. This is the same Eastern...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 7, 2009; 5:21 PM ET |
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Wiz Trash Talker on Olbermann
Well, never let it be said that the media elites don't read the D.C. Sports Bog. Just a few short days after the tale of Miles Rawls talking NBA trash with President Obama appeared in this space, Mr. Rawls himself was a guest on Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Here's the...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 7, 2009; 3:10 PM ET |
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Redskins Marching Band: The Movie
TWP file photo by Jonathan Newton. If there's one thing I love above all else, it's a good marching band. I mean, I'll gladly endure sub-freezing temperatures in a windswept downtown Silver Spring to check out the high school marching bands during the Thanksgiving parade. I'll refrain from hitting...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 6, 2009; 2:40 PM ET |
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American Basketball Team Grows Playoff Beards
American Coach Jeff Jones, with Bryce Simon and his beard. (By Mitchell Layton - courtesy AU Athletics.) Think of Patriot League men's basketball, and what image comes to mind? Scrappy point guards? Six-foot-five centers? John Feinstein? "Clean cut, I guess," offered American guard Steve Luptak the other day. "I...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 6, 2009; 7:25 AM ET |
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Atlantic 11
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So Is It Really Time to Boo the Caps?
Yay cheering. Boo booing. (By John McDonnell - TWP) After the Panthers loss: "The Capitals--coming off a rousing overtime victory Saturday at Eastern Conference-leading Boston--heard boos in their building and pulled starting goalie Jose Theodore after falling behind 4-1 in the opening period." After the Hurricanes loss: "For the...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 5, 2009; 2:20 PM ET |
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Ovie Rips Cherry, KidsPost Rips Snyder
Noted briefly.... * Alex Ovechkin on Don Cherry's recent criticisms, in translation: "Why pay attention to a senile old man? He doesn't like the fact that I celebrate my goals like a soccer player. I'm sure he's just upset that Canada doesn't have a real soccer team. He has to...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 5, 2009; 1:23 PM ET |
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Brian Gilmore's Dunk Brings Down Bender's House
(Photos by Tracy A. Woodward - TWP) Tuesday night it was Jeff Teague, knocking down Maryland's tournament chances a bit with this particular bit of nastiness. American's Brian Gilmore might not have achieved Teague's level of difficulty, nor did he leap over a defender, nor was the game televised....
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Dan Steinberg
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March 5, 2009; 12:31 PM ET |
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Atlantic 11
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T.O.? Heck Yeah
(By Jonathan Newton - TWP) (Note: The following argument has nothing to do with the fact that a season of T.O. would mean bonkers Web traffic for this blog. Nothing at all. Hadn't even thought of that until you just mentioned it.) Redskins fans immediately panicked about the T.O....
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Dan Steinberg
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March 5, 2009; 11:34 AM ET |
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The Caps' War Room on Deadline Day
As an addendum to the previous post about the Caps' players and their mild interest in fanatical deadline musings, GM George McPhee offered a few details about the inside of the war room: 10 people, three days, lots of phone calls, a review of every possibility on every NHL team,...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 4, 2009; 5:04 PM ET |
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Caps: Mildly Interested in Trade Deadline
Will take a nap this afternoon. (By Luis M. Alvarez - AP) Fans are in a frenzy about today's NHL trade deadline. TSN began its live coverage at 8 a.m. Web traffic will surely be through the natosphere. And the Caps? "I'm not gonna base my plans around the...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 4, 2009; 2:42 PM ET |
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Last Night's Maryland Halftime Prank
Jeez, skip one lousy home game against a Top 25 team and you miss an appearance by Jared from Subway AND this halftime prank, which may or may not have been fake but is worth watching anyhow. Now if Dave Neal had taken a blindfolded half-court short, he definitely, definitely...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 4, 2009; 1:22 PM ET |
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College Basketball
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Ovechkin: Foot Ok, Doesn't Anticipate Being Traded
The anticipation at Kettler Capitals Icepalaceplextheatre is....well, I don't know, it's not really anything. The dressing room is empty, the stands are empty, the Chipotle free lunch cards have yet to be used, and one of the columnists is already leaving. More on that in a bit, but first, the...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 4, 2009; 1:10 PM ET |
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Mike Wise Meets Obama
When Obama went to the Wiz game on Friday, only a handful out of the 20,000 people in the building got genuine Presidential face time. There were the few folks sitting in his immediate section. There were the very very few people who walked past before the Secret Service...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 4, 2009; 11:59 AM ET |
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Caps
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D.C. Coaches Keep Things Real
(Photos by Toni L. Sandys - TWP) At least three D.C. coaches addressed a large assemblage of local media yesterday. All were exceptionally quotable. From Gary Williams to Bruce Boudreau to Jim Zorn, we've clearly been blessed with a surplus of speak-first coaches in this town. A certain local...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 4, 2009; 11:14 AM ET |
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Clinton Portis is the Model of Offseason Conditioning
Why was it so necessary for Jason Taylor to agree to the Redskins' offseason conditioning demands? Well, because Clinton Portis does it. Yes, Clinton Portis, whose entire career has been defined by his by-the-books insistence on showing up for voluntary offseason workout sessions. Clinton Portis, whose 2008 campaign was marked...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 4, 2009; 10:37 AM ET |
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Jeff Teague's Dunk on Dave Neal: Adequate
I was watching Maryland's game last night, trying to figure out if the six-point lead off the 403 Dave Neal three-pointers would be an appropriate time to send out dozens of e-mails about how Maryland was a lock for the tourney. Instead, I just sat there on the coach. Then...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 4, 2009; 9:50 AM ET |
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Zorn Still Weird, Hall Still Confident
Today's doubleheader Redskins press conferences got off to a rousing start, with Jim Zorn and DeAngelo Hall both displaying their distinguishing characteristics. Hall was confident--he said "wait and see" literally six times in his opening remarks, as in "wait and see what I can do with a whole season in...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 3, 2009; 5:12 PM ET |
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The Caps STILL Don't Like the Flyers
Semin, the Flyers and some kind of wrestle. (2008 playoffs photo by John McDonnell - TWP) When I talked to Rod Langway a few weeks back, I asked him whether he still has ill feelings toward Pittsburgh and Philly, the two teams Caps fans most love to hate. "I'm...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 3, 2009; 5:07 PM ET |
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The Wizards Fan Who Talked Trash to Obama
Miles Rawls and Obama. (By Preston Keres - TWP) When I saw all the photos of Obama at the Verizon Center getting into it with a fan wearing an Obama t-shirt, and then read the caption identifying the guy as "Washington Wizards fan Miles Rawls," I smiled. Then I...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 3, 2009; 3:22 PM ET |
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Another Exciting Vinny Cerrato Ninja Scene
It's been an exciting few days for Sarge Vinny Cerrato. He got Haynesworth, Hall and Dockery in a 24-hour coup. He said bye bye to Jason Taylor, a player he was 100 percent positive would play for more than one year. He had a blogger create a dang funny...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 3, 2009; 12:42 PM ET |
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Maybe the Wizards Should Get a New Slogan
Not that there's anything wrong with Girl Scouts. Or cookies. (And here's the team's aggressive new advertising approach, via SLAMOnline.)...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 3, 2009; 11:29 AM ET |
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Another New Local Mascot Search
The former Colonel Ebirt. I'm chatting. Submit copious questions about mascots, our lack of Orioles coverage, my insistence that Georgetown deserves an NCAA tournament bid, my two recent interviews with Canadian media outlets in which I accidentally suggested Caps fans have an inferiority complex, and my ranking of the...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 3, 2009; 11:07 AM ET |
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Atlantic 11
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Eric Maynor Has a Touch O' Portis
(Photo via VCU Athletics.) I'm chatting at 11. Submit copious questions about mascots, our lack of Orioles coverage, my insistence that Georgetown deserves an NCAA tournament bid, my two recent interviews with Canadian media outlets in which I accidentally suggested Caps fans have an inferiority complex, what constitutes showboating,...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 3, 2009; 10:03 AM ET |
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Atlantic 11
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Morning Look
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Local Poll Week XVI: American Splendor
(Photo by Ethan Hyman - AP via The News & Observer; logo and editing by Ian Oland - Atlantic 11 Media) So it's March. Time to start counting Atlantic 11 NCAA tournament bids. Local voter Max Wass did just that a week ago, concluding that the over-under should be...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 2, 2009; 5:36 PM ET |
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Jason Taylor Played One Year
"I'm 100 percent positive [Jason Taylor will] play longer than one year," Vinny Cerrato said after trading two draft picks for Jason Taylor. "I'm on board. I'm gonna play out my contract. I'll be here for more than one year, God willing, unless something bad happens. I'm here to play...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 2, 2009; 4:46 PM ET |
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See Screech Dance
You may not have been at the ESPN Zone this afternoon when teenage Screech was unveiled, but you can pretend that you were. Video from Nationals Pride....
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Dan Steinberg
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March 2, 2009; 4:27 PM ET |
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Nats Parking Signs
Maybe you're familiar with Nats blogger Miss Chatter. Maybe you didn't know that she and I are, technically, co-workers. And that she makes sure everything is right with our blogs. Wild, right? With her annual trip to Spring Training having arrived, she will be blogging both on her site...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 2, 2009; 3:38 PM ET |
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About Screech's Unveiling
Of course it snowed. I mean, this is the Nats, Spring of '09. The prospect was four years too old, the GM resigned, the Dominican operation was dismantled, the free agent pitcher held out and got dropped, and the D.C. area was savaged by snow the day that the...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 2, 2009; 2:26 PM ET |
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The Nats' New Mascot
Suggested ledes for tomorrow's newspaper story about the moments-ago unveiling of the Nats' new mascot Screech, which was, by far, the highlight of my week. * First the Washington Nationals got rid of the turkey. Now they've done away with the chicken. * Screech showed up on time yesterday,...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 2, 2009; 12:29 PM ET |
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Ovechkin, Greivis and Showboating
(By Greg M. Cooper - Reuters) Did you watch the end of the Terps' game last night? If not, here's what you missed. Maryland was up by eight. N.C. State wasn't fouling. Players were doing that slow-walk-off-the-court thing as time wound down. This is the time when the guy...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 2, 2009; 11:13 AM ET |
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Mission Accomplished: The Fire Jim Bowden Interview
D.C. media stars interview Jim Bowden a few weeks before the end. (By Jonathan Newton - TWP) Many of us first met the Fire Jim Bowden blogger as "Steven on Capitol Hill," a Nats Journal commentator who occasionally took a somewhat dim view of then-Nats GM Jim Bowden. Eventually,...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 2, 2009; 9:29 AM ET |
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The Busiest Weekend in D.C. Sports History
So I decided to take one measly three-day weekend in honor of my daughter's second birthday. Luckily, nothing much happened. Besides major earth-shakingly breaking news involving the Redskins, Wizards, Caps, Nats, Hoyas and Terps. Aside from that, it was a really quiet three days. Sigh. At least the cupcakes were...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 2, 2009; 7:23 AM ET |
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Caps
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College Basketball
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Local Hoops Gets Testy
Having missed massively important news concerning all five local pro teams, I'll just go ahead and move on to week-old college basketball jokes. Bear in mind that these are last week's rankings, and that I do this so that the hard work of my voters doesn't disappear for all...
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Dan Steinberg
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March 1, 2009; 4:51 PM ET |
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