Pat Sajak Welcomes Fans on the Caps Bandwagon

Still love this photo from last Spring. (By Toni L. Sandys - TWP)

As a season-ticket holder for several years, Pat Sajak would theoretically be permitted to resent the new breed of Caps fan who jumped on board the spinning wheel of success only recently. But Sajak doesn't play games like that. He welcomes all.

"By the way, I've never subscribed to the [theory], you know, 'Oh, if you're a bandwagon fan, that's no good," Sajak told Russ Thaler last week on Washington Post Live. "I'm glad new fans are coming along and rediscovering the team and getting excited about it. And I understand in the tough days why it was a tougher draw, so welcome aboard to everybody....To me, it's just the most lyrical and beautiful game....People who don't understand the sport, I feel badly for, I wish they did. It's their loss, frankly."

Doo dah dah dah. We've all known Sajak was a Caps fan--read my conversation with him from last April, for example--but now he's crossing over to official Caps ambassador, and the guy has all the right answers. Like, here's what he said when Russ asked about spreading the game beyond its core.

"Hockey has to be careful about appealing to the non-fan," he said. "I mean, you hear a lot of people say, 'Oh, I don't watch hockey, I don't like the fighting,' or whatever it is. I'm not a soccer fan, and I say, 'Oh, it's low scoring,' but if they increased the scoring I might not want to see soccer anyway. So I think there's a danger of appealing to the non-fan. We have great hockey fans, we should see what they want to do with the sport."

That's an answer Caps fans will love. Here's an answer they won't: "I'm looking forward to the Finals," he said. "Caps against Blue Jackets. Write it down."

I mean, do you try to solve the puzzle after you get one T? You do not. Do you publicly predict the Caps will make the Finals before the playoffs have started? You do not. Anyhow, there aren't many things better than seeing Pat Sajak address the camera while a Zamboni goes back and forth in the background. "It's one of the most dramatic turnarounds I've ever seen in a sports franchise and it's fun to be a part of it," he said, referring to the Caps, not to the Zamboni turning around in the background. Watch the interview below.