I am a DC sports fan. There I said it, now bring on the jokes. I was born one and will die one but it has never been as hard as it is now to rep my teams. Born in 1988 I was physically alive for two Super Bowl wins but was too young to remember either. The first game I went to and remember was for my birthday in 1995 when we beat the “division rival” Arizona Cardinals and I was also there for the “Jerry Sucks” chant at the last game against Dallas in RFK.
I count the Orioles as a DC team because for just about all of my life they were the closest thing and I hate that people jumped off the O’s because the Expos came to town. I mean if Da Raidas moved to Fairfax would you NOVA skins fans jump on that bandwagon? I don’t think so, but that argument is for another time. My first real memory of the O’s other than worshiping the Iron Man was Jeffrey Maier robbing the home run from Tony Torasco’s glove in the 1996 ALCS. Afterwards my pissed off father lectured me for a good 10 minutes on why you should NEVER DO THAT AT A GAME, if only he was Maier’s father. Maybe then the O’s wouldn’t be where they are today?
I remember the Bullets changing to the Wizards, and Rod Strickland passing up wide open shots in an attempt to break the assist record. The NBA has always been hard for me to watch. I enjoy the college game exponentially more but never have the Wiz been as hard to watch as now.
Capitals I don’t remember much of; much like most people from the DMV. If you said Peter Bondra or Olaf Kolizig’s name I could have told you they played for the Caps but other than that I was totally disinterested. My feeling on hockey is unless you played it or someone close to you watched it you never really got in to it as a kid. That was me, never had an interest in it and if the Caps were the same team they were 7 years ago I still wouldn’t. I jumped on the bandwagon in the truest sense of the phrase earlier this season. My heart was broken from the Redskins slide from honorable franchise to doormat thanks mostly to Tom Cruise’s best friend, Danny Boy. I was embarrassed from how close the Wizards had come in the 2004-2008 seasons just to be outed by the crab dribble and then the fall that resulted in Andray Blatche being the go to guy, which should be reason enough for relocation. Just when I thought the O’s were making all of the right moves they put on a 12th consecutive losing season. So what did I do? I needed a winner; a team that could help me rise out of my fan depression.
On Friday October 9th I officially announced my affiliation with DC’s hockey team. What else was I to do? Jump on another city’s team? No, I couldn’t do that. I might as well check this hockey thing out. Well they dragged me in and I would watch the games on Comcast whenever I could. I still don’t completely understand the X’s and O’s of the game, which shouldn’t be expected. I’m going on my 203rd day of being a Hockey fan. But, I also don’t try and act like I do, something other Cap’s fans should take notes on. So as the season went on I was getting sucked in, thinking this could be the year that one of my teams does it, becomes a champion. I watched the 14 game winning streak including the come from behind win against the Penguinos and thought no one can slow this team down. I actually grew a deep hatred for Sidney Crosby and felt at home rooting for the Caps. They began struggling a bit towards the end of the year, but they weren’t playing for anything, the President’s trophy (a.k.a. Worthless Trophy) was already wrapped up and they were heading to the Playoffs. I was naive and forgot the golden rule of sports that I too have been preaching for years now. Defense wins championships. The Caps proved they didn’t believe in this and decided they wanted to finesse their way through. That is not DC sports! That is how they do it in California or Florida. When I think of DC I think of Riggo dragging Don Mcneal down the field on a 4th and 1 for a 43 yard touchdown to seal a Super Bowl. Until the Caps figure this out they will never win it all. Even if they were to win that game 7 they weren’t going much further. You have to want it more than the opponent. So after last night’s game I just added another disappointing team to my repertoire of fan bases. Great.
Over my lifetime I’ve gone from fighting back tears of a loss to the Bucs in 2000 to fighting back tears after the double timeout game after Sean Taylor’s wrongful death to fighting back tears for losing to the Lions (even though I predicted it). If you are going to challenge my Hockey knowledge, save it, because you are probably right. I’m looking at this as a disgruntled DC Sports fan, something I’m definitely an expert on.
Records during my existence
Redskins: (160-177)
Capitals: (793-674-145)
Bullets: (699-1073)
Orioles: (1579-1752)
Honorable Mention: Mostly Skins
Gus Forgot - link
Fake Field goal….twice – “What in the wide world is that”
Arenas stars in classic shoot em up
Caps Rap – no explanation Necessary… I actually don’t advise clicking this link
Spurrier Era - link
Norv Era - link
Zorn Era – link
Follow me on Twitter @slicktrip
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