It's weird. The NHL's showcase event of the regular season is tomorrow in Washington, D.C., featuring the hometown Capitals and Chicago Blackhawks, Stanley Cup champions twice in the last four years, but there seems to be a lack of interest. Locally, the dumpster fire known as the Redskins has taken attention away from the Capitals.
For as bad as the 'Skins played this year, media couldn't stop talking about them. There are two 24-hour sports talk radio stations, ESPN 980-WTEM owned by Redskins owner Daniel Snyder and 106.7 The Fan-WJFK. Both stations discuss the football team way too much. The Redskins went 4-12 this season.
However, that didn't stop WJFK from doing an eight hour show, double the normal length, each Monday for five straight weeks. Grant Paulsen and Danny Rouhier host from 10 am to 2 pm. Chad Dukes hosts by himself from 2 pm to 6 pm. The three hosts were so confident the Redskins would defeat then one-win Tampa Bay that they would all do an eight-hour marathon on Monday. Of course, the 'Skins got blown out 27-7. At a time when less talk was deserved, more was given. It's not just radio. The Washington Post and The Washington Times newspapers devote multiple reporters to cover the 16-game Redskins schedule while the Caps get only one reporter for their 82 games.
The Capitals, for their part, have done a poor job promoting the game and not making it a series of events. In addition, the general public has almost been completely shut out. Yesterday, there was a media/alumni game played on the actual game rink at Nationals Park. Only select season ticket holders with VIP status were allowed to attend. Today's Capitals team practice at Nationals Park is closed to the public. That makes no sense. Many practices at their training facility are open to the public. Why is Nationals Park different?
The answer is ownership. Ted Leonsis, owner of the Capitals and the NBA's Wizards, has turned from a fan-friendly owner to a fan-hating dictator. After the Capitals failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2007, individual game and season ticket prices were RAISED!
The team has struggled for much of the last five seasons. In 2009-10, they were the best team in the regular season but lost in the first round of the playoffs to Montreal. Since then, there has been a gradual decrease in wins, points in the standings, and lower rankings.
On local TV broadcasts of games on CSN Mid-Atlantic, tickets are constantly being advertised for future home games and empty seats can be seen at said home games. Capitals fans have invested lots of their money with no reward. Leonsis, the rest of management, and the PR staff need to step up. The fanbase has done its job.
Finally, the National Hockey League shares blame for putting a half-hearted effort in promotion leading up to the game. First, the league left HBO for less cable subscribers with EPIX. Also, the league's broadcast partners have heavily criticized the Capitals best player Alexander Ovechkin. At times, it's completely justified and correct. Other times, the negative analysis is mean-spirited and biased. Ovechkin is an outstanding offense player, however, he's a below-average defense player. When other superstar players like Ovechkin make similar mistakes, they are less criticized than him.
The NHL has also ruined the outdoor game spectacle. There were SIX outdoor hockey games LAST SEASON!, that's equal to the total amount in the PREVIOUS SIX SEASONS! There is another outdoor game this season in late January between Los Angeles and San Jose in Santa Clara, California. Yes, that last sentence was right. In fact, that game will be the second outdoor NHL game in California in two years (Anaheim at Los Angeles, last January). NBC, the NHL national broadcaster in the United States, has a lot of input in the teams selected for outdoor games. The Winter Classic outdoor game on New Years Day has featured Pittsburgh, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, Boston, Detroit, Chicago and Washington on multiple occasions. Buffalo has participated only once. Teams in cold-weather hockey areas such as Minnesota, Colorado, St. Louis, and Columbus have not even played in an outdoor game, home or away. The scheduling is stale. It's the same teams over and over again. Tomorrow, the Blackhawks will play in their third outdoor game, second in 14 months, and second Winter Classic. The Capitals will play in their second Winter Classic, first at home. Boston has already been selected by the NHL as next year's host. They last hosted an outdoor game way back in...January 2010.
The Winter Classic is a special event which feels less special this year . The D.C. sports media, the Washington Capitals, the National Hockey League, the hockey media, and NBC all are at fault.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Mixed results for Caps, Wiz on Monday
It was strange watching the Wizards and Capitals games last night. The Caps started bad, played well in the middle, regressed to bad again at the end. The Wiz started good and continued through half of the third quarter, played poorly late in the third and early in the fourth quarter. They rebounded, literally and figuratively, late in the game.
For the Capitals, their special teams were not special. They were 0 for 4 on man-advantage power plays and allowed their opponent, the New York Islanders, to score a goal while having more players on the ice than the Islanders.
The Caps took too many penalties (7) resulting in playing more defense than offense. The Islanders scored on 2 of their 7 power plays including the winning goal in overtime.
The most frustrating part of the Capitals performance was their lack of effort and cohesive play in the first two periods. They trailed 3-0 early in the third and came back to tie before losing. If they played like they did when trailing 3-0 earlier in the game then they would've won easily.
The Wizards had to wait 30 minutes for their game in Houston to start. After 45 seconds of play, one of the basket rims nearest to the Rockets bench stopped working. It malfunctioned. The structure needed to be lowered, taken off the court, and a new one needed to be dragged out and lifted up to proper height.
When they started playing, the Wizards held their own with Houston, currently in the top four in the Western Conference of the NBA. Wizards led by 1 at 46-45 at halftime.
They exploded in the third quarter leading by as many as 18 points, 71-53. Paul Pierce, who seemingly has played for 50 years, scored 11 points in 6 minutes. The Wiz outscored the Rockets during the end of second and start of the third quarters, 38-13!
The Wizards, however, let the Rockets outscore them by a 31-13 margin to make the score even. I don't get it. They're the anti-Caps! They start fast and then slow down at times.
Thankfully, they started fast again after the game was tied. The Wiz scored nine straight points to make it 93-84. The Rockets didn't give up, eventually cutting the lead to one at 104-103 with one second left but ran out of time.
For the Capitals, their special teams were not special. They were 0 for 4 on man-advantage power plays and allowed their opponent, the New York Islanders, to score a goal while having more players on the ice than the Islanders.
The Caps took too many penalties (7) resulting in playing more defense than offense. The Islanders scored on 2 of their 7 power plays including the winning goal in overtime.
The most frustrating part of the Capitals performance was their lack of effort and cohesive play in the first two periods. They trailed 3-0 early in the third and came back to tie before losing. If they played like they did when trailing 3-0 earlier in the game then they would've won easily.
The Wizards had to wait 30 minutes for their game in Houston to start. After 45 seconds of play, one of the basket rims nearest to the Rockets bench stopped working. It malfunctioned. The structure needed to be lowered, taken off the court, and a new one needed to be dragged out and lifted up to proper height.
When they started playing, the Wizards held their own with Houston, currently in the top four in the Western Conference of the NBA. Wizards led by 1 at 46-45 at halftime.
They exploded in the third quarter leading by as many as 18 points, 71-53. Paul Pierce, who seemingly has played for 50 years, scored 11 points in 6 minutes. The Wiz outscored the Rockets during the end of second and start of the third quarters, 38-13!
The Wizards, however, let the Rockets outscore them by a 31-13 margin to make the score even. I don't get it. They're the anti-Caps! They start fast and then slow down at times.
Thankfully, they started fast again after the game was tied. The Wiz scored nine straight points to make it 93-84. The Rockets didn't give up, eventually cutting the lead to one at 104-103 with one second left but ran out of time.
Monday, December 29, 2014
Time to give attention to other local teams not Redskins
Thank god, the Redskins season is over. No more games to watch. No more NFL studio shows talking about the team. No more wondering if this week's broadcasters are going to use the team's official nickname or boycott against it by not saying "Redskins". No more bad, depressing weekends.
Sundays and even Mondays can be fun again. There are great pro and college sports teams in action right now. The Capitals shut out the Penguins, their arch rival, in Pittsburgh on Saturday. They are playing their best hockey in nearly four years, 8-1-2 in their last 11 games. Overall, they are 18-11-6 entering Monday for 42 points and a tie for third place in their division. Capitals are one unified team with good offense and defense. They don't depend on only Alexander Ovechkin. Nicklas Backstrom is a great "Robin" to Ovechkin's "Batman". Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen have improved the defense so much this year. Orpik's physical hitting intimidates opponents while Niskanen's smooth skating and passing allows the Caps to not spend time on defense. In addition, new head coach Barry Trotz has diagrammed a playing system which concentrates equally on offense and defense.
In the NBA, The Wizards are second in their division only due to playing fewer games than Atlanta have 21 wins already in 29 games. John Wall is an emerging superstar and quickly becoming one of the NBA's best players. Wall makes a highlight-reel pass or shot or both every night. Bradley Beal is a great shooter. He can make shots from anywhere and dribble past lazy defenders. Nene, Marcin Gortat, and Kris Humphires rebound opponent's missed shots with great frequency. The trio can score on offense close to the basket and far away.
In college basketball, there are a lot of good stories. The University of Virginia is third ranked in the entire country with a perfect 11-0 record. In-state rival Virginia Tech is an impressive 8-4 in a rebuilding season. Georgetown University is 8-3 including two spectacular overtime wins over Florida and Indiana, respectively in neutral-site, non-home games. The University of Maryland has a 12-1 win/loss total with their only loss against undefeated Virginia. Maryland has won three games outside the state of Maryland, two in Kansas City over Arizona State and Iowa State through winning the CBE Classic and one in Oklahoma at Oklahoma State. Finally, George Washington University defeated Wichita State in winning the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii. Wichita State was ranked 11th with a 10-1 record entering the game. George Washington is 9-3 after winning the three round tournament.
For those of you scoring at home, all of the basketball and hockey teams have winning records with at least 12 games played. The Redskins have done that once since the beginning of the 1999 season. The best 12 game mark was a break even 6-6 mark in 2012 after they started 3-6.
In short, these teams are good, the Redskins are bad. Also, it's not going to change. Spend your time, money, competitive rooting interests on basketball and hockey. Don't pay attention to coaching changes, free agent signings, or draft picks selected by the Redskins. It's a waste of time, enjoy yourself with good, hard-working teams.
Sundays and even Mondays can be fun again. There are great pro and college sports teams in action right now. The Capitals shut out the Penguins, their arch rival, in Pittsburgh on Saturday. They are playing their best hockey in nearly four years, 8-1-2 in their last 11 games. Overall, they are 18-11-6 entering Monday for 42 points and a tie for third place in their division. Capitals are one unified team with good offense and defense. They don't depend on only Alexander Ovechkin. Nicklas Backstrom is a great "Robin" to Ovechkin's "Batman". Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen have improved the defense so much this year. Orpik's physical hitting intimidates opponents while Niskanen's smooth skating and passing allows the Caps to not spend time on defense. In addition, new head coach Barry Trotz has diagrammed a playing system which concentrates equally on offense and defense.
In the NBA, The Wizards are second in their division only due to playing fewer games than Atlanta have 21 wins already in 29 games. John Wall is an emerging superstar and quickly becoming one of the NBA's best players. Wall makes a highlight-reel pass or shot or both every night. Bradley Beal is a great shooter. He can make shots from anywhere and dribble past lazy defenders. Nene, Marcin Gortat, and Kris Humphires rebound opponent's missed shots with great frequency. The trio can score on offense close to the basket and far away.
In college basketball, there are a lot of good stories. The University of Virginia is third ranked in the entire country with a perfect 11-0 record. In-state rival Virginia Tech is an impressive 8-4 in a rebuilding season. Georgetown University is 8-3 including two spectacular overtime wins over Florida and Indiana, respectively in neutral-site, non-home games. The University of Maryland has a 12-1 win/loss total with their only loss against undefeated Virginia. Maryland has won three games outside the state of Maryland, two in Kansas City over Arizona State and Iowa State through winning the CBE Classic and one in Oklahoma at Oklahoma State. Finally, George Washington University defeated Wichita State in winning the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii. Wichita State was ranked 11th with a 10-1 record entering the game. George Washington is 9-3 after winning the three round tournament.
For those of you scoring at home, all of the basketball and hockey teams have winning records with at least 12 games played. The Redskins have done that once since the beginning of the 1999 season. The best 12 game mark was a break even 6-6 mark in 2012 after they started 3-6.
In short, these teams are good, the Redskins are bad. Also, it's not going to change. Spend your time, money, competitive rooting interests on basketball and hockey. Don't pay attention to coaching changes, free agent signings, or draft picks selected by the Redskins. It's a waste of time, enjoy yourself with good, hard-working teams.
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