Crazy DC Sports Weekend

Has there been a crazier DC sports weekend, or week, than this past one?

Consider what happened in the last few days:

• The Wizards trade Gilbert Arenas
• Maryland practically fires Ralph Freidgen
• Donovan McNabb is benched
• The Nats go nuts in signing Jayson Werth
• and the Caps keep losing

I guess DC United was out of town this weekend.

Hard to figure what the biggest story was.  Generally you go with the Offensive Nicknames, but Daniel Snyder has done something that even the most cynical, inside-the-Beltway hack thought was impossible: he is making folks in DC apathetic about their Offensive Nicknames.

The ONs look especially dysfunctional this season, with Albert Haynesworth failing to get in shape or play, and then the demoting of Donovan McNabb a few weeks after signing him to a lengthy contract extension (but since the NFL has a terrible, co-opted union most of the money is NOT guaranteed). 

 

Last weekend there were thousands of empty seats in 'Raljon,' and a quick glance at Stubhub reveals lots of seats on the market for the remaining home game versus the Giants.  Of late Offensive Nicknames games have resembled Nats and Wizards games, with a stadium full of fans from Philly or New York, or there to root for Kobe or the Knicks.  

As a result nd fans are staying away.  That's how far the Redskins have fallen thanks to Dan Snyder.  Fans are staying home and worse, have stopped getting their hopes up.

Of course, that was par for the course for years here in DC when it came to the Wizards.  That changed when Washington signed Gilbert Arenas. Granted, the Zards only won one playoff series with Arenas but he made pro basketball relevant in Washington, which is a grassroots basketball hotbed.  

It seem like decades ago, but as a Wizards fan it's easy to remember that month in 2003 when Washington has the best record in the Eastern Conference, led by Agent Zero.  In January that month Gerald Wallace fell on Arenas' knee, and the injuries started to haunt Arenas.


Injuries, then the incredibly boneheaded gun play in the locker room a year ago, sunk Arenas - and the Wizards, too.  They literally unraveled after the gun incident, and now Arenas has been traded to the Magic for Rashard Lewis.  


With Arenas - and Jamison, Butler and Haywood - it was easy to forget that since the early 80s the Wizards had basically been the Clippers East.  Well, dust off those memories DC sports fans: with Arenas gone, and even with John Wall, we're entering the Clippers East; Phase II era.


A few more low notes:

• Six months ago the town was abuzz with talk about Wall and Stephen Strasburg.  Now there are both hurt, proving once more than the Curse of Les Boulez is real;
• Can anyone name the previous coach of Maryland's football team? I doubt it.  Like Arenas, he made Maryland football relevant again - without the gun play! Friedgen has quite a trifecta this year: going to a bowl, named the ACC Coach of the Year AND being offered a buy out to leave town.  
• The Caps have lost 8 in a row and are now in third place.  At least that's what Evan tells me.  I do know that losing 8 in a row is bad.
• Still not crazy about breaking the bank for Jayson Werth.  And trading Willingham is not the worst thing in the world, but what is the plan after the first four spots in the order?  Lest I remind folks, last time DC imported a high priced player from Philadelphia he was benched. 
• Despite the platitudes offered by Nats management at the Werth press conference it's hard not the assume this team is waiting for 2012 (which is the name of Evan's new blog, by the way).

All football post (almost)

Pretty big football weekend for Carolina Hellenic Blue.

Carolina opens the season as a ranked football team for the first time in years on Saturday, September 5th at 6:00 pm. The Heels take on The Citadel, a military school located in secessionville, Charleston, South Carolina. The Tar Heels will open with a team from the lesser football division (formerly Division 1-AA, now called the Football Championship Series division since they utilize a quaint method known as 'a tournament' to determine their national champion) for the third straight year.

I agree with many who say this is an important season for the Butch Davis version of the football Heels. Almost all the players on the roster are his recruits, and everything about the program has Davis' stamp on it.

And the Heels should be good. They return 8 of 11 starters on defense. On that side of the ball the Heels should be fast, especially at linebacker.

The main questions are on offense. Most pre-season talk has focused on an inexperienced corps of receivers. But for me the keys will be quarterback T.J. Yates' health and turnovers (HUGE football acumen here: the key to the team will be the quarterback and not making mistakes - brilliant!).

When healthy, Yates is an above-average athletic playmaker. I hope he can start 11 games this season. Plus, Greg Paulus's brother is his back up this year, and I'm just skeptical about anything Paulus related.

Last year, Carolina didn't turn the ball over than much, but they did so at terrible moments. A few drive-killing turnovers by Shaun Draughn, especially against Virginia Tech and Maryland, altered those games and perhaps even cost the Heels a 10-win season.

So it will be interesting to see how The Citadel game goes. Last season, another hyped Heels squad struggled to beat a Division 1-AA school in McNeese State. Carolina's defense should dominate the Bulldogs, but it will be telling to see how the offense plays tomorrow. A good start, say a 30-3 win, will demonstrate that the defense is as good as advertised AND give the offense confidence heading into the more challenging part of the UNC's schedule.

GO HEELS!

HELLENIC FOOTBALL

Greece plays a huge game tomorrow at Switzerland in a 2010 World Cup qualifying match. Ellas and Switzerland are tied atop their group with 13 points each, so the winner of tomorrow's game will have the inside track to qualify. The 2004 European champions should be easily leading their group, but Greece inexplicably lost to the Swiss at home earlier this year.

A win, and the 3 points, would virtually guarantee Greece's qualification for the 2010 World Cup (it would only be the second World Cup for Greece; they qualified but played embarrassing football in the 1994 World Cup here in the U.S.). But a tie, and 1 point, would not be the end of the world (cup) for Ellas. That's because Switzerland has a tougher schedule after tomorrow's tilt. While Greece goes on to play at Moldova before finishing at home versus Latvia and Luxembourg, 9 relatively easy points to pick up, the Swiss have games at Latvia and Luxembourg but finish at home against a tough Israel team. If any of those games end in a tie the Swiss will only pick up 7 points, giving Greece the group and a ticket to South Africa.

The game against Switzerland will be shown on a delayed basis on Setanta sports Saturday at 4 pm eastern. If you are in DC feel free to come by the house to watch the game with me and Evan. However, we have to leave right at 6 pm, right after the game should end, to go to a 7:05 Nationals game.

Please let me know ahead of time if you want to come over so I can have enough ouzo on hand.

GO ELLAS!

ONE LAST FOOTBALL NOTE

Interesting column today by Tom Boswell regarding the offensive nicknames (a term he uses in the column) and football game tickets. The column expands on a recent article in the Post that discussed the role of ticket broker that also debunked the myth of the long waiting list for season tickets.

The most shocking tidbit though was that the team sues season ticket holders who do not buy all their tickets. So which one is it, is there a waiting list for these sought-after tix, or do you have to take legal action to force a FAN to buy tickets? Either way, the ticket practices confirm all the spoiled and unlikeable rich-kid stereotypes about team owner Daniel Snyder.