23 May, 2013


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The State of the Washington Sports Union, August 2008

By The OFB Team 14 August, 2008

We who find succor and solace in the refrigerated mustiness of rinks do enjoy the occasional night out at the old ballyard, and last night, amid yet another stunner in this greatest-ever weather in the history of Washington Augusts, two hockey bloggers enjoyed that experience at Nationals Stadium. Despite the on-field product offered there. The Sporting News’ Eric McErlain and I cracked open roasted peanuts, occasionally followed yet another Nats’ mauling, and did what two sports-loving friends do best in one another’s company: survey and solve Washington’s sports’ problems over a few beers.
Creative and caring about our home though we be, we may not be able to aid these present Nats. There is rebuilding and then there is this team: godawful, and embarrassingly non-competitive. There were no delusions about this team flirting with mediocrity this season, I don’t think, but Nats’ ownership and management, I also think, had some level of obligation to assemble something remotely attractive in this the maiden season of baseball in Washington’s beautiful new ballpark. The final last night was Mets 12, Nats goose egg.
When the Capitals were rebuilding they were rather surprisingly competitive, and even fun to support. Having Ovechkin certainly helped, but there were other heart-and-soul types to rally around, and even on the toughest of nights two seasons ago one could see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.
There are two jewel ballparks separated by about 40 miles in our region, and both most nights are half empty (or worse). It’s not so good. Last night was for all intents and purposes a road game for the home Nats, there were so many Mets’ caps and jerseys outfitted on patrons. I moved past souvenir stand after souvenir stand with lone workers in each conspicuously inactive. The baseball product here now, despite its gorgeous, sparkling new home, isn’t selling. And in such conditions, beleaguered franchises acquire the parasitic, preponderant presence of enemy fanbases.
There was as well conspicuous youth to last night’s “crowd”: offices that months ago had purchased blocks of Nats’ tickets have surrendered them, night after failing night, to summer interns and the teenage children of associates. On pretty summer nights for them it is better than hanging out at the mall.
Then there is the television dilemma: even family members of the Nationals aren’t following at home.
No one affiliated with the Nats now ought to be proud, and a revolutionary redrawing of the master plan (such as it is) ought to be well underway.
That ought to include, high on the list, re-pricing seats behind home plate to get some volume of humanity seated in them. Bad baseball is one thing; craven greed showcased with it is appalling. Put another way: the new stadium, funded as it is with bonds, can’t endure many more summers like this one.
Meanwhile, interestingly enough, across town the Capitals were hosting a third open house for hundreds of new ticket plan purchasers. A funny thing has happened to hockey here just since last fall: tickets are becoming scarce. (It would wise for Yahoo’s Ross McKeon to take in one of these open houses at the Phone Booth.) An OFBer was there last night, and around about the 4th inning I received a text relaying how few Verizon Center seats were tagged as available for the 08-’09 season. Almost certainly the Caps are holding back some seats for walkup sales, but it’s become abundantly clear that SportsWashington is investing with their wallets in this team what they did with their fashion red last spring.
Bank on this, too: media for the team’s training camp next month will blow away anything and everything that’s preceded it, including Jaromir Jagr’s first camp here. Gustafsson — father and son — will be in attendance. The hardward-hauling greatest hockey player on earth will daily hold court. There’ll be a bit of interest in the performance of the camp’s netminders.
The Wiz made news this summer by inking all of their name free agents — the ones who’ve guided them to annual first-round failures. More importantly for Capitals’ fans, the hoops and arena owner looks increasingly frail in his few public appearances.
McErlain last night shared with me a terrifically insightful assessment of the standing of the Burgundy and Gold here. “They’ve more of a college football hold on the region,” he said. It’s absolutely true. The Skins are to D.C. what the Cornhuskers are to all of Nebraska, what the Buckeyes are to Ohio and the Wolverines are to Michigan: quasi religious.
Not everybody wants to go to church on Sunday, however.

This was written by The OFB Team. Posted on at 7:56 am. Filed under Media, Morning cup-a-joe, Verizon Center, Washington Capitals.
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15 Comments

  1. Gustafsson wrote:

    Well hell. I had tickets to the Nats last night. I went by to pick up my ticket holder miniature stadium replica — of course I arrived late as I went to the Caps open house — I then promptly left. My beer selection at home is both more appetizing and cheaper… plus the Olympics are more exciting than the product on the “field of screams”.
    I should have asked how many seats the Caps are holding back, but there really aren’t many seats left. Amazing turnaround. I think it will take a while for the Nats. I have a Nats 20 game plan and we’ve used them once.

    14 August, 2008 at 10:03 am | Permalink
  2. vt caps fan wrote:

    A few things on this topic:
    The Nats wont reduce there tickets behind home plate (Which I believe are around ~$250, but the advertise it as ‘free food’). This is the new style for MLB; They wont have the abundance of Luxury boxes like in an Arena or Stadium so they gouge those seats behind home plate. And corporations/people still buy them, even though they are empty. The New Yankee Stadium seats that are equivalent are ~$400 a pop (granted the product is better).
    You can’t dis the Wiz too bad; After what the Bullez put this city through from the mid 80′s to the early 2000′s. They were BAD. REAL BAD. They made the playoffs while missing there 2 best players for most of the season. (And we Caps fans should not throw stones when we live in glass house, when it comes to playoffs). But the Wiz made the right move in resigning Arenas (and he even took less money then they offered, but they did offer him the world).
    Yeah the skins are the religion of this town, this happens when you only play 16 times a year. A lot of waiting and anticipating, it creates the build up. If the caps keep progressing the way we all expect/ hope they too will be the next religion for this area.
    Either way, we Washingtonians can say that we have 4 teams in this area. Something that we’ve only been able to say we’ve had for a few years now. 3 of them made the playoffs. Hopefully, all will advance further in 08/09 seasons.

    14 August, 2008 at 10:50 am | Permalink
  3. pucksandbooks wrote:

    VT – Another thing the Bullets put their fan through was a World Championship.

    14 August, 2008 at 11:09 am | Permalink
  4. Scott in Shaw wrote:

    What mini stadium? I’m a season ticket holder and haven’t heard anything about it.

    14 August, 2008 at 11:14 am | Permalink
  5. Gustafsson wrote:

    You had to renew your tickets for the 2008 season and pay in full before a certain time.

    “To recognize your payment in full and early commitment to the inaugural season in Nationals Park, the Nationals are proud to present you with a limited-edition replica of Nationals Park.”

    14 August, 2008 at 12:35 pm | Permalink
  6. Shadowplay wrote:

    I’m a Mets/Caps fan. I was at the game last night and will be there again tonight. I don’t know how anybody who calls themselves Nats fan can look at the product on the field and think this is the best the organization could have done. Other than Zimmerman at Third, and maybe Jesus Flores, I don’t see much to pin your hopes on in the everyday lineup. The future looks a little bit brighter with Tim Redding and John Lannam. But still, you aren’t going to win a lot of games with Odalis Perez, Aaron Boone and Ronnie Belliard.
    If the hope lies in the minors, I must confess I have heard little about much help coming from there in the short term.
    The Capitals are definitely the easiest team to get behind in the area. I bought season tickets last season as the march to the playoffs was unfolding and every day I wish the guys were back in action. I think that once you look at the prices that season tickets are going for and the flexible payment options, the tickets exchange program, the ability to sell unused tickets online, it’s the most fan friendly team in the area.
    And I’ll be right behind home plate tonight. Oh wait, I’m “only” in the Diamond Club, which in the old stadium would have put me within the first four rows but now that only gets me within twenty five rows of my heroes. Heilman won’t be able to hear me when I boo him now…

    14 August, 2008 at 3:29 pm | Permalink
  7. Nic wrote:

    I grew up with the Capitals (first game I saw was November of ’74), and I’m a Nats 20-game holder. Believe me, I’ve seen plenty of hockey that is every bit as painful as the baseball I have seen this season, even last night.
    But through the pain, you hang on to small things…Zim’s walk-off homer on opening night, for example.
    As a fan, I don’t earn victories, I’m not blocking shots or hitting doubles. The only thing I’m investing is my devotion, and that’s what gets rewarded when my team wins.
    I suppose it might have been fun to watch the Caps last spring if I’d just become a fan after Thanksgiving, but I suspect that every painful rebuild makes the eventual success that much sweeter.

    14 August, 2008 at 7:11 pm | Permalink
  8. Lee (PTO) wrote:

    Warning: Non-hockey comment ahead…
    Is Manny Acta’s laid-back approach holding back the Nats? I can’t pinpoint all of that team’s problems but FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, SCORE SOME RUNS DAMNIT!!! I want to cheer for these guys but I get the feeling there’s no energy or mojo in that clubhouse. Felipe Lopez probably had it right even though his own play sucked almost as badly as LoDuca’s (he wasn’t the same player you remember seeing, Shadowplay). I know when they had a more vocal manager (and HoF guy), they were above .500 for a while in ’05. We would need 10 consecutive series forfeits to get there this season…
    Jose, if you’re reading this, get ready. We’re sick of seeing teams lose around here and you’re the only unknown for us going into the season. Don’t let your teammates and us down, we’ve got to have the Cup!

    15 August, 2008 at 10:11 am | Permalink
  9. nic wrote:

    IMO, it’s not time to fire Acta yet. This season was too bizarre in terms of the injuries [the training staff, perhaps, could use an overhaul] and cobbled-together lineups, and there’s no point in throwing chairs now.
    To bring it back to hockey: there was a time when Glen Hanlon was the right coach for the team.
    I think LoDuca has a lot more credibility than Lopez, and when he was released, he said of the Nats “This is an organization that’s going to go in the right direction.”
    Losing isn’t fun to watch, but it’d be nice to see a little patience and a little support from the hometown fans. Going to a Mets game now is like watching the Caps play the Flyers at the Capital Centre…

    15 August, 2008 at 11:39 am | Permalink
  10. Scott in Shaw wrote:

    Nice. Thanks, Gustafsson.

    15 August, 2008 at 1:29 pm | Permalink
  11. Victor wrote:

    I’d just like to point out that if the Nats were to lose all of their remaining games this season (which even the most jaded fan would admit is unlikely, while I’ll admit it’s within the realm of possibility), the resulting winning percentage of 0.272 would still be better than that of these two legendary exercises in futility:
    1962 Mets: 0.250 (source: Wikipedia)
    1974 Capitals: 0.131 (sourse: Wikipedia)
    Me? I’m just happy we have a baseball team to call our own. They may be bums, but they’re our bums…just like the ’74 Caps.
    (Ya know, maybe y’all shouldn’t dis the other home teams. After all, this *is* a hockey blog.)

    15 August, 2008 at 3:48 pm | Permalink
  12. Lee (PTO) wrote:

    I find it difficult to be a fair-weather fan that only shows up for games or only talks about my team when they’re doing well, politeness aside. I’d like to see more intensity from the Nats, some indication that they’re just as unhappy about their 30+ games under .500 record as I am. I *want* to get into our new team, but they’re making it difficult when they lose ballgames 12-0 half the time (OK, perhaps not half, but c’mon). I’ve attended multiple games each season since they flew south from Montreal, and aside from the first season here I haven’t seen much leadership on the club. Nothing personal to anyone here at OFB since we all share a love for our Capitals, but if this hadn’t started to be said about Hanlon (by his own players in a closed-door meeting, no less), would we get to watch a SE Division Champ banner go up Opening Night? When the skipper doesn’t get his troops enthused to be there, isn’t it time for him to go? For a week, it looked like cleaning house of some of the players might’ve worked, but since then they’ve been embarrassed pretty badly on this latest losing streak. Sorry, Manny, we’re running out of scapegoats here…

    15 August, 2008 at 4:11 pm | Permalink
  13. nic wrote:

    Thank you, OFB, for letting us borrow hockey bandwidth for this baseball conversation. ;-)
    Lee, can you be specific about the evidence of lack of leadership, besides the fact that the Nats are not winning? I’m not being sarcastic; I’m wondering what you see that I don’t.
    To me, the Nats right now most closely resemble the Caps in ’05-’06, minus Ovechkin…because Zimmerman, bless his heart, is a talented young face of the franchise, but he’s not in that stratosphere. This is a very young, very immature team. I agree that leadership is important, and I don’t want to see them in two-three years still making these mistakes and shrugging them off (and isn’t that what got Hanlon fired this past November?)
    I just got home from tonight’s game, and granted I’m sitting up in the cheap seats, but I didn’t see anything that made me say those guys aren’t trying. In fact, I think some of the hitting issues may stem from them trying *too* hard…patience and pitch count is something they need to learn. (Oh, to have Nick Johnson for a full season to mentor these kids!)
    Sorry for beating the dead horse…I’m sure you guys get it, I love the Nationals as much as I love the Caps, and what seems like knee-jerk negativity about them gets me worked up. [Only insulting Yvon Labre gets me madder. ;-) ]
    I wasn’t reading the hockey blogs four years ago, maybe the rhetoric about the Caps back then took the exact same tone.

    16 August, 2008 at 12:02 am | Permalink
  14. pig pile wrote:

    impatience is probably a good thing…i think it ultimately puts pressure on mgmt to change things up to somehow produce the right winning chemistry. the nats have a great thing going here….they get 30,000 a night and they might lose 100 games!! they aren’t all mets and phillies fans either….i went to a nats v reds game a few weeks back and they had just under 33,000 for that game (and their weren’t all that many reds fans!!!). these are just a bunch of kids….playing like….well kids. this team needs to start making a statement….hiring a new mgr is probably the way to go (no disrespect to mr. acta); we need to create an atmosphere where some good young middle class (relatively–lol) free agents pick dc to ply their trade. if they can get 30,000 for a 100 loss team, can they get the rest from say…a 90 win team? this area is starving for winners (ie Caps).

    16 August, 2008 at 12:54 am | Permalink
  15. Lee (PTO) wrote:

    @ nic
    I guess the reason I blame Manny for this team’s struggles is the apparent lack of enthusiasm. Every shot I see on TV is him on the top step with his arms folded, not really interacting much with the players or involving himself (not that I wanna see him swing pom-poms but look alive eh?). The postgame interviews seem to me to be a “gee, shucks” loop that was recorded ages ago but keeps getting used. There have been enough defensive gaffs to have sent Ozzie Guillen into orbit by now, perhaps to Manny’s credit he hasn’t blown up his plug-in guys since technically they’re playing out of position. But heck, guys like Belliard have been “out of position” in the infield so long this season that they should be getting better and I don’t see that either. Guillen might be a hot-head, but if the players don’t see any repercussions from their bad play, why should they work hard to get better here? When you have a team with this bad of a record, all you have to play for down the stretch is pride. A 10-game losing streak tells me that they have little/none, or at least it isn’t consistent up and down the lineup. Too bad baseball is more strict on fighting majors, Brashear would’ve torn someone up by now if he were a National…
    I like the guy, he’s been swell to the kid-fans out there and very accessible. But, if/when Nats management feels like trying to win instead of just bring in coin, Manny will probably have to go. Pray that we haven’t welcomed in a KC Royals or Arizona Cardinals-type ownership group to DC, nothing will drive away fan interest faster than an owner who really doesn’t see the point in losing money even if that’s the only way to win short-term in their sport. I know too many Chicago Bears fans that will back me 100% on that topic…

    18 August, 2008 at 10:53 am | Permalink