In case you haven't heard, the Washington Capitals star winger, rookie Alexander Ovechkin, won the award for Offensive Player of the Week, the first time he won the award in his short career. That was yesterday. Today, Ovechkin won another honor for the first time... Rookie of the Month of December. The Big "O" has a personal best 6 game goal scoring streak entering Wednesday's bout with the Ottawa Senators and leads all rookies with 24 goals and 22 assists.
Washington is not a hockey town. My friends and I saw that Sunday afternoon when there were maybe 8 other people in the arena with us--ok, maybe 8000 besides us. I know it was a huge game the Skins played on Sunday; even we left the hockey game with about 6 minutes left to catch the 2nd half of the football game. The Caps were getting routed and we all were fidgeting in our seats to watch the football game.
But, at least the local media could have had the news about Ovechkin Tuesday right after the Redskin pieces that inevitably ran first in sports. I mean, the Wizards aren't as good as last year, but they still get second billing over hockey. News 4 at 6 had a piece on Antawn Jamieson's prolonged slump, complete with highlight--really, they were lowlights in my opinion--and mentioned Ovechkin at the end of the broadcast as a footnote. After they ran some highlights of some out of town college basketball games. Huh? And the Post had the Ovechkin awards buried at the bottom of an article (which appeared more than halfway down the page) about Jeff Halpern and his bruised or sprained knee. What?
This is a 5 sport town now, Washington! Since baseball arrived last spring, we have all the major sports right here in Washington D.C., and, well... Landover, too. (Raljon... re
member that?) Seriously, when things happen around here that seldom or never do, or happen so infrequently that when they do its time to celebrate, you have to recognize the accomplishments. This is the best hockey news we have had in a number of years. Celebrate it for godsake!The baseball team won our hearts, the basketball team erased years of futility, and the football team made us proud again. The hockey team? Well, they're bad, no question. But the super-star hockey player we fans have been dying for all these years has finally arrived, and he doesn't get the press he should get. Press that would put fannies in seats and maybe a few more wins in the standings. If ESPN and other media outlets are giving Ovechkin face-time, why can't the city do the same?
Does anyone know the last Capitals' rookie to win rookie of the month? That would be current captain Jeff Halpern in 2000. Last Capital's Offensive player of the week? That would be Jaromir Jagr in 2000-01. Ovechkin has won both in the past week, and was cheated out of the award-- in my opinion-- this past October because the whole world loves Sidney Crosby the Punk and the league does more to promote him than they do Ovechkin. Ovechkin became the first Capital rookie to win both honors. Did you read it here first? Doesn't that piss anyone of you off? Besides me and the other Cap fans I know, do you even care?
Well, you should. Its not often that a down-on-their-luck franchise finally has the good fortune to add a once-in-a-lifetime player; one on the verge of greatness, one who isn't past his prime (like Michael Jordan) or one who isn't such a headcase, that he is destined to fail here (that would be Jagr or Deion Sanders, take your pick). Washington has suffered for far too long in all sports to just give a half-hearted, ho-hum, "Oh, by the way" comment on such a major accomplishment as Ovechkin's.
Let's face it, before Joe Gibbs came back to coaching, the best Washington sports team has been D.C. United. They have won 4 championships since 1996 and I bet some of you don't even know that. They have Freddie Adu, and he is supposed to be great sometime in the near future. United even won a championship without super-coach Bruce Arena! How many of you even know who Bruce Arena is? (I'll give you a hint: he won college championships at a university that isn't in Maryland, but real close. Say, across the river? )
The Caps were the second best team over that same period, advancing to the Stanley Cup in '98 and winning three Southeast Division titles, but I bet you didn't know that, either. Its not your fault; some sports are more important in this town. Hockey's low on the list. See, it's my job to change that. Even if it's just a little bit.
(By the way, weren't we supposed to get an Arena Football Team here, too? Did I not read that news a few years back? The Washington Warriors or the Commandos...Dan Snyder was going to own them? Am I dreaming this? I know that's not a major sport, but it just crossed my mind. Anyone who knows, drop me a line.)
So, here I am, on my soapbox once again, pleading to the masses to take notice of the magic that is happening down on Fun Street. Not only is Gilbert Arenas playing lights-out basketball, but he's the best player the Bullets/Wizards have had since Wes Unseld. Who do the Wizards share the building with? The Caps, and Alex Ovechkin is the best rookie hockey player to wear a Capitals sweater, ever. He is showing why he was the first overall pick in the 2004 draft. Ovechkin has won games during regulation and in shootouts. He is physical, smart and amazing to watch. To see him skate will bring you out of your seat. I've said all this before. I guess I'll keep saying it. Take my advice, everyone. Tickets are fairly affordable to watch a hockey game downtown.
The neighborhood is booming, the restaurants are great, and before long, the Caps are going to start winning more games than they are now. Rebuilding is never fun, but sometimes you can't escape it. Get down to the MCI Center and learn the new rules of the NHL; get to know the new faces that play for your Nation's Capitals and watch #8, the Big "O" pour it on. You won't regret it. Our status as a complete sports town could actually come to pass.
2 comments:
I really like your blog. It makes me want to comment and buy things that I see advertised on it - I wish that there were some ads....
As I was reading parts of this it struck me that there is a god. And here is how I came to that conclusion. Poop stinks. Yes that is correct there is a god because poop stinks. Ask yourselves Why does poop stink? So we don't think it is food and eat it correct. And in the begining it must not have stunk and animals and people ate it and died thinking they could live off poop alone. And, how then, I ask you did the poop come to stink? And the only conclusion is that god made it stink. Because if evolution were correct then only the animals whoes shit stank would survive and that couldn't have been gradual. Unless of course it only smelled a little bad at first so they ate less. But then I thought maybee poop stunk from the begining. But how? What or who would know we would want to eat poop in the first place and make it stink from the get go. And it has to be a higher power. And thus there is a god. Thank you I'll be on lecture tours all winter so visit and leave donations. This one last thing. I think god is kind of pissed at Jessus because of all this. I mean god turned poop smelly and Jessus turned water to wine. Kind of trumping you dad don't you think. The cross thing might not have been an accident.
Love Eddie Murray
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