‘Caps Game Face-off’
courtesy of ‘Mr. T in DC’

Capitals
Record: 40-19-5
Last Two Weeks: 4-3
Place: 3rd in the Eastern Conference, 1st in the Southeast.

Just 18 regular season games remain for the still-strong Caps, it’s looking pretty good for a playoff berth. The Trade Deadline looms large this week, coming Wednesday afternoon at 3pm. Will the Caps wheel and deal, looking for a deadline deal? It’s not clear. They’re doing so well, that the only thing they might look for is someone in the net, but nothing will happen until Tuesday or so. The Caps are close to the salary cap, and are at their player contract limit, so this one may be much ado about nothing.

The Caps are on a three-game homestand this week, facing Carolina, Toronto and Pittsburgh. Look for some big games here from Ovechkin, as he pushes to maintain the league lead in goals. He’s also got some work to do to catch up with Malkin in Pittsburgh for the points lead. Look for some solid hockey.

Wizards
Record: 14-45
Last Two Weeks: 3-3
Place: Last in the Eastern Conference

Friday was a good night for the Wizards. Rebecca was there for the big victory over the Bulls at Verizon on Friday, so if you haven’t yet, read her account from the game. Of course, that’s about all that you can say for the sub .250 Wizards. They’ve got about 20 games left, so it’s not totally done and counted, but it sure looks like a rough ride.

Agent 0, though, is back in practice, starting late last week, so it’s not too early to start thinking about next year. I hope that Gilbert sees that coming back now, too early, would be a pyrrhic victory for a team that doesn’t need more long-term baggage. Stay on the bench and wait until next year, Agent 0, we’ll need you then.

‘the ballpark in winter’
courtesy of ‘Carlos del Vaca’

Nationals

The Nationals are down in Viera getting ready for their upcoming season, and things’ve started off rocky. Yesterday was Jim Bowden’s last day on the staff, and Friday saw the firing of Jose Rijo and Jose Baez. The Nationals’ Dominican operation has been reorganized from top to bottom, and there’s now just one team instead of two. There’s been talk of FBI investigations into the Nats’ dealing with recruits, including talk of bonus-skimming, and other lurid dealings from the seamy underbelly of the game.

But, if you just want to look at baseball, instead of anything else, there’s a lot to be excited about. The Nats have played 5 games already, and have a couple curly Ws to their name at this point. Pitching looks to be our weak spot as it stands, but offense has looked decent in initial outings. We won’t see a good solid lineup for a couple weeks yet, but it’s nice to see the guys in uniform again. Of course, just as Adam Dunn got to the Nats, he gets the call from Davey Johnson, and he’s off to join Team USA for practice before the World Baseball Classic. D’oh! Oh well. Here’s hoping he can rock it!

Redskins

Meet Albert Haynesworth, the Redskins’ first $100M man. Sure NFL contracts aren’t guaranteed, and most of that is backloaded, but he’s Daniel Snyder’s latest attempt to buy some solid talent for the club. Here’s hoping he’s worth it, that’s a lot of coin to drop on one player.