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courtesy of ‘bridgetds’
The Lead Item: I really want to avoid going to in depth on the current woes of the Caps. Another loss last night at the hands of Vinny Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis (cathartic aside: Google auto complete brings up “Martin St. Louis Height” as one of the most common searches, haha, hockey midget), and the Solid-as-a-Rock Lightning PK unit have really cornballed every chance that the Caps have had.
Last night gave us a very interesting glimpse of the hockey fan life in Florida. The convenient excuse could be the 6:30 start time, but as the puck dropped, there were more seats dressed as Tampa fans than actual people dressed as Tampa fans (or at least the screen caps tell us). This is even after the Lightning’s front office dropped a weekend release to its fans to Blue themselves for the game. At least the chairs got the memo, but when you win, I guess you can ignore the criticism.
With Game 4 set tonight and the Caps facing the dreaded 3-0 series hole, this really is the Final Countdown for the 2010-11 Capitals. The glisten of the Stanley Cup seems really far away this Wednesday, and now would be as good as anytime to find the money in the banana stand. Otherwise, everything built this season going to be completely burned to the ground.
COME ON Caps. Get it going in Tampa tonight!
Footnote, I promised my editor six Arrested Development references as payment to use the headline. The last one was cheating.
More of the ticker after the jump.
The Ticker: Jayson Werth’s welcoming committee for the return to Philly last night was everything you expected (although “Hippie Stiff” is a pretty endearing sign), and he actually seemed to enjoy the modicum of abuse from the CBP crowd. Of course, no one had a sign that said, “We kind of focused on signing Cliff Lee a little too much, so, sorry about not having any time or money for you.” Maybe need two signs to fit that one…A little rain is always helpful to drowned out some Sounders supporters as United lace up tonight against the Seattle team against whom a mini-rivalry has sprung up since the northwest club joined the MLS; even though the Sounders have only won one more game than United, they’re much higher-up the Western side of the table thanks to a trio of draws, and after a rough April for DCU (1-4-2), some points would be really helpful…the Redskins draft has come and gone, and one of the storylines sure to be beaten in the ground is the lack of a Quarterback. With McNabb very much on the trading block and Grossman a free agent, could the ‘skins really put the 2011 Season (if it happens) in the hands of John Beck?…From the “Things We Already Knew” File, Blake Griffin will be announced as Rookie of the Year, over the Wiz’s John Wall.
Closing Number: 12. In a number that I was really optimistic about changing since last week, the Caps have unfortunately made no further progress in getting closer to hoisting the Cup. They’ll still need 12 wins to do it, and if the first one isn’t tonight, we’ll have to start over with a new season.
Via ESPN: Attendance: 20,613 (104.3% full)