Category Archives: Sports Fix

Sports Fix, The Features, WTF?!
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Sports Fix: We Love Tennis Edition

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

Kastles
Record: 6-5
Last Two Weeks: 6-5
Place: 2nd in the East, one match back of New York Sportimes

If it’s July in Washington, that means Kastles Tennis.  The Kastles may be the smallest of DC’s pro sports teams, but they’re definitely one of the most fun.  Their season is delightfully fast-paced, starting just after July 4th, and running through this week, the pop-up tennis league, and the stadium over at 11th & H St NW, make for a wonderful outing. The Kastles are solid once again this year, with Venus Williams and Leander Paes returning to helm the squad in DC. Coach Murphy Jensen, who is every bit as crazy as he appears, is also back for a second season.

The Kastles started the season very strong, but have hit the skids in their last few matches, dropping matches to Boston, New York and Kansas City in the last few days. They’ve still got a shot at the playoffs, but will need some strong showing against Eastern division foes New York and Boston this week. Tuesday night former enfant térrible John McEnroe is in DC with the New York Sportimes (worst franchise name ever? check.) and then Anna Kournikova and the St. Louis Aces are here on Wednesday to finish out the home season. There’s the hopes of a second straight championship title for the Kastles, but they’ll need to come up big this week. Tickets are still available, and as much as it pains me to say this, the Kastles are Washington’s only championship pro sports team right now, so they could use a hand. Besides, Anna Kournikova on Wednesday, fellas. Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nats drop finale to the Giants

Drew Storen on the Mound

On a picturesque July Sunday, the Giants came out swinging.  With the series on the line in the last game before the All Star Break, they’d get a pair of walks and a pair of singles off Livan Hernandez to jump out to a 2-0 lead.  Livo was reaching for the corners but not finding them in the first, throwing six pitches to both Posey and Uribe looking for that elusive third strike call.   In the third, the Giants would lead off with back to back singles from Sanchez and Huff, followed by an off-the-wall triple from Buster Posey. On the triple, Nyjer Morgan would take a difficult route to the ball, which would bounce just behind him, and back into center, letting Posey advance to third easily.  Ishikawa would sacrifice him home, letting the Giants come out to a 5-0 lead after the third. Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nats Pick Up Ninth Inning Victory Over the Padres

Adam Dunn tags out a Padre
Photo by Cheryl Nichols / Nats News Network

By all the stats, the Padres are a far superior team to the Nationals, with a 13-game advantage on their record, superb starting pitching and an active offense.  Tonight, they were no match for the Washington Nationals and the record-setting heat at Nationals Park.  While that heat may usually come in the guise of Stephen Strasburg’s brutal fastball, tonight it came in the game time conditions.  The 99°F temperature at game time was the hottest game in the franchise’s post-move history, and it was significantly warmer before the game.

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Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nats Come From Behind to Beat Mets

Pudge Rodriguez Swings
Photo by Max Cook, We Love DC

Though Stephen Strasburg’s start this afternoon would be the shortest in his brief tenure with the Nationals, going just 5IP and giving up a pair of runs to the Mets, the Nationals would rally late and pick up a victory. Strasburg struggled early with control and location, and gave up a pair of walks in the top of a 37-pitch first inning that left the Nationals down a run. He would be lifted for a pinch hitter (oddly, it was J.D. Martin who would hit for Strasburg in the 5th) after 96 pitches and five innings of work.

Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nats Finish First Half With 5-3 Loss to Mets

Tony Plush Shoes
Photo by Cheryl Nichols, Nats News Network

Tonight marked the halfway point for the Nationals’ season, and with a 35-46 record, a full ten game improvement over their 25-56 first half last year.  The bullpen tonight showed a bit of that ten game difference, with Joel Perralta, Sean Burnett, Miguel Batista and Doug Slaten combining for 5 2/3 of scoreless ball after starter Luis Atilano dug a 5-0 hole for the Nationals.  They’d scatter four hits in that span, and kept the Mets largely in check, hoping for an offense that would wake up.  In the ninth, they’d do just that.

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Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Wizards Acquire Yi Jianlian From Nets

Photo courtesy of
‘Yi JianLian Juice Box’
courtesy of ‘Wootang01’

The Wizards have another new face to welcome to Chinatown.

Days after the Wizards drafted John Wall, the Wizards continue their rebuilding by acquiring Nets forward Yi Jianlian from the New Jersey Nets for Quinton Ross and cash- lots of cash.

By dealing the sixth pick of the 2007 NBA draft, the Nets clear up cap room as they work to make room for two max contracts. Sounds like somebody wants to be a big suitor for LeBron and company. Jianlian is due to make $4 million this year but the Wizards should only have to pay about $1 million since the Nets are also giving Washington $3 million to complete the deal.

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capitals hockey, Sports Fix, The Features
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Capital Drafting: 2010 NHL Entry Draft

Photo courtesy of
‘Mighty Mites!’
courtesy of ‘bhrome’

The NHL 2010 Entry Draft occurred in Los Angeles over the last three days and after seven rounds, the Caps exited this year’s draft with five new prospects. Selected by the team are Evgeny Kuznetsov (Russia), Stanislav Galiev (Russia), Philipp Grubauer (Germany), Caleb Herbert (U.S.), and Samuel Carrier (Canada). The five selected picks cover the range of ice positions, from center to goalie, and will be entering an already well-stocked prospect larder. GM George McPhee has gotten a great handle on building the team’s future depth, in large part due to the experienced Capitals’ scouting squads.

Let’s take a look at the new blood, shall we? Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nats Fall to Royals, 1-0

stras.jpg
Photo by Ian Koski / Nationals Daily News

Looking for the sweep today, the Nationals brought out their ace, Stephen Strasburg, to cement a winning streak and build some momentum, going into the weekend series against Baltimore.  Sadly, the team’s offense couldn’t deliver, in a game fraught with mistakes and misplays, in some cases over-sliding bases, and in others sliding too early, and they fell without scoring, 1-0.

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Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nats With Bats Revive Stats

A humid Washington evening in the early days of summer is a bit of a difficult environment for baseball.  You never know when a storm will break out.  Tonight, the Royals were the recipients of a pair of storms: one from the Nationals’ bats, and the other from Mother Nature herself.  A 49-minute rain delay couldn’t shake Luis Atilano, who picked up his sixth win of the season in 5 1/3 innings.  Tyler Clippard and Matt Capps would do their eponymous routine on Clipp & Save T-shirt night here at Nats Park.

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Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nationals Stop Skid at Six, Squeak Out Win over Royals

avilescs.jpg
Photo by Ian Koski / Nationals Daily News

The Nationals’ losing streak stopped at six games tonight, as Livo outpitched Bruce Chen, and Mike Morse and Cristian Guzman each struck for solo homers in the 2-1 victory. Matt Capps, after surrendering two hits in the 9th, retired the side on three brutal called strikeouts to pick up his 21st save and cement Livo’s sixth win.

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Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nats Demote Lannan

Photo courtesy of
‘Lannan about to release’
courtesy of ‘afagen’

A day after manager Jim Riggleman said that struggling hurler John Lannan had “long leash” and would make his next start in Baltimore this weekend, the team sent him to AA Harrisburg. Lannan was sent down, and reliever Joel Peralta was retrieved from AAA Syracuse. The team will run with 4 starters for the next week or so, due to a Thursday off-day before the Baltimore series that allows for a bit more flexibility in the schedule.

The move comes as a bit of a shock, given Riggleman’s assurances yesterday that Lannan was a fixture of the club, and they’d stand by him through a rough spot. The team is hoping that Lannan can fix his mechanical issues with the pitching coach there, Randy Tomlin, that has helped John in the past.

This the first time that the team has been without Lannan for more than a day or two since he was called up in 2007.

Sports Fix, The Features
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Sports Fix: World Cup Edition

Photo courtesy of
’02_10′
courtesy of ‘m hoek’

World Cup Soccer
Record: 0-0-2, 2 points
Next Game: Wednesday 10am

Wednesday morning brings us the next chapter of the World Cup for Team USA, and they’ll be playing for their tournament life. USA will need a victory if they want to advance, but Algeria’s allowed just one goal so far in two games, so it’ll take a lot of doing. A tie would still allow the US to advance, but they stop being in control of their own destiny. If they were to tie, they would need England to lose against Slovenia, or tie, but score less than 2 more goals than we do against Algeria.

There are some outcomes that would require actual coin flips in order to determine the advancing team. Via ESPN: “If the U.S. draws with Algeria and England draws with Slovenia, and England scores exactly two more goals than the U.S., the U.S. and England would be even on all tiebreakers for second place. The tie would be broken by drawing lots … aka, a coin flip.” Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Lannan Struggles in 5-3 Loss to Chicago

Photo courtesy of
‘Teddy FAIL’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

After a 5-3 loss, manager Jim Riggleman said that the Nationals were “going to pass the character test.”  Last season’s team under Manny Acta never had that chance, and before the All-Star Break, they were 26-61.  The Nats this season, after starting 20-15, have dropped 24 of their last 35, including six straight.  They’d have to lose every game between now and the All Star Break to get anywhere close to as rough as last season was.  I don’t see that happening.

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Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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The True Meaning of Strasmas

Photo courtesy of
”
courtesy of ‘muohace_dc’

Tonight is the Third Night of Strasmas, as he starts against the Chicago White Sox at Nats Park at 7:05pm. The flashbulbs with all go off again, the crowd will once again chant for strikeouts, and DC will be a baseball town, as it will be all summer, for one game out of each five.

The Nationals are in for a crucial stretch of games, nine against interleague teams with records worse than their own 31-36, and then a patch of 13 against division foes that are a significant hurdle for our boys in red. Their first 67 games have not gone as planned, but the team is still wins ahead over last year’s abysmal 59-102. So, what do the Nationals have to do to make every day into Strasmas? Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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The Haynesworth Situation

Photo courtesy of
‘00207256’
courtesy of ‘Keith Allison’

The word came last night, from his agent, Albert Haynesworth has no interest in playing for the Redskins. He has demanded a trade from the franchise, citing the change in management, and disagreements that have followed. When signed, there was lots to say about Haynesworth and his $100M contract, and it wasn’t exactly all good. To see a player making literal millions of dollars per season throw a temper tantrum because of a change in the front of the office? It’s shameful.

As it stands, the Redskins have paid this joker $55,000 per snap for his “work” last season, which saw Haynesworth on the sidelines more than he was on the field, due to injury. My thought? Trade him to Detroit and let him languish with those losers for a while. But I may just be a bitter and vindictive sports fan today.

Haynesworth likely faces steep fines for missing Mini Camp that started this morning, as well as other team-mandated activities that he has refused to attend since his pathetic display of selfishness began.   Here’s hoping the Skins can levy some pain out on Haynesworth for his insouciance.

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nats Complete Sweep of Bucs

Photo courtesy of
‘155/365’
courtesy of ‘brianmka’

The weather on Thursday night was about as perfect as you can find in June in Washington, a great night at the ballpark. The Nats were looking to complete the sweep against the Pirates, hoping for their first of the season. Zach Duke stood in their way, 2009 All-Star, and starting pitcher for the Pirates. No, he’s not Stephen Strasburg, but ¡Livan! Hernandez is the Nats’ current #1, and he was on to devour some innings tonight to finish the homestand. Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Features
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We Love The World Cup: Where To Watch

Photo courtesy of
‘World Cup 2010 Tee Off Tomorrow’
courtesy of ‘Frames-of-Mind’

With the 2010 World Cup kicking off tomorrow as host nation South Africa takes on Mexico at 10am (EST) at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, it’s time we explored local venue standouts for watching this four week long, footie, action packed tournament.

When contemplating your location it’s important to first think about the type of environment and fellow watchers you want to be around. While some people like being boisterous with cheering and audience packed commentary throughout the match, there are also those who prefer to watch the game in relative silence, quietly sipping on their pints and internally banging their heads on the wall when mistakes are made.

Whatever environment you chose, you’re sure to have a good time watching the game with fellow soccer lovers who share your enthusiasm (however that may be expressed) for the sport. Just be sure that however your team makes out, you’re a graceful winner or loser. Now on to prime viewing spots. Continue reading →

Sports Fix
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DC Sports Fans Rejoice: Strasburg is Real

 IMG_0058 Strasburg.jpg
Photo by Cheryl Nichols/Nationals News Network

Joe Posnanski of SI wrote in his column yesterday that today was a lot like Christmas morning, in that the hopes and aspirations of the franchise lay in the wrapped present of Stephen Strasburg.  He also wrote that “you never really hear them talk about Christmas AFTERNOON, when the presents are out of their boxes and wrapping paper is scattered on the living room floor.”

For many other debuts, I’d say he’s right. For Stephen Strasburg’s debut, though, the reality of the present is absolutely matching its expectations. The Nationals tonight delivered Christmas afternoon before the capacity crowd, which at times was so loud as to be deafening, and whose enthusiasm I have seen just once at Nationals Park. That game? The first victory at Nationals Park in April of 2008. Continue reading →

News, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Two More Serious Injuries for D.C. United

Photo courtesy of
‘DC United vs Chicago Fire 06’
courtesy of ‘maxedaperture’

The blows are coming today for D.C. United.  Two major players for DCU are spending a sizable amount of time out of commission, the team announced today.  Brandon Barklage, midfielder, had season-ending ACL Reconstruction surgery this afternoon, which also fixed a meniscus tear in the same knee.  Barklage spent the majority of last season on the disabled list with a similar injury.  Barklage will likely need six months or more to return to the pitch.

In addition, Rodney Wallace has been diagnosed with a fracture of the left fibula, an injury he sustained during Saturday’s match with Real Salt Lake.  Wallace’s diagnosis is a bit better than Barklage’s, with a return to the team suspected within six weeks.

We hope that both gentlemen recover quickly, and we look forward to seeing them in red and black before long.  Get Well Cards can be sent care of the franchise at:

D.C. United
2400 East Capitol Street, SE
Washington, DC 20003

Sports Fix
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Sports Fix: Strasmas Eve Edition

Clippard.jpg
Photo by Ian Koski, Special to We Love DC

Twas the night before Strasmas, when all through the park
not a creature was stirring, not even Lerner, Mark.
The bunting was hung from the railings with care,
In hopes that St. Strasburg soon would be there.

The kids were nestled all snug between rows,
while visions of perfect games danced near their brows.
And mamma in her jersey, and I in my cap,
Lied down between rows for a summertime nap.
Continue reading →