Category Archives: Sports Fix

News, People, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Well, maybe not…

Photo courtesy of
‘2ND’
courtesy of ‘MissChatter’

Last week I reported that it was looking like Steve Strasburg’s MLB debut would be June 4.  Well, it seems that I was wrong.  The Nationals website reports that Strasburg will be starting between June 8 and June 10 in the Nats’ series against the Pirates. They haven’t said which game, exactly, but they plan on making that announcement a week before the actual day itself.  If it makes you feel better, I bought pricey tickets to the June 4 game.  Oh well. I guess I’ll just have nice seats when they take on the Reds.

Sports Fix
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Sports Fix: One and Eight?!

Willingham_Early_Celebration.jpg
Photo by Max Cook, Special to We Love DC

Nationals
Record: 23-22
Last Two Weeks: 6-8
Place: Tied for Third, Four Games Back

It was back to reality for the Nationals over the last two weeks. Mistakes on the mound, mistakes in the field, mistakes at the plate, and they finished the last two weeks under .500. The Nats played 20 games in 20 days, something they have rarely done in the past, and never this early in the season. They finished 10-10 for that stretch, overcoming a few games that were mired in adversity. With their loss Friday night, the Nationals dropped below the .500 mark for the first time in early April. They didn’t sink into self-pity, they fought off the Orioles for the series win. Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Features
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Sports Fix Special: Miscues, Errors and Mishaps

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Photo by Max Cook special to We Love DC

Normally, we wouldn’t run this as a feature, but my god man, look at these photos, I couldn’t dare squish them to 240px.

What a night. The Nationals rallied late, but the damage was long past done, and the team fell back to .500, losing 10-7 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score.  Luis Atilano went 4 1/3 and gave up 7 runs (6 earned), but his pitching wasn’t the only trouble.  After previous games, manager Jim Riggleman has said that the Nationals are making their mark as a team with defense and a team with pitching.  Tonight, the Nats had neither.  Even star Golden Glove third baseman Ryan Zimmerman came up empty in the sixth, tripping over his own feet  to prolong the already painful inning.

Tonight should’ve been a chance for the Nats to pull ahead, shore up their record, and head into the weekend Battle of the Beltways with the Orioles, but instead, they’re back to .500.  The Mets had a rough start to the night, as starting pitcher John Maine was pulled out of the game after just one batter.  Maine’s usual 90mph fastball was topping out around 82mph, and his form was definitely off.  The Mets pulled him as a precaution, bringing in Raul Valdes to fill in.

Continue reading →

Essential DC, Fun & Games, History, Special Events, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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BREAKING: Strasburg may Start June 4

Photo courtesy of
‘4TH’
courtesy of ‘MissChatter’

The rumor mill has it that the second comi…. I mean Steven Strasburgs’ major league debut will be on the June 4 game against the Cincinnati Reds. For those of you living in caves, Steven Strasburg is one of the hottest prospects in the history of major league baseball, and certainly the top for 2010.  The Nats picked him up with their first round draft pick last year and sent him to the minors for some conditioning. In the minors he’s pitched just over a 1 ERA with around 1 strike out per inning.  That’s scary.  His start promises to be one of the biggest events in Nats history. The game will sell out, so buy those tickets quick.  At this point, the cheap seats are already sold.

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nats Win Crazy Game Over Mets

Photo courtesy of
‘Diving Grab’
courtesy of Tom Bridge

The Mets tonight turned a triple play against the Nationals, the first one in our fair city since 1964, and Angel Pagan hit an inside the park home run, but still it was the Nats that came out on top.  The last time a team had a triple play and an inside the park home run in the same game was 1955 when the Phillies did it.  Of course they won that game, while the Mets came up short tonight.  Hard to think that a team that did two of the rarest single acts in baseball would also come up short.

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Sports Fix, The Features
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Sports Fix: 2nd Place Edition

Willingham.jpg
Photo courtesy of Cheryl Nichols, Nats News Network, All Rights Reserved

Nationals
Record: 17-14
Place: Tied for 2nd in the NL East, 2 games back
Last Two Weeks: 7-5

I checked, this weekend, just to make sure I hadn’t gone through the looking glass. This Nationals team, off to the franchise’s best start in its short history, is entirely different from last year’s not-so-lovable losers. The Nationals this season are playing ball like they mean it; they’re focusing on the unglamorous but pivotal concepts of pitching and defense and eschewing the long ball in favor of small ball. The Nationals have lost just three series this season so far, two to the Phils and one to the Marlins, and have yet to lose more than twice in a row.

Continue reading →

News, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nats Net the Fish 5-4

Nationals Park in the Sun
Nationals Park, by Tom Bridge

In front of a Saturday afternoon crowd of 21,633, the Nationals and Matt Chico held on to the team’s winning record.  The Nats, now 16-14, remain a game behind their 2005 selves for best start in team history, but it’s all about momentum for this club.  After the game, manager Jim Riggleman said that, “Sometimes you get a little lucky,” and it was luck today that prevailed for the Nationals.

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Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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D.C. United Says: Have Cinco de Mayo With Us!

Photo courtesy of
‘DC United vs Chicago Fire 15’
courtesy of ‘maxedaperture’

D.C. United takes on Kansas City tonight at RFK, but before the game, they’re having a huge pre-game party in Lot 8 at RFK with Live Mariachi music and piñatas and cheap margaritas and empanadas all night! Sure, it’s not Lauriol Plaza or Rio Grande, but there’s going to be a whole lot more elbow room, and the drinks will be just as tasty out at RFK, and this way, you can do something that’s actually part of Latin American culture: watch a fútbol match afterward! Kickoff’s at 7:30 as United goes for their first win.

News, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nats Top Braves 6-3

2010-05-04-desmond-rbi.jpg
Photo special to We Love DC by Ian Koski, Nationals Daily News

The Nationals weren’t content with their 3-3 jaunt through Florida and Chicago, said Jim Riggleman after tonight’s contest. It showed in their performance tonight against the struggling Braves. But, as with many things the Nationals do, it was subject to some initial difficulties. Livan Hernandez, on the mound defending his NL-leading ERA, had a rough first inning, throwing 41 pitches and giving up an unearned run. He did, however, pull it together and throw 5 1/3 innings of 2-run ball, and hung on through 123 pitches to pick up his fourth win.

Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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United Fall to Red Bulls

Photo courtesy of
‘RFK Stadium’
courtesy of ‘Paul Frederiksen’

Here are a few difficult statistics for D.C. United fans:

  • Last MLS Goal Scored at Home: October 17, 2009
  • Number of Scoreless Minutes at RFK This Season: 270
  • Consecutive MLS Losses: 5
  • Current Goal Differential: -11

Bleak. Yesterday’s game at RFK, caught by only 12,089 people, was just about the same level of bleak that we’ve seen all season. The only change is the names on the field, but the play remains the same. We saw the return of Simms and Pena after hamstring injuries, the return of Luciano Emilio and the debut of midfielder Stephen King, but it seemed to do no good for United, who just couldn’t turn offensive pressure into goals.

The first half of this game was the same traditional first forty-five: United demonstrates they can control the ball on offense and make turnovers into offensive possessions, but at no point could they get the ball past the keeper. They’re not so much making mistakes as they are not taking the risks associated with mistakes.

The anemic offense, and flat-out mistakes by Troy Perkins in goal, combined to put United at a deficit early in the second half. One goal could’ve been forgiven, a tough deflection into the waiting feet of Ibrahim, but the other, Perkins didn’t even dive for. Not making the effort seems to be a team trait this year so far.

Wednesday night, United takes on the KC Wizards, who curbstomped them in KC during the season opener. Here’s hoping they can come around.

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Brooks Laich Is More Awesome Than You

Photo courtesy of
’43/365′
courtesy of ‘brianmka’

Imagine for a second that you’ve just been dealt the biggest setback in your career. Imagine you’ve lost out on that promotion, or had a project fail. You get frustrated. Your vision begins to tunnel as you look for ways to make the bad thing better. And you drive home. And it sucks.

Now, if you’re Capitals Center Brooks Laich, you stop on the Roosevelt Bridge to help a stranded pair of Caps fans change a flat tire in your post-game press conference suit and multi-thousand dollar watch. He then apologized to the two no longe stranded fans for losing the game, for not making it past the first round of the playoffs, and hugged them both.

I don’t usually get my heart warmed like this for sports stories, but readers? This warmed my heart a few degrees. This is the sort of thing that cities don’t forget. Thank you, Brooks, and we’re sorry it didn’t work out against the Habs, too. Next year.

capitals hockey, Sports Fix, The Features
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An Open Letter to the Washington Capitals

DSC_5948

Dear Ted, George, Bruce, and Alex:

I know right now you’re dealing with a lot of crap from pretty much every corner because of Wednesday’s loss. So I just wanted to toss in two words you may not have heard much over the last 48 hours:

Thank you.

Those two words are pretty well drowned out right now, given that in true DC fashion, everyone’s getting busy on offering their opinions on what went wrong and what you guys need to do to fix things. And don’t misunderstand me – I have my opinions on the matter as well, but now’s not really the time to list them. I really just wanted to take a moment during all of the hubbub and let you know how I feel as things settle down. They’re simple words, but they need said.

THANK. YOU. Continue reading →

Sports Fix
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Sports Fix: Nearly Summertime Edition

Photo courtesy of
‘DC United vs Chicago Fire 01’
courtesy of Max Cook

D.C. United
Record: 0-4-0
Last Two Weeks: 0-1-0
Place:Last in the league, no points.

This was, thankfully, a week of rest for D.C. United, who’ve suffered ignominious losses at the hands of fate, and brutal beatings when they were outmatched. For a club that competed for a playoff spot last year, United’s shortcomings this season are numerous and deeply frustrating to watch. Without much spark on offense, they’re playing cautious football, with lots of strategy and footwork, but with no way to get it past the keeper.

Having been to the last several home games, the problems aren’t with Santino’s righteously colored kicks, or the cheering masses from Barra Brava and the Screaming Eagles; they’re deep in the heart of United itself. It’s frustrating to see a team struggle so hard to find their own identity under new leadership, and always-bespoke Curt Onalfo is struggling himself. He was very critical last week both of himself and of his players, after the loss to Chicago.

United plays a non-league match to play-in to the U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday night against FC Dallas, and then hosts the Red Bulls on Saturday, and the KC Wizards next Wednesday, all at RFK. Come on down and see if we can’t get our boys a win, eh?

Onward to the Nationals continued .500+ play and the Redskins’ wheeling and dealing.
Continue reading →

News, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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¡Livan! Shows He’s Still Got It

Photo courtesy of
‘Livan Hernandez back pitching for the Nats’
courtesy of ‘afagen’

It’s rare, in these days of six to seven inning starters, that someone goes all nine. It’s rarer still that they don’t give up a single run. Yesterday, MLB had two complete-game shutouts, but no one will remember Livan Hernandez’s incredible effort, except for the 18,000+ on-hand and Nats fans. The other CGSO yesterday was a no-hitter by Ubaldo Jimenez of the Colorado Rockies, and will be remembered longer. That’s not to say that ¡Livan!’s effort shouldn’t be lauded, oh no, his 9IP 4H 0R 112-pitch effort should absolutely be celebrated.

Continue reading →

News, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Nats Stage Comeback Over Brewers, 5-3

Photo courtesy of
‘daylight fireworks’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Last night’s game was one that could’ve gone either way. It was either going to be one of those shake-your-head lost chances sort of games, or it was the kind that made you grin a bit on the way home. It didn’t look so good to begin with. Adam Dunn was thrown out in the bottom of the first for jawing at 3B umpire Andy Fletcher over balls and strikes, and probably will get a nice fine for tossing his helmet as part of the affair. The Nats stranded runners at third twice in the first five innings, and it looked that, despite Johnny Lannan’s first good outing, the team was in a bit of a bind.

Continue reading →

capitals hockey, Special Events, Sports Fix, The Features
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2010 Eastern Quarterfinals: Capitals vs. Canadiens

Photo courtesy of
‘DSC_6297’
courtesy of ‘bhrome’

Finally.

After what seemed like weeks of waiting – ever since the Olympics were over, really – the Washington Capitals finally enter the NHL postseason. First opponent in the opening salvos of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals?

The Montreal Canadiens.

The Caps desperately want to get the right skate forward this year; after last year’s rough start dropping the first two games at home against the Rangers, it’s something the team is aching to move past. And by all accounts from various team sources the last couple of days, they’re not only aware of it, they’re chomping at the bit to roll.

Despite the Habs’ recent struggles, however, the Caps cannot enter the series tomorrow taking Montreal for granted. True, the Habs enter the postseason after only notching three wins in their final 11 games. And true, forward Michael Cammalleri hasn’t been nearly as effective in his first nine games after knee surgery, nor has the netminder situation been anything spectacular. No team enters the NHL’s “second season” not wanting the prize at the end of the two-month campaign.

Let’s not kid around – both of these teams want the Stanley Cup. Montreal, to start its next century off right after last year’s dismal failure to celebrate their 100 years in style. Washington, to finally grab the golden ring of hockey that has been oh-so-close only a handful of times in its young (relative to Montreal) hockey existence.

So let’s look over the keys to Round One, starting here in the District on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Continue reading →

News, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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D.C. United to take on AC Milan this May

Photo courtesy of
‘United vs Revolution 14’
courtesy of ‘maxedaperture’

Congrats to D.C. United for lining up a match against AC Milan this summer! One of Europe’s best sides will be coming to DC for a match at RFK on May 26th. Tickets, once they’re available, will start at just $35, which is dirt cheap to see one of Europe’s best pro-soccer clubs. When United has faced European clubs in the past, it’s not been terribly pretty for the local boys, but it is a chance to see some of the finest soccer played in the world. Set aside the 26th on your calendar, this is one not to miss.

Sports Fix
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Sports Fix: Springtime Turning Points

Photo courtesy of
‘Talk, talk.’
courtesy of ‘NDwas’

Nationals
Record: 3-3
Last Two Weeks: 3-3
Place: 4th in the NL East

After a rough start against Philly, the Nats have rebounded well, taking 2 of 3 from the Mets.  The Nats sent down Garrett Mock, and placed Mike Morse on the DL after rough starts for both of them.  Mock will spend the next several starts in AAA Syracuse being reminded that perhaps it’s a good idea not to walk five batters in your first 3 1/3. Scott Olsen will be coming up to take his spot in the rotation this week.

The Nats head down to Philadelphia for three games, and hopefully there will be some payback for the whupping we got in Washington to open the season. After that, it’s a 9-game homestand at Nats Park, including our outing on the 21st.

Down on the farm, Steven Strasburg had his first start against Altoona on Sunday. His final line, via Dave Sheinin of the Post: 5 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. He threw 82 pitches, 55 for strikes. I’m told he kept his velocity up, and looked good in his professional regular season debut. Stras did pick up the win.
Continue reading →

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed
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Clubhouse Consensus Is: “We’re Not Worried.”

Marquis 1
Photo by Rachel Levitin

Optimism is mood in the Nationals Clubhouse, even after the Opening Day snafu of losing 11-1 and the shenanigans caused by robust Phillies fans.

Bullpen Coach Jim Lett agreed that Opening Day is over, now it’s time to get on with the season.

Shortstop Ian Desmond says he’s not worried about what happened with the Phillies fans outnumbering the hometown NatPack on Opening Day. As a Sarasota, FL native and Tampa Bay Ray fan back in the day, Desmond remembers that Tampa Bay could barely pack the park. That is, until they started winning. “The fans will warm up to us once we start winning,” he said. Why not believe him at this point, it’s true … isn’t it?

It’s not too far fetched to say that the Nats will win a few games this year. Statistically speaking, it’s bound to occur. What will get them there is chemistry. The team’s got it, according to Desmond. “We’ve got great chemistry in the clubhouse. We’ve all got the same goal – to win. The team aspect is really there this year. There are no individuals, it’s a team feel.”

Opening Day starting pitcher John Lannan agrees despite a heartbreaking loss on Monday. Lannan’s spirits as the Nationals ace are still high. “It didn’t go our way. The ball found the holes,” he said. Some of Lannan’s goals as the season continues to progress are improving on last year, lowering his walk count, and going as deep in the game as possible. Continue reading →

News, Sports Fix
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The Nationals Sold Out Their Fanbase

Photo courtesy of
‘Burning of Ravan 01’
courtesy of ‘TushyD’

I don’t usually start my posts with disclaimers, but I am starting this with one. The following is my personal opinion, and not the opinion of We Love DC, the business entity. No words here are approved by the editorial board of We Love DC, and should not be considered as endorsed by the board. I stand alone.

There is no question that in the aftermath of Monday’s abject embarrassment both on the field and off that the Nationals have sold their fanbase up the river. Stories are coming out that the Nationals made a concerted effort to attract large groups of fans from the Philadelphia area and sold large blocks of tickets (one was over 500 tickets) to Philly fans before the public at large was given a chance to buy tickets for themselves. The Nationals pursued profit first and foremost with no regard for their home market’s needs. The home market who shelled out six hundred million dollars for the temple that they play in. Continue reading →