Tag Archives: Wizards

Sports Fix, The Features
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Sports Fix: Caps Continue Dominance

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IMG_1380 by jonlarge

Capitals
Record: 29-14
Place: 1st in the Southeast, 12 points ahead of the Panthers.
Last 2 Weeks: 3-3

The Caps may want to avoid any political holidays in the future, especially those involving the Senators. You know, the ones up in Ottawa.

Last night’s 3-2 loss was a tough one, as the Sens scored with less than two minutes remaining. The power play goal by Brendan Bell late in the third broke a Washington comeback and their three-game win streak as the NHL’s All Star break begins for the Caps.

Back on Election Night, Nov 4, the Caps faced Ottawa and lost then, too, in a 2-1 contest. Apparently, big political days and Caps hockey don’t mix. Continue reading →

Sports Fix
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Sports Fix: Capitals Soar, Wizards on Floor

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Ovechkin Celebrates by clydeorama

Capitals
Record: 26-11-3
Last Two Weeks: 6-0
Place: First in the Southeast

The Caps roared through the holidays, racking up a six-game win streak and handily beating down the Rangers on Saturday in a defensive slugfest. The 2-1 victory saw the return of Alexander Semin as well as Semin’s first (slap)fight of his NHL career. With the injury bug now behind them, the Caps are in prime position to pull away from the ‘Canes (10 points behind) and cement their playoff position for April.

Ovechkin and company have the best 40-game start in franchise history, another feather in Coach Boudreau’s cap. However, Ovechkin was snubbed on Saturday when the NHL All-Star teams were announced; due to Montreal fan chicanery, Ovie finished sixth in the overall voting and won’t be on the starting lineup. Boudreau’s quote on ESPN: “It’s dumb. It’s not right the best player in the game is not a starter.”

All of us here at WLDC totally agree (even Ben!). Ovie should be joining Crosby and Malkin on the top line, not on-again-off-again Kovalev, oft-injured Koivu or flash-in-the-pan Tanguay. But alas, Habs fans are rabid and were out to fix the voting, hence Ovie receiving less than 500,000 votes (compared to the 1.2 million each Habs player received). We’ll see who the real All-Star is come January 25th.

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Sports Fix: Redskins Slide, Caps Keep Division Lead, Wiz Make Changes

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Raven at the Tower of London by Stephen Bolen

Redskins
Record: 7-6
Last Two Weeks: 0-2
Place: Last in the NFC East

I went to college about 75 miles south of Cleveland. When I arrived in late 1996, the area was in a funk over their beloved and now-departed Browns. Say the name “Art Modell” aloud, and you risks an ass-whupping. I learned to hate the Ravens. Everyone would boo in the sports-bar in Newark when they’d break to show their highlights, flip off the TV, and then go back to cry silently in their beers. So, I tend to think of the Ravens much like I think about, say, certain political television personalities in bow-ties. It’s not very nice.

Sadly, they were the better football team yesterday, winning 24-10 in a game that wasn’t even that close. Ed Reed picked off a pair of Jason Campbell’s passes, and the Baltimore Defense kept Clinton Portis to just 32 yards. That’s a recipe for domination, right there, and the Redskins just couldn’t overcome it. Three games remain for the Skins, and they’ll need to win them all if they want a shot at the playoffs. They’re 9th in the NFC, a half game behind Philly. Two out of those three games should be easy triumphs: next weekend against the Bengals, and then in three weeks against my beloved, yet utterly hapless, 49ers. The real game here is in two weeks against Philadelphia, who disarmed the Giants this weekend. Tune it up, Redskins, you’ve got to come up big for your city these next three weeks. Continue reading →

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Sports Fix: Redskins Win, Caps Look Good, Wiz Look Really Bad

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FedEx field by Gnomedude

Redskins
Record: 7-4
Past Two Weeks: 1-1
Place: Tied for Second in the NFC East with the Hated Dallas Cowboys.

Two ugly games in a row for the Redskins. This week, unlike last, the Skins came out on top. Clinton Portis continues to be a dominant force in the Redskins offense, with 143 yards on 29 carries, including some second-half sprints that rocketed the Skins to victory. Jason Campbell had an off-day, going 20 of 33 for 206 yards and a single TD. The defense, though, couldn’t stop the 2-9 Seahawks from putting up 228 offensive yards, most of that on the ground. They did, however, force a turnover with under a minute to go as the Seahawks were driving toward the end zone, putting the kibosh on the Seahawks’ last rally.

Up next? The 10-1 Giants. They’ll be here at FedEx on Sunday, and the Redskins will need an impressive showing to take down the top of the NFC East. Currently, we’re tied with the Hated Cowboys, and next week they play the Seahawks while we’re facing the Giants. Not exactly the matchup that we’re hoping for. So, if they want to keep their place, it’s win or die against the Giants. I’m not hopeful. Continue reading →

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Sports Fix: Caps & Wiz, Redskins Bye

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Nice save on the Post by pimguy

Before there was West Wing, there was Sports Night. One of my favorite piece of comedic/dramatic television ever is the Pilot of that show is the Pilot, wherein we get to meet the cast. The first introduction of Jeremy, the stats guy and sports nut, is hysterical, and it sums up my general problem with today’s column. See, I’m a baseball/football kind of guy. The winter sports are hard for me. But, because I’m a trooper, let’s take a look at how the local teams fared this week.

The Caps
Record: 7-5
Past Two Weeks: 3-2
Place: 2nd in the Southeast.

The story of the season so far has to be Alexander Semin. While he’s fallen from the top of the points chart, he’s still got 21 points in just 12 games, and his +/- of +11 is first in the NHL. The Caps’ front line of Semin, Ovechkin & Federov sounds an awful like a Russian Mob Law firm, and their effects on the Caps’ opponents might be equivalent. They ended up +7 on Saturday, though Federov left in the 3rd period with an unknown injury.

I keep waiting for Ovechkin to show off the superstar quality that he shined to a high gloss last season, but it just doesn’t seem to be coming. He’s stuck with just 8 points, and only two goals. If the Caps want to be a 1st place team, and I think Ted Leonsis wants them to be, then Alex is going to need to find where he left his accuracy. 4% accuracy just isn’t going to cut it in the NHL. Caps play the Lightning at the Phone Booth tonight, then head out to Carolina for the Hurricanes on Wednesday. Let’s see if you can’t get a few points, eh, Alex?

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Sports Fix: A Plethora

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Crew VS DC United by tuxxme

DC United

This Week: 0-2
Current Record: 11-15-4
Current Place: Out of the Playoffs

It’s a game of inches, sometimes, and yesterday’s final & decisive match against the Columbus Crew came down to the ruler. Unfortunately for us, the two near misses for United, with both shots hitting the goal posts, lead United to elimination. The last week’s been something of a rollercoaster for the club, as it was looking fairly grim a week ago that they’d even have the chance to make the playoffs under their own steam. However, it all lead up to yesterday’s showdown with the Crew. The loss moves United out of the playoff picture entirely, for the first time since 2002. DC’s winningest franchise is done for the season. It’s not all bad, though, as the return of Santino Quaranta is nothing short of amazing. He’s almost a shoo-in for the Comeback Player of the Year, after his multi-year bout with addiction.

The Redskins

This Week: Victory.
Current Record: 6-2
Current Place: 2nd in the NFC East

Another victory for the Skins this weekend in Detroit, but it was probably the ugliest I’ve seen. At halftime, they were down to the Lions. The Lions! The Hapless Lions! I’ve got a feeling it takes a special level of emotional resilience to be a Skins fan. At one point, things were getting pretty tense on the sidelines, as Jim Zorn let Clinton Portis have it with both barrels on the sideline as the star running back swooped a towel over his head and ignored the head coach.

It was Santana Moss who got things going for the Skins in the second half, with a pair of TDs. His 50-yard TD reception, burning the Detroit secondary like so many rioters burning houses, got things off on to a good start in the second half. His second TD, an 80 yarder, on a punt return, took the last of the fight from the Lions. Jason Campbell looked solid again, over 300 yards and just five incompletes against Detroit’s last in the universe Defense. They’ll face the Steelers in an election-week grudge-match that will likely have die-hard Skins and Steelers fans rooting for the other guys. The Redskins are one of the best sports/politics indicators. If the Redskins win the week before the election, the incumbent party keeps the White House. If they lose, it goes to the challenger. So, Skins fans, will you be putting your fanaticism before party, or vice versa?

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