Caps Fans: We Must Move On

A kick in the gut.  Devastating.  A loss for words.  Or as Capitals forward Jason Chimera said, "If someone came to your work and stepped on your desk or punched you in the head, that's how it feels."

This post is not about blame, bad calls, a dreadful power play or a brick wall-like goaltender.  Nor is it about what the Caps do off season to make any necessary changes.  I leave that up to the pundits, sports radio and sportswriters to debate in the coming weeks and months.

Over the last 12 hours or so, I've been thinking about how best the community of Caps Nation can move on from such a devastating defeat after a season where we had the best record in the league.  For inspiration, I sought out the insights of a former colleague, Andrew Cuneo, a Red Sox fan who until 2004 experienced gut-wrenching defeats almost year after year. He had this to say:

"It hurts.  Sure it hurts.  I still to this day say seeing Aaron Boone's homer in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS is the closest I've ever come to crying over a sporting event.  But I can say this. The greatest part about losing like this is knowing that once it does happen (and it will) winning will be that much sweeter.  The feeling in 2004 was so unreal I honestly STILL haven't come down from it.  '07 was nice, but that 2004 club will go down as the greatest sports moment of my life.  Losing hurts...and you feel [just awful].  But then you start to realize the day will come when we can all celebrate.  It has to."

Thank you Andy.  Your words are dead on. 

I am an Orioles fan too.  Just shy of my 10th birthday in 1979, I experienced my first "kick in the gut" sports moment. That year I attended my first post-season game in Game 2 of the ALCS when Jim Palmer pitched against Nolan Ryan -- one of my fondest childhood memories.  We went on to win that series to play the Pirates.  Like the Caps, the O's went up 3-1.  Then suddenly hall of a famer Willie Stargell led the charge and they came back to take the series.  To this day, the song "We are Family" makes me cringe.  Then in 1982, we were -- if memory serves -- three games behind the Brewers going into the last series of the season.  As fate would have it, we played the Brewers in a four game series at home.  We won a double header and then won the third game -- only to lose the AL East on the very last day of the season.  But then I experienced such joy in 1983 when the O's took the World Series.  The image of Cal Ripken catching that last out will always be in my memory.

I also am a Terps fan.  They were up 20 points on Duke in the 2001 Final Four only to lose.  But then they came back the next year to win the whole thing.  That win was sure sweet.

So Caps Nation, we too can learn to move on as the days turn to weeks and months.  Again, the team may change before October, but we can hope and have faith that we too one day will see Ovie and the boys lift that Stanley Cup.

Great Day to Be a DC Area Sports Fan

Hey there DC area sports fans. In case you weren't paying attention, the DC area had a great sports day yesterday. Both the Terps and Hoyas not only made the NCAA tournament, but they received #4 and #3 seeds respectively (Full Disclosure: I'm a Terps fan!). And they are both in the Midwest portion of the bracket. Perhaps they will meet, which would be nice given they rarely if ever play in the regular season. Don't get me started on why this does not happen.

Plus, the Caps came back from a 3-0 deficit without the Great 8 to win in OT against the Blackhawks in front of a stunned and quiet home crowd. The playoffs cannot start soon enough.

And the Nats' Stephen Strasburg had a second strong outing in pre-season play.

Let's keep it up!

Mr. Leonsis: Care to Buy the Orioles?

I read with great interest Mike Wise's column in the Washington Post this morning. He described the risky and smart decision Capitals Majority Owner Ted Leonsis made several years ago to trade away high-priced veterans and begin to rebuild. Wise described how Leonsis told season ticket holders how it would be bad before it got good. One particular statement from Leonsis at the time really caught my attention: "'If your deliverable is to win a championship, do you think you have the system, culture and talent to deliver that?'" Essentially if the answer is no, then you need to make changes.

As a life long Orioles fan, I wish Peter Angelos would take notice. The reality is Angelos has no incentive to ensure that the Orioles have a "system, culture and talent" to win a World Series let alone try to put any kind of contender on the field. Regardless of how the team performs, Angelos is guaranteed a sale price when he does decide to eventually sell the team. That was part of Major League Baseball's efforts to placate him in order to move the Expos to DC. He also gets revenue from the Nats' broadcasting deal. How insane is that?

Don't get me wrong, the Orioles have some young talent -- Adam Jones, Nick Markakis to name a few. However, the team has not had a contender since 1997 when the Orioles were AL East wire-to-wire champs. And what did Angelos do after that season? He fired Davey Johnson, one of the best managers; and let John Miller, the best play-by-play baseball announcer today, leave town.

As the Orioles are on the verge of a 100-game loss season, Mr. Angelos, can you do us all a favor and consider selling the ballclub soon?

Time to Drop the Puck: It's Caps Hockey Time

Hard to believe but hockey season begins tonight. For the Caps, with a horrible Game 7 loss to the Pens in the Eastern Conference semis last May behind them (but not forgotten) and some off season enhancements, expectations are high. Some interesting questions to ponder:

• Goaltending: Will Jose Theodore return to the more high caliber player he was earlier in his career? Or will we get to see exciting sensation Semyon Varlamov become the day-to-day starter?
• Mike Green: Can he return to his 2008-09 regular season form that scored 31 goals, had 42 assists and achieved a +/- of +24?
• Crowding the Crease: Will the addition of Mike Knuble add one of the final links to the puzzle that will bring the Cup to DC?

Only time will tell and it's a long season. Every Caps fan -- and every DC sports fan for that matter -- should be excited. Time to Rock the Red! Let's go Caps! Prediction for tonight: Caps - 2; B's - 1