What’s Red, White, and Blue, And Plays Golf In May?

Yes, the annual spring season soul searching has begun as the Washington Capitals have exited the post season without drinking from Lord Stanley’s cup again.  Amid the griping about the annual choke is some hard feelings about the officiating and how that ultimately impacted the series.  In any series, calls will go against you and for you, and they usually even out.  Caps fans need to take a deep breath and not blame the refs for this one.  A close analytical look at this 7-game failure shows:

The best team was the Rangers and they deserved to win.  New York did the only two things they needed to do very well.  One, they kept Alex Ovechkin off the score sheet for the last five games, and two, they stayed out of the penalty box.  As the least penalized team in the regular season, logic dictated that the Rangers needed to play to that trend, especially since the Caps had the number one power play in the NHL.  If you were the Rangers, you had to focus your top defensemen on Ovechkin and effectively take him out of the game and let the other Caps try to beat you.  So presto, the formula for defending our Caps was quite simple and the Rangers exploited.

I was pleased with the effort put forth night in and night out, as the Caps played hard but not necessarily smart.  Their forecheck was persistent and often very disruptive, but they never seemed to know what to do with the puck as they kept possession in the offensive end.  In addition, their defenders were way too careless in their own end, turning the puck over on numerous occasions and yielding an inordinate amount of odd-man rushes and  that’s an artifact of looking to join the offensive rush and getting caught up ice.  John Erskine had a horrible series, as did Karl Alzner.  But this was not a repeat of the second round sweep to Tampa Bay a couple years ago, or the prior season first round choke against Montreal because they never quit.

So I applaud the Caps for their strong finish.  Let’s see what Adam Oates can do about distributing the scoring load a little wider and perhaps GMG can line up a stay-at-home defender which is badly needed.  I’d love to see the Caps retain Mike Ribeiro who is a free agent now, but that may be a long shot.

So good luck to us and happy golfing!  Let’s Go Caps!

Stand With RG3; Save The REDSKINS Name!!!

You’d think the change the name crowd is gathering momentum but they’re not.  We supporters of THE WASHINGTON REDSKINS are not racists or homophobes, and we are not intentionally or unintentionally offending Native Americans because we want to keep the traditional name of our football team.  This debate is stupid and is going nowhere.  Four out of five individuals polled are fine keeping the name, and more importantly, in a 2004 poll, 91% of Native Americans saw no problem with the name.  The ownership of the team wouldn’t dare make a change, lest they loose millions of dollars in merchandise fees.

I proudly stand with RG3 in his Twitter post in defense of our team’s name and against these politically correct blowhards.  The guy is a model citizen, athlete, and role model and I’m proud to be a fan.  Talk about someone with his head screwed on straight and his priorities in order.  Never change the name and Hail To The Redskins!!!

2013 Stanley Cup Predictions

I’ve been a fan of the Washington Capitals way too long to get overly excited at playoff time.  The Caps are rolling and scoring goals like it’s 2009, and Adam Oates ability to reconnect the circuits in Alex Ovechkin’s brain has been incredible.  The Great Eight is playing outstanding hockey and with the resurgence of Mike Green on defense, the Caps do resemble the President’s Trophy team that dominated a few years ago.  Their defensive corps is young and too unreliable to get very far in the pressure cooker of the Stanley Cup though.  Playoff hockey is so much better than regular season because of the intensity and urgency riding on each contest and as in most playoff scenarios, you should give the edge to the team with the better defense.  I truly believe the old adage that offense puts butts in seats but defense wins championships.

Adam Oates

I’m a much bigger fan of the NHL’s eastern conference, and this year’s Stanley Cup tournament is missing two of the usual stalwarts, the Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils, who’ve been replaced with the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders respectively.  Neither of these two upstarts has a chance, but the rest of the conference seems extremely well balanced and with Sidney Crosby still out for Pittsburgh, the contest is going to be a crap-shoot.  Again, I favor the strongest defensive club which in my view is the Boston Bruins.

Out west, the Chicago Blackhawks had an awesome start to the season and were on cruise control the rest of the way through.  The west seems much weaker on balance this year and I like the Bruins to beat the Blackhawks 4-2 to win the Stanley Cup.  A great sentimental final would pit the Washington Capitals against their former coach Bruce Boudreau and his Anaheim Ducks.  Gabby certainly had the Ducks flying high for most of the season and that clearly validated he wasn’t the problem in Washington when the Caps let him go two years ago.  So as much as I enjoyed watching this Caps team go on a tear in the second half, I think they survive in the first round again in seven over the Rangers who’s stellar goaltender Hendrik Lundqvist always has them in contention, but succumb in the second round.  Can’t see them getting past Boston or even Pittsburgh without Sidney Crosby.

But who knows, maybe we’re in for a huge surprise and the red white and blue won’t be playing golf again in May.  Let’s Go Caps!

Who really cares about the World Baseball Classic?

Do you really follow the WBC?  For sports fans of major league baseball, the WBC is a distraction and meaningless waste of time.  I don’t get how fans of the Latin American countries can get so juiced about the thing.  Baseball’s big stage is MLB.  The ultimate prize is the World Series Championship.  The Dominicans and Mexicans and Puerto Ricans love this thing, just like the Canadians love Olympic hockey.  The event does nothing to promote the game worldwide and is akin to adding golf to the Olympics.  More exposure to these sports when you have full professional leagues with the world’s best players continually on display just dilutes the product.  The only reason I passively follow WBC is to keep tabs on Baltimore Orioles center fielder, Adam Jones

Adam Jones

and my hopes that he can stay healthy.  Orioles pitcher Miguel Gonzalez

could have played for the Mexican team and when he opted out I was pleased.  After watching the Mexicans and Canadians full scale dust up, I was overjoyed.  What an utterly stupid and dangerous event.

Miguel Gonzalez

I never root against teams from the United States, but find myself pulling for early elimination from this charade so Jones can return safely to the business at hand in Sarasota.  Can we get rid of this thing once and for all?

Terps flag sadly lowered to half staff

Terps students unfurl a giant MD flag at the UNC game.

We entered the Comcast Center on Wednesday with our hopes held high, a jacked-up crowd buzzing with anticipation of a glorious finish and a charge into the NCAA Tournament.

We left with a huge whooshing sound (the air being let out of our balloon.)  All of the bad shooting, turnovers, and inconsistent defense exemplifying the Terps down portion of their roller coaster season was on display in the worst way against North Carolina.

Now we’re faced with the prospect of needing to win their final ACC game at Virginia and win the ACC tournament to get into the NCAA Tournament, the odds are long.

Looking forward:

The lessons learned from fighting thorough adversity with a very young team and getting close should reap benefits in the years to come.  While the season is not over, the Terps can start to look to next year and must address four critical needs.

1) Get a true point guard; someone who is a natural at the position, who won’t turn the ball over, who can push it up with speed, and who can make an entry pass to the post.  Even a talented freshman would be a badly needed upgrade.

2)    Develop more of a low post presence.  Folks lament the fact that Alex Len might leave for the NBA, which would be a mistake on Len’s part from a playing skill level, but maybe not from a monetary standpoint.  If he goes, big bodies Shaq Cleare and Charles Mitchell will capably fill in, and probably generate more offense, because both have more coordination and bulk then the lanky Ukrainian.  If Len stays, hopefully he’ll get some coaching and develop a low post move.

3)  Improve outside shooting.  Nick Faust, Seth Allen, and Jake Layman should take a lesson from Virginia Tech’s Erick Green, who worked in the of fseason to improve his shooting by making 20,000 jump shots.  Now he leads the nation in scoring.  What a work ethic!

4)  Schedule big tests early.  The 2012 tune-up schedule was a joke and the prospect of joining the B1G in 2014 is no joke.  The nucleus of a solid team is there but they require quality opponents early in the schedule to build seasoning.  A few early losses against good teams means nothing as long as you learn from it and excel in your conference games.

Looking forward to winning at Virginia on Saturday and gaining some valuable experience in next week’s ACC Tournament.  Here We Go Maryland Here We Go!

State of the C.O.R.T.

Time for an inside look at the C.O.R.T. of public opinion for my favorite teams.  The current state of the Caps, Orioles, Redskins, and Terrapins looks like a Dow Jones Industrial long run trend line with three of our four equities trending positive, one trending negative, and the overall average moving up.  Let’s check the bulls first:

Conventional thinking on the Baltimore Orioles is that the team will regress and finish somewhere in the 75-80 win range after their incredible 93-win campaign in 2012 where they landed a wild-card birth and a trip to the ALDS.  I don’t see it.  This team is on the rise.  I look for improved starting pitching, as the staff has stabilized with Hammel, Chen, Gonzalez, and Tillman and a fifth starter to be named later.  This group was fully vetted from last year’s battles and should be primed and ready to go a full season and not just the stretch run.  Youngsters Steve Johnson and Dylan Bundy are waiting in the wings and could make a big impact in September.  Jim Johnson is back as the closer and nobody expects another 50+ save season or all the late/extra inning heroics that punctuated the outstanding performance from last year, but the back end of the bullpen looks solid.  Question mark is Pedro Strop and if he straightened out the mental foibles that caused Buck to lose confidence in him late last year.

Looking for improved team OBP with the full time addition of Nate McLouth in left field and the subtraction of Mark Reynolds.  If McLouth, Markakis, and Jones can stay healthy, this will be a very high production outfield offensively and defensively.  McLouth was a gold glover but his throwing arm is only average which is a minor concern.   Just ridding the group of Reynolds and his maddening 200+ strikeouts will raise team OBP.  Brian Roberts‘ health and the status of second base is the only question mark for the starting infield.  Team chemistry is awesome with Buck Showalter and EVP Dan Duquette locked up with new five-year contracts, and the basic roster returned in tact.  That should carry this team to a 90-win season and contend for the AL East title.

Of the other AL East contenders, Tampa Bay and their stout starting pitching worries me the most.  Toronto loaded up on free-agents but chemistry will be an issue.  I’m betting R.A. Dicky is one-and-done.  Boston is still suffering from years of hyper spending on bad chemistry free agents and the Yanks look like an aging mess who will suffer a serious loss of long ball prowess.  Predicted order of finish:  1) Tampa Bay, 2) Baltimore, 3) New York, 4) Toronto, 5) Boston.

The Washington Redskins destroyed everyone’s lowly expectations last year and rookie phenom Robert Griffin III injected some badly needed adrenalin into the sagging hearts and minds of long-suffering Skins fans.

The huge off-season question is the health of RG3 and the knee.  The Skins will need to save this young man from himself next season and not push his recovery like they did his comeback after sitting out only one game with the first knee injury.  God bless him, but I believe he will lie, cheat, steal, and deceive to the best of his ability to get out on the field, even if he’s not ready.  Can’t afford another mistake like the Seattle game debacle.

With no first round picks and a desperate need to retool their secondary, we’ll see how they do in the draft.  The NFC East seems weaker across the board and the Skins should contend next season, but another 10-win campaign may be a stretch without a fully recuperated RG3.  Other than the knee, my biggest concern is that everyone league-wide is starting to run the pistol formation and when that happens, smart guy D-coordinators usually solve it, and the Skins will have to get more creative with Griffin.

Finally, a big fat NO to the numskulls who are making noise again about changing the team name from the REDSKINS!

Maryland Terrapin basketball is on the rise, no question.  They are on the outside of the NCAA bubble this year but still have a chance if they can sweep their remaining ACC games.  I feel sorry for second year coach Mark Turgeon because with a decent point guard, this team could seriously contend.  Last year, leading scorer and ball hog Terrell Stoglin was kicked off the team and nobody averaged more than four assists per game.  Same story this year with a bunch of shooting guards taking the turn at the point.  I’d like to see the Terps mix in some zone and more press defenses to allow them to the run the court a little more an not rely on that slow half court setup that requires a non-point point guard to bring the ball up against pressure.  Still, they are young and appear hungry against good teams in big games and should be fine next season.

Maryland football has nowhere to go but up.  Randy Edsall has recruited well his first two seasons but still needs a quarterback for 2013.  Last year’s devastation was not fair.  No team should have to play a linebacker as your fifth string quarterback, but Shawn Petty did it and was respectable in the effort.  I love Stefone Diggs at wide receiver; he’s going to be an All American by his junior year.  This is the last year competing in the ACC and the Terps are going to need to step it up or become a doormat against the B1G in 2014.

The B1G is now the nation’s premier basketball conference and I have plenty of confidence in the Terps ability to go head-to-head with Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State, and the like.  The thought of playing football against these behemoths, along with Michigan and Penn State is intriguing, but dropping the traditional ACC basketball rivalries is very underwhelming and I’m still disappointed by the move.

The Washington Capitals are trending down and everyone knows it.  Ultimately, owner Ted Leonsis is going to have to make a change at general manager and relieve George McPhee of his duties.  GMGM had 15 years to get a Cup and it’s not happening anytime soon.  Sure they put a couple of games together and occasionally show signs of what could be, and they may yet make the playoffs one more time by squeaking out a division title against the sub-par Southeast, but the effort put forth by this group on a consistent basis and the overall talent level is not there.

The one saving grace is the proposed NHL realignment for 2014 which has me very excited!  Returning to the same division with our old Patrick Division foes is awesome but will be a double edge sword.  The last five years, the Caps have feasted on their weaker Southeast foes and won the division four times.  Not happening once they join the Atlantic Division, assuming the proposed realignment stands.

So the State of the C.O.R.T. is as positive as it’s been around here for a while.  What do you see in the cards for these teams?

Trainwreck known as the Washington Capitals

The bad news is that these guys can’t beat anyone in the first eight positions in the Eastern Conference (0-7-1 after Thursday’s come-from-ahead 3-2 loss to the Devils.)  The good news is the last placed Caps compete in the dreadful Southeast Division where they are only six points out of first place.  The division leading Hurricanes are actually one point behind the eighth place New York Rangers, so with one third of the season complete, it looks like the Southeast champ will be the only qualifier in the post season.

After Saturday’s back-to-back home finale against the Devils, the Caps get Carolina head-to-head in three of the next eight games and appear to have hit a softer spot in the schedule so all is not lost.  Despite the absence of Mike Green, their power play continues to click and the effort expended in the last two one-goal affairs has been good.  Stupid penalties in the third period killed their chances against the Devils.  Not picking on John Carlson, but #74 was terrible in his own end and the constant turnovers night after night are killing us.  Also, some local fans are blaming the officials and they need to stop.  The Caps just lost a bunch of one-on-one battles to New Jersey in the third period, and blaming the refs is a cop out.  They outworked the Devils for most of the game but fell apart mentally at the end, again.  Alex Ovechkin played hard but sometimes the better team just wins.

This team badly needs two points on Saturday and to prove they can beat a good team.  There is still life with the weaker schedule but we’re getting the crash cart ready.

Let’s Go Caps!

How about that, Terps Nation!

I’m filled with mixed emotions after the Terps awesome 83-81 victory over Duke today.  This was an incredibly fitting outcome for the last home game against a storied rival.  And how about those Terp fans who rocked Comcast in style!

Alex Len was HUGE and clearly outplayed Duke senior Mason Plumlee in Len’s best game ever.  I was a little hard on Len after his no-show against UVA, but he was ready to play today.

Imagine my shock and horror to find out right before the tip that junior guard Pe’Shon Howard had been suspended for breaking a team rule, and then watching as the Terps already suspect guard corps struggled mightily with turnovers (25 for the game) and they still pulled off the win against the #2 team in the country.  Incredible!  Duke may have been ripe for an upset coming off an emotional rivalry win against North Carolina at home, and Plumlee’s no show was a bit puzzling, but give Alex Len credit, he cleaned his clock.

Think Duke will schedule Maryland as part of the Big 10 – ACC Challenge in years to come?  Think again. Duke’s Coach K. is holding a grudge against Maryland for moving to the Big 10.   Yes, we will meet against once in 2014 at Duke, and maybe in the ACC tournament this year or next, but we’ve just witnessed the end of an era at Comcast Center.  Terp fans are still bitter and resentful at the abandonment of the ACC and the loss of all our traditional rivalries but we’ll have to get over it.  I suppose we can look forward to the home and home series against Purdue, Northwestern, and Minnesota

“Raise high the black and gold. . .” – Go Terps!

Caps offense is white hot!

The Caps are in the midst of an actual winning streak and they’ve scored at least four goals in three straight games for the first time in 78 consecutive contests (regular and post season.)   Does the moribund start to the season seem like a distant memory?  It’s a memory but not so distant.  The turnaround started when these guys began to apply maximum effort for 60 minutes per night.  Then something clicked on the power play and they have been pouring in the goals and pulled the team success rate up over 27%, which is fourth best in the NHL.  Temporary seismic disturbance or are we finally seeing what Adam Oates was brought in to do?  The sample size is too small but the signs are encouraging.

Now the bad news:  The defense is way behind and their play in their own end is atrocious.  They are making an inordinate amount of turnovers which are leading to good scoring chances and keeping opponents in the game.  The Caps goals against average is 3.5 per contest which has them in 28th place out of 30 teams.  Braden Holtby gave up five in the 6-5 win on Tuesday against Florida, and looked great.  Perhaps the D will be the next to fall in line, but you can’t keep leaving your net minder out to dry.  I’ll admit that the boys are starting to look like the high flying Caps of several years ago who would get into scoring contests and provide lots of excitement for the fans.  I enjoy a high scoring affair as much as anyone, but ultimately, tough defense is going to win the Stanley Cup.

With 1/4 of the season already complete, they will need 44 points in their last 34 games to make the playoffs.  The next three are against eastern conference defensive powerhouse opponents the New York Rangers, and then back-to-back affairs against the New Jersey Devils.  If they can get four points from these three contests, they’ll be on track.  Watching closely now, Let’s Go Caps!

The Truth About The Terps

After last week’s 60-55 win at Virginia Tech and today’s 80-69 loss at home to Virginia, two truths have been revealed:

1. Alex Len is not ready for the NBA.  The big 7-footer from the Ukraine is being followed by numerous NBA scouts at every stop and I’m not seeing what they are.  Alex needs at least another year of seasoning in the college ranks because he lacks a go-to move TOWARDS the basket in the low post.  Both Tech and UVA collapsed on him and he showed the tendency to put the ball on the floor and move away from the basket for either an off balance jump hook, a turnaround fade-away jumper, or a fumbling turnover.  Alex does have decent court presence and can find an open teammate on occasion but he badly needs to develop a power move.  Right now, he’d get eaten alive in the NBA.
2. The lack of a playmaking guard is a huge liability.  Both Tech and the Cavaliers overplayed the Terps guards while fighting through the high screens Maryland was setting  on offense.  More often than not, this overplay forced the Terps into untimely turnovers.  It ended up working out at Tech since Maryland hit more than their share of 3-pointers, but against UVA, Seth Allen and Nick Faust struggled against the double teams and on the few occasions that they got the ball inside, the Terps big men couldn’t convert.  Maryland will need one of these two guards to develop more elusive ball handling skills and to deliver better entry passes to the low post because you simply have to make a team pay for leaving men open on the double team.  Ultimately it feels like Faust could take the job because he’s a little more aggressive going to the bucket and the Terps need to push the ball much more in transition.  Right now  they are too tentative and willing to go into their half court sets.

Free throw shooting has been a glaring weakness all year and was particularly painful in these last two games but I’m less worried about that.  Free throws are just a matter of establishing a consistent pre-shot routine, practicing the technique, and repeating in game conditions.  Improvement will come with more big game experience because it takes dedication to improve on something as unglamorous as free throw shooting and I believe coach Turgeon is committed to improvement.

So for now, it’s clear how other teams are going to defend the Terps.  They will take away Len down low and force the Terps guards to beat them.  Maryland will continue to rely on good defense and power rebounding to hang close in these grind it out slug fests.  It will be tough but I believe they still have enough in the tank to make the NCAA Tournament.  Go Terps!

Rock(ing chair) The Red

Rockin the Red

It wasn’t long ago that we’d make our way down to the Verizon Center in Chinatown and enjoy a raucous evening rocking the red with 18,000 like-minded rabid Caps fans.  Massive scoring binges and blowout victories were the norm and the Caps were the toast of the town.  Winners (it seemed) in perpetuity.  Now the only red getting rocked is the goal light behind the Capitals net.

What happened?  The slip started in 2010 when the Capitals hit their high water mark and won the Presidents Trophy, finishing the regular season with 121 points, but losing in the first round playoffs to the Canadians 4-3.   In 2011 they finished first again in the east with 107 points but only one point ahead of second-place Philadelphia, and eventually got swept by Tampa Bay in the second round of the playoffs.

Fast forward to today and the Caps are on their third coach in four years, have the worst record in the NHL, have yet to score four goals in a game, and the truly mind-boggling statistic:  have gone 26 straight games (regular season and playoffs) without defeating an opponent by more than one goal!  The only question remains is if we’ve seen the bottom yet, and I fear we haven’t.  In all honesty, the Caps talent level is probably between 6th and 8th place in the eastern conference, but the reason for their last place form is lack of effort.  These guys will not stick up for each other and give up when faced with adversity.

I used to be a fan of Washington’s dreadful basketball team, The Wizards, but ever since they changed their name from the Bullets, I couldn’t identify and lost interest.  I don’t even cover them in this space which is about DC sports, and am sad to say that even the Wizards, in all their mud-sucking curb level existence, try harder and are more competitive than this Caps team.

Caps GM George McPhee needs to be fired but that’s not happening anytime soon.  The only thing which moves that along will be empty seats at Verizon.  Fans are still showing up to rock the red and owner Ted Leonsis is still selling out the building, but not for long.

Simple path for Maryland to the NCAA Tournament

Very satisfying 86-60 win yesterday against Wake Forrest at Comcast Center.  The goal for this very young Terps team should be to make it to the NCAA Tournament.  If they can pull that off, the lessons learned during the process will be invaluable and will position them extremely well for success next year and beyond.  The path is clear.  At 4-5 in the ACC, the Terps can ensure themselves an invite with a 10-8 conference record.  To get there they must win their remaining games against teams even or below them in the standings and can lose once to anyone ahead.  22-9 overall and 10-8 in the ACC will surely get the job done.  21-10 / 9-9 should get them in provided they win one ACC tournament game.

The ACC is tremendously balanced this year and should place six teams in the NCAA.  The Terps are that sixth team and the good news is that everyone ahead off them including Duke, is beatable and of the four remaining ACC games against teams ahead of them, three are at home.  The challenge will be the same that they’ve faced all year; avoiding turnovers.  Tremendous outside shooting (67% for the game yesterday) masked the fact that Maryland turned the ball over 19 times!  The Terps are 4th in the nation in opponents field goal percentage and 1st in rebounding.  Solid defense and unselfish play will carry you a long way against inferior opponents but the lack of a pure point guard is their Achilles heel.

The plan starts Thursday with a must-win game in Blacksburg against a weakened but dangerous Virginia Tech team.  In the first game at Comcast, the Terps stifling defense and excellent outside shooting dominated the undermanned Hokies 94-71 but this time should be much more competitive.  The Hokies just lost in OT at North Carolina and were competitive at home before faltering in the second half to #14 Miami.  If the Terps can limit Erick Green to his 25 points and stop the rest of the team, they should win the game.

I will give the Terps one loss against an inferior opponent and count on a win against either North Carolina or Virginia at home.  This team is going to make it.  Go Terps!

Alex Ovechkin is The Peter Principle

Chris Clark was the captain of the Washington Capitals from 2006-2009.  In that time frame, Alex Ovechkin‘s

Alex Ovechkin

point totals were:  92, 112, 110, and 109.  When the Caps elected Ovechkin captain for the 2010 season his productivity dropped to 85 points and then again to 65 in the 2011 season.  Not coincidentally, the Caps productivity as a team dropped in the same time period.  People wondered “What’s wrong with OV?”

What’s clearly happened is a case of The Peter Principle, whereby Ovechkin has been promoted (elected) to a position he is not comfortable in.  OV is a superior individual contributor and isn’t suited to a leadership position.

In hockey, the team assumes the personality of its leaders; the coach off ice and the captain on.  OV’s game is about freeing himself up as a scorer.  The captain needs to set a tone for team play.  The captain leads by example.  The captain must be unselfish.  Yes, sometimes the team’s star can function as captain, such as Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby, but Crosby’s approach is unselfish.  Ovechkin’s career goals to assist ratio is 1:1.  Crosby’s is .57 to 1.  Boston’s Zdeno Chara is the prototypical captain.  He’s steadfast, tough, and thinks defense first.  This approach sets the tone for the team, and the Bruins follow him.  Unselfish players make the best captains.

On the current Caps team, Brooks Laich is an assistant captain and would be a much better pick for the head guy.  Matt Hendricks, and his tough unselfish approach would be an excellent selection.  Until the Caps work out their leadership issues, they’ll remain in this rutt of mediocre play precipitated by less than full effort, and Ovechkin will continue to be distracted from utilizing his skills to the best of his ability.  Make the change and watch them take off!  Let’s Go Caps!

Caps are lost

Just before I left my office for the evening, two blocks from the Verizon Center in downtown Washington, I checked the resale market for this evening’s Caps-Montreal game.  I was shocked; $9.99 for a nosebleed ticket!  I half balked but elected to skip this one for an early dinner and to catch the game on TV.  Now I see why my fellow fans have discounted the product so early in this lockout-shortened season.

Toni Sandys / The Washington Post

There was a fair amount of uncertainty on how the Caps would start without a training camp and with a new coach for the third time in four years, but after getting blown out by Tampa Bay, Winnipeg, and Montreal, things are spiraling out of control.  They were not in any of these games and these opponents are not top-tier.  The whole team is playing in slow motion, is extremely soft, with the exception of Matt Hendricks, and are completely disorganized.

Despite their strong finish and eventual second round playoff elimination last season, the big knock on the Caps was their inability or unwillingness to forecheck in Dale Hunter’s 1-2-2 dump and chase system.  At least they kept games close and took care of the puck in their own end.  Now they don’t forecheck AND they don’t hit anyone.  The lack of energy is sapping the will of this team to compete.

Two days ago, I watched New Jersey pummel the Flyers and last night enjoyed a fabulous Rangers-Bruins matchup, and couldn’t help but marvel at how these excellent eastern teams constantly forecheck and pressure their opponents into mistakes.  Tomorrow, the Caps play New Jersey.  Unless they start taking the body, crashing the net, and forcing some turnovers in the offensive end, this new coach and his new system won’t have a chance.  Still watching but very worried.  Let’s Go Caps!

No panic Terps fans

What we’ve witnessed in the current two-game ACC losing streak is not cause for panic, because it’s simple seasoning.  These Terps are young, tough, and have great chemistry and will overcome.  After plowing through a ridiculously easy tune-up schedule, there were bound to be some rough spots as the conference games started.  The 3-point loss to Florida State was a surprise but the Seminoles superior athleticism was on display late and carried the day.  I’m less surprised at the mauling administered by a much more senior and mature Miami team, but these are the growing pains that have to be suffered to lay the groundwork for success.

The only point of concern is the very low assist to turnover ratio during the setbacks.  Seth Allen is a little young and Pe’Shon Howard doesn’t quite control the game to the level you’d like.  Ultimately, the job should belong to Allen because his potential is greater.  It will just take time.

I love the Terps chances coming home against a sky high NC State group fresh off an upset win over Duke.  The Wolfpack is a very talented team and has enjoyed a couple of excellent recruiting campaigns over the past two seasons.  But this game smells like a letdown for them and the Terps should be hungry.  Tip is Wednesday night; can’t wait!

Here we go Maryland here we go!

Reaction to the RG3 injury

Wow, there is a ton of traffic in the blogosphere regarding yesterday’s season-ending playoff loss to Seattle and the controversial handling of RG3 and his re-injured knee.  Here’s my take:

It was clear from the start that RG3′s effectiveness was limited by the knee brace but his ability to be a running threat was still there and the Redskins attempted to use him as one.  When Griffin is healthy, he’s the best threat to run at QB in the NFL.  When unhealthy, he’s still a threat and proved that during the first couple of drives where the Skins mixed in designed quarterback runs  and gained significant chunks of yardage.  RG3′s presence in the offense opens up bigger holes for Alfred Morris, allows for lineman to hold blocks longer, and provides excellent play-action pass opportunities.

Griffin should have definitely been removed during the third quarter when it was clear his knee was affecting his ability to throw.  This was before he went down for good on the bad shotgun snap. I’m not going to beat up Mike Shanahan on the injury situation because frankly the NFL is so screwed up and hypocritical, across the board, when it comes to over-protecting quarterbacks, handling concussions, and under protecting for everything else.

Would Kirk Cousins have made a difference earlier in the game?  I don’t think so because the Seattle defensive backs were all over the Skins receivers and the offensive line was having an off day (especially center Will Montgomery) who botched several shotgun snaps.  Bottom line:  the best team won.

So the Skins had an awesome run and we fans have a lot to be proud of.  In my next post I’ll deal with the Skins full body of work and what we can expect for them personnel-wise going into next season.  Stay tuned and HTTR!

Good news Terps Nation!

Seth Allen leads the Terps. Photo by Jonathan Newton / Washington Post.

As we filed out of the sold-out Comcast Center yesterday, having watched the Terps thoroughly dismantle a reeling Virginia Tech Hokies squad 94-71, several questions about this year’s team were answered in my mind.  Yes, the Terps are young.  Yes they are deep, and yes they are good!  Freshman Jake Layman

Jake Layman. Photo by Patrick Semansky / AP

just poured in a career high 20 points (18 first half) with a surprise start that had electrified the place.  Along with Freshman Seth Allen (21 points) the Terps have been led by five different scorers in their last six games.  These freshman are exceeding all but the most optimistic expectations and team chemistry is even better than the 2001-2002 national championship squad.  The ability to rotate 10 players with significant playing time gives the Terps a huge advantage.

It was clear that after mowing down a very unglamorous tune-up schedule the Terps were dying to battle test themselves against a quality opponent.  Did Virginia Tech fit the bill?  The Hokies have now lost three straight by at least 23 points for the first time in school history and are suffering with some serious chemistry problems with the benching of starting forward C.J. Barksdale, so the moniker of quality opponent can be questioned, but these guys had upset Oklahoma State (ranked 15th) and lost by one point on the road to West Virginia in a very hostile environment, so the ability to compete on the big stage and the quality potential was there.  The Hokies, led by the nation’s leading scorer

Erick Green guards Logan Aronhalt. Photo by Patrick Semanksy / AP

Erick Green (28 points), got as close as 34-31 but the outcome never seemed in doubt as Maryland rained three pointers all afternoon (10 for 23) and established a rhythm that was never broken.

The good news is that top-25 rankings in NCAA basketball mean nothing and the fact that the Terps remain outside the ranks is fine with me.  I love being the underdog and sneaking up on people but after today’s game, the ACC and the nation are on notice. This squad is clearly a top three or four in conference and is definitely top 20 nationwide.

So on we go in our second to last ACC campaign with Florida State up on Wednesday.  Here We Go Maryland Here We Go!

Captain Kirk and the good ship Shanahan are rolling!

All of DC is abuzz with quarterback fever!  What a difference a year makes now that we have two good ones.  Admittedly, I was getting a bit queasy seeing Rex Grossman hovering around the quarterback huddle on Sunday.  Don’t let that guy anywhere near our new prized possessions because everyone knows with Rex you are only one play away from disaster.

Taking an honest assessment of Kirk Cousins debut, you’d have to say it was impressive but not without a few rookie blunders.  The first half interception that set up the Browns with a short field was a bad read and a worse throw, and on a few plays Cousins got his footwork all messed up and delivered a couple of 55-foot fastballs.  The good news is that the Redskins offensive coaching staff devised a brilliant game plan for the first-time starter from Michigan State.  The Browns were determined to shut down the Skins  running game and Kyle Shanahan countered with misdirection and bootlegs that worked great.  Cousins was particularly effective on the play action bootlegs and showed good foot speed on a few scrambles for first downs.  Skins fans had to be giddy with the performance and the 38-21 victory.

Going forward I’m wondering how Mike Shanahan is going to manage with these two rookies.  I can’t imagine with a healthy RG3, they’ll be able or want to keep Cousins on the sideline because of his trade value.  The guy needs reps and has a huge upside potential.  If they could get one more year out of him as a back up and deal him after 2014 for some defensive help, the team would be able to recoup some of the cost of the RG3 deal.

A quick open note to all Redskins backs and receivers with the last names of Garcon or Moss:  When you make a good or outstanding play, GIVE THE DAMN BALL BACK TO THE REFEREE and get back to the huddle.  This spinning the ball on the ground garbage makes you look like an idiot and hurts the team.  Gaining a simple first down is not a Herculean accomplishment.  Act like you’ve done it before.   HTTR.

Redskins Nation – ah ha moment!

Kirk Cousins ties it up against the Ravens.

An eerie calm has settled in over the capital city after the Redskins thrilling overtime victory over the Ravens.  Folks seem genuinely pleased at Washington’s four-game winning streak and the fact that we’re back in the playoff hunt, but there’s a lot of trepidation over the injury sustained by RG3.

RG3 sprains his knee against the Ravens

Something else is going on as well.  Redskins Nation is no longer hyped to the max about the prospect of a winning streak or playoff football in January.  We fans have been hammered over the past 15 years and there’s a fear that getting too emotionally invested in this club is going to end up in more disappointment if they fall flat.  I am a die-hard,  but even I find myself waiting for the other shoe to fall and am making sure not to get too excited even after the thrilling wins.  I could count on one hand the number of games I missed over the last 25-30 years, but found myself divesting in this team a few years back when the bottom fell out in the

Bum who ruined the Redskins for years

Vinnie Cerrato era.  It was just too painful to expect success and get disappointed year after year.  I was through with the hype and am having a hard time getting it back despite the wonderful kid at QB.  I sense many of my fellow fans feel the same.  What fixes this?  Nothing short of sustained winning and playoff appearances for several years, but this team with its wretched defense just doesn’t seem ready – yet.

Until then, I’ll enjoy the small successes week to week.  Conventional thinking has the Redskins in the crapper without RG3 because the guy is such a talent that he makes everyone better around him.  True, and if he’s out Sunday against Cleveland, Mike Shanahan will need to earn his money but he has to realize this is a huge opportunity.  He needs to keep RG3 as a game-time decision and fully prepare backup Kirk Cousins as the starter.  The Browns have no tape on Cousins, have no idea if the Redskins will change their offense away from the triple option pistol,  and have to wonder what’s coming.  Kyle Shanahan has done a masterful job designing an offense that takes advantage of RG3s strengths and teams willingly admit that it’s hard to prepare for the Skins.  The Browns have a huge task ahead.

So this thing could go any number of ways but just remember when the Skins win, no matter what the Washington media will have you believe, they aren’t the greatest team on the planet.  And when they lose, the world is not going to end.  Even keel moving forward.  HTTR!

Maryland’s shock and awe move

It’s done.  I am reeling from the suddenness of Maryland’s move to the Big Ten.  The short news cycle and lack of public deliberation about such a monumental decision is stunning and the crass way in which the news was delivered by University President Wallace D. Loh and Chancellor William E. “Brit” Kirwan makes me sick.

There are two things folks don’t like:  being lied to and having their intelligence insulted.  Loh and Kirwan managed to do both in their hastily assembled press conference.  Trying to sell this as an academic move is pathetic and Loh’s comment about making these decisions deliberately out of the public eye and without the feedback of dissenting opinion reeks of elitism.

I get the fact that money is driving every decision at every college when conference realignment is considered.  Traditional rivalries, travel schedules,  and competitive integrity are all shown the door in favor of the financial considerations.  What happened here doesn’t make sense and when something doesn’t appeal to your common sense it’s usually explained when you follow the money trail.

Ultimately, this may be the right decision for Maryland but it’s generally good form to prep folks in advance when unpopular news is coming and Maryland didn’t do that.  No students, athletes, faculty, alumni, boosters, or supporters were publicly consulted.  Maybe some dissenting opinion would have better informed and changed some minds among the regents who where rushed to vote in favor.  We’ll never know and it smells rotten.