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It’s so simple it really shouldn’t even have to be said – the point of sports is to win.
Forget about overbearing parents who don’t keep score and want every kid to get a gold star. Those people suck at life. The reason people play sports is to win.
If we’re talking about team sports, then the goal is to win championships. And one thing we can all agree on is that the Washington Wizards – especially since they changed their name in the mid-90’s – have never been equipped to actually compete for an NBA title.
The Wizards – with a nucleus of Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler – were typically good enough to qualify for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, but were never really a threat once they got there. That’s what happens when you build a team full of jump shooters who can’t/won’t play defense.
But the bar was set so low after decades of mediocrity that D.C. sports fans were willing to live with this incarnation of Washington basketball because, if nothing else, they were entertaining.
Agent Zero. Hibachi. Tuff Juice. DeShawn Stevenson’s inability to feel his face. The annual Brendan Haywood-Etan Thomas smackdown. Beefing with LeBron James and Jay-Z.
You’d be hard pressed to find a quirkier bunch of basketball players. If they were going to lose, at least they were going to put on a show in the process. And that was good enough for a while.
But as Wizards general manager Ernie Grunfeld said last week, the team had become stale.
Even without the locker room distractions provided by Arenas and Javaris Crittenton, the Wizards had a difficult time putting it together on a nightly basis. Some individual players were having a solid season (Haywood specifically comes to mind), but the losses continued to pile up which is simply unacceptable for a team with a bloated payroll like the Wiz. And the breaking point was that this team was no longer fun to watch. People stopped coming to games and a general sense of apathy hovered over the Wizards.
So Butler and Haywood were shipped to Dallas. Jamison was granted parole in Cleveland. And we were left with a bunch of unproven and underachieving nobodies. But here’s the funny thing – the spare parts left over here in Washington have provided unexpected results.
Forget that the Wizards are now 3-1 since the all-star break. More than likely, that won’t last. But what folks should notice is that this team is suddenly watchable again. A perennial knucklehead like Andray Blatche stepped into Jamison’s role and has instantly flourished, as evident by his 25 points per game average over the last four games.
If you didn’t seen this monster hit by Alex Ovechkin yet, don’t worry – neither did Jaromir Jagr.
Team Russia defeated the Czech Republic 4-2 while advancing to the quarterfinals during Olympic play, but there’s only one moment that folks are talking about.
All you need to know is the old-school face of the Washington Capitals met the new guy in charge today and the results were memorable, to say the least.
Jagr had the puck at center ice and in a momentary lapse of judgment, lowered his head and forgot that Ovechkin was nearby. Ovi, the man they call the Russian Machine for good reason, obliterated Jagr with a devastating open-ice hit and Team Russia scored the game-winning goal seven seconds later. For anyone who ever doubted how much of a game-changer Ovechkin truly is, this was a massive reminder of the impact The Great 8 has every time he takes the ice – even without the puck.
“Guys, before you ask me the question, I know I make a mistake,” said Jagr after the game. “It was a big mistake. The hit, I don’t really care. But the mistake was the turnover I made, they scored a goal. that hurt me the most.
“I don’t care how I feel. If something hurt, it’s always healed. But the mistake is not that easy to heal,” Jagr said.
Ovechkin, as to be expected, downplayed the hit.
“It’s just a moment,” Ovechkin said. “If I have a chance to hit somebody, it doesn’t matter who it is.”
But while Ovechkin had already moved on, Jagr might not be able to do the same as quickly.
“I wish I had a concussion,” he said. “That way I would forget Ovechkin quicker.”
If we could have been anywhere when “The Hit Heard ‘Round The World” happened, it would have been seated next to Capitals owner Ted Leonsis.
We’d love nothing more than to see his reaction when the two biggest names he’s ever had on his payroll collided. We’d never put words in Leonsis’ mouth, but we’d venture to guess he couldn’t help but smile seeing Ovechkin come out on top.
“We weren’t winning as many games as we wanted to win, and I thought it was time to go in a different direction.” – Washington Wizards general manager Ernie Grunfeld.
The trade deadline has come and gone and the Wizards team we are now left with is radically different from the team we’ve gotten used to over the last couple years.
If Gilbert Arenas somehow manages to ever play another game in D.C., he’ll no doubt have to adjust to a locker room that looks nothing like the “Big Three” lineup he relished being a part of.
Antawn Jamison? Gone. Same goes for Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson. Jamison now resides in Cleveland and the other three now call Dallas home. So what does that leave the Wizards with?
Not much.
There’s forward Josh Howard, a former all-star who seems far removed from his glory days. Injuries and poor-decision making off the court seem to have derailed Howard. There’s Al Thornton, a second-year player who has potential, but we have to point out that potential is just another way of saying “ain’t done shit yet.”
Forward/center Drew Gooden was here for a cup of coffee, but made it clear he had no intention of actually sticking around for what appears to be a lengthy rebuilding process. You know it’s bad when a guy is happy to be traded to the Los Angeles Clippers rather than remaining a part of your franchise.
The Clippers are one of the most inept teams in professional sports and have been so for as long as anyone can remember, but Gooden – like most sane basketball players – would rather cash in there than be subjected to “The Curse of Les Boulez.”
Center Zydrunas Ilguaskas was part of the package the Cavaliers sent for Jamison, but he too, will never suit up for the Wizards. Any day now, we’ll hear that the Wizards have bought him out and he’ll end up back in Cleveland.
The Wiz did manage to acquire Cleveland’s 2010 first-round pick and a protected second-round pick from Sacramento during their firesale, but that’s it. Basically they have a handful of expiring contracts and the equivalent of two extra second round picks in exchange for any semblance of respectability.
Maybe we’d feel a little optimistic about the future if we had any faith in Grunfeld to turn this ship around. But what exactly has he done to earn our trust? Other than fleecing the Lakers into taking Kwame Brown for Butler, there’s not much in the way of positives for Grunfeld in D.C.
He’s the one who built the team around Arenas, Butler and Jamison, which meant that Wizards fans were forced to embrace a team full of jump shooters who didn’t play defense. You don’t need extensive knowledge about the history of the NBA to know a fatally flawed team like that isn’t going to win anything.
He’s the one who chose to reward Arenas with a max contract, even though Gilbert had basically been a nonfactor the previous two seasons due to injuries. Even before Arenas brought hand guns to work and earned himself a lengthy time out this was an awful decision.
Grunfeld knew his team would never win a championship, despite anything you might read elsewhere, but went with these guys because they were entertaining. They weren’t going to beat a legitimate contender like the Cavaliers or Lakers, but dammit, they were interesting. They made professional basketball in this town relevant and that was good enough for Ernie.
If it seems we’re being overly harsh on Grunfeld, let us show you why.
Please turn your attention to the Houston Rockets, another team that was active at the trade deadline. The Rockets went into this week knowing that Tracy McGrady was going to be moved.
The new-look Washington Wizards will take the court tonight at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves, but it looks like one of the new guys might not see action. Word is that forward Drew Gooden, the guy who has been on eight teams in eight seasons, would like to negotiate a buy-out of his contract so he could go to a team that might win something.
Speaking of the big trade: the Dallas Mavericks were 17-2 against the Oklahoma City Thunder coming into last night’s contest, which just so happened to be the debut of Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson for Dallas. Well, the Mavs gave up 40 points in the second quarter, shot under 15 percent in the third quarter and none of the former Wizards had a game to be proud of as the Thunder rolled 99-86.
Wizards forward Antawn Jamison to Cleveland is still the popular rumor making the rounds. With the trade deadline of Thursday fast approaching, the fate of Jamison (a.k.a. – the last player on that roster people actually care about) seems tied to that of Phoenix forward Amare Stoudemire.
“We are all holding hands and watching you right now.” Sure, when we text that to Washington Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell it’s deemed inappropriate. But when Alex Ovechkin sends it to a fellow Russian, it’s perfectly okay. Damn double standards.
Speaking of Ovi, even on cruise control he’s the best player on the ice. In less than 18 minutes of action, Ovechkin scored twice on four shots and could have had more, if he wasn’t content to set up teammates the rest of the way in an 8-2 blowout of Latvia. Alex Ovetjkin has video of Ovechkin’s two goals. Watch the video, if for no other reason than to see “Good Sasha” force a turnover to set up the first goal.
It seems strangely fitting that goalie Semyon Varlamov, who most likely will not see action for the Russian National Team, is spending his free time snacking on McDonald’s rather than what’s for dinner at the Olympic village. Also, Alexander Semin goes joyriding.
After enjoying the best stretch of hockey in franchise history the Washington Capitals have come crashing back down to earth, dropping two-straight games north of the border.
Their most recent loss, a 6-5 barnburner to the Ottawa Senators, looking eerily familiar to anyone who has been paying attention to the Caps up-and-down play of late. With that in mind, we present to you 10 topics of conversation following the team’s latest collapse.
1. The Capitals have now allowed the opposition to score first in 10 of their last 15 games. Yes, they routinely battle back and tie things up later in the game, but wouldn’t it be nice to actually get off to a better start and not have to play catch up?
It used to be that the Caps had trouble with early-afternoon games because several of the guys like to sleep in and it took them time to get going. These days it doesn’t matter what time the game starts, the Caps allow their opponent to strike first and don’t get going until either late in the second or early in the third period.
We’re all for entertaining “firewagon hockey,” but we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out that the Caps can still pick up two points without ratcheting up the degree of difficulty just for the hell of it. At this point, we’d love to see the Capitals come out Saturday against St. Louis and do something they haven’t been able to accomplish in recent history — start strong and cruise to an easy victory while playing a full 60 minutes of disciplined hockey.
2. It’s a good thing the Olympic break is right around the corner. Between injuries and sloppy play, the Capitals are in need of some alone time. Jason Chimera, Tom Poti, Shaone Morrisonn and Michal Neuvirth are all out of the lineup due to various ailments, and it’s a safe bet other players are dealing with nagging injuries as well. While Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Nicklas Backstrom and Semyon Varlamov head to Vancouver in the quest for gold, the rest of the roster would do wise to take it easy and get healthy for the second half of the season.
3. Speaking of Varlamov, he returned to action for the first time since December and, unfortunately, it showed. Varlamov, who had been shelved for the last two months due to knee and groin injuries, stopped just 22 of 28 shots he faced against Ottawa and let in more than a few he’d like to have back.
After the game, coach Bruce Boudreau had strong words for his young netminder.
“I don’t think he was ready to play,” Boudreau said of Varlamov. “I don’t know if it was slow, rusty or a combination of both. You can use whatever term you want — I don’t think he was ready to play. He knew he was going to play. He’s had 12 days of practice and a game under his belt. It’s his responsibility to be ready.”
No goalie likes to get beat five hole. It happened twice to Varlamov.
“When you say he’s rusty or whatever; that’s an excuse, and excuses can’t be tolerated. One goal went right through the legs. He’s been making that save since he was seven years old,” Boudreau said.
Chances are Varlamov won’t see much action for the Russian National Team. If that’s the case, he’d be wise to spend his free time on the ice working himself back into playing shape. Varlamov was 12-1-1 prior to the Senators game. It goes without saying, Varlamov returning to form can go a long way towards helping his club come playoff time.
4. We hope rookie defenseman John Carlson didn’t watch the Senators game. Because, if he did, he can’t be happy watching Tyler Sloan and John Erskine “play defense.” Sloan was on the ice for three Ottawa goals. Erskine for two. Varlamov didn’t have his best game of the season, but this game could have been even worse if he didn’t come up big several times covering for the Erskine-Sloan combo.
It’s unfortunate that the NHL is set up in a way that guys like Karl Alzner and Carlson are relegated to the minor leagues in favor of lesser players simply because they don’t have to pass through waivers. Maybe if Erskine and Sloan weren’t on the same line it wouldn’t have been as noticeable, but watching them pretend to be traffic cones while Senator players skated circles around them only re-enforced what we already knew — better players are forced out of the lineup for reasons that have nothing to do with on-ice abilities.
When it comes to officiating, there is nothing more vital than consistency.
Regardless of the sport, referees owe it to the teams playing the game and the fans watching the game to interpret the rules with consistency.
We bring this up because the defining moment of the Washington Capitals 6-5 loss to the Montreal Canadiens yesterday was a questionable disallowed goal.
With less than six minutes remaining in the second period, the Capitals looked to have scored a momentum-changing goal to pull within one, at 4-3. Caps forward Alex Ovechkin destroyed Habs defenseman Hall Gill, who crash landed into goalie Carey Price as the puck slipped into the net. Here’s the video:
Now, let’s go back in time to April 22, 2008. Skip ahead to the 2:30 mark of this next video and watch what transpires:
In both instances, an offensive player hits a defensive player into his own goalie. In both instances, the play goes against the Capitals. When a Philadelphia player delivers the hit (in the playoffs, no less), the play is ruled legal. When a Washington player delivers the hit, it was initially ruled a goal and then waved off without any further explanation.
Folks wonder why Caps fans have some kind of inferiority complex and are convinced the world is against them. Well, we definitely don’t think this call intentionally went against the Capitals, but these are the plays that are turned to when those arguments are made.
If it’s a goal in 2008, then it should be a goal now. Unless the rules have been changed. And if that’s the case, we probably should have heard about it by now.The NFL changes their rules every time Tom Brady get a boo boo, but at least they have the common courtesy to inform us about it up front.
Consistency shouldn’t be optional. It should be what the league office strives for. It should be what officials are graded on. And, most importantly, it should be applied in hopes of restoring what little sanity we have left.
Look, we fully admit to being pessimistic by nature. Long ago we learned that if you brace for the worst, it hurts less when it actually happens. If you expect people (or even your favorite sports franchises) to let you down, then you’re not blindsided by their failures.
It’s not ideal, but it’s long been our preferred defense mechanism when dealing with things beyond our control.
That being said, we’re simply amazed at how many armchair quarterbacks and internet general managers we’ve seen in the last week or so in regards to the Washington Capitals.
In the last 24 hours alone, we’ve read that in order for the Caps to be a legitimate contender for the Stanley Cup, they need to acquire a center, a stay-at-home physical defenseman and a goalie. It’s a wonder that general manager George McPhee still has a job, if this is the laundry list he’s failed to haul in.
The thinking goes, “Well sure, the team is playing well and I am a diehard fan (it’s important to throw that part in. Makes people know your opinion is not one to ignore), but if the Capitals are going to win it all this year, they need to make a trade for [fill in the blank here].”
Our natural instinct is to contact each of these people individually and tell them to turn in their keyboard.
The Caps, you see, are in the midst of the most successful streak in franchise history. After rallying to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 in dramatic fashion, they’ve now won 14 games in a row. Not only is this the best stretch of hockey in the franchises’ 35-year history, but it’s also the third-longest winning streak in NHL history.
If these skeptics aren’t pleased with the current team’s performance, then there’s no reason for them to waste another second of energy following this franchise. This team is never going to be good enough.
Since Bruce Boudreau took over as coach, the Capitals have gone a mind-numbing 128-53-21. Read that sentence again. If you don’t count a single win from this season, he’s still 34 games over .500.
At 41-12-6, the Capitals have the best record in hockey. They also hold an amazing 14-point lead over everyone else in the Eastern Conference. Regular season success doesn’t guarantee anything in the postseason, but we’d rather take our chances with the Caps as presently constructed than any other team in the NHL.
The Capitals have won 11 in a row at the Verizon Center, which is also a franchise best. Their record at home this season is 23-3-3. We can safely say that this team has a home-ice advantage and when you factor in Boudreau, more games than not they have a coaching advantage too.
What about the players, you ask? No one is suggesting they fire Boudreau. They just want to give him a few more pieces to work with for an extended postseason run, you say.
Fair enough. But we’re still of the mindset that even if the Caps do nothing, they’re in great shape for the playoffs.
