(courtesy photo)

[Editor's note: For those who still haven't heard the news, I've started writing a weekly sports column for SB Nation DC. So every Tuesday, my contribution to society (or at least the D.C. sports scene) is located over there.]

Now that the World Cup has come and gone and ESPN’s shameful slurping of the LeBron-a-thon is mercifully over, it’s almost that time again folks.

Before you know it, it’ll be time for training camp – a wonderful time of year where fans from 31 cities optimistically believe this could be the year something special happens with their favorite football franchise (only Cleveland is downtrodden enough not to get their hopes up).

There are a few staples of this time of year.

There’s the new sheriff in town (Mike Shanahan). There’s the veteran player hoping to rejuvenate his career as he finds himself in a new city for the first time (Donovan McNabb). There’s the disgruntled holdout, who is unhappy with his contract or something else and isn’t in a hurry to show up for work until someone fixes the problem and/or cuts him a new check (Albert Haynesworth). And then there’s the “Rudy.”

You know what I’m talking about: the underdog who seemingly comes from nowhere to become the feel-good story of training camp.

In the past, unheralded players such as Jesse Lumsden, Jimmy Farris and, most recently, Marko Mitchell have filled that role for the Washington Redskins. (I’d include Colt Brennan on the list, but honestly, his fanatical fanbase kind of scares me).

Well, with camp just around the corner, I wanted to go ahead and point you in the direction of the newest member to the club.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Anthony Armstrong.

Sure, most of you have never heard of him and couldn’t pick him out of a police lineup if he was wearing his jersey, but that’s not going to stop you from falling in love with the guy in about two or three weeks.

Why Armstrong?

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(courtesy photo)

Now that LeBron-a-thon is over and the rest of the sports world can return to some semblance of normalcy, I thought it would be appropriate to take a moment for an impromptu state of the union address for the D.C. sports scene.

In no particular order, here are 10 thoughts on all of your favorite local sports franchises.

1. Strike while the iron is hot and trade Gilbert Arenas to Cleveland. Like, right this minute. Seriously. Do it.

My plan all along was to wait for the New York Knicks to fall flat on their face and miss out on the big-name free agents like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, etc.

Unfortunately, Amare Stoudemire took the money and ran, which leads me to believe that the Knicks aren’t likely to be as desperate to acquiring someone with name recognition. Maybe if Isiah Thomas was still calling the shots it could happen, but I doubt that their new regime is in as much of a hurry to pull the trigger on an Arenas deal.

Same concept, different city.

The Cavaliers just took the biggest stomach punch in the history of professional sports. Their chosen son just went on primetime television to break up with them. Honestly, it’s more disrespectful than anything Albert Haynesworth has done since he came to D.C.

But the more you think about it, the more it makes sense. The Cavs could swallow Arenas’ contract if they shipped the Wiz back Antawn Jamison and some spare parts. The Cavs are obviously reeling from this blindside hit – so much so that their owner, Dan Gilbert, guaranteed Cleveland will win an NBA title before James. His remarks reek of desperation, which is exactly what you want if you’re looking to unload someone with as much baggage as Gilbert.

So let’s get on the phone now and make it happen before they have a chance to even rebound. Do it for the kids.

2. While we’re at it, be sure the deal includes a sign and trade for center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. I’m pretty sure he still has his Wizards jersey from the last time he was traded here, so you’ve got that going for you. Which is nice.

3. Speaking of the Wizards, their roster is starting to take shape after Washington drafted John Wall and acquired combo guard Kirk Hinrich and disappointing forward Yi Jianlian via trade. But regardless of what happens with the artist formerly known as Agent Zero, they’ve still got some work to do this offseason.

Personally, I’d like to see them sign Josh Childress. Dude’s got some game and he’d be an upgrade over Nick Young or whoever else he’d be taking minutes from. The only issue seems to be that after a stint in Greece, Childress seems to be a highly sought after player. No worries. If the price tag is too high, then the Wiz should turn their attention to re-signing Josh Howard once he’s fully recovered from his knee injury.

Unfortunately, the Wizards renounced the rights to Howard this week, as well as Mike Miller and Randy Foye (you know, the two guys they traded away a top-five draft picks for one year ago). So yeah, general manager Ernie Grunfeld continues to make the job harder than it needs to be.

Is it too late to include Grunfeld in a package deal with Arenas to Cleveland as well?

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(photo by Alex Brandon)

If you think it’s a coincidence that Adam Dunn just had the best game of his 10-year career after a weekend of trade rumors had him being shipped off to the Chicago White Sox, then you’re clueless.

Dunn’s offensive explosion – a three-homer night which paved the way for the Washington Nationals’ 7-6 victory over the San Diego Padres Wednesday night – was clearly a sign from the slugger that he’s very comfortable in D.C. and isn’t in a rush to play elsewhere.

“That’s what he can do,” said third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. “He’s one of the best, if not the best, power guys in the game for the last five, six years. It’s good to have him on your team.”

Of course, none of this guarantees that Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo will do what’s necessary to keep Dunn in town, but he should.

The only other player to have a three-homer game for the Nationals since they moved to Washington is Alfonso Soriano, who accomplished the feat against Atlanta back in 2006. Soriano, as you might remember, was a big-time slugger who management let get away. Sound familiar?

It’d be a shame for history to repeat itself, especially for a franchise as offensively challenged as the Nationals. Even his teammates realize the situation, and thankfully, are doing their part to speak on behalf of Dunn.

“One of the hardest things to find on a team is a 3-4-5,” said Zimmerman in reference to the team’s batting order of him, Dunn and outfielder Josh Willingham. “Obviously, he’s one of the best four hitters in the game, has been for the last five or six years. He’s a very, very important player to this team in what we do offensively, not only in the field but in the clubhouse, as far as helping out the young guys.

“We understand people have to do their job,” Zimmerman continued. “Personally, I think if we get rid of a couple of those guys, we’re going to maybe take a step backward instead of forward. I don’t think we’re that far away. It’s really, really hard to find a 3-4-5. Look at what we’ve done for the past two years. We enjoy playing together, and we kind of push each other. It’s a good group we have. It would be bad if we broke it up, I think.”

After the game, Dunn wasn’t up for speculating about his future. Instead, he said he was just happy to turn things around after going homerless in his previous 12 games.

“It’s pretty cool to hit three homers, but the last one, since we won, was obviously the biggest,” said Dunn. “I don’t feel any different than I have in the past. I got pitches to hit tonight and didn’t foul them off like I’ve been doing.”

Dunn is now batting .280 with 20 homers (tied for second in the National League) and 54 runs batted in (tied for 12th in NL) this season. Simply put, he’s been everything the team could hope for offensively.

This is the point of the conversation when I point out that Nats owner Ted Lerner is worth more than $3 billion dollars. Yes, I said billion.

You wouldn’t know it by looking at his team’s payroll though, as the Nationals rank 22nd this season – behind notoriously cheap franchises like Milwaukee, Tampa Bay and Kansas City.

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(courtesy photo)

[Editor's note: For those who still haven't heard the news, I've started writing a weekly sports column for SB Nation DC. So every Tuesday, my contribution to society (or at least the D.C. sports scene) is located over there.]

George McPhee deserves my trust.

I know this, and believe me when I tell you I’ve been repeating this sentiment over and over since free agency began. But damn, it’s still tough to question the silence coming out of the Washington Capitals these days.

It’s true that, when it comes to decision makers in the D.C. sports scene, McPhee really is the cream of the crop. His work as the Caps’ general manager during “The Plan,” namely blowing up an aging/underachieving roster and rebuilding the franchise with a solid (and much younger) foundation, is enough to earn him a lifetime achievement award.

For those who aren’t familiar, “The Plan” is code word for McPhee willingly discarding any player he had with name recognition. He traded away established veterans like Jaromir Jagr, Peter Bondra, Robert Lang and Sergei Gonchar to stockpile draft picks and youngsters as a way to reboot the franchise.

He could have taken the easy way out and sat on his hands while the Caps were good enough to make the playoffs but never truly compete for the Stanley Cup. Thankfully, that’s not his style. Simply achieving mediocrity wasn’t acceptable. McPhee knew what needed to be done and then had the courage to execute, even if it ultimately could have cost him his job.

Think about this: Had McPhee wavered and/or convinced management to ride with the old timers a minute longer, then chances are that superstar forward Alex Ovechkin would have ended up in Pittsburgh. I don’t know how that goes over with you, but the thought alone makes me queasy.

And while Redskins fans have to live in a world where multiple draft picks are discarded for bums like T.J. Duckett and Brandon Lloyd, McPhee is the exact opposite. He ships away nobodies like Brian Sutherby and somehow steals a second rounder, which he then turned into goalie Cristobal Huet. Is any other team in town savvy enough to turn a seldom-used fourth liner into a starting goalie? Not a chance.

But let’s pause for a quick tangent. While McPhee deserves all of the praise he gets, the rest of the local general managers sure have made it easy for him to shine.

• Vinny Cerrato was so inept that he somehow managed to run a once-proud franchise into the ground while simultaneously making legendary Redskins like Art Monk, Gary Clark and countless others feel unwelcomed. He’s a double threat in every sense possible and it may be year before the Redskins fully recover from his time calling the shots.

• Jim Bowden, who once compared the baseball player’s union to terrorists, was always surrounded by controversy during his time with the Nationals. Between his DUI arrest, an FBI investigation for skimming money from signing bonuses and everything else, Bowden proved he was good at running his mouth, not the Nats.

• Thankfully, Ernie Grunfeld hasn’t been nearly as toxic as either of those two clowns, but that doesn’t mean things have been perfect during his time with the Wizards. Since 2003, Grunfeld has wasted first rounders on so-so players (Nick Young and Oleksiy Pecherov), traded away first rounders for role players (Randy Foye and Mike Miller) and signed a one-legged, me-first point guard to a crippling six-year, $111 million contract. Oh, and he doesn’t really seem to understand the concept of salary cap space. Other than that, he’s been great.

So yeah, while McPhee has earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to building a winner, he’s also aided by the failures of his peers.

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