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14May

note: not good times

(courtesy photo)

In technical terms, yesterday sucked balls.

Any D.C. sports fan knows exactly where I’m coming from, but for the benefit of the rest of the class, here’s a recap of the series of nut shots that’s given us more than enough reason to put a bag of frozen vegetables on our collective beanbag as we attempt to recover from a painful Wednesday.

For starters, the one team that consistently wins in this town, the Washington Capitals, was not able to get the job done with their season on the line. And while losing is almost inevitable in team sports, doing so to your most hated rival on a national stage makes it a whole lot tougher to deal with.

“They were more composed with the puck, and the other thing they did and the reason they won the game is because they outworked us,” said forward Brooks Laich after the Caps’ 6-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. “It’s not easy to stand in front of you guys and say that we’ve been outworked in our building in a game seven. I’m sure that’s something we’re going to have to think about for a long time.”

Sadly, there is no truth to the rumor that due to a scheduling conflict involving a Yanni concert, the Capitals’ offense was thrown off a day and is actually arriving in town tonight for a pivotal game seven. I guess we’ll have to wait five months to see how the Capitals respond to this bit of adversity.

And right around the same time that the Caps were imploding, the one reason to care about the Nationals was suffering a similar fate. You see, the Nats were kind enough to start the season 1-10, letting the rest of the country know “there’s nothing to see here” and to move along for another season or two until the Nationals get some pitching and additional depth.

Well, the one reason folks outside of the beltway actually acknowledge this current team is Ryan Zimmerman, the third baseman who saw his 30-game hitting streak come to an end last night just as folks were beginning to take notice.

Sure, the Nats at 11-21 are still the worst team in baseball. But Zimmerman matched George Brett’s 30-game streak in 1980 for the longest by a third baseman since Pete Rose’s 44-game streak in 1978.

“He put us on the map a little bit with what he did,” said Nationals manager Manny Acta, who has apparently mastered the art of the understatement.

And the icing on the cake comes courtesy of the Redskins, who, thankfully, did not have a game yesterday and therefore did not find a way to fall apart in the fourth quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals, San Francisco 49ers or an equally inferior opponent.

Click here for the full article.

Note to self is a weekly sports column written for HoboTrashcan.

13May

don’t speak

(Reuters photo)

In the immortal words of Gwen Stefani – don’t speak.

We know you’re disappointed. We know you’re angry. We know you’d rather see the Washington Capitals lose to anyone other than those damned Pittsburgh Penguins. But do everyone a favor and zip it. No one is happy with how game seven played out, but it does absolutely no good whatsoever to have a hissy fit and/or walk around town and run your mouth about the only salvageable franchise D.C. has.

We’re coming off of one of the most exciting playoff series in more than a decade and although it ended in a less-than-desirable fashion, there’s still a lot to like about the future of hockey in our nation’s capital. So do everyone a favor and give it 24 hours.

Cool down and then, once rational thought has returned to the option menu, we can all take a look at what went wrong and where we all go from here. No matter how much your brain might be telling you otherwise tonight, one game does not ruin an otherwise memorable season.

11May

bring on game seven

(Reuters photo)

Isn’t it amazing what can happen when you stop screwing around and simply put the puck on the net?

The Washington Capitals finally played as if their season was on the line and, thanks to a David Steckel deflection, defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in overtime 5-4. After losing their last seven-consecutive overtime games, the Caps will now host the Penguins in a do-or-die game seven Wednesday at the Verizon Center.

So far this series has played out fairly consistently – the Penguins have been the much more aggressive offense, generating twice as many quality scoring chances as Washington, while the Capitals have been much streakier. When they’re clicking, they’re impossible to beat. When they’re content to get “cutesy” with the puck and force low-percentage passes in high-traffic areas … not so much. Just getting the Caps offense to stop trying to make the extra pass and fire a shot on net at times has been maddening.

Here’s the kicker – you don’t even have to shoot, so long as you’re aggressive in the offensive zone. The Penguins proved that when they won game five without ever shooting, with a Evgeni Malkin pass deflecting off of Caps defenseman Tom Poti and past Simeon Varlamov for the overtime winner.

In fact, after seeing so many pucks deflect off of Capitals defenders into their own net, we (half) joked that the only way for the Caps to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins and force a game seven would be to have Washington defenders camp out in front of the opposing net and wait for the puck to hit them and bounce into the net.

Thankfully, things didn’t have to come to that.

Instead, Caps fans were treated to a much sweeter shot of redemption, with the game-winning goal in Monday night’s game six coming from center David Steckel, who has played a masterful series and yet was known around town as the guy who had a chance to steal game five but couldn’t bury a bouncing puck into the Pittsburgh net in overtime.

After winning a faceoff in the offensive zone, Steckel crashed the net and was in the right place at the right time when teammate Brooks Laich fired the puck in his general direction. Steckel turned the blade of his stick and redirected the puck past Pens goalie Marc-Andre Fluery and sent Caps fans into a frenzy.

And while we’re on the subject of redemption, it was nice to see forward Alexander Semin finally get into a groove. The Capitals player who shined the most during the New York Rangers series (with five first-round goals) had yet to make an impact against the Penguins through five games.

But with the Caps facing elimination, Semin finally got things going – avoiding the ill-advised decision making that drives his coaches and fans insane, while also drawing two Penguins penalties that each resulted in goals for the good guys. The stat sheet only shows Semin with two assists, but he was a much bigger influence in the Caps living to play another day.

And the man of the night was forward Viktor Kozlov, who coach Bruce Boudreau nicknamed the “Unsung Russian” earlier this year. Kozlov, known mostly in NHL circles as a great regular season player who vanishes come playoff time was everywhere Monday night. He had two major goals that provided the secondary scoring (i.e. – goals from folks not named Alex Ovechkin or Niklas Backstrom) that has been sorely needed this series.

The Capitals are now 6-1 in elimination games over the last two years. They’re old enough to know what’s at stake and yet, young enough to come out and play like they don’t give a damn. Sure, things looked scary when the first period ended and the Caps were trailing 1-0 on the scoreboard and 18 to 5 in shots, but they got better as the game went on and are finally starting to resemble the offensive powerhouse we all know and love.

There’s no guarantee that they’ll be able to show up Wednesday night and eliminate the Penguins, but the fact is, they’ve got a shot. And really, at this point in the season, that’s all you can really ask for.

08May

a different side of hall

(photo by Brian Murphy)

Cornerback DeAngelo Hall was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise forgettable season for the Washington Redskins last year. After being run out of Oakland, Hall joined the ‘Skins for the final half of the ’08 season and had an immediate impact – making plays and shutting down opposing receivers. He was a playmaker for a defense that consistently ranks in the top 10, but simply cannot create turnovers.

This February, the 25-year-old was rewarded with a six-year $54 million deal that included $22.5 million in guarantees, guaranteeing he’ll remain in Washington for the foreseeable future.

We decided to catch up with Hall this week to see how he’s feeling knowing he’ll be around a while longer.

Before we get started, we wanted to ask – how was your offseason?

“It was good,” he said. “It was good. I didn’t have too much of an offseason, I’ve been up here all throughout the week working out with the team doing offseason workouts. I try to go home on the weekends to visit my kids and my family, but it’s been good though. So far it’s been all football.”

You told us before last season ended that you wanted to stay here and that’s exactly how things played out. You got a big, new deal so now you’re just going to sit back fat, dumb and happy, right?

(Laughs). “Nah, nah nah … I’m still working,” Hall said. “I think the whole $70 million thing in Oakland and all the success I had so early kind of made me a little bit too cocky, so I think being cut in the middle of the season definitely brings a person down to reality, whether it’s myself or Deion Sanders if he’d have got cut, I think it’d bring him down to reality and make him be a better player. You know, as odd as the whole Oakland situation was, I’m blessed to have gone through it because I’ve learned so much from it. This time around I’m so much more focused and in tune with what I need to do as a player to help my team win and to separate myself as one of the best.”

The other conspiracy theory making the rounds is that you and Carlos Rogers can’t be cool because you got paid and he hasn’t yet. You wanna go ahead and address that one too?

“Nah, we’re best of friends,” he said. “We’re best of friends. Me, him and [Fred] Smoot and I even still talk to Shawn Springs all the time. You know, we all understand the business side of it. Carlos understood what the situation was when I first got here and I understand he’s still, you know, waiting to get paid. I feel like he will get paid. That’s a big part of the reason I came and signed the contract I signed. I felt like we could definitely get him done in a year or so whenever it’s time to get him done, I felt like we could do that and keep this secondary around.”

How comfortable are you here at Redskins Park these days?

“I’m very comfortable,” Hall said. “This is home. It feels like the only jersey I’ve ever worn is this one, so I definitely feel confident and comfortable. I can’t wait to get going and win some games.”

Well if that’s the case, then it’s got to hurt to see a former Virginia Tech teammates like Macho Harris get picked up by a division rival like the Eagles, right?

(Laughs). “A little bit,” he said. “You know I had to make a call to some of those guys up there just to make sure they take care of him, but he’s going to be alright. But to go against him as a divisional foe, I definitely feel a little bit happy about it because I do get to see him twice a year as opposed to being somewhere out west, where I’d never get to see him. I’m definitely happy about that. But trust me, we won’t take it easy on each other.”

How stacked is this defense now that they’ve taken an already talented lineup and added Albert Haynesworth, Brian Orakpo and brought you back into the fold?

“We’ve got a bunch of studs, man,” Hall said. “But we’ve still got to prove it. No matter how good it looks on paper, we’ve still got to go out there and Orakpo has to be able to drop back like a linebacker and then on third down be able to rush the quarterback. Albert still has to get pressure on the quarterback and I have to play like I played in the second half of the season or it doesn’t work. Carlos has to go back to the Pro Bowl level he was playing. With Fred, LaRon [Landry], it’s the same thing. We all still have to go out and do the same things we did. Just because we have different pieces in place doesn’t mean it’s automatically going to work. We still have to go out and give it our all and try to be the best we can.”

If our memory serves us correctly, you got an interception the first quarter of your first game with the Redskins. So we can just pencil you in for another one the first quarter of this season, right?

“Hopefully,” he said. “Especially up in New York. It’s going to be fun, especially against a divisional foe. We’re definitely going to go out there and try to beat them up.”

07May

meet kevin barnes

(photo by Brian Murphy)

Yesterday, we brought you our one-on-one interview with the Washington Redskins newest addition to the defensive line, Brian Orakpo. Today, we move on to the next guy selected by the ‘Skins in the 2009 NFL draft, Maryland cornerback Kevin Barnes, who the team used their third round pick on. Much like Fred Smoot, we had a few words in store for the rookie.

How you feeling as you go through your first NFL minicamp?

“I feel okay,” he said. “It’s a little different than college. I’m just going to have to come out and have better practices. I don’t think I did too bad, I just know I can do better.”

What in particular is different?

“Coach [Ralph] Friedgen always held a high tempo practice, so I was pretty prepared for it,” Barnes said. “As far as the route running, the coaches told me to slow down because I was pressing too much. Actually, I just need to slow down myself.”

What are you hoping to get out of minicamp?

“Just learn to defense as much as possible, build a relationship with some of the older guys who can help me out,” he said. “That’s pretty much it.”

Obviously you’re a local guy, so what’s it like knowing you’re going to stay in the area?

“Yeah, I mean I get to stay next to my family, my mom gets to come to every game and I can go back and visit my college teammates too,” Barnes said. “I don’t have to worry about going to a new city and making new friends. All my friends are here, so it’s very pleasant.”

Okay, we heard a nasty rumor. What team did you grow up rooting for?

“Aww man … it depends,” Barnes said, clearly knowing where this conversation was heading. “It’s a tricky question. When I lived in North Carolina, I liked the Cowboys. When I moved up here, I didn’t really follow the Cowboys as much. I was up here watching the Redskins and the NFC East period.”

So what you’re saying is you were a Cowboy fan until someone taught you better than that?

“I mean, kids make mistakes,” he said.

Alright, we can respect that. For those who may not be familiar, what do you bring to the table?

“I’m a ball hawk,” Barnes said. “You know, I play the ball very well. Today, I had to work on some stuff because it’s a different style of play, but I’m a ball hawk, a physical corner who will come up, tackle and give it my all.”

Some folks suggest you might be a little light to be running around throwing your body around like that. What do you say to that?

“It’s all about ‘want to,’” he said. “I feel like if I do that regardless, my teammates will see how small I am and show that much more respect because I am willing to throw my body around in there and I don’t really care.”

Does it get old having everyone call you a YouTube sensation?

“Pretty much, but the draft’s over so it don’t matter too much anymore,” Barnes said. “If people don’t think I’m big enough to hit, that shows it right there.”

06May

alzner talks 12-hour flu

In blog, hockey by b murf / May 6, 2009 / 2 Comments

(photo by Brian Murphy)

While the rest of the country is stressing over swine flu (something 99.9 percent of the general public won’t actually come anywhere near), two Washington Capitals players were hit hard by another virus.

Defenseman Karl Alzner and Tyler Sloan missed game two of the Hershey Bears series against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins with what is being termed as a “12-hour flu.” They were both pulled from the Bears lineup with this mysterious illness and yet, seemed much healthier a day later when they were both called up to the Capitals.

Since this virus isn’t very common, we decided to track down Alzner and learn more.

Hey Karl, can you tell us about this 12-hour flu?

(Laughs). “Yeah, it’s just … um … it just came out of nowhere, hit us pretty hard and then just disappeared,” Alzner said.

All things considered, you’re looking pretty good …

“Yeah, I hide it well,” he said, still laughing. “I just pretend like I don’t have the flu and just keep on going and it seems to work out.”

Because of an injury to John Erskine, Tyler Sloan got into the lineup today and handled himself pretty well, right?

“Definitely,” he said. “I’m happy for him because I want him to play well and do well for the team. Talking to him after the game it’s just like everyone says, as soon as you get your first couple shifts in it becomes easy. He played great and got his first point in his first game. I’m really happy for him and can’t wait to talk to him about it more.”

What did coach Bruce Boudreau say to you before the game about his decision to go with Tyler in the lineup over you?

“He didn’t really say the reasoning or anything like that,” Alzner said. “I don’t really want to ask him about it.”

Did you take the warm-up skate knowing you weren’t going to play?

“Yeah, I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to play,” he said. “They write the lines on the board and my number was in brackets, so I kind of put it together that I wasn’t going to play. I knew pretty early.”

So where did you watch the game at?

“I watched from the gym, the training room and the zamboni gates,” Alzner said. “I wanted to work out first. Then I watched a little with the training staff while I was getting my suit on. Then I watched in the family lounge with my girlfriend who’s here right now and then I watched from the zamboni just to see how loud it really was out there.”

How loud was it?

“Very, very loud,” he said. “With the ‘unleash the fury,” I timed it perfectly so I could come out and see that and it was good. It hurts the ears. I’d never been to an NHL playoff games until tonight, this was my first one, but it was incredibly loud.”

Well, rest up and get healthy so you’ll be ready to go if the Caps need you. You never know when this 12-hour flu might strike again.

06May

meet brian orakpo

(photo by Brian Murphy)

When the Washington Redskins used their first-round selection in the NFL draft on someone other than USC quarterback Mark Sanchez, ‘Skins fans rejoiced. The fact that the team ended up with one of the most dominant defensive players in college football, Brian Orakpo out of the University of Texas, was almost too good to be true. Instead of bringing in a name player at a position which shouldn’t be a priority, the Redskins walked away with a multi-talented playmaker who can get sacks and also drop back into coverage.

We tracked down Orakpo at last weekend’s minicamp to see how he’s adjusting to his first week as an NFL player.

So, it’s finally here and you’re taking part in your first minicamp. How you feeling?

“I’m feeling good,” Orakpo said. “I missed on a couple of my assignments, but that’s just the nature of the game. I know I can get better, but so far it’s been pretty good.”

When the Redskins released the roster sheet for this weekend one of the sides lists you at defensive end while the other calls you a linebacker. Is it safe to say they’re expecting a lot from you?

“Yeah, it’s like getting it all in one,” he said. “We’re just seeing where I fit right now and I’m just going with it.”

What’s the biggest change from your typical college practice to an NFL minicamp?

“Everything is much faster paced,” Orakpo said. “Even though you’re in shorts and jerseys it’s still faster paced. You have to get to your marks and go. It ain’t tippy toeing or nothing like that. Everything is full go.”

So is your head swimming while you adjust to everything?

“I’m kind of grasping it, you know,” he said. “I’m getting used to it and as the days go on, I’ll continue to get used to the speed and everything. I’m pretty good right now and I’m getting used to the learning curve.”

What do you hope to accomplish during this minicamp?

“Just to get better, man,” Orakpo said. “I’m just trying to be a complete football player and do whatever I can to get better and stay on the football field and win ball games.”

And the fact that you were already a Redskin back in high school. That just makes this that much cooler for you, right?

“Oh yeah,” he said. “It’s ironic, like I said. Once a Redskin, always a Redskin.”

Keep talking like that and you won’t have any problems surviving in this town, kid.

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