Washington Sports Wrap-up (week of 9/28)

Matt Trollinger    Articles, Basketball, Football, Redskins, Wizards     Albert Haynesworth, Baltimore Orioles, Byron Leftwich, Chris Horton, Dan Snyder, flip saunders, Josh Johnson, Nick Young, Reed Doughty, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Vinny Cerrato, Washington Capitals, Washington Redskins, Washington Wizards

It’s time for a little summary of what’s going on in the DMV this week.

Washington Capitals

The Caps opened up the season with a 4-1 win over Boston.

• Ted Leonsis believes the Capitals are built to be a dynasty that will at least be in contention for the Stanley Cup the next 10 years. (Wow, we haven’t had a dynasty in D.C. since the Gibbs I era.  Wouldn’t that be nice?)
• There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic if you’re a Caps fan (even after that heart-wrenching loss to the Penguins last season).  The main reason? Alexander Ovechkin of course.
• EA Sports has Pittsburgh repeating as Stanley Cup Champions. (But I mean come on, Madden this year has the Redskins winning the NFC East.  Talk about lack of credibility, oh wait….)

Washington Wizards

Flip Saunders gave the Wizards players t-shirts that say “Our Time” and an I-pod Touch with the 250 page playbook complete with diagrams and charts.  I think that’s pretty awesome.  Saunders seems to be highly organized and very creative.  Antwaan Jamison is definitely pumped about having the proven head coach.  Here’s an excerpt from an article by Michael Lee of The Washington Post,

“To me, those are the kinds of things that make a difference. There’s no excuse why you don’t know the plays,” said Jamison, adding that each iPod has an individual code to protect its contents in case it is lost or stolen. “That playbook is like one of those NFL playbooks, it goes on for days. [Saunders] incorporated things so quickly and you go right into it. His enthusiasm, attention to detail, he don’t play around. I like the overall concept of how we’re going to do things here.”

Oh yeah, and Saunders also apparently hired a hypnotist who used mind tricks to get Nick Young and Mike James to hop around, put their hands over a flame and danced.  Anyone know if we can get him to hypnotize the Wizards into playing defense?  Just a thought.

• Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison, Brendan Haywood and _________at Shooting Guard. Fill in the blank: _____________ (a) DeShawn Stevenson (b) Dominic McGuire (c) Nick Young (d) Randy Foye or (e) Mike Miller. This is a tough decision for Saunders despite the great options tough.  Who would you pick?

Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals

Walk Off- Grand Slam for the season finale at home.  Not bad, but the Washington Nationals still suck.

After so much optimism in the last 3/4 of the season, the Baltimore Orioles have lost 13 in a row and also still suck.

Washington Redskins

Where to begin?  Let’s start with something positive.  Hard to do with Washington Redskins? Try this on for size: London Fletcher is as inspiring and active off the football field as much as he is on it.  (I wonder if Nancy Pelosi knows her about her bump-in yet?)

• On Mike Wise’s radio show, George Michael (that link is just in case you didn’t know, but you definitely already should) shoots straight with Wise on how the Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato machine works.  I’d have to say that this is probably one of the most insightful Redskins related pieces in the past few years.  I say that because of how much hate there is out there for Dan Snyder (see “Burgundy Revolution” and the latest Sally Jenkins article).
• Reed Doughty is starting this Sunday against Tampa Bay instead of Chris Horton.
• The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are starting Josh Johnson this weekend instead of Byron Leftwich.  I’m actually glad Johnson is starting considering what Leftwich did last year to the ‘Skins.
• Albert Haynesworth was offered MORE money to play for Tampa Bay?  Wow.