ESPN The Magazine’s Howard Bryant just trashed Washington, D.C. as a sports town. It’s too much to go into, but the article is pretty weak. If you want to read an article about D.C. as a sports town by a Washingtonian, see http://bleacherreport.com/articles/914880-washington-dc-not-just-a-redskins-town-but-a-great-sports-city.
Also see an article about D.C.’s top stars: Robert Griffin III, Alex Ovechkin, Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, and John Wall:
Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow’s rapid ascent in popularity has been validated by results on the field. His record as a starter is 8-4 in 2011 including Sunday’s thrilling 29-23 overtime playoff win against Pittsburgh.
If Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow were black, it’s unlikely that he would ever get a chance to play quarterback in the NFL. With an awkward and inaccurate throwing motion but a strong running ability and excellent leadership skills, Tebow would most likely be converted to another position such as running back or tight end. History shows that unconventional quarterbacks who happened to be black were either moved to different positions, given a very short time to prove themselves as quarterbacks or weren’t even given chances to become backups.
MSNBC has a blue star as its political logo that is exactly the same as the Dallas Cowboys star. They need to remove it immediately.
The Caps have been the most underachieving playoff team of all time in any major North American sport, yet the games are all sold out for the third year in a row. Photo by Mike Frandsen.
Washington, D.C. may not be the best sports town in the country, but it deserves a lot more credit than it usually gets. In fact, D.C. is an excellent sports town that supports more teams in more sports than just about any city in the U.S.
The Washington Post, a marketing machine that bores its tentacles further and further into the belly of local radio, TV, and the internet all the time, recently had the gall to call D.C. a “mediocre” sports town.
Don’t pay attention to such drivel, though, because the writers behind the series for the most part, namely Dan Steinberg and Mike Wise, have only been in town for a few years, and they overlook many of the aspects of D.C. sports fandom that make D.C. sports fans unique. Virtually none of the columnists who criticize D.C. as a sports town, many of whom live off the reputation of the once great Post, hail from the area.
D.C. sports fans shouldn’t be judged on their teams’ lack of recent championships or blamed because people want to live here. Examine the loyalty of fans through good times and bad, and you’ll find that D.C. stacks up well with almost any major city. Washington hasn’t won a major pro sports championship in 20 years other than the four Major League Soccer trophies DC United took home between 1996 and 2004. Yet D.C. fans are remarkably passionate in supporting their teams.
How many cities have the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, MLS, plus major college basketball and football? Not many. We have the Redskins, Wizards, Caps, Nats, D.C. United, Maryland and Georgetown basketball, Terps football, and a whole lot more. Given what we’ve had to cheer for, D.C. has turned out to be a great sports city.
To read the rest of my article on Examiner.com, click here.
Until a few years ago, NFL Primetime, an hour-long Sunday night highlight show of NFL action hosted by Chris Berman and Tom Jackson, was one of the greatest shows in TV history. Not sports history, TV history. They covered most games with a series of highlights over inspiring music, and they showed more than any other network. Now it’s done in bits and pieces. It feels like Berman and T.J. have been demoted. While Trent Dilfer is a nice addition, they only show a few games in depth, and today they actually showed just one highlight each from several games. It’s terrible.
The NBC show starts too early, so a lot of the games are still in progress, and the cast of characters act like deer in headlights, while Dan Patrick thinks he’s too smooth. The NFL Network is ok but it doesn’t have the music and it doesn’t have Berman and T.J. Plus the NFL Network is dominated by far too many Cowboys. Maybe ESPN isn’t allowed to do an hour long highlight show because of NBC or the NFL Network holding the rights, but either way, the Blitz is lacking.
During Philadelphia’s 31-13 win over the St. Louis Rams Sunday, Brian Billick said on Fox that Michael Vick needs to be able to play well from the pocket, implying that he can only succeed on the run.
Vick finished last season with a passer rating of over 100 in the pocket. It’s a complete myth that he can only play on the run. Vick also got criticism for supposedly not being a quarterback earlier in his career when all he does is win.
Stephen Strasburg struck out 14 in his major league debut in 2010. Photo by Mike Frandsen.
2010 was another typical year for D.C. area sports teams. That is to say, there wasn’t a whole lot to cheer about, other than a great regular season by the Capitals and some above-average seasons by local college teams.
2011 may end up being brighter for the Redskins, Capitals, Nationals, Wizards, D.C. United, Maryland and Georgetown, but first Examiner.com takes a look back at the year in D.C. sports that was 2010.
Redskins
It was a disappointing debut for coach Mike Shanahan, whose Redskins finished 6-10, losing seven of their last nine games. Shanahan traded a second and a fourth-round pick to Philadelphia for Donovan McNabb, who had his worst season since his rookie year.
Capitals
The Caps won the President’s Trophy for the most points in the NHL during the regular season, but then crashed and burned in the playoffs, losing to the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens in seven games.
Nationals
The Nats finished with a losing record (69-93) for the fifth time in their six-season existence. Rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg did not disappoint, striking out 14 in his major league debut en route to a record of 5-3 and an ERA of 2.91 with 92 strikeouts in 68 innings.
To read the rest of my article on Examiner.com, click here.
In the spirit of the holiday season, here are some belated gift suggestions and wishes for the New Year for D.C. area teams and sports figures.
Mike Shanahan: A one-way ticket to Denver to be head coach for his old friends, owner Pat Bowlen and probable new part-owner John Elway. Or truth serum, or a job at Wikileaks. (He can take Kyle too).
Albert Haynesworth: A love for the game of football.
Donovan McNabb: A new team he can take to the playoffs for three more seasons.
Redskins: A quarterback, a running back, an offensive line, a starting wide receiver, a defensive line, a punter, and a kicker.
Maryland Athletic Director Kevin “The Grinch” Anderson: A heart.
Maryland football: Another program to hire Mike Leach so the Terps can rehire Ralph Friedgen.
For the rest of the article on Examiner.com, click here.
Former Virginia Tech star Michael Vick has received widespread praise for his play quarterbacking the Philadelphia Eagles, and rightfully so. After Vick accounted for six touchdowns in a 59-28 road win against the Redskins two weeks ago, many NFL experts called Vick a possible MVP candidate, and some even called him the best player in the NFL.
But many members of the media who have nothing but good things to say about Vick, especially the talking heads on ESPN, are the same people who insisted that Vick would play a different position once he returned to the NFL.
Virtually every analyst at ESPN either said that Vick would not only come back playing a different position, but that he was never a good quarterback in the first place. Chris Mortensen of ESPN was one of many who said Vick might play receiver, defensive back, and return kicks, and do it in the UFL, whatever that is. It’s funny how none of those “experts” admits he was wrong. At least one blogger predicted before the 2009 season that Vick would be successful again as a quarterback, though, and gave Vick credit for winning 10 more games than he lost.
The trade last spring that brought former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb to the Redskins made Washington better, but who would have thought that not only would the Eagles stay playoff bound, but the Vick would be their starter? Vick has become a better player since he has become the starter for Philadelphia, and he has also been helped by Eagles coach Andy Reid and good receivers. But there was a reason Vick was the highest played player in the game before he got busted for dogfighting. Vick’s ability to throw, run, and throw on the run struck fear into the hearts of defenses.
Ask defenders who they fear more, a quarterback who can hurt them in multiple ways, or an interception machine like Jay Cutler or Brett Favre? Quarterbacks like Cutler and Favre get overrated, while quarterbacks like Vick have traditionally been underrated (Jemele Hill of ESPN.com has an idea why).
Vick has paid his price and made a great comeback. But back to the original point: when it comes to football, Vick deserves all the credit he gets. It’s just staggering, though, how so many so-called experts said that a quarterback who was 10 games over .500 for his career not only couldn’t play anymore, but was never any good in the first place. It was also strange that these carnival barkers, many of them former players and writers, also said Vick wouldn’t return as a quarterback.
But if you said that Vick couldn’t play quarterback, and even tried to tell everybody that he was never any good in the first place, at least admit you were wrong about his ability two years ago when you talk about how great he is now.
To see my entire article on Examiner.com, click here.
I hate Dallas so I love to see them lose. But it’s amazing how fans and media care more about image than winning. You never ever heard any criticism of Bill Parcells. He was the ultimate coaching genius, right? His record as Dallas coach? 34-30, with an 0-2 record in the playoffs.
Wade Phillips has a record of 34-19, with a record of 1-2 in the playoffs. So Phillips’ record is much, much better than Parcells’ record, yet Phillips gets tons of criticism while Parcells is considered a god.
The difference? Press conferences. People like Parcells because he seems like a dictator or a general while Phillips isn’t full of B.S. and self-promotion like Mrs. Doubtfire is. Phillips is honest and straightforward and the media doesn’t like that. They don’t like his personality. They loved Parcells.
Again, Phillips is 34-19 with a playoff record of 1-2.
Parcells was 34-30 with the Cowboys with a playoff record of 0-2.
In fact, Phillips could lose 11 games in a row — every game for the rest of the season, finishing 1-15, and still have the same record the great Parcells had as coach of Dallas (34-30). But at least Phillips won a playoff game. It’s true that Parcells turned the team around after three losing seasons in a row, but Phillips also improved on Parcells.
In the NFL, winning doesn’t matter. Michael Vick is 40-28-1 as a starter, but every commentator before this year claimed he was a terrible quarterback, while Jay Cutler, with a career losing record, was considered brilliant before last season. People also hate Vince Young, even though all he does is win.
I hate Dallas, but I also like it when people’s opinions are based on facts.
You’ll hear a lot of people this season ridicule Phillips and you’ll hear just as many fawn over Parcells because it sounds like Parcells, or Mrs. Doubtfire, the Larry Brown of the NFL, is looking for another team. But just remember that Wade Phillips has been much more successful than Parcells as coach of Dallas, and it’s not even close.
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