Welcome to the my Web site, v. XII. The blog is typically published Monday - Saturday. My primary topics tend to be the Nats, Penn State (esp. football), BeltwayLand, transportation, media, photos and more. The rest of the site gets updated as warranted and is noted on the blog.
D.C. bowl game to Nationals Park - William World News
Thursday, July 24, 2008
D.C. bowl game to Nationals Park
The first Congressional Bowl between Navy (if they win six games) and the ACC 9th place team (!) will be at Nationals Park on December 20 (The Post). RFK Stadium, which hosted the Redskins for over 35 seasons was also considered. I would have preferred RFK Stadium because it has an actual football field designed into it and is completely enclosed and wouldn't have been fun to see some midshipmen rocking the movable stands? However, the seating layout would only be better there than at Nationals Park for fans on the lower level. Those seats at RFK are oriented for football, but the upper deck is shaped for baseball, so the sightlines are not much better than the upper deck at Nationals Park. Other pluses for having the game at Nationals Park include the HD scoreboard and food.
I may go this game, we'll see. I would almost certainly cheer for Navy, who would be my third favorite college football team if I had one.
I have a real problem with this only because it continues to devalue the honor it should be to play in a bowl game. With all the games that are played in a college football season now I have forgotten how many games a team needs to win to be "bowl eligible". Five? Six? Seven?
Are you telling it is possible to see a pair of teams with losing records play in a bowl game? I don't know, I guess this is the way sports work anymore. Why not work on a playoff plan, using DC as a neutral site instead?
# posted by Kevin McGuire :
Thursday, July 24, 2008 1:13:00 PM
NCAA Approves Bowl for Washington - The Post Yesterday, the NCAA approved the Congressional Bowl, a new game to be played in Washington. The 2008 edition will be December 20 at either Nationals Park or RFK Stadium. Navy has signed on, provided they win the necessary six games, for this year and Army for 2009. The ACC would send the other team.
Hopefully, the game will be in RFK Stadium; wouldn't it be great to see Midshipmen or Cadets making the stands rock?
America's Most Miserable Sports Cities - Forbes D.C. doesn't make the top ten of "Most Miserable Sports Cities." Atlanta, you are #1 with Seattle right behind you. The rest: Buffalo, Phoenix, San Diego, Houston, Denver, Cleveland, Philadelphia and the Twin Cities.
Scouting Coastal Carolina University - William World News
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Scouting Coastal Carolina University
CONWAY, S.C. -- Penn State's first opponent of the 2008 football season is the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. It just so happened that our drive down to see Aunt Janet took us right past Brooks Stadium, home of CCU football. After our visit this past weekend, we stopped by the campus to take photos.
The campus itself is spread out with pleasant looking brick buildings. The athletic complex on the edge of campus is suitable for a school of its size. There was a baseball tournament going on with Pitt beating Virginia Tech, 9-3 in the fourth inning before dozens of spectators.
Brooks Stadium is a small, but attractive football stadium. According CCU Athletics, it seats over 6,000. It also doesn't have locked gates, so I walked around and even onto the field. I was a bit surprised, but pleased to see that CCU plays on grass and not a rug. Good for them, it almost makes up for the teal and black colors.
I think Ohio State will win because they have as much talent as anyone. They have a big game coach who has already won a national title at Ohio State and several at Youngstown State in I-AA. The Buckeyes have a bad taste in their mouths after getting blown out in last year's title game. Unlike last year, the Michigan game wasn't the biggest game of all time. There wasn't a circus involving whether their coach would stay or not and their defensive coordinator hasn't been dividing his time between that job and a new head coaching job. Ohio State will also be motivated by the lack of respect that they have gotten this year.
Don't forget to check out BuckeyeBuzz.com, which I helped build.
I always through it would be pretty cool if there was a "battle for Pennsylvania" at Penn State's Beaver Stadium between the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers. Now I find out from Eric McErlain of Fanhouse that the Flyers are considering hosting the Pengyunz at Beaver Stadium next season. Michigan State did this in 2001 when they hosted Michigan.
Forgive the pun, but that would very cool, even though I can't stand either team. People still talk about what State College was like during the 2000 playoffs between the two teams, apparently it was quite a scene. I had graduated by then. Hopefully, this could be used as an opportunity to advance the cause of varsity hockey at Penn State. A well-placed source at Penn State told me that the money is there for a new arena, but the administration wants to hold off on building for a few years.
As I mentioned earlier, Eric Cartman of South Park, Colo. introduced the offense and defense during the Colorado vs. Nebraska game a while back. I'm rerunning the defense introductions so that both will be in one place.
Ron Cherry is an embarassment. The ACC should fire fire him.
# posted by Caps Nut :
Monday, November 26, 2007 1:46:00 PM
I think his brother Don would be very upset if that happened.
# posted by WFY :
Tuesday, November 27, 2007 8:20:00 AM
Post a CommentOld Ivy League Stadia - William World News
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Old Ivy League Stadia
Football's Oldest Stadiums: Witnesses to Game's Evolution - ESPN With The Game just days away, take a look at this ESPN article about the site of this year's game, the Yale Bowl as well as two other ancient Ivy stadiums: Harvard Stadium and Franklin Field.
I've been to the Bowl several times, seen Franklin Field's exterior in the dark and rain and viewed Harvard Stadium from the top of the Prudential building in Boston. By the way, Harvard doesn't have bleachers -- just concrete. Yale's blue bleachers are made of wood and has backs -- much more comfortable than aluminum without a back.
The accompanying article on The Game is also worth a read. This year's edition, number 124 in the series, is for the undisputed Ivy title. Both teams are undefeated in league play for the first time since 1968 I believe.
PHILADELPHIA -- Saturday's trip to Lincoln Financial Field was my fifth Nittany Lions road game. It was the fourth different stadium in that group, joining Scott Stadium (Univ. of Virginia), Alumni Stadium (Boston College) and Giants Stadium (vs. Rutgers and USC). This was also the third NFL stadium (all in the NFC East) that I have seen a football game at, though FedEx Field has only been for Redskins games.
What strikes me most about The Linc is the contrived alignment of the seating decks. What's the point? It isn't like an old baseball stadium where stands and angles reflected the layout of the available space. For football, this is just silly.
Other notes:
This was the first college football game that I can recall where beer was sold. I didn't get around to buying any though.
Sitting in chair backs as opposed to bleachers sure are nice.
The concourses were nice and wide.
No concessions lines, but the food was cold. Can you guess the concessionaire?
The two previous items combine into a downside though -- people wouldn't stay in their seats, so we were always having to get up and let people through.
Driving in was easy -- just up I-95. We sat for about 20-25 minutes waiting to exit, but once we were onto Broad Street, we were quickly directed to parking. We wound up on the west side of the Spectrum. Parking was surprisingly $11.
After hanging out with Wiley and Ashley for about 45 minutes, we pulled right out onto Broad Street and I-95 without delay. That sure beats the wait to get out of lot 12 only to get stuck in Port Matilda or the Lewistown Narrows, doesn't it.
Why did Penn State play the Trojans in New Jersey?
# posted by Anonymous :
Monday, November 12, 2007 2:27:00 PM
Kickoff Classic 2000 (let's not talk about it)
1996 too.
# posted by WFY :
Monday, November 12, 2007 3:26:00 PM
Post a CommentAnnapolis acts like its been there before - William World News
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Annapolis acts like its been there before
ANNAPOLIS, Md.-- Prior to the Icers game against Navy, we stopped in downtown Annapolis for a quick bite to eat. An traffic jam on the Beltway limited the amount of time we could budget for dinner, so we stopped at Chick & Ruth's Delly on Main Street. Our arrival coincided with the end of regulation of the Navy vs. Notre Dame football game.
Navy went into South Bend having not beaten the Fighting Irish since 1963, coming agonizingly close several times. It seems like every time I would turn on the Navy vs. Notre Dame game, Navy would have a shot in the last few seconds. This time was no different. Navy scored a touchdown and extra point in the first overtime with Notre Dame responding accordingly. Several tables away, a midshipman announced he would do push-ups if Navy could pull it out. The second overtime saw the two gold helmeted teams trade field goals. In the third overtime, Navy threw for a touchdown on the first play and converted two points on another pass. On Notre Dame's 3rd OT possession, a fourth down pass was batted away, seemingly bringing victory to Navy, but a pass interference penalty (I suggested the ref hates America) nullified it and gave Notre Dame another shot. They ran it on fourth down and Navy stuffed them, ending the streak. There were a few hoots, some clapping, but overall the reaction was nothing more than what you would see after a regular season baseball win. The streets of Annapolis had no buzz either. I can't decide if I was disappointed or admired the restraint.
Although Chick & Ruth's wasn't what we had in mind when we planned our trip to Annapolis, we found it to be a pleasant enough diner, although I know someone who would take issue with the spelling of the proprietors' name. Clearly, there is a lot of history at Chick & Ruth's, but we were admittedly distracted from it by the game. Erica enjoyed her crabcake sandwich. Since we were in a hurry, I ordered a burger which was fine. Perhaps sometime when we spend a whole day in Annapolis (which we have been meaning to do for a long time) we'll have a more leisurely lunch there.
50 years of soccer style kickers - William World News
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
50 years of soccer style kickers
DAN DALY - Going sideways into history - The Wash. Times A great article about the history of soccer style placekickers. It was fifty years ago Friday that Fred Bednarski of Texas became the first kicker to make a field goal soccer style in college football.
I know saying artificial turf is a mouthful, but shortening it to just turf conveys the opposite meaning.
Turf means grass. Unfortunately, it also means fake grass.
We need a word that doesn't convey its exact opposite.
How about we just use fakegrass? It is only two syllables and leaves no doubt about whether the field is organic or not.
The incorrect use of turf has been a problem for as long as I can remember; George Carlin made a mention of it in his first (and only good) book Brain Droppings. That big problem isn't linguistics though, it is the use of artificial turf in general. I think playing football, a sport created in the Northeast to be played in the fall, on artificial surfaces is athletically dishonest. Grass stains and mud are part of the game -- a fun part of it no less.
As noted previously, both my high school and Waters Field (where I enjoyed my glory days of anklebiters football) have been converted to artificial turf. Vienna's example is just part of a growing trend that will keep a whole generation of athletes from ever staining their pants with grass or playing in mud. Denying children a chance to play in the natural element is selling them short.
This afternoon, my father Bill treated Erica and me to see his alma mater play in the nation's capital for the first time ever. Yale defeated Georgetown to go 1-0 on the season. The Hoyas fell to 0-3. Recap from yalebulldogs.com | Flickr set
Yale started off well with two touchdown drives in the first quarter with the wind at their back. The offense was led by Mike McLeod, a running back who compensates for a lack of speed with excellent vision. He found holes and made the right cut with incredible accuracy. He would score all four Bulldogs touchdowns and finish with 157 yards.
Georgetown scored in the second quarter with the wind behind them and were driving for a score at the end of the half. Georgetown had the ball inside the five with under ten seconds to go. Offsetting penalties brough the clock down to six. On the next play, Georgetown threw an incompletion and the officials sounded the final gun. The Hoyas head coach was furious that the clock had not stopped sooner and the half was over. Judging by the scoreboard clock, I think the Hoyas had good reason to be upset.
The second half opened with Yale threatening, but not scoring. Georgetown again drove deep into Yale territory, but turned the ball over on downs after being stopped inside the 1 yard line.
Yale went up 21-7 before yielding another Georgetown touchdown. Mcleod would score for the fourth and final time to put Yale up for good at 28-14, but Georgetown stormed back with less than 2 minutes to play. An interception deep into Yale territory put the game away.
We had a good time seeing the Elis play the Hoyas. It was the second time I had been on the campus to see a sporting event; the first being the Lady Lions triumph in December 2006...Multi-Sport Field is a half finished venue with bigger bleachers on the visiting side than the home side...Yale had more fans in to the crowd than Georgetown...We sat near the family of WR Chris Denny-Brian and the Abare twins, Larry and Bobby...Sophomore TE John Sheffield was dominant with 8 catches for 115 yards...Hoya QB Matt Bassuener is probably as blue as his Georgetown jersey after all the hits he took yesterday...yesterday's game occurred exactly six years after a Yale at Towson game we had tickets to was cancelled due to the 9/11 attacks...Yale won for the first time in front of me since 1993. The last time I saw them play, in 2001, they lost The Game...Yale's overall record in games I have been at rises to 2-4. They Elis lost to William & Mary (in Norfolk's Oyster Bowl) in 1983, lost to Navy in Annapolis in the mid 80s, lost to Harvard for the Ivy League title at The Bowl in 1987 (so cold), beat Harvard in 1993 at the Bowl, lost to Harvard 2001 at The Bowl...Yale begins its Ivy League title defense next weekend against Cornell at The Bowl.
..and I'm never goin' back to my old school - William World News
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
..and I'm never goin' back to my old school
A co-worker of mine just informed me that my old high school (he graduated after I did) now has an artificial turf field. Now, I could not any care less about high school football, but seeing another grass field destroyed for a synthetic surface is discouraging.
Shame on you James Madison High School. I'll never come back.
20. The Stanley Cup playoffs (late spring, various NHL cities).
Sure it was the first round, but I did this in 2002 twice, both at MCI Center, both Capitals losses to Tampa Bay.
34. MLB Opening Day (April, various cities).
2005: Nats at Phillies* 2006: Nats vs. Mets 2007: Nats vs. Marlins*
*Actual Opening Day
41. An NBA game from courtside (winter-spring, any NBA city). You'll never again say they don't hustle.
1992 - Bullets vs. TrailBlazers - my mom got us company tickets.
61. Midnight Madness (October, all over the country). An annual late-night party at campuses across the country. (Say hi to Larry Eustachy if you see him.)
1999 (maybe 1998 too, I don't remember) at Penn State - It was technically "Late-Night Madness." You can debate whether this really counts though since it was Penn State and that was during the good old days when the were mediocre.
90. Little League game (spring, early summer, everywhere).
Same back page headline again - William World News
Monday, May 07, 2007
Same back page headline again
The New York tabloids have just about the same back page headline again, only a couple of quotes are different. At least the photos are clearly different.
On a side note, since it was Cinco de Moving, I missed the Derby for the first time in many years. The Yurasko Derby Party will resume next year.
Going back to lot 8 to get my bike yesterday, I heard a nearby tailgate playing a very familiar march. Sure enough, it was Ohio State's "Across the Field." Apparently, there were a few Buckeye fans at the game getting ready for last night's NCAA Basketball Championship game between their Buckeyes and Florida.
This morning, when Carl Kassell led off his newscast with Florida's victory over Ohio State, I immediately thought of that tailgate. Florida has beating the Buckeyes in both major sports this academic year, something that has never happened before.
Yesterday, the first thing I thought of when I heard Across the Field was this:
Which tabloid got the quote wrong? - William World News
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Which tabloid got the quote wrong?
Once again, the New York tabloids have almost the exact same back page headline.
Now I am wondering* what Carl Pavano actually said, "I am ready" or "I'm ready." One of the papers got it wrong, unless of course Pavano said "'m ready."
This is the sort of stuff we used to talk about in my media ethics class.
*I am probably wondering why Pavano is the Opening Day starter even more though
It's hockey night in Washington - William World News
Saturday, January 27, 2007
It's hockey night in Washington
Erica and I will heading to the Phone Booth for tonight's game. We don't know what section we will be in since I bough the tickets yesterday. Hopefully, the Capitals will fair better against Carolina than they did last night. After watching that bloodbath, I think this guy had a more productive evening.
Awesome! I'm taking my son to tonight's game too. We got tickets from a coworker of Mr. Chatter and I guess they're good seats (sec. 119). I'll keep an eye out for the two of you!
# posted by Anonymous :
Saturday, January 27, 2007 10:58:00 AM
The Michigan version is called "The Charlie Baumans" - William World News
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
The Michigan version is called "The Charlie Baumans"
Unfortunately, this year's Ohio State vs. Michigan game really is as big a deal nationally as fans of those two programs believe it is every year. I don't like either program, but even I can find something to enjoyable about the hype. They're called the Dead Schembechlers, a punk band that dresses like Woody Hayes and sings songs called "Bomb Ann Arbor Now" and "M is for Moron." They have videos on YouTube. No, I will not be embedding them.
While I wish there was a way they could both lose, I think I am rooting against Michigan more. I'll be driving back from Happy Valley during that game anyway.
On Wednesday, September 27, I interviewed Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis about the upcoming Capitals season for Metroblogging DC. We discussed the CBA, the new Ballston practice facility, the challenges of the D.C. sports marketplace, the Southeast division and of course Alex Ovechkin.
Ted Leonsis bought the Washington Capitals hockey team in 1999 and immediately brought a new perspective to professional sports ownership. The AOL executive made himself accessible to his fanbase by answering personal emails from fans and writing the "Owner's Corner" column on washingtoncaps.com. Recently, he began blogging as well.
Recently, Mr. Leonsis took the time to answer some questions for Metroblogging DC. The Caps begin their season tonight, in New York against the Rangers. Their home opener is this Saturday with the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes coming to town.WFY: We are coming into year 2 of the post-CBA era and the Alex Ovechkin era, both of which must be very exciting to you. Why don't you talk about how the new CBA helps the Capitals in Year 2.
Ted Leonsis: I think we shouldn't focus on Collective Bargaining Agreements. I think that the league went through a very tough gut check into trying to make for a business model that could be fairer to all 30 teams and would also inject more competitiveness into the league. I think we are rapidly getting to that point where like the NFL and the NBA -- no one really knows what their team is spending but feel comfortable that each team has a shot to make the playoffs and win a championship. You do not have that in baseball. In baseball you still have teams that spend 200 million and teams that spend 20 million and in the NFL, the NBA, and the NHL you have more parity, if you will, regardless of market size of if a team owns their own TV network. That is what we were desperate for in our league and we have that and on top of that we have new rules. I think last night was very instructive -- the Caps played the Flyers and in the old days the Flyers were bigger tougher and had a higher payroll. And now the payrolls are pretty much comparable...maybe $10 million difference, but the emphasis is on speed, the emphasis is young legs and skill and you want a league where the stars are allowed to shine and where people want to see great offensive skills allowed to prosper and I think that is what we are starting to see. The new CBA, the new rules are making for a more exciting NHL and I think we have built and organization and a team that was designed for the new rules and the new model and I am very optimistic about where we are headed as a franchise.
WFY: One of the contributors to the new exciting NHL is Washington's very own Alex Ovechkin who won the Calder Cup, which is the rookie of the year in hockey last season, with over 100 points last season. How much has Alex meant to the franchise in the short term; and in the long term, how much is he going to mean to the franchise?
Leonsis: We're blessed in that we appear to have a once in a generation kind of player, he is a phenomenally gifted athlete and hockey player. The season that he had last year really was the best entry of a rookie probably in the last 25 years, but certainly one of the top 3 first seasons of any player in the NHL in 80+ years history. He is only going to get better as he matures and gets stronger and also learns how the league paces itself. it is a very long season and hopefully playoff games and his engine runs at a very high RPM and he is going to have to learn to pick his spots a little bit more. We're most blessed that he is really a terrific young man. I remember once having lunch with Red Auerbach, who told me that your best player also has to be your best person, and as you look back at his history in the NBA winning so many world championships that his best player be, it a Bill Russell or John Havlicek or Larry Bird, they were not only phenomenal athletes, but they were phenomenal leaders and they were humble and took great joy, not in personal success, but in the team's success; and we really do have that with Alex.
Leonsis: This off season he was quoted as saying, "If I scored 20 goals and we made the playoffs, I'd be much happier than scoring 60 goals and not making the playoffs." That is what you want form your foundational player and we have built a team that has a lot of great young talent and the are all in their early 20s and my goal is to build a generationally-good team. I don't just want to make the playoffs just one year, I want us to make the playoffs on a consistent basis and win a bunch of Cups along the way and I think the way you do that is that you have a team that at its core are all growing and peaking together. We're in the second year of this rebuild and I think we are a little ahead of schedule.
WFY: Where are you in terms of the schedule with getting fans in the seats? There are some people who don't believe that Washington is a hockey town. Recently on your blog you are making the argument that it is becoming a hockey town. How are you doing with marketing the team, especially now that you have this incredible talent in an Alex Ovechkin?
Leonsis: You could argue that Washington overall is a Redskins town, but you look and the Nationals are struggling at the gate right now, their honeymoon lasted one year and the Caps always struggled at the gate, and frankly the Wizards don't have an easy time, too. It is all of our challenge to try and connect with our community and be more successful at the gate. What I decided to do is to structure the team in the economic model for the market that we see, and there is nothing wrong with what we see. There is nothing wrong with averaging 15-16 per game which is what I think we can do this year. I would love to have a situation where we sell out, but I think we're struggling to do that; and right now we are at about 85% renewal of our season tickets and plans, which is a very positive sign for us. We have to sell more season tickets and more groups so we can get to what I would think be a fair amount of attendance which is about 80%. The arena seats like 18,500 we can get 16,000 this year, I'd be very happy.
WFY: As part of that, you are focusing on the season ticket holders. Are you doing a lot of outreach to the former season ticket holders who may not have been happy with the direction the franchise went?
Leonsis: Yes, they mostly came back last year; and this year, I would say the core of the fan base has returned and that is what is so positive for the NHL. Of all the leagues we had the most success post-lockout. Our challenge is crossing that chasm and reaching a more casual fan; and when you look at what our challenge is, we need 1,000 new season ticket holders that buy 2 to 3 tickets per game. That is the difference for us between a modicum of success and a grand slam success, 3,000 more people per game. It's another 1,000 accounts. That is what our focus is on, trying to tap into the Maryland/Washington D.C./Northern Virginia area to find that 1,000 new accounts.
WFY: What about single game tickets? How are you going to be marketing towards you more casual sports fan or the Redskins fan?
Leonsis: There is no ROI on marketing individual games. The average ticket price is $30 and the most you'll sell on a walkup basis is 300 tickets, so it looks like $100,000 worth the business and you could spend $100,000 on television or print advertising pretty easily and so that is why you want to build the Washington Capitals brand. You really want to have the online tools through the blogosphere, online marketing, search terms, having an interactive ticketing engine, to make it very convenient for people to buy tickets. It is also why season tickets and plans are the lifeblood of your team, and I'll be sincere when I say we can sell out Friday/Saturday night games when we play the Rangers, Philadelphia, or Pittsburgh; those are easy sells for us. It is the Monday night game against Calgary, and when you sell season tickets you get that revenue, so that is why season ticket sales are so important to NHL franchises.
WFY: One of the other things that you are doing that I imagine was built with building up the fan base. You are building a new practice facility in Ballston. How did you decide to put it in Ballston, as opposed to further out where land might be cheaper?
Leonsis: The first thing was that we were sub-optimized in the space we had at Piney Orchard. The Piney Orchard camp and practice facility was created when we played at the old USAir Arena and it meant that the nexus of living space for the players and the staff were out near Baltimore or Annapolis. When we moved into the MCI Center, now Verizon Center, it didn't make sense anymore. The majority of the fan base changed; it had moved from deep in Maryland to be in Bethesda, Washington, DC and Northern Virginia. In fact, Northern Virginia is where 62% of our season ticket base now comes from, so we felt it was in our best interest to relocate the office and the practice facility, and then where the players and staff live to be in the heart of the fan base. So we ended up doing a great deal with the city of Ballston where they donated the land, they owned the parking lot that was adjacent to the mall in Ballston and we built a new office building and two sheets of ice and a big training and practice area for the Caps that we should be moving in November.
WFY: You mentioned blogosphere earlier and on washingtoncaps.com you have a link to several Web sites you call "hockey-friendly blogs?"
Leonsis: The traditional media is not helping us enough. I'll say it as straight forwardly as possible and I'll give you a very graphic example -- last night the Caps played Philadelphia. When the game ended, in Philadelphia there were highlights of the game on all the Philadelphia news stations and their local cable channel was having a sports show talking about the Flyers-Caps game and here in the D.C. There was nothing on television and our local sports channel was talking about the Navy football game on Saturday. We have to find alternative means to promote our team and our players and I have great faith in people who blog. If they are blogging they are not doing it for a living, they are doing it out of passion and love and we are going to be the most blog friendly team and I hope the NHL becomes the most blog friendly league because it is a way to pay back these people on their passions and it also a way to get the good word out. That I am doing this interview with you is a good example. You blog, you care, so you deserve time and respect.
WFY: And it is certainly appreciated. In particular on one blog that sticks out -- that you have certainly appeared on and the Capitals have gotten a lot of mention on is Off Wing Opinion. You have even worked with Eric McErlain to work on some standards and practices for allowing bloggers into the press box. Could you elaborate on that a little?
Leonsis: I think that we have to start looking at the bloggers as part of the landscape and there will come a time when you have to invite the bloggers to come into your press area and come into your locker room. I felt we should be leaders in working with some of the leading bloggers with a fair set of rules of the road and we have been working on that and we have published it and let other bloggers bang away at the rules and I feel very comfortable that it can be self policed well and no one will take advantage of what we are trying to create.
WFY: What's going on with the uniforms? It seems every year we have people scratching their heads wondering if you'll be going back to red, white, and blue uniforms.
Leonsis: We will eventually go back to red, white, and blue. For every person who sends me an email that wants the color change or new uniform, I get as many mails, mostly from mothers, saying "please don't change the uniform because then I have to buy the new jersey for my children and they are very expensive." I am very cognizant of that and when we're changing the uniform I don't want it to look like we are doing it to generate money. To be honest, that is not even how it works. We're not the recipient of individual, additional jersey sales. That is a misconception. The NHL overall is looking at changing the style, the weight and making the uniforms more contemporary. So, I think we'll just wait and see when the NHL goes to a new design and style and new color scheme and logos ready and that would be the time to do it.
WFY: I imagine there will be a lot of effort put into that when the time comes, so there is not a repeat of the Buffaslug disaster.
Leonsis: *laughs* Yes, we will make sure we have total fan buy-in before do anything.
WFY: Getting back to the ticketing, how does the Southeast division impacted you ability to sell tickets?
Leonsis: The realignment was not good for us. We didn't have long-term rivalries with Tampa Bay or Florida or with Carolina. Ironically, the last two Stanley Cup winners have been Southeast division teams. We used to hear about how weak the division was, both Tampa Bay and Carolina won the Cup. Atlanta looks like it could the next great young team and I think we won't far behind. It probably emerged as the strongest division in hockey and yet because we have not had long playoff competition history with Pittsburgh or the Flyers or the Rangers, the fan base doesn't turn out in droves and secondly there is not the built in local fan base of the opposing teams. When we play the Flyers, or Detroit, or Boston or Chicago or Pittsburgh, we probably get 2,00 to 3,000 who grew up fans of that team that come. When we play Tampa, if you see five opposing fans in the arena wearing Tampa bay jerseys I'd be surprised. If I had my way we'd play Pittsburgh, and the Flyers and Detroit and Boston on a Friday or Saturday and sell out every game. That's not the cards that were dealt to us and now we are in a very tough division playing teams 8 times a year that don't draw that well. That has been one of our biggest challenges.
WFY: I have a question about Pittsburgh. There are a lot of displaced Penguins in this area. If the Penguins are to leave Pittsburgh will you make any effort to grab some of disenfranchised Penguins fans who now live in this area?
Leonsis: I have no idea what is going to happen. It would be in our best interest that if Pittsburgh moves that the Caps take their place and move into that division. There has never been a single conversation, e-mail, anything on it, so I have not spent five seconds thinking about it.
WFY: I recall when Hurricane Katrina happened all of the local teams got together for charity purposes. There were donations at RFK during Nats and United games. Is that something we can expect to see in the future? The local major league teams working together on charities.
Leonsis: Lots of things...Ovechkin is throwing our the opening pitch at the Nats game tonight and we'll have a bunch of our players there. The Nats are promoting the Caps and the Mystics. The Caps and Mystics are going to be promoting the Nats. The Lerner family owns a small piece of the Mystics and Caps and we're going to try to be good cooperative co-marketing partners. Our belief is that if the tide rises maybe boats will rise with it. it is in our best interest to be mutually supportive of each other.
WFY: Another issue that comes up regularly is why hasn't there been an All-Star game or NHL Draft in the District yet. Is this something that we can expect to happen or that you are lobbying to have happen?
Leonsis: I have not actively lobbied, mostly because I don't own the building. We have had our hands full in trying to build our franchise. I know there are some discussions here right now about getting the WNBA all-star game to D.C. I am sure at some point we'll have the NHL All-Star game.
WFY: What are Alex Ovechkin and now Alex Semin going to mean to this team and the city? Are you going to market both of them a little more?
Leonsis: I think we have to market the team and let the breakout players stand on their own. I do believe we will have some young, gifted players who will grow up together. We will have four of the top young forwards in the NHL for a long time to come. Ovechkin, Semin, Nicklas Backstrom when he comes and plays... hopefully next year and Eric Fehr -- will be four young, great forwards that will play together for a long, long time. Defensively, Mike Green and Jeff Schultz and Steve Eminger, and Shaone Morrisonn are four young top #1 picks that will grow up together. That is a very very strong core nucleus of #1 draft choices who are all in their early 20s that are getting lots of playing time. they have had success in the AHL -- our AHL team won the Calder Cup last year. We hope we create a culture of winning with higher and higher expectations year after year.
WFY: You mentioned the culture of winning, your AHL affiliate is now the Hershey Bears which is probably the most distinguished minor league hockey team -- they've been for a 100 years or so. How is teaming up with Hershey working out?
Leonsis: It worked out spectacularly well for us. They have a great system, we have a great working relationship. Very close -- when we want to call up a player they drive 100 miles and their hear and they don't have to fly and try to get in and out of a place like Portland, Maine where the is not a direct flights. The system worked so well last year we won the championship. A lot of those players will have the opportunity to make our team this year and that is exactly what we wanted. We felt that doing Hershey, that building a new practice facility, continuing to draft well, managing our cap well so that when people's contracts expire we can keep them and that all of this would culminate into a very, very valuable franchise that is on the incline. That is what we want, we wanted to build an identify. We wanted to basically create a team.. I call it NHL 2.0, it's Washington Capitals 2.0. Be ready for a new league economics, be ready for the new rules, the new NHL and try to anticipate and understand what that will all mean and build a team that takes advantage of what the new rules would be.
WFY: Olie Kolzig means a lot to the Capitals. He's been there for about 10 years.
Leonsis: I think Olie has been in the system for about 15 years almost half our lifetime. He's a remarkable leader, a great athlete and a great person. He and Alex are really the bedrocks of our team right now. He is very loyal to us and we are very loyal to him. My sincerest goal is to build a team he can a cup from.
WFY: He's certainly one of the most popular Capitals ever. What about some of the most popular Capitals ever? Will we be seeing more of the Dale Hunters, Rod Langways around?
Leonsis: Rod, we have totally embraced...Rod has carte blanche with us. Dale we love, but Dale is fully engaged in is hometown. He owns a junior team and the arena, he is very happy up there but, he is still a member of the court here and he brings great tradition and great history and great learning's when we are around him. He is personally one of my favorite people.
WFY: Recently in your blog you noted that every regular season game is televised. Was that not the case when you came on board?
Leonsis: That was one of the deliverables that I promised. We are trying to meet our commitment. The glass is being replaced with brand new glass at the Verizon. Not a big deal, a very nice thing for Washington Sports and Abe Pollin to do for us. It cost a lot of money, but it'll make the viewing experience that much better. Working with television to get every game on was important. Last night, we tried to broadcast our game in broadband, we had some difficulties. You were only able to listen to the game through internet radio. We are tying to do lots of little things to make the whole Capitals experience more pleasant for our fans.
WFY: Speaking of little things, will you be putting up any banners downtown?
Leonsis: We're not allowed to do it. The city has to do it fro you. You can hardly do any outdoor advertising. A couple of walls they'll allow you to do it. I do think the city needs to help us. It needs to help promote baseball and hockey. In case anyone hasn't noticed, Verizon Center is one of the catalysts for the turnaround of downtown D.C. The City is going to put up $600 million or so, they need to continue to help make these franchises successful.
WFY: Are there any parting notes you would like to say to the fans who are excited about Caps hockey or interested in learning about it?
Leonsis: I think we're trying to do right now is explain to people there has never been a better time to invest. I like to explain to people that the Chicago Bulls when they drafted Michael Jordan still had tickets available and then they started to make the playoffs and win championships and you couldn't get near the place. Now is the time to buy in. This is like a young stock -- great company about to IPO and there has never been a better time and it'll never be easier or cheaper to get tickets and get involved and I do think the team is on the upswing and we will build a really good team for a long time.
Thoughts on pink hockey merchandise - William World News
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Thoughts on pink hockey merchandise
Today, Off Wing Opinion posted about the NHL's plan to start selling pink jerseys as a way to make money off of female fans.
The whole phenomenon of pink sports merchandise has been a bit of a mystery to me because it seems a bit stererotypical and condescending (like marketing pink toolboxes to single women who own homes), but hey, to each her own right? I don't care one way or another, wear what you like.
Anyway, while I was killing time this evening I surfed over to Chris Creamer's sportslogos.net, a great site for uniform geeks like me, I saw that the "Buffaslug" logo the Sabres were rumored to debut is going to be official. I put 2 and 2 together and realized that awful thing would seemingly be sold in a pink version too. It then occurred to me that a pink Buffaslug jersey would be an excellent uniform for rookie hazing. Seriously, see what I mean:
Would wearing a dress on a plane trip be worse than that thing? I don't know, but I think some NHL rookies are going to find out.
It's one thing if selling pink themed sports items serves a purpose, such as to support charities such as the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, which MLB did so over Mother's Day weekend. It's something completely different if it's just to draw female fans. Granted, the wife likes pink, but at the same token, she would feel that pink and hockey don't mix. I mean, hockey does have the potential to be unadulterated violence from time to time, and I think you'd be more likely to be beaten for wearing a pink jersey should it show up at a game. Just a thought.
# posted by Muha :
Thursday, August 03, 2006 5:34:00 AM
Thanks for the mention. I will point and laugh at any woman who wears these jerseys. Honestly, I don't see very many pink jerseys (if I've seen any at all) at baseball or football games; I don't think they'll go over well at hockey games.
# posted by DCSportsChick :
Thursday, August 03, 2006 9:26:00 AM
I would never be caught dead in a jersey like that. Eek. Wearing a jersey like that to a sports game will be almost as bad as those hoochies who wear shorty shorts and teeny tiny tank tops to games.
Myron Cope is out with an updated version of his autobiography, Double Yoi. The main addition is a 54-page preface that updates readers on Marn's retirement. I will have to get a copy when I am in Pittsburgh this winter.
Notebook: Cope moved out of intensive care - Tribune-Review Apparently, Myron Cope has been in the hospital for days and this is the first I am hearing of it. The good news is that he is out of intensive care. He keeps getting pneumonia.
Fans of sports uniform minutiae rejoice -- Paul Lukas author of the Uni Watch column on ESPN.com's Page has started a blog! He even has a stirrup in the logo.
"People always ask me if I miss it. There was a time last week against Cincinnati when the center snapped the ball wild, and Billy Hillgrove described what happened. And he said it was the [Bengals'] long snapper, Brad St. Louis. And I immediately wanted to yell, 'Brad St. Louis snapped that ball from Cincinnati to St. Louis.' But I couldn't. I wanted to rise to my feet, because that's what I would do in the booth. I wanted to yell about it; I mean, proclaim it! But if I did that now, I'd make a fool of myself in an empty living room. So at those moments, you see, I miss it."
I lost another sports bet. The Redskins were fired up from the start and crushed the Cowboys. Congratulations go to Dave for the stunning victory, I will call in my concession speech as soon as I find your phone number.
I have to wonder if the Redskins' uniform choice was at play. For the second week in a row, they wore white pants with their white jerseys. It looks like training camp out there, but they seem to have success when they go monochromatic. If I recall correctly, they won twice in as many tries with that look during Spurrier's reign of error, making them 4-0 overall in the all whites. I don't like it though; I am a traditionalist after all, this mix and match stuff is downright bush league. We can only wonder how long until the horror of all-burgundy comes to fruition.
Brotman's job of a lifetime - William World News Senators PA announcer returns to the press box after 34 years I am pleased to announce that my first feature article is now available, just in time for opening day.
Last month, I had the pleasure of interviewing Charlie Brotman, the once-and-future opening day PA announcer. Our long telephone conversation was a great look at D.C. baseball past and present. I hope you enjoy the article I wrote from that interview.
Special thanks to Erica J. Marker, copy editor and Fritz Hamme, associate editor.
The reviews of the Nats hats have been mixed. Some people, myself included, love them, while others think the "W" looks like it is from a dude ranch. That may have been true for the last Senators cap, which inspired the current model, but the "W" is a cleaner typeface now. The "DC" cap (and something I campaigned for on my Nats portal), used during spring training and for batting practice, has been positively received and gotten good press. While the "DC" has a lot of cachet, but I am just head over heels with the W. I would not be surprised if the "DC" hat does become official someday though, they can switch off every few years.
Home
Away
This got me to thinking that whether you like the W or not, it is an improvement over initial hats of almost of all of the expansion franchises since 1969. Since then, only two teams (Royals and Rockies) have had what could be considered a "classic" look, while others have been pretty gaudy, if not atrocious. Let's compare, shall we:
San Diego Padres (1969)
Their brown and yellow scheme was awful. Their last two designs have been solid though, but it took 16 years to get something decent.
Montreal Expos (1969)
The Nats predecssors logo was mysertrious to many baseball fans. Back in the mid-90s, I remember doubting a friend who told me that it was suppossed to be an "M." I later learned it was suppossed to be "eMb" for Expos Montreal Baseball. The tri-color hat was also pretty hard on the eyes.
Seattle Pilots (1969)
Just plain ugly, no other way around it. It's no wonder they only lasted a season. They are the only baseball team of the last fifty years (if not longer) to have something on the bill of the hat.
Kansas City Royals (1969)
The best out of all the second wave-and-beyond expansion teams. Simple, elegant and classic. They have stuck with the interlocking "KC" and probably always will. This was a big improvement over the Kansas City A's cap. They need to return to the royal blue cap full time though.
Milwaukee Brewers (1970)
Pretty good for a team that was created days before the season began. Very similar to the Braves cap, only with different colors. Reminds me a little bit of the Michigan hat though, so points off there.
Texas Rangers (1972)
A big white "T" with a red outline. Not great to look at, but not horrible either except for the fact it had been a "W" the previous year.
Toronto Blue Jays (1977)
Overall, not a bad logo, but too big for a ballcap. It looked better when it was all blue. They also had the white front that was popular at the time. Surprisingly, this was better than the design that followed.
Seattle Mariners (1969)
A trident as an "M"? This hat is a nice effort to be unique, but ignores the city they played in which is a no-no in my book and it just is not very attractive. Looks kind of like an NBA throwback logo.
Colorado Rockies (1993)
Though not exciting, a perfectly servicable design that will never look dated. I think they added a little purple to it over the years, which detracts from it a little bit.
Florida Marlins (1993)
It is tough having such a bad name and that is reflected in the crummy hat. Whether it was teal or black, the swordfish/F logo is too big and well, ugly.
Arizona Diamondbacks (1998)
Another bad name that sounds like something out of the NBA. The "A" is too big and has too many colors. The serpintine D for road games was slightly better.
Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998)
Another example of why teams should not name themselves after aquatic life. The big TB around a manta ray looks minor league, so I guess it fits this sorry franchise.
Now, don't you feel better about the "W" already? Out of all of these, the "W" is at least top three since '69, so in the end, like or not, we did alright.You think of a baseball cap as not only part of the official uniform, but in the best case scenario a symbol of a city. The best ones are simple and elegant, while the worst ones tend to be garish and complicated. Here is my review of the 30 caps currently used in the big leagues.
Great hats
Nationals - an improvement on the past, very distinctive Yankees - pretty much the same for eight decades Red Sox - too many being purchased lately Dodgers - hasn't changed since moving out of Brooklyn Giants - a great insignia -- cites that have two words in their names are at an advantage Pirates - just about perfect, this says "Pittsburgh" and represents the city better than just about any other Phillies - back to basics, a dramatic improvement over previous insignia White Sox - was a sensation when it debuted Detroit - good enough for Thomas Magnum Twins - moving back to the TC hat was a good idea Brewers - probably my favorite new design, the barley is subtle enough Cardinals - it has worked for decades Reds - drop shadow addition makes a classic even better
Good
Cubs - C is not the easiest letter to work with, but changing it does not make sense Padres - it works Royals - switching to black as primary color responsible for demotion Angels - an improvement over the previous Disney model and a nice nod to prior versions Braves - simple, but effective
Okay
Mets - they are messing around with a great insignia by adding too many colors, they used to be great Mariners - too busy, too many colors Astros - their best hat was for their previous nickname Colorado - kind of boring, looked better without the purple Baltimore - previous bird looked better Rangers - better than the plain block "T" A's - decent, but could represent any city and probably will soon enough
Bad
Diamondbacks - too big, too many colors, I don't know why anyone would wear it outside of Arizona or in Arizona for that matter Devil Rays - just dreadful, the manta ray is a poor animal for a nickname and should be removed from the hat; this makes that whole region look bad Blue Jays - not as good as original hat; looks like it belongs on a football helmet Marlins - the fish is stupid, but there is hope - team may be called "Miami" in a few years and redesign the hat Indians - outdated caricature, put a "C" on the hat and be done with it
That was really interesting, really exhaustive, really great. I liked the blue cap immediately, was less certain of the red one. I feel better now, though.
# posted by Basil :
Monday, March 14, 2005 12:59:00 PM
dude,as a marlins fan i must say teal is much better than rooting for a canadian refugee team using an sorry washington senators logo that prompted the team to leave D.C. twice! third time perhaps? oh yeah.... teal has two world championships in 10 years and the senators/nationals have none in a combined 215 years! do the math. south florida teal forever!!!!!!!!! ppppppuuuuukkkkkeeeee!
# posted by Anonymous :
Wednesday, July 27, 2005 12:25:00 PM
Brad Wilkerson has switched his jersey number to #7, which allows newcomer (which is of course a relative term for a relocated team) Jose Guillen to wear #6. Hopefully, this change was not a result of any batting helmets being thrown around.
This got me to thinking about some D.C. sports numerology. If Wilkerson plays as well as he did last year in Montreal, he is just about assured of being the second greatest #7 in D.C. sports history. I think you all know who the best #7 is (even if you don't like him) and sorry, Yvon Labre, it is not you.
Here is a rundown of D.C.'s most notable by number, off the top of my head, more or less. It favors the Redskins since they have had many more players, more success, and higher numbers than other sports. However, it is a pretty good mix, I think.
0 - Gilbert Arenas, by default 1 - Eddie Yost, Senators catcher, manager 2 - Another tough one; Ralf Mojsiejenko? No, it turns out Roy Sievers wore 2 for the Senators 3 - Harmon Killebrew was starting getting good at the end of his D.C. years, so not him. Mickey Vernon wore #3 as well but I think you have to go with Mark Mosley, who was a vital part of championship teams. 4 - Joe Cronin 5 - Rod Langway 6 - Ali-Haji Shank? Calle Johansen? Nope, Joe Judge of the old Nationals 7 - Joe Theisman (nee Theezman) 8 - Johnny field goal, aka Chip Lohmiller 9 - Sonny Jurgenson easily over Frank Howard, Ted Williams, and Mia Hamm with Freddy Adu on deck. 10 - There has to be someone better than Jay Schroeder 11 - Elvin Hayes ('78 NBA title) edges Mark Rypien (Super Bowl XXVI MVP) for a better overall career. 12 - BONZAI! Peter Bondra, but I was pulling for Babe Laufenberg, perriennial third string QB. 13 - Not Max Zendajas or any Zendajas (the Gramatica's of the '80s) brothers for that matter 14 - Eddie Labaron over Brad Johnson, I guess 15 - Roy Lassiter? Bobby Convey? 16 - No one special, though Stan Humphries, Rich Gannon and Rodney Peete wore it before going to Super Bowls with other teams. Norm Snead wore this number and was most noteworthy for being sent to Philly for Sonny. 17 - Doug Williams over Billy Kilmer. Billy played longer, but never won a Super Bowl and fans were split between him and Sonny. Doug was briefly king of D.C. Forget Chris Simon ever worse this number. 18 - Craig Laughlin 19 - There has to have been someone better than Brendan Witt 20 - Josh Gibson of the Grays (should be retired, but Frank Robinson wears it now) 21 - Earnest Byner 22 - Steve Konawalchuk over Dino Ciccarelli 23 - Michael Jordan -- when Teddy E-mail gets Les Boulez, he'll retire it 24 - Champ Bailey 25 - Walter Johnson (never had a number as a player, wore it as a manager). As a player, Joe Washington deserves consideration. 26 - Paul Krause 27 - Ken Houston 28 - Darrell Green 29 - Mark Murphy because he is the only 29 I can remember 30 - Brian Mitchell over Bernard King 31 - Ken Jenkins, who returned kicks 32 - Dale Hunter with honorable mention to Buck Leonard 33 - Sammy Baugh. Honorable mention to Frank Howard, who kept wearing the number of someone more famous. More honorable metions - Patrick Ewing and Alonzo Mourning and just because, Don Beaupre. 34 - Wild Thing -- Al Iafrate or Kevin Grevey? Iafrate was briefly famous, but Grevey has a pretty good sports bar in Merrified and won a championship. 35 - Calvin Hill 36 - Timmy Smith - the one game wonder! 37 - Olie Kolzig over Gerald Riggs 38 - George Rogers 39 - Otis Wonsley 40 - Another tough one; a lot of unspectacular Redskins come to mind. 41 - Wes Unseld 42 - Charley Taylor 43 - Find Larry Brown and punish him. 44 - John Riggins (no contest) 45 - Barry Wilburn 46 - anyone? 47 - Dick James 48 - Stephen Davis, another former Redskin who played in a Super Bowl. 49 - Bobby Mitchell 50 - Anyone? 51 - Monty Coleman 52 - Neil Olkawiez 53 - Jeff Bostic 54 - Not Pete Cronin 55 - Dikembe Mutumbo over Mel Kaufmann and Chris Hanberger 56 - Lavar Arrington 57 - Rich Milot over fellow Penn Stater Matt Millen 58 - Wilbur Marshall 59 - anyone? 60 - Chris Samuels, I guess 61 - LIVAN! 63 - anyone? 64 - anyone? 65 - Dave Butz 66 - Joe Jacoby - THEATERVISION! 67 - anyone? 68 - Pittsburgh native Russ Grimm or Pittsburgh transplant Jaromir Jagr 69 - Mark Schlereth 70 - The violent world Sam Huff 71 - Charles "Swanson's Hungry" Mann 72 - Dexter "currently paroled" Manley over Diron Talbert 73 - Trev Alberts' foil, Mark May 74 - George Stark 75 - Brandon Noble - I'll admit I am putting him in because he is a Penn Stater 76 - Manute! Oh wait, he wore that in Philly, here he wore #10. 77 - Adam Oates over Gheorge Muresan 78 - anyone? 79 - Jim Lachey 80 - Not Desmond Howard - Roy Jefferson 81 - Art Monk, who should be in the Hall of Fame already. 82 - Anyone but Michael Westbrook 83 - Pres. Reagan's favorite WR, Ricky Sanders 84 - Gary Clark 85 - Don Warren - he spoke at my middle school! 86 - Clint Didier 87 - Jerry Smith, though Downtown Charlie Brown wore it too 88 - Rick "Doc" Walker, but mostly for his post-Redskins career 89 - Terry Orr, the prototype "H-back," though Howard Cosell might say Alvin Garret.
I am not even boterhing with the 90s.
Disagree with me? Did I leave anyone out? Add your comments below...
Charlie Weis, Notre Dame, decided schematic advantage, hubris
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