Caps Step Up in Game 3, Ovie's Turn in Game 4

The Caps played last night and stepped up their game. They beat the seventh seeded rangers to put themselves back into the competition. The Rangers lead the series is now 2-1 and the Caps play again tomorrow in an attempt to tie the series and show that the slow start in the first two games was not such a big deal. The Caps managed to find their offense last night and their young goalie stayed strong and allowed no goals for a final score of 4-0.

While the Caps came on strong, their star player still isn't living up to all his hype. Alex Ovechkin has yet to record a playoff goal. He had two assists last night. Which is good to see he's not trying to put all the pressure on him and let the team do some of the work in the win. A good leader should be willing to let others help.

But obviously a good leader also needs to lead. He's the top scorer on the team. Now that the Caps have won a game without him scoring he needs to step up and lead this offense. He is a viable threat and should be seen as one. Sure, I'm all for spreading the wealth and doing what it takes to win games. But I don't know how successful the Caps are going to be if Ovechkin can't get his swagger back. He is the spirit of this team.

Hopefully tomorrow he'll find his shot and truly lead his team. I'm not really sure they can win this series without his scoring. But then again, a win is a win. And I'll take it no matter who scores. I just want to see the Caps move on in the playoffs.

Maybe Next Year

This has been a year of unlikely happenings. And while the world seems to be falling apart everywhere you look with the economic crisis, the on going wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the end of these being nowhere in sight, there have been some great things that have happened this year. And with the new year comes new hope.

I'm just going to talk about the good things in the sports world. Though I love politics, I've tried to keep this blog free of my personal views on the election. However, it is impossible to talk about things happening this year without at least mentioning the historic election of Barack Obama. And to tie this into sports somehow, he has expressed interest in getting a playoff system for college football. And for that policy he has my whole hearted support.

This year has been one of upsets and unlikely characters winning. The World Series featured the Tampa Bay Ray, who had never before had a winning season and the Philadelphia Phillies, whose city had suffered from a 25 year championship drought. The Phillies won and the in an even more unlikely turn of events, everyone is Philadelphia was happy for a few weeks. That was a truly amazing sight. The Rays gave hope to every small market team that with good management and a well stocked farm system allows a team to compete even in a division with the Yankees and the Red Sox.

Another surprise this year for me was the Ravens actually being competitive. With so much turnover and so many changes I picked them to go 5-11. They are now one win away from having the opposite record and going to the playoffs. My hopes for maybe next year turned into maybe this year. A win over Jacksonville tomorrow will cement a playoff berth and even a loss with some help could send them into the post season. The Ravens have been competitive all season and had some hard losses. Overall, they've been really fun to watch and it's been great to finally see some offense from this team.

The Terps football team was one of constant surprises. Each week a different team seemed to take the field. And they seemed to win the games they were supposed to lose and lose the ones they were supposed to win. They went from thoroughly enjoyable to completely unwatchable. It was a frustrating season, but they ended with a respectable record and a bowl game. So next year hopefully they'll be a tad more consistent and go to a bowl game in a warm city, instead of Boise. But a bowl game is always nice, expect another post about this soon.

The Terps basketball team is off to a great start this season. They are 8-2 and winning at the moment. They haven't lost any truly damaging out of conference games. They're only two losses coming to Georgetown and Gonzaga, both ranked. And they have managed upset wins over Michigan and Michigan State. They are playing well with a young team and look to be in a good position going into ACC play in the new year. Hopefully this season will end with a tournament appearance, and not the NIT. Right now things are looking good for the young Terps team.

I also discovered hockey this year. And apparently at the right time. The Caps went from being one of the worst teams in the league to winning their division and making the playoffs last year. Even though they were eliminated in the first round, they fought til the end and gained good experience. This season, the Caps have suffered injury after injury and are still leading their division by ten points. They could make a good run this season if they can get everyone or mostly everyone healthy by playoff time.

Even the Orioles seem to be moving in the right direction. They are shoring up their farm system and trying to sign young players to improve their core. They didn't get Teixeira, but not all is lost. The hometown boy probably wouldn't have been the savior they were looking for anyway. And while it's a slap in the face to go play in New York, that money can be better spent on quality pitching, a far more pressing need for this team. But with Baltimore back on the jerseys, maybe next season will be a winning one.

The Summer Olympics also took place this year. Michael Phelps popularized swimming and won a record eight gold medals. There was also some scandal involved with possibly underage gymnasts. And Usain Bolt shattered his world record 100 meter time even though he slowed down at the end to showboat. China dominated sports I didn't know existed like synchronized diving and trampoline. But the US had strong showing overall and I got sucked into watching sports I didn't care about and cheering for unlikely comebacks. I'm actually excited to see what happens in four years.

The new year is a time to look back and see how far things have come. Its a time to remember the good things of the year and think of ways to make the next year better. With so much turmoil and uncertainty in the world right now its nice to be able to look at sports think of the eternal hope of sports fans. Maybe next year things will turn around.

Thanks for everyone who has supported and read my blog this year. I've really enjoyed writing it and appreciate all the comments and criticisms. I'll try to get a few more posts up this year, but I thought I'd thank you all in advance. Have a happy new year.

Journey to Hockey Fandom

So this is my first full season as a hockey fan. I guess I picked the right time to start being a Caps fan, they made a huge turn around last season and somehow made the playoffs, but left after losing the seventh game of the first round to the angry Flyers. Right now they are leading the Southeastern Conference with an 11-4-3 record. They lead with 25 points. I haven't actually watched any hockey this season, but I have been trying to follow the Capitals through news and standings. Yes, I'm a sorry fan, but I am trying.

I know how Alex Ovechkin left the team for a few games to be with his ailing grandfather in Russia. I know how Alex Semin stepped up in his absence and is maturing into real leader on this team. I know how Ovechkin has found his stride again and has become a point scoring machine. And I know that I should be paying more attention.

Hockey fandom is new to me. I forget that I like it until I start paying attention, then suddenly I realize that I missed it. It's weird to think a year ago I probably couldn't have told you a single player on the Capitals. Now, I try to follow what's happening with them on a regular basis. I'm not at the point where I go out of my way to watch games yet, but who knows what will happen as the season wears on.

The Capitals are shaping up to be a formidable team this year. Not just the Alex the Great show, well maybe the Alex the Great and Alex the Awesome. As this team matures and players come into their own and still work great together, this is a team that is built to win. And after a heartbreaking loss in the first round of the playoffs last year, they will have the experience to go farther and do better this year. I don't know what's happening around the rest of the league but according the the ESPN power rankings the Caps are 6th. But that's the same world wide leader in sports that didn't have hockey power rankings for two weeks with no explanation. So, take them with a few grains of salt.

I don't know what's going to happen. But so far I'm enjoying becoming a hockey fan, and I will really try to go to a game soon. I really want to be a better fan.

Fall Eases Pain

Fall might be the best sports season of the year. The air is crisp. Well actually its a little humid in Philly this weekend. There's excitement abounding for all the different sports that are starting and getting into the meat of their schedules. Summer is fading away and the its time to replace swimsuits with sweaters, beach weekends with tailgates and baseball with a myriad of other sports.

Baseball is winding down. And even though the playoffs will go into October, my Orioles won't be heading there. I can't say that I'm that upset. I'm actually pretty excited, they have already won 18 more games than I thought they would and since they play their last game today, it might be 19. And they kept me interested in baseball all the way until August, which is longer than most years. But still watching them fall apart in August is always hard. Its a pain that even though its completely expected, never really hurts less because you know its coming. And I'm ready to go from cautious to overly optimistic about my other sports teams and forget the pain the Orioles have inflicted on me once again. And now I'll have some time to forget about it so I can be excited for the heartbreak that will be next season. Though...if the O's could just get some healthy starting pitchers maybe we could be good, maybe even winning season good. See I'm already managing to forget this September.

Another thing about fall is that there's just some gut instinct that this is a time when things are supposed to happen. Yesterday was a prime example. It was just full of upsets in college football. It seemed like all the top 25 teams lost or when they played each other, the lower ranked team won. Even Maryland beat Clemson in an upset. It was completely unexpected and awesome. Maryland didn't really show up in the first half and it seemed like a lost cause. I'm pretty sure my head was in my hands every time Clemson had the ball, I really didn't want to watch them run all over my Terps. I mean, our best play of the first half came when a ball bounced of the shoulder of a Maryland player and being somehow caught by another Maryland receiver. It wasn't even a designed play that got us the most yardage. That's hard to watch. But in the second half something changed. The defense stepped up and suddenly Clemson was facing third downs (which they hadn't really had to deal with in the first half) and Clemson was punting. PUNTING!!! I don't think that happened in the whole first half. But I'm not entirely sure about that, like I said, I spent a lot of time staring at my hands. If you had told me after barely beating Delaware that Maryland would be 4-1 and have beaten two ranked teams at this time of year I would have looked at you quizzically and made some comment about you being overly optimistic. But hell, we could win the ACC, no one else seems to be rising to the challenge. Its a wide open race at this point. Now its completely possible that this team will also bring me pain. I mean just watching the first half against Clemson was excruciating, but we won in the end so its just a minor ache in hindsight.

Also helping me to forget the pain of baseball is the NFL. The Ravens are 2-0 and the defense is looking nasty. Pittsburgh's offensive line allowed Big Ben to get sacked 8 times last week. I'm thinking that he better get ready, because Baltimore loves nothing more than throwing the quarterback around. After two solid starts against terrible teams, the Ravens will finally have a chance to show they can be a contender against a solid Pittsburgh team. Tomorrow will truly be the time for Joe Flacco to step up. Despite the poor offensive line, the Steelers are still a team to be reckoned with, and playing them at Pittsburgh will be a tough challenge for Flaccos first away game. I'm hoping the Ravens bring their A-game and take control of the AFC North.

And as an added bonus hockey season has started. Well, its just preseason, but still. Now a few years ago, I couldn't have cared less about hockey. Then I moved to Philadelphia where people love their hockey. I have to give it to Philly, they love their sports teams, even if they do boo them mercilessly. But that wasn't enough to really sell me on the sport. I watched a couple games, learned a few terms and found out that Ovechkin is awesome, but didn't really pay that much attention. I mean that Caps were still pretty terrible and I can't really cheer for a Philly team and thereby be considered a Philadelphia fan. But then I met a guy who loved hockey. Wanting to be able to talk to him about the Caps and as a result impress him I started paying attention. Needless to say, things didn't really work out with the guy, but that's ok, because I developed a longer lasting and stronger relationship with hockey. It helped that the Caps turned the team around and made the playoffs. Now the season is starting up again and the Caps are 3-0. Hockey season is really long, but its always nice to start out winning. It'll probably be hard for me to watch a lot of Caps games up here in Philly but since hockey plays pretty much every night of the week, I'm sure I'll get a few games in eventually.

I'm even mildly interested in the NBA this year. Not that I'll ever go out of my way to watch a game. But Juan Dixon of the Maryland National Championship team was signed by the Wizards. And that is a move that makes me slightly interested and willing to pay at least a little attention to them.

Overall, I'm excited about the way things have been shaping up so far. And regardless of how all these seasons finish up, I'm happy to enjoy them now. It helps to ease the pain of the looming cold weather and the terrible September for the Orioles.