Posted on October 6th, 2017
By DERON SNYDER
Most prognosticators have the Capitals returning to the pack after back-to-back Metropolitan Division titles and President’s Trophies. The forecast is based on the numerous veterans from last year who now wear different sweaters, including Marcus Johannsson, Justin Williams and Karl Alzner.
Additionally, Alex Ovechkin apparently showed his age in scoring just 33 goals last season, his second-lowest total in a full campaign. The 32-year-old “Great Eight,” entering his 13th season, is supposed to be a shell of his former self. Adjusting his style of play and making a new commitment training would be his only hope of remaining an elite scorer.
All those things might be true.
But for at least two games, Ovi reminded everyone of his generational greatness. He just became the first NHL player in 100 years to open a season with back-to-back hat tricks.
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Posted on October 5th, 2017
By DERON SNYDER
Thursday and Friday bring a tale of two seasons to the DMV, one getting underway and one possibly ending next week.
The Washington Capitals, coming off back-to-back division titles, open the regular season 900 miles away in Ottawa. In Southeast DC, the Washington Nationals begin the postseason after winning their second consecutive division crown.
The two franchises share more than a city and jittery fan base. Each has a recent history of being uncommonly good … except when it matters the most.
For the Nats, winning the NL East four times in six years is overshadowed by the Division Series-eliminations in each instance. Their failure to advance hangs over Nationals Park and will fly with them to Wrigley Field, where the 2016 World Series banner waves.
Considering how the Cubs’ went 108 years between championships, Chicago knows a little about quests for postseason success.
“I definitely think there’s probably a little bit more pressure on them,” Chicago utilityman Ben Zobrist told reporters Tuesday. “They haven’t been out of this first series yet. Obviously, they’re very motivated to try to do that. But they know it’s a very, very big moment for them and their organization.”
For the Caps, beginning their fourth season under coach Barry Trotz, Thursday feels like the exact opposite.
Their anxiety and tension is six months away, when the Stanley Cup playoffs begin. Washington’s performance between now and then is figuratively meaningless, just like the seven first-place finishes in the last 10 years. None of those seasons reached even the conference finals.
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Posted on October 3rd, 2017
By DERON SNYDER
Growing up as a young football fan in Brooklyn, I didn’t realize what I was missing. The revelation came upon leaving for Washington to attend Howard University.
There was more to NFL Sundays than Giants and Jets games.
Who knew?
Unfortunately, some children in Los Angeles might grow up believing that the league revolves around the Rams and Chargers. Their parents will long for the days when L.A. didn’t have franchises of its own, meaning the two or three most-appealing NFL contests were beamed into their homes every Sunday.
That’s not what I enjoyed when I arrived on campus, as Washington games were a constant. But this new, one-team market left room for the marquee matchups I previously only read about. And when the Colts moved to Indianapolis shortly thereafter, proximity to Baltimore became a bonus.
Between the TV stations there and in D.C., I had the opportunity to watch as many as five different games on a given Sunday!
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Posted on September 29th, 2017
By DERON SNYDER
So-called NBA “Big 3’s” have been the rage since LeBron James and Chris Bosh relocated to South Beach to team with Dwyane Wade. That union resulted in four consecutive trips to the Finals and a pair of titles.
The concept is hardly new. Bird-McHale-Parrish and Magic-Kareem-Worthy played virtual ping-pong with the Larry O’Brien Trophy in the ‘80s. The difference nowadays is superstars’ power to join forces with select other superstars.
Oklahoma City is the best example this season, where reigning MVP Russell Westbrook gets new running mates in Paul George and Carmelo Anthony. But not every team has three players on that level and no one besides Golden State has four (Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green).
Here in the District, the Wizards can boast of a super duo in John Wall and Bradley Beal. Otto Porter’s game isn’t quite to the level for a “Big 3,” but the other two could make up the difference.
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Posted on September 28th, 2017
By DERON SNYDER
Shock and outrage lurk every day, ready to erupt over the next update, sound bite, or tweet. The newsflashes are like chicken wings and we’re the hot oil, bubbling and popping and splattering when they’re dropped in our pan.
Federal authorities have given us a family pack, indicting four NCAA assistant basketball coaches and six other people in a fraud and corruption scheme.
Maybe I’m cynical and jaded. Or maybe my oil isn’t hot enough anymore. Whatever the reason, this isn’t worth the contempt and consternation that regularly flares up nowadays.
According to Joon H. Kim, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, a three-year investigation that included wire taps and undercover agents revealed “the dark underbelly of college athletics.”
The allegations are neither shocking nor outrageous.
College athletics’ dark underbelly has long been exposed, like a backside lying on the beach. Some schools get burnt; most get tanned. We wear sunglasses to protect our eyes and soothe our conscience, but we feel the heat and become acclimated.
Pass me a cold drink.
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Posted on September 25th, 2017
By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
Keeping politics out of sports has been a losing battle.
Who knew keeping sports out of politics was the next frontier?
That’s usually a non-issue (aside from proposed stadium deals), primarily relegated to elected officials’ friendly wagers on big games between their home teams. In a Ravens-Saints Super Bowl, for instance, Baltimore’s mayor might put up crab cakes against gumbo from New Orleans’ mayor.
The only controversy in such instances is how many staffers from the victorious City Hall can partake of the scrumptious meal.
Times were much simpler back then, last week, before President Trump unleased on NFL and NBA players who take issue with the current state of affairs.
Want to protest during the national anthem? You should be fired! Want to vote on visiting the White House? You’re no longer invited!
President Trump’s tirades over the weekend mixed politics and sports like no else can. Colin Kaepernick lit the fuse but the White House dropped the bomb. The Golden State Warriors were mulling their celebration at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue but Trump’s preemptive strike electrified the tradition.
Religion and politics supposedly are off-limit subjects in polite company. Trump has added sports to the list of third-rail topics that inspire raging debates.
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Posted on September 22nd, 2017
By DERON SNYDER
Sunday’s early games should have provided a clue. Very little about Week 3 would follow the script of expected outcomes.
New England needed a touchdown with 25 seconds remaining to get past Houston at Gillette Stadium. Jacksonville routed Baltimore. League darlings Denver and Tampa Bay were upset by Buffalo and Minnesota, respectively. Dismal Chicago beat Pittsburgh and even the moribund New York Jets tasted victory, against Miami.
That was the backdrop as Oakland and Washington prepared for kickoff at FedEx Field. The only sure bet? Players on each team would take a knee or protest in some other fashion during the national anthem.
Most of the Raiders sat or kneeled.
Then Washington kneed them in the groin and sat on their chests in a 27-10 dismantling.
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Posted on September 22nd, 2017
By DERON SNYDER
“Back in my day …”
That’s the gist of Charles Barkley’s rant against the NBA. The league reduced the number of back-to-back games and eliminated four-games-in-five-nights scenarios to produce a better overall product.
But the Hall of Famer views the move as coddling spoiled athletes who are making “30, 40 million dollars.
“I think it’s a travesty that the NBA didn’t just tell these guys to play basketball two days in a row,” Barkley told an audience Wednesday at Southern Methodist University. “Moving the season up, it’s just a joke to me.
“I’ve sat with older guys who took trains and played three days in a row,” he said. I think it’s a joke and travesty that these guys won’t play back-to-back games with all the private jets and stuff that they got. The NBA caved in, instead of making them play back-to-back games.”
He sounds like the grumpy old man telling kids to get off his lawn, jealous of their youth, wishing he was young again and able to enjoy their toys – nine-figure contracts, charter flights and less-demanding schedules.
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Posted on September 21st, 2017
By DERON SNYDER
Suffice it to say these aren’t your father’s pro athletes.
That’s not all bad.
A lack of introspection, empathy and sensitivity retarded emotional growth for decades among many of my gender, particularly those in the sports ethos. While the rest of society typically put work aside to attend their child’s birth, mourn the loss of relatives or celebrate family milestones, team schedules usually dictated the decision in sports.
Paternity leave? Get out of here!
Fast-forward to 2017 and many athletes are more enlightened if not totally progressive. They don’t fear their manhood being questioned if they share concerns about health and safety. Or if they’re unbothered that a future teammate might be gay. Or if they criticize their sport for being lenient in cases of violence against women.
Great. I loved the Geico cavemen but that’s the extent of my affection for Neanderthals.
I support guys who are in touch with their emotions and know their primary love language. However, there’s still a line and it was crossed this week by Robert Griffin III and Kevin Durant on Twitter.
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Posted on September 19th, 2017
By DERON SNYDER
Fans of the Washington NFL team can breathe a bit easier with 0-16 off the table.
Joyful outcomes might be few this year, but at least the Skins prevailed in their first “must-win” game. Thoughts of whiffing against the Los Angeles Rams, with Oakland and Kansas City up next, cast a pall over the season entering Week 2.
Instead, Washington proved it can win (27-20) by running the ball and playing defense. The Rams were gouged for 229 rushing yards while Kirk Cousins passed for a meager 179. Coach Jay Gruden channeled former Rams coach “Ground Chuck” Knox, calling for 36 handoffs.
“It’s important,” Gruden told reporters about pounding the football. “It keeps your defense fresh, you’re possessing the ball and the linemen love it. They have more fun doing that than pass protecting all day against Aaron Donald, Robert Quinn and those guys. We had a lot of success and the backs liked it. The receivers will eventually get to like it because it’ll open up a lot of play action and shock plays for us.”
So we learned something new about this team. But looking around the country, we learned something else in the season’s second week:
If the Skins are destined to produce mostly bad football, they’re going to have lots of company.
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