One of my now favorite sports writers for the Washington Post, Tracee Hamilton, wrote a column today, Olympic hockey rules for overtime and shootouts,
This followed the dramatic eight round shoot-out, technically in International Hockey referred to as Game Winning Shots (GWS), where the U.S. beat Russia in a preliminary round game in hockey 3-2.
I coordinate a season ticket group for Nationals games. Each year we have a draft where the games are allocated, Ellen and I get 27 home games (of the 81) plus we pick up perhaps… Updates From The War of the Nationals
So after last year’s magical baseball carpet ride with the Nationals which ended when Drew Storen pulled on that thread hanging out of the carpet and unraveled the whole thing, THIS YEAR has been a tough go of it.
Terrible fielding, slumps by almost everyone not injured and not named Werth, and the off-season free agent signings not living up to expectations have kept the Nationals at or below .500. I must admit I liked it better when they had the best record in baseball, but as I said last year was pretty magical.
And yet, and yet – even though they only have a really small (imagine two fingers held very close together) chance of making the playoffs, the chance is still above zero (imagine two fingers held very close but still separate).
As Usual A Sports Team I Root For Is Toying With Me – Go Nationals
FEDERAL NEWS COUNTDOWN
As many of you know (assuming that there is in fact a ‘you’, that is people who read this), I am fortunate to be asked back by the evidently non-discerning, but always interesting and entertaining, Francis Rose to be on his show the Federal News Countdown, http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=155.
I will be on tomorrow, Friday, August 16 at 3pm, on AM 1500 on your radio dial.
The way the show works is Francis invites two ‘experts’ (his words) who ‘discuss the three news stories they think are most important in the world of government’. I learn a lot from the experience.
First, I am forced to think about what I actually think are news stories that have some importance, at least for the week I participate. I even have to rank them from third most important to the very most important article.
Second, I always learn from the interaction with the other guest. Francis is great at getting together two people who bring different perspectives; it is always great fun for me.
Federal News Countdown, the Nationals, and the Maryland Renaissance Festival
Saturday, March 16th, was our last day at the Nationals Spring Training in the Viera/Melbourne area. The game was on MASN and was scheduled for 6pm so we spent a mostly leisurely time during the day. Of course, leisurely for me meant working on grading participation in my UMUC class.
We had lunch at one of the restaurants that has become a favorite of ours when we visit, Cedar’s Café, http://www.cedarscafe.com/. This is really a wonderful middle-eastern restaurant. We have met the family who owns it and does much of the cooking a number of times. They spent some time showing Ellen how they made the food which has made our visits a bit more special.
Today was an away game in Jupiter against the Cardinals. The Cardinals are one of the few other East Coast Florida teams, we have gone to a Jupiter game almost every year we have gone… Our Annual Nationals Spring Training Pilgrimage – Day 3
It is always great fun coming to Nationals Spring Training. For those of you who have never done so, I would recommend it (either for the Nationals if that is your favorite baseball team, or for whichever team is).
The weather is pretty nice, especially the further north you live, the pace is informal, the fields much smaller and intimate and the opportunity to run into players either at the game or in restaurants or similar locations much higher.
We flew down Wednesday morning. I actually had some business to transact for our first stop.
Nationals Spring Training Pilgrimage – Two Days Down, Two To Go
I wrote about the Hockey Lockout earlier this month, https://www.ourownlittlecorner.com/2012/12/08/my-two-cents-about-the-hockey-lockout/. Sadly the lockout continues though there are some signs that it may be finally coming to an end. It seems to me that the fundamental… The NHL and Revenue Sharing
My spectator sports life normally has symmetry about it. Six months of the year I care about the Washington Nationals and six months of the year I care about the Washington Capitals. While I notice… My Two Cents About the Hockey Lockout
Last night I had the pleasure of going to a game lost by the Washington Nationals. And, of course, the reason was that in the middle of the 9th inning, we found out that the Pittsburgh Pirates had beaten the second place Atlanta Braves which meant the Nationals had won the National League East.
I am one of those people born in Washington DC and lived in the area all my life. I still have fond memories of my father taking me to see the hapless Washington Senators at Griffith Stadium. For those who never went, Griffith Stadium was sort-of a mirror image of Fenway Park in Boston. Washington’s ‘Green Monster’ was in right field, not like Fenway’s left field one. The other difference was that Washington’s team was ALWAYS terrible and the crowd’s fairly small.Turning A Page