Why Washington DC has the Most Maligned Fan Base in the USA

Playoff disappointments had become a norm for the Washington Capitals entering the 2013 season. This year, however, we almost experienced something different: NO playoffs. This would have stunned this DC fan base which has become used to their team at least making the playoffs, before being disappointed.

Well, it's good if playoff disappointments are the worst occurrences in this area sports-wise, right? Um, No.

Let me broaden out from just the Caps. Since the first Super Bowl, the Washington Redskins have played 47 seasons (I'm not counting the pre-Super Bowl era). The Washington Wizards moved to Washington from Baltimore in 1973; they have 40 seasons. The Caps inaugural year was 1974. They have played 38 seasons (obviously, 2004-2005 does not count). And the Washington Nationals have been here since 2005; 8 full years. The four major sports teams in this area have played a combined 133 seasons. How many championships does DC have?

Four.

Washington DC has just four championships since 1966, when the Super Bowl era began. Three of them are by the Redskins (all of them coming within a 10-year span). The other one is by the Washington Bullets (now the Wizards) in 1978. All four championships came within 15 years of each other. None have come in the last 21 years, now.

Four out of 133 is not good. This is barely over a 3% win percentage; in other words, a DC sports team wins a championship once about every 33 seasons, or 8-9 years taking all four teams into account. Of course, this is misleading, because all of these came within a 15 year span or 45 years taking all teams into account (the Nationals were not born yet). This translates to winning once every 11 seasons, or three years now with four teams in this area. The difference between 8-9 years and three years is huge.

Still, however, we should be winning every 10 years at least, right? Yet, DC has not had a winner in over 20 years. An area that used to see a winner every three years or so has been dropped down to cheering for the Baltimore Ravens to win their second Super Bowl in 12 years.

What does this mean, though? DC at least has a winning history. What about places like Kansas City who only have two major championships?

KC has two major sports teams: the Chiefs (football) and Royals (baseball). The Chiefs have 47 seasons and one championship. The Royals have been around for 43 years and also have one championship. They have two championships in 90 seasons. Based on the calculations above, KC should get a championship every 22 years; it has been 28. Meanwhile, DC should get a championship every 8 years; it has been 21. Six years off versus 13 years off? That is a huge difference.

However, why compare ourselves to cities with fewer championships? If DC is a sports city, let's compare ourselves to a big sports city: NYC.

NYC has seven major sports teams. Combined, they have 447 seasons. Also combined, they have 44 championships. This goes to nearly a championship every year and a half. Their last championship, oddly enough, came about a year and a half ago thanks to the New York Giants.

New York City and Washington DC are two different cities. When there are more sports teams, it will be easier to win more championships. And yes, 27 of the 44 championships came thanks to the New York Yankees. But still, DC has four sports teams. Other cities like that? Boston, which like New York has a big frequency of championships. Miami (if you count the Florida Panthers), who have been successful thanks to the Heat and Dolphins. Cities with 5? Los Angeles, which has had great success as well. Chicago, who despite having the Cubs, win frequently. And, for obvious reasons, I'm not even mentioning Pittsburgh and their three teams.

Washington DC will not become a sports city with the next championship win, but it will be a big start. Until then, however, we DC fans will have to cheer for DC United and their four championships (although they're terrible now) or the Washington Kastles of World Team Tennis, who despite being founded in 2008, have three championship wins.

But please, Caps, Nats, Skins, or Wizards, win one for us, OK?
 

End Of Season Grades: 2013 Version

Once the season starts, I'll be grading the Caps at each quarter of the season, then the postseason whenever it ends. They'll be graded by section, with one 'top performer' in each section as well as a valedictorian for the season. So without further ado...

Here are the grades for the 2013 edition of the Washington Capitals.

GOALTENDING:
Grade: C (73%)
I sort of grade on a curve; whoever is smack dab in the middle gets a 75%. The Caps were 18th in the league in goals against this year, placing them just under the median (15th-16th). This placement is a little bit misleading, as the Caps goaltenders had some bad games at the beginning, but expectations were high for Braden Holtby and Michal Neuvirth, and they did not really live up to expectations. Holtby did well in the playoffs (except for the 5-0 loss in Game 7), but it is not enough to get them above the pack.
Top Performer: Braden Holtby
Well, duh. Holtby had a fantastic second half of the year and good playoffs. On top of that, when you play in 75% of the games and your team makes the playoffs, you have to be given some credit.

DEFENSE:
Grade: B (83%)
The best stat for the D is 5-on-5 goals for/against. The Caps were 10th in the league with 1.07, well above the median of 1.02-1.03. Of course, the D had some under performers this year (Jeff Schultz, Roman Hamrlik before he was released), but overall, when you still have a top 10 5-on-5 F/A, your D has done well offensively and defensively.
Top Performer: Steven Oleksy
Oleksy is probably not who you'd think of as the top performer on a D corps which includes John Carlson, Mike Green, and Karl Alzner, but Oleksy played some fantastic hockey this year. He brought much needed grit and energy to an injury-plagued D and was able to rack up respectable numbers as well. Not only did he help out offensively, he was also willing to drop the gloves when asked. Oleksy worked the hardest on the D this year, and that's good enough for me (besides, don't forget that pass in Game 1).

OFFENSE:
Grade: A (94%)
The Caps forwards did not start out all that well, but they ended 4th in the league in goals for, only behind Pittsburgh, Chicago and Tampa Bay. After a (excruciatingly) slow start, this group ended with 3.04 goals per game, tied with Montreal. Much of these came in the stretch run of the year, when goals are harder to come by, and therefore more important. In the playoffs, they fell apart a bit, but in the end of the regular season, the top two lines produced, the bottom two lines did a little bit of everything, and all-in-all there was a great effort. This was probably the best group on this team.
Top Performer: Alex Ovechkin
When you can lead your team in goals and points after 'vanishing' for the first half of the year, you deserve to be the top performer. When you can lead the league in goals and finish top 3 in points, well, you're not just the best player, on your unit, or maybe even your team; you are one of the best players in the league.

So who is the valedictorian? Vote on the poll to the side of the page. I'll combine the fan consensus and my vote and tell you all in a week.

Until then,
http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?intcmpid=nav-video-main
Enjoy.

Previewing the NHL Awards

Continuing with broadening out of the Caps zone for a while, here are my predictions for the NHL Award winners later this month.

A few posts ago, I talked about why Alex Ovechkin should win the Hart trophy for MVP. Here are the rest of the awards.

BRIDGESTONE MESSIER LEADERSHIP AWARD:
Candidates:
Daniel Alfredsson (Ottawa Senators)
Dustin Brown (Los Angeles Kings)
Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks)
To be honest, Brown really should not even be in this discussion. He is not even the biggest leader on his team (Drew Doughty, Jonathan Quick, and Anze Kopitar come to mind). He is a great man of charity, but that does not mean he is a great leader. This should come down to Alfie and Toews. I would pick Daniel Alfredsson. Even though he is 40 years old now, he led a Senators squad decimated by injury and was their leader both on and off the ice. Toews was great too, but Alfie did more.

JACK ADAMS AWARD (BEST COACH):
Candidates:
Bruce Boudreau (Anaheim Ducks)
Paul MacLean (Ottawa Senators)
Joel Queneville (Chicago Blackhawks)
This should come down to two people: Boudreau and MacLean. Queneville led the Blackhawks to an incredible 24 game point streak to start the season, but the other two led their teams to the playoffs despite terrible odds. I would choose Paul MacLean. Boudreau led the team from last year's basement to the Pacific Division championship. Along with that, MacLean, like Caps coach Adam Oates, only got a week of training camp to get to know them, and then led the Sens through the injuries. MacLean should be the choice for this.

LADY BYNG MEMORIAL TROPHY (SPORTSMANSHIP):
Candidates:
Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks)
Matt Moulson (New York Islanders)
Martin St. Louis (Tampa Bay Lightning)
This is really tough. All of these guys are known for their great sportsmanship. I'm going to go out on a limb here and choose Matt Moulson. He had only two penalties and four penalty minutes the entire season, the least for anyone who played a full season. On top of that, he was a finalist last year. This is a tough call, but I would vote for Moulson.

FRANK J. SELKE TROPHY (DEFENSIVE FORWARD):
Candidates:
Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins)
Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit Red Wings)
Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks)
This is also hard to decide. All three of these guys had outstanding season offensively and defensively. I would put this between Bergeron and Toews, if only because Datsyuk has already won three of these. I would choose Patrice Bergeron. He had more than 2 minutes of short-handed ice time per game for one of the best penalty-killing squads in the league. I feel kind of bad for Toews (I've picked against him twice now), but I would cast my vote for Bergeron.

BILL MASTERTON MEMORIAL TROPHY (PERSEVERANCE):
Candidates:
Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Josh Harding (Minnesota Wild)
Adam McQuaid (Boston Bruins)
This calls for a sentimental vote, in which case this is between Harding and McQuaid. Crosby battled back from injuries, but that is nothing compared to fighting through multiple sclerosis or Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. I would choose Josh Harding. The illness left him without energy and caused him blurred vision, making it extremely hard to play at all, let alone play goaltender. Yet, he had a fantastic series against the President's Trophy winner Chicago Blackhawks. McQuaid displayed great perseverance as well, but for me, Harding is the man.

GENERAL MANAGER OF THE YEAR:
Candidates:
Marc Bergevin (Montreal Canadiens)
Bob Murray (Anaheim Ducks)
Ray Shero (Pittsburgh Penguins)
GM of the year is always tough to choose. Bergevin and Murray brought teams that were in the basement last year to division championships this year, while Shero helped build the Miami Heat of the NHL. I would choose Marc Bergevin. I don't think buying the Easter Conference All-Star Team (minus Alex Ovechkin) is worth GM of the year. Murray and Bergevin both did similar things this year, but Bergevin's coach had less time to work with the team than Murray's. Bergevin would be my choice for this award.

TED LINDSAY AWARD (OUTSTANDING):
Candidates:
Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals)
Martin St. Louis (Tampa Bay Lightning)
I have to be fair... I have to be fair...
There really should not be any argument here. Unfortunately, this has to go to Sidney Crosby. When you can finish third in points despite missing a quarter of the season, you deserve to win this award. Ovechkin scored a lot of goals and did fantastic the second half of the season, while St. Louis won the Art Ross for most points, but Crosby has to be the choice here.

VEZINA TROPHY (BEST GOALTENDER):
Candidates:
Sergei Bobrovsky (Columbus Blue Jackets)
Henrik Lundqvist (New York Rangers)
Anti Niemi (San Jose Sharks)
This would be hard to decide save for one factor; this is only for the regular season. Because of this, Sergei Bobrovsky is the far and away choice for this. Lundqvist was good as usual, especially in the playoffs (as we Caps fans would know), as was Niemi. But the Jackets just missed the playoffs, and wouldn't have even been in that situation had it not been for Bob. He was stellar, especially in the stretch run, and would probably be in the Hart conversation had the Jackets made the playoffs. This is the award I am most certain about the outcome.

JAMES NORRIS MEMORIAL TROPHY (BEST DEFENDER):
Candidates:
Kris Letang (Pittsburgh Penguins)
P.K. Subban (Montreal Canadiens)
Ryan Suter (Minnesota Wild)
This is tough to call, if only because I didn't watch them that closely (I mean seriously, who follows defensemen who are not on their favorite or fantasy teams?). I would choose Ryan Suter because he skated incredible minutes. What he did in Game 1 of the playoff series is stuck in my head. In a game that lasted about 76 minutes, he skated over 41 minutes. He played more than half of the game, and continued skating big minutes, including over 32 minutes in a 62 minute Game 3. Albeit playoffs are not supposed to be considered for this, he was one of the best defensive defensemen this year, and also contributed offensively with 32 points in the regular season. Subban and Letang did well, but Suter is my guy.

CALDER MEMORIAL TROPHY (BEST ROOKIE):
Candidates:
Brendan Gallagher (Montreal Canadiens)
Jonathan Huberdeau (Florida Panthers)
Brandon Saad (Chicago Blackhawks)
How can you not like Jonathan Huberdeau? Despite playing for the worst team in the NHL, he tied for the league lead in points among rookies with 31 (Nail Yakupov of Edmonton was the other) and was third in goals and assists. If Yakupov was nominated, this would be harder to decide, and I would probably go with him. Gallagher and Saad both had good years, but Hoobey-dooby-doo deserves this award.

These are my choices. Over the next week, I'll be moving back towards the Caps, but for now, let's just enjoy the Penguins getting destroyed by the Bruins.