DC area sports fans are a long suffering fan base. The district hasn't won a major sports title since before Bill Clinton was president. The Redskins are the champions of the off-season every year before ultimately crumbling into mediocrity. The Wizards have the dumbest name in sports, and haven't been truly relevent since they were the Bullets. The Nationals have been bottom dwellers since they came to DC in 2005. The Capitals, while brilliant during the regular season, have continuously choked in the playoffs. Yes, the DC sports scene has been downright depressing.
Better days look to be on the horizon. Steven Strasburg has looked incredible in his first few weeks as a starter, and has single handedly brought baseball to the forefront in Washington. Alex Ovechkin is the best player in hockey and has brought the Capitals onto the national scene. With the selection of John Wall last night, the Wizards have their point guard of the future and look to be well on their way to bouncing back from the nightmare season of last year. Even the Redskins seem to be making good moves, with the addition of proven winners Donovan McNabb and Mike Shanahan. It all looks good on paper, but as we in DC know, it's a little early to get too excited.
To really turn the page and change the culture of sports here in Washington D.C, we need to get rid of a couple players. Those of course would be Albert Haynesworth and Gilbert Arenas. The first player is obvious. This guy is lazy, out of shape, and thinks he's god's gift to the world. Can he be a dominant force on the defensive line? Of course he can. But if the Redskins truly want to compete for championships they need to do away with signing these high priced free agents and bring in more character guys.
The Gilbert Arenas situation is a little more cloudy. One thing I think we can all agree on is the guy is not the sharpest tool in the shed. I don't think he's a bad person for what he did, just an idiot. The way he handled himself afterward is why people are so pissed. But the gun situation isn't the main reason I think he needs to go. I'd be willing to give him a second chance if he started becoming a leader on this team. With John Wall coming in, I'm worried having Gilbert around will hurt his progression as a point guard. Gilbert can say all the right things, but at the end of the day he wants the ball in his hands all the time. Also, let's not kid ourselves and think Gilbert is going to bring the Wizards into title contention. The guy had a couple spectacular years but is always injured and doesn't bring it every night. I say cut our losses(that contract truly is horrific) and move on to the John Wall era.
One more thing. I think John Wall is legit and will be a better pro than he was a college player. The guy has all the intangibles you need in a great point guard and I'm excited for what the Wizards can do next year if they put a few more pieces together. Though I'll always be a Boston sports fan at heart, I always have supported the DC area teams and hope the superstars can help Washington's teams live up to the hype.
Not only do some of the players need to go, but so do some of the managment. Dan Snyder needs to learn that he doesn't know how to build a football team. A lot of the redskins issues can be traced to bad decisions/mandates from the front office. Ted Leonsis buying the Wizards might help them out but his major reason for the purchase was to be a "four sport" owner. I personally think the WNBA doesn't count so its 3 to me.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Snyder has made some poor decisions in the past, but I think more than anything else these past couple of years and the signing of Haynesworth will prove to him that he needs to take a step back. If the Redskins don't have a good season though, look to see Snyder reverting to his old ways.
ReplyDeleteAs for Haynesworth I don't think its over yet. He has had a lot of news articles about money he owes from child care, bank loans, and an ugly divorce pop up. I don't think he has as much money as we think. Eventually his funds are gonna run dry from court cases, and hes gonna come crawling back to Shanahan asking for a place on the team. Either put an anti-baby clause in his contract to prevent another incident like this, or kick him off the team.
Haynesworth needs to go for many reasons. One being he was one of the last huge (HUGE) mistakes of the Ceratto era. The only issue is now we will get much less than we could for him. But we definitely don't need or want his issues.
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