Not a whole lot going on at the internship recently, just doing more play-by-play at basketball games. So this week I want to talk about the crumbling of the Washington Wizards this season, and the overall state of DC professional sports.
Of the three major sports, DC is now an embarrassment in all three. Since the Gilbert Arenas incident earler this season, where he allegedly pulled a gun on a teammate, the Wizards have fully entered rebulding mode, and have brought full-circle shame to the three major professional sports franchises in Washington, DC. Arenas was given a 6-year, $111 million contract last season, and was supposed to be the centerpiece of the franchise for years to come. Now he is sitting at home, suspended for the year, after pleading guilty to federal gun charges.
As you may have gathered from my little bio clip on the side of the blog, I am a diehard fan of DC sports. Growing up right outside DC in Northern Virginia, I developed a deep passion for the Redskins and Wizards (formerly the Bullets), and was excited when we finally got a pro baseball team a few years back.
Unfortunately, throughout my lifetime, these teams have experienced limited, if any, success. And as the NBA trade deadline approached this week, I had a feeling the Wizards were going to make some big moves to clear up salary cap space and gather a few draft picks. Sure enough, they sent three starters off in trades this week, including former all-stars Antawn Jamison (to the arch-rival Cavs, ugh) and Caron Butler (to the Mavericks). And if my gut is right again, they will void Arenas' contract in the offseason, and the Wiz will be left without a single superstar to hang their hats on.
The Nationals are still experiencing the struggles of being an expansion team. The Redskins haven't done anything significant in nearly two decades, and now the Wizards, who were predicted by many experts in the preseason to be a high (4-5) seed in the playoffs, have completely dismantled their core. Man, I'm bitter.
Could be worse though, I could be a UNC fan :)
Luckily, in DC we do have a pair of sports teams to be proud of. Last time I checked the Capitals were in first place in the Eastern Conference. But really, do people still watch hockey?
The Georgetown Hoyas are my college ball love, and have hung around in the top 10 for most of the season. But they were officially swept by arch-rival Syracuse tonight, and I don't think they have the depth to make a run in the tournament.
Woe is me....
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I enjoy hearing about your passion for sports. I to am a big sports fan and hope to go into sports reporting someday. I also grew up near the DC area and can not say that I am a fan of any of the teams but do know the frustration that you go through as a fan of those teams. I have grown hearing about the diedskins my whole life as well as the bullets change to wizards that would be the downhill slop. Even the return of americas pastime could not bring a good outcome for the cities teams. In the end they all need a revive to get back to what they once were.
ReplyDeleteLast I heard on Arenas is that the Wizards plan on keeping him around after he is reinstated, which is surprising. I thought they would have let him go and gotten out of his ridiculously expensive contract. But I think even more troubling that Arenas' incident was trading Antwan. For years he has been one of the most underrated players in the league who could work fro the low block all the way out to the perimeter. Finding guys like that is the NBA is tough, and replacing a guy like Jamison is unlikely. But with Arenas as the nucleus and some wise draft choices in the next few years, things could turn around in Washington.
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