I just got the most interesting email from VW of America, offering me 4 free tickets to a DC United Game this week. Four seats, and it ended up they were in Section 104, so it looks like they’re giving out some pretty darned good seats. If you are a VW owner with a vwcredit.com account (how they found me…) then you should’ve gotten the email today. Check to see if it got caught by your spam filter.

Otherwise, if you prove you own a VW, call up VW of America over in Herndon at 1-800-822-8987 and see if they’ll hook you up.

Also, parking for the game is free for VW owners, but get there early, I suspect there’s a limit on the number of spaces.

This is all part of the new promotional agreement between DC United and Volkswagen of America which gives the car company logo rights to the jerseys and to promotional space at RFK. The new United jersey will feature a VW logo dead center on the new jersey.

So, VW owners, get your free tickets!

We got some email this weekend that left me utterly appalled with the Redskins Management. Suffice it to say that, if this is true, the Redskins have some real work to do with regard to fan-support and fan-management. It’s bad enough that Tickets are so expensive, but to both charge a $100 name-change fee AND strike ticket-accounts while a family’s in crisis?

Wow. That’s pretty low.

My father, who recently passed, has been a season ticket holder since 1961; 12 tickets used by family and friends (one of whom in a high DC postion). Since his passing I’ve managed the account. This year’s payment was received by the Redskins 3 weeks late. I was just notified that they have REVOKED OUR TICKETS!

I spoke with Jason Friedman who claimed “letters, emails and postcards” were sent home. NOTHING WAS SENT! I plan on fighting this but I really don’t know how– the Redskins claim all rights to do anything they want.

Our account’s address is still my father’s and his name is still on the account. As his son, I can take over but the Redskins charge a non-refundable $100 per ticket transfer of name fee. That’s $1200 that I don’t have lying around.

With the economy the way it is, the ticket holders didn’t get the money to me as quickly as normal– I expected maybe a late fee or some penalty but never this…This seems like new big business running out the old, working RFK middle class fan base that Snyder profits from.

Maybe others are feeling this too but it’s not like they never received payment. It’s a $14,000 account. Three weeks late and out??

Just ludicrous.

Why I Hate DC picked up on the new Nationals song that I was trying to explain away this weekend as the result of an auditory hallucination. Here’s the song. I use that term VERY loosely here. And thanks much to the first commenter at WIHDC, who summed it up perfectly:

OMG, it’s like a third-rate glee club and the 1920’s and a marching band’s percussion section had a very slow love child. WTF?

Yes. What the Fuck, Nationals? What the Effing Eff were you on when you decided this was a good idea? I mean, the O’s just got rid of Orioles Magic, and it seems to have gotten them off to a pretty good start? I mean you hired the team that brought us the iconic Monday Night Football Theme. Shouldn’t you have gotten something that resembled that? It’s not too late, Get Your Money Back!

In case you missed it Tuesday, the NHL nominated Ovechkin and two other guys for the Hart Trophy. The Capitals’ captain and centerman is up against Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin and Calgary’s Jarome Iginla.

Honestly, I’m pretty sure they only added Malkin and Iginla because they had to have three nominees.

Yes, yes, I’m solidly in favor of Ovechkin snagging this trophy, despite being a solid Penguins supporter. But I also acknowledge talent; Ovechkin personifies the essence of the Hart and he deservedly should win it.

It’s indeed fortunate that Washington made it to the playoffs - I highly doubt Ovie would’ve been nominated otherwise, though that travesty would’ve been unforgivable, I think.

We’ll find out for sure on June 12 in Toronto, when the 2008 NHL awards are doled out. And if you didn’t know, Nicklas Backstrom is up for the Calder Trophy for top rookie, too - but he’s going to lose that to Chicago’s Jonathan Toews.

Another Capitals member is an awards finalist - Bruce Boudreau was tagged today as a Jack Adams finalist, which goes to the coach who has “contributed the most to his team’s success.” Boudreau replaced Glen Hanlon in late November last year, where the Caps lay belly-up in the Southeast cellar at 6-14-1. Since then, he led the Caps to a 37-17-7 regular season mark (with seven straight wins at the end of the season) and three hard-fought playoff wins before succumbing to the Flyers in Game Seven. He was also the fastest coach to 20 victories (34 games) in Caps history.

Ovie’s already snapped up the titles for most goals (65) and points (112) on the season. The sole reason the Caps even made it into the playoffs by a hair was because Ovechkin carried them on his back. If Ovie wasn’t playing, the Caps would deservedly be in the dregs of the league along with Tampa and L.A.

Ignila makes sense as a nominee - second career 50+ goal season, 98 points total, and spearheading the Flames’ own run into the playoffs. But he didn’t electrify his team or the home crowds like Ovechkin did.

The sole player at a shot of sneaking away with the Hart is the Penguins’ Malkin. And really, despite locking in 106 points with 47 goals - 46 points and 20 goals during a 28 game stretch that kept the Penguins on playoff afterburners when Crosby went down - the only real reason he could skate away with it is if the Penguins win the Cup.

But even I don’t think that’s likely to happen. I foresee quite the Caps ’sweep’ of the awards in June.

So my heartfelt congratulations to Alex Ovechkin and the rest of the Caps for an electrifying season. I truly hope you all keep that fire lit for next year; it’ll make some awesome match ups for me and my Penguin friends to look forward to.

It’s halftime in Cleveland, and the Wizards are up 45-43 on the Cavs. I was talking with my bartender yesterday about their chances against LeBron and his gang, and his only response was, “Every time you drive for the basket good things happen.” Either we’ll get through and score, or we’ll get the shallow-benched Cavs on their heels and in foul-trouble.

Here’s hoping they can come up big tonight. Go Agent Zero & The Wizards!

Edit: And it’s DO! Caron scores 32, as the Wiz best the Cavs 88-87.

Onward!

I kicked off work about 4:45 today to come down to Nationals Park for tonight’s Nats/Cubs game, getting to the game around 5:45. Imagine my surprise when I could get into the stadium….but not to my seat. In fact, none of the inner ring of the ballpark was accessible until 6pm, 90 minutes before the start of the game, and more importantly, 10 minutes after the Nationals had stopped taking BP.

How are young fans supposed to engage with the players and get to know and love them? I mean, I understand that the team’s in a slump, and maybe you don’t want them pressured to have to perform for an audience, but why open the park at all, then?

I don’t get it. You want us to bond with the team, you have to let us bond with the team. You have to let us inside the park to do that. Don’t just leave us stuck in the centerfield entranceway where the players are specs in the distance.

What’s better? This is Little League Support weekend. The idea being that the Nats are holding a used equipment drive for the local Little League groups. You want us to do everything we can to support youth baseball? Let us take kids to the park and watch how the pros get ready for game.

Standin’ Around — Originally uploaded by tbridge

Well, while the Caps made the Flyers work for it, in the end they we lost in overtime 3 to 2. Ovechkin managed to pick up another goal and an assist along the way.

It’s disappointing, but quite frankly this is farther than I think a lot of us - myself included - expected them to get, and I’m happy they did.

Overtime.

It’s the dramatic finishes that are the end of sports fans everywhere. When your team’s fought to a draw at the end of regulation, pouring their hearts and souls and bodies into the play of the game, and come up no better than their opponent, it becomes an endurance game. 20 minutes more of Overtime, then a shootout, that’s all that remains between the Capitals and either heartbreak or triumph.

Much like the democratic primary battle that’s going on tonight, there’ve been ups and downs, gaffes and glory, excitement and doldrums.

C’mon Caps! Finish well!

With about 14 minutes left in the third period, the Caps are holding on to a 3-2 lead over the Flyers. C’mon guys - get through this one and you’re back and home where we can cheer you on.

Update: And now 4-2, that’s two Ovechkin goals in a row. Seven more minutes…

And 4-2 is the final score! Woohoo! Next up: do or die at the Verizon center tomorrow.

Heartbreaking.

That’s as good a word as any for Capital fans today, after last night’s loss to the Flyers. They now trail the surging Philly team 3-1 in the series.

By far, it was Washington’s best game of this year’s playoffs. But it fell short by a Mike Knuble goal in the second overtime.

I really thought the Caps would take this one away from Philly last night; I watched in awe as Ovechkin delivered a thunderous hit on Knuble in the early stages of the first period and saw that fire in him that reminded me of the last two weeks of the Cap’s regular season. The team was tight, calm, and focused.

It just wasn’t enough.

A less-than-stellar first period start didn’t derail the team, unlike the last two games, with the Caps shutting down the Flyer’s power play after practically giving them three penalties in a row early on. The lead changed hands all night, with Eminger netting his first playoff goal and giving the Caps the lead briefly in the third.

The Caps played hard - they led the game in hits, 38-29 - but the Flyers were ready for them. The lackluster showing last Sunday here in Game Two has really come back to haunt them. Ovechkin and the Caps now face elimination on Saturday, and the stats are not favorable. Philly is 15-2 all-time when leading a best-of-seven series 3-1. It’s rare for a team to roar back from being two games back and unless the Caps can dig deep and find the energy they had in the race to the playoffs, I don’t think they’re much longer for Round One. Winning three games in a row against a physical team that is peaking at the right time is a daunting challenge indeed.

Still, it’s a possibility, and I won’t count the Caps out yet. It’s not over until the final horn sounds.

8 ball, courtesy of jiariles