Olie the Goalie

I know y’all are used to seeing sports posts from Frank and Patrick, but I just can’t help putting my two cents in on the news that Olaf Kolzig, beloved former goalie for the Capitals, has announced his retirement.

When I moved to the DC area in 1993, I was in dire need of a team to adopt!  I was raised in New York, where kids have to choose their team loyalties early (mine were, of course, Giants/Mets/Knicks).  Back then DC had no baseball, and pretty much all I could say was that I did know the difference between hockey and figure skates.

And so the Caps became my local favorites.  Over the years I’ve watched many a Caps game.  Olie was there through nearly all those years — from the days of carpooling out to the old Cap Centre in PG County (where said carpool driver once nearly ran over Dale Hunter by accident — thank God that didn’t happen), to the games in the new-fangled Phone Booth.  My friends and I learned the nuances of icing. I went to games wearing my #22 Konowalchuk sweater, as he rose from fourth-line to captain.  We griped when the uniforms changed to “Wizards” blue-and-gold, and cheered when they went back to their old logo.

Then!  In 1998!  It finally happened!  The Caps were able to help me check an item off my Lifetime List of Things to Do: seeing the Stanley Cup Finals.  Sure, the RedWings skated away with the Cup, but it was a blast and the team owed a lot of its success that year (and in other years) to their giant Godzilla-like keeper, “Olie the Goalie.”

The Post is polling its readership on whether the organization should retire #37.  I, personally, believe the correct answer to this question is, “Duh,” and it looks like there are those who agree (as of 4:30 PM the polling was 89% in favor)!  Sure, the Caps don’t have title pennants flying from the rafters, but in my opinion old #37 deserves recognition as the best goalie in franchise history.

What do you think, DC?  Share some of your favorite Caps moments and your opinion on whether the Caps should retire #37!

Regardless, let’s all say thanks for some great play and join in a virtual chant:  Olie! Olie! Olie!

Okay, quick caveat before I get into this: Can we get some of the Scripps kids to go down to Nationals Park and teach them how to spell?” Seriously-if some of these kids don’t have jobs by the end of the week teaching the college educated marketing people that mess this stuff up I will pul owt mah hare. Srsly.

Oh, and a refresher on where to find the letter “W” wouldn’t be a bad tip either.

Back to the story though, watch this: Note: Link and Video are same-in case one doesn’t show up.

Also-Thanks to Metblogs reader “RowdyYates” for the vid link!

Yesterday this story about a drug dealer who got busted in Florida broke. He mentioned both the Nationals and Capitals (but not the Redskins) as teams he had sold drugs too.  Or, more accurately-he had sold them to Nationals and Capitals players.  After he said this he promptly shut up and said nothing else.

This is like a stranger coming up to you and saying “uh yeah, your mom has been cheating on your father” and then walking away.  It’s shocking, provoking and, ultimately, not worth the attention it will demand from you.  The Capitals have already denied the allegations, and frankly if the Nationals are on ‘roids it would be a sad, sad thing indeed-none of which is the point.

The point is that a person with a lot of incentive to lie (no better way to string along your prosecution and set yourself up for a deal down the road then to implicate sports teams in drug use) and is not a particularly trustworthy source (ahem, drug dealer) has kinda/sorta probably made up a story.  Or, at least that’s how I’ll view it until something more comes along.

The trend with athletes seems to be going through team doctors or close family sources-not just some guy in Florida.  Further-these might be members of the farm teams of either club, or people long since traded away (this guy has been at it at least ten years now) and not regular starters we have come to know and love (and loathe).

That said-if someone on these teams needs to take the fall, I hope it’s the Nationals bullpen.  It might be the best way to get them off the team.  For now though, my diagnosis is a bunch of baloney (or bologna) and to limit your intake as much as possible.

Last week I posted on my facebook page “Could DC be the worst Sports town in the Country?” and I don’t think was out of line to ask that question.  (Seattle was the only other obvious contender-with a terrible baseball team, no hockey, an awful football team and having just lost their basketball team).

But April showers bring the buds of May-and all the bad news of the past month seems to be shaping up nicely for DC Sports fans-Need proof?  Read on:

The Wizards had just finished a dismal 19-63 season-by far the worst team in the East (only the Kings in the West did worse).  No playoffs for the first time in years.  The $100+ million dollar man, Gilbert Arenas, played in a total of  2 games for 31.5 minutes (At over $14 mil for the year, that’s $7 mil a game, or $465,189 per minute).

And now: “Flip” Saunders heads the team-and he has a pedigree of at least getting out of the first round of the playoffs.   Gilbert Arenas looked, well, not awful in his two games and at least seems to be running around-presumably he will be better for next year.  All that losing seems to have paid off too, with the Wizards having the second most chances of getting the top pick in the draft-and can only finish as low as 5th.  In a class heavy on PGs and low on big guys-picking high is more important than ever this year.  

Skins, Nats and Caps after the jump. (more…)

Caps Alternate Logo

Oh, it was a thriller in Chinatown tonight!  Your Capitals “rocked the red” and sent the Rangers home to New York.  They’ll move on to face the dreaded Penguins* in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs!  As May arrives, they’ll be on the rink, and not the links.

The Caps played well tonight, with good speed and passing, with excellent defense especially by young goaltender Simeon Varlamov.   For much of the game the score was tied 1-1, and the fans at the Phone Booth and viewers all over the DC area were on the edge of our seats, hoping the Red would pull through.  And the final, series-winning goal by the team’s current elder statesman, Sergei Fedorov, was  a beautiful shot that didn’t disappoint.   As I put it on my twitter feed,  “spasibo, Seryhozha“.

I am so proud of you, DC, for beating on the glass, wearing red to the game almost to a man, and yelling your heads off in support of your local team.  So often at games in this town, there are more fans for the opposing team than the hometown, that one can almost forget where one is.  But not now.  I haven’t seen Caps fans that excited since the 1998 playoffs, when I managed to attend games in every round of the playoffs, even the finals (yes, the Wings swept ’em, but man were those ever some fun games).  Now that the weather is finally due to cool off, I might have to break out my old Kono sweater to watch the next series!

So, way to go Caps, and way to go DC for supporting them so enthusiastically!

*corrected

In honor of tonight’s Game 7 in the Rangers/Capitals playoff series I thought I’d highlight a great moment in Rangers coaching history. Thanks John Tortorella, maybe you can harass some more Caps fans with a stick and get kicked out tonight.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vh9wY6qb8ac[/youtube]

Go Caps!

The company that excels at signing athletes to endorsement deals have done it again. In their latest cheesy/terrible TV spot, Caps Superstar Alexander Ovechkin shows that he should stick to scoring goals and taking shots of vodka:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK1yeT1f2jg[/youtube]