The Washington Capitals have a new goal song.
It's a great highlight reel song. A decent intro song.
Not a good goal song.
Before we get any further, let me say that I'm not trying to hate on the effort of the Sandbox Kings, who won a contest through Elliot in the Morning on DC101 (favorite morning show in the area, btw) with "Rock the Red." The song premiered at last night's Caps-Lightning game, where it was played five times, after each Caps goal.
It's a great song, but not for the purpose to which it has been applied.
Why isn't it a good goal song? Because even though it played over the PA system five times, most Caps fans were hard pressed to notice it more than once.
I'm no music critic, but a goal is a celebration and the music that plays should be celebratory and upbeat. "ock the Red is too subdued, not - dare I say - poppy enough.
Now I will say this, Rock the Red is unique, and great for the Caps for commissioning their own music. It's a lot better than the umpteen arenas that some variation of Rock 'n Roll Part 2, Song 2, or Bro Hymn after a home goal.
My personal favorite goal song is Chelsea Dagger, which the Caps used for a little while but is also associated closely with the Chicago Blackhawks. Another favorite is Kernkraft 400, but almost a half-dozen teams rely on that one, also including the Capitals recently.
The great part of Chelsea Dagger and Kernkraft 400 is that you don't need a three minute song, you only need 15 or 20 seconds of a great hook, and both songs have one. Ditto with Joe Satriani's Crowd Chant.
It's that catchy quality, the sing-along nature of a song, that makes it popular and makes it stick. Occasionally a down-tempo song gets stuck in your ear, but they aren't inspiring.
Washington needs a goal song that pumps fans up, gets noticed and gets fans singing or chanting along, not one that slips into the background. In a different setting, when all attention is focused on the video or music being played, "Rock the Red" does just fine.
After a goal though, the music needs to add to the cacophany while still cutting through enough for fans to be cognizant of it, and if you ask me the Caps need to do a little more searching to find a song (or soundbite, let's be honest) to fill that role.
What do you think the Caps should use as a goal song? Post in the comment section with your suggestions.
Showing posts with label Washington Capitals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Washington Capitals. Show all posts
Friday, March 5, 2010
Monday, October 12, 2009
Statistics Lie to You
At Verizon Center for tonight's game between the Caps and the Devils, while flipping through the Game Notes, I saw a couple numbers that reminded me not to put undue stock in the team's special teams performance through the first five games of the season.
At the moment, Washington is 6 for 24 on the power play, an even 25%. That would have been good enough for 3rd place overall in the NHL last year, right behind the Red Wings (25.5%) and the 08-09 Caps (25.2%). Through 1 1/2 weeks of the 09-10 season, it's only good for T-12th. Last season's 12th place team was Chicago, converting at 19.3%.
Conversely, the Caps have allowed 6 goals on 27 penalty kills, giving them a 77.8% success rate, tied for 13th in the NHL. That same percentage in 2008-09 would have placed them at 27th in the league, right behind Tampa Bay (78%) and just ahead of Edmonton (77.5%). [As an aside, Detroit was only 25th with a 78.3% kill rate] Again, on the flip side, the 13th best penalty kill last season was Columbus at 82.1%...a full 1.5 percentage points ahead of where the Caps finished, in 17th at 80.6%.
At the moment, Washington is 6 for 24 on the power play, an even 25%. That would have been good enough for 3rd place overall in the NHL last year, right behind the Red Wings (25.5%) and the 08-09 Caps (25.2%). Through 1 1/2 weeks of the 09-10 season, it's only good for T-12th. Last season's 12th place team was Chicago, converting at 19.3%.
Conversely, the Caps have allowed 6 goals on 27 penalty kills, giving them a 77.8% success rate, tied for 13th in the NHL. That same percentage in 2008-09 would have placed them at 27th in the league, right behind Tampa Bay (78%) and just ahead of Edmonton (77.5%). [As an aside, Detroit was only 25th with a 78.3% kill rate] Again, on the flip side, the 13th best penalty kill last season was Columbus at 82.1%...a full 1.5 percentage points ahead of where the Caps finished, in 17th at 80.6%.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Mildly interesting post by Brian Costello over at The Hockey News on the topic of Ovechkin's and Crosby's production.
He doesn't say a single new thing, but it's a point worth reiterating: Statistically-speaking, hockey players peak at the age of 24. There are certainly notable outliers as he points out, like Lemieux's 69-goal seasons at age 28 and 31 and some outstanding seasons by Gretzky and Brett Hull in their mid-20s, but as a general rule NHL players will realize their greatest statisical output at the age of 23 or 24.
That does not mean players don't get better as they age. While goal-scoring and point-production might go down, often players improve defensively as well as in those intangibles like 'leadership' and 'ice vision.
So enjoy Ovechkin's goal-scoring while it lasts, for at age 24 history suggests his highest-scoring years have either past or will pass in the next few seasons. He'll no doubt be a productive player, barring injury, for the entire length of his current monster contract, but the numbers may not get any higher.
He doesn't say a single new thing, but it's a point worth reiterating: Statistically-speaking, hockey players peak at the age of 24. There are certainly notable outliers as he points out, like Lemieux's 69-goal seasons at age 28 and 31 and some outstanding seasons by Gretzky and Brett Hull in their mid-20s, but as a general rule NHL players will realize their greatest statisical output at the age of 23 or 24.
That does not mean players don't get better as they age. While goal-scoring and point-production might go down, often players improve defensively as well as in those intangibles like 'leadership' and 'ice vision.
So enjoy Ovechkin's goal-scoring while it lasts, for at age 24 history suggests his highest-scoring years have either past or will pass in the next few seasons. He'll no doubt be a productive player, barring injury, for the entire length of his current monster contract, but the numbers may not get any higher.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Caps Media Luncheon - Brian Pothier
This morning and afternoon was the Capitals annual season-opening media luncheon. The day kicked off with the team photo, in which it was revealed that Mike Knuble was given the assistant captain's A left vacated by Sergei Fedorov, followed by a practice and then the actual free food.
One of the cool things about the lunch period, and the real reason the press was there, was that the players came out, had lunch too, and chatted with the media. There were some group interviews with Bruce Boudreau, George McPhee, Ted Leonsis, and a couple of the players, but for the most part it was one-on-one talks between players and media.
Image: clydeorama(Flickr)
I had the chance toward the end of the session to grab defenseman Brian Pothier for a few questions. A bit of this interview is into an article I'm working on at the moment for DC Sports Box, but I thought I'd post the entire transcript here because there's some good stuff that wasn't relevant for my story.
Q: This year the team is carrying 8 defensemen to start the regular season. Have the coaches told you what the plan is regarding players moving in and out?
POTHIER: No, honestly I have no idea what the plans are. I’m not even sure who’s going to play in Boston. We’re all capable players, even if you look at the guys who have been sent down, we have three or four guys that are in Hershey that could step in and play, jump in as seamless as having one of us in there. We are deep in that position, we have a lot of guys we can insert. It’s going to be difficult decisions for the coaches, but overall we have the bodies to get it done.
You had a great preseason, statistically and otherwise (note: In four games Pothier's stat line was: 1 G (OT GWG), 3 A, +3, 4 PIM, 19:13 ATOI). Is that heartening going into the regular season?
Yeah. I mean every time I step on the ice I want to be successful, I want to play a good game and put in a good effort, it felt like…I played what, four games in the preseason, I felt like I got a little bit better each game, a little more consistent each game, and that’s the goal. Every time I go on the ice I want to be successful and I want to contribute, and I want to make good plays. It’s always nice to have good results like that in the preseason.
Are you looking forward to going back to Boston?
Yeah that’s my hometown, that’s where I grew up, I always have a lot a friends and family floating around there. Every time I go back there it’s a special treat for me, to see the old Bruins jerseys in warm-ups in always kind of surreal and weird, but it’s pretty cool.
Plus they’re the top dogs in the East, and you guys have a very tough schedule to start the season.
That’s a big litmus test for us, the first month. We have some big challenges, those first three games are against good teams, home openers, and you know there’s going to be a lot of emotion and exciting environments, and it will be a great test for us to start the season.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Caps Media Luncheon Release
Tomorrow afternoon I'll be in the Verizon Center, along with my photographer/EIC Al Santos and fellow reporter Daniel Epstein, for the Caps Media Luncheon.
The award-winning Capitals media staff always goes above and beyond when dealing with the media, and in their five-page press release for the event they include 'storylines' for all 26 players (including those on LTIR) who will begin the regular season as part of the Capitals organization.
Some of them were interesting, some of them not (what can you really say about Alexander Ovechkin in three sentences that any media member or fan won't know?), but I immediately skipped to the bottom of the numerical-order list.
Yup, Michael Nylander was, in fact, at the bottom of that list. And here's what the Caps media staff had to say:
Talk about turning lemons into lemonade. I'd be almost afraid to talk to Nylander...what do you say to a guy whose employer has said they publicly don't want him, but hasn't yet found a way to get rid of him?
The award-winning Capitals media staff always goes above and beyond when dealing with the media, and in their five-page press release for the event they include 'storylines' for all 26 players (including those on LTIR) who will begin the regular season as part of the Capitals organization.
Some of them were interesting, some of them not (what can you really say about Alexander Ovechkin in three sentences that any media member or fan won't know?), but I immediately skipped to the bottom of the numerical-order list.
Yup, Michael Nylander was, in fact, at the bottom of that list. And here's what the Caps media staff had to say:
92-Michael Nylander
Michael Nylander doesn’t appear to have a spot in Washington’s opening night lineup, but he’s a skilled, veteran player who may prove valuable if needed. After two difficult seasons since returning to Washington as a free agent, you can expect him to be eager to make a positive impact.
Talk about turning lemons into lemonade. I'd be almost afraid to talk to Nylander...what do you say to a guy whose employer has said they publicly don't want him, but hasn't yet found a way to get rid of him?
Small Press Expo '09
Saturday afternoon I begged off covering the Maryland-Rutgers football game (good choice!) primarily because of a lot of schoolwork, but Sara and I took a break for a few hours and ventured to Bethesda and the Small Press Expo.
For those of you who have never heard of SPX - and that's probably most people, since I'm fairly plugged in to that world and I didn't know about it until recently - I'll quote from their website: "In its fourteenth year SPX now serves as the preeminent showcase for the exhibition of independent comic books and the discovery of new creative talent. SPX will bring together over 400 artists and publishers to meet their readers, booksellers, distributors, and each other."
Coming in to the weekend I was most looking forward to meeting the artists of a few of my favorites webcomics: Diesel Sweeties, Scary Go Round (now Bad Machinery), Questionable Content, Goats, and Hark! A Vagrant.
It was fantastic to meet all of them, and I got some great sketches, but one of the highlights was meeting an artist I have heard of but did not know would be at SPX: Rob Ullman.
Ullman is a multi-talented artist who currently has a strip, Traffic & Weather, at Richmond Magazine and has appeared in lots of other places in print and online. I know him through what can be termed a fascination with him at Uni Watch Blog, a paean to all things related to sports uniforms. Paul Lukas, the blog's proprietor, absolutely loves another aspect of Ullman's oeuvre: his pin-up illustrations of women wearing (and only wearing) lovingly-rendered jerseys.
It's quite possible Ullman was the only exhibitor at SPX to have anything remotely related to sports at his Atom-Bomb Bikini table, but he did, and hooray for that. He had quite a few collection of his Teeny Bikini pin-up collections (one of which, with the cover on the left, I bought) in addition to other pin-ups and illustrations he did while an illustrator for Dan Savage's Savage Love column.
He also had a fantastic short collection of illustrated stories from the Original Six era, Old-Time Hockey Tales!. Dollar for dollar it was the best $2 I spent that day. Ullman's tales were ones I know well - Bill Barilko, Terry Sawchuk, the Rocket Richard riots - but the treatment and obvious love of the artist for the subject matter made it a great little text.
Though this was my first SPX I've been to a few San Diego Comic-Con's and other similar conventions, and it's a pretty true characterization to say every actual artist sitting behind a booth is usually thrilled to talk with a fan or prospective fan, and Ullman was no exception. We talked for maybe 5 minutes about hockey, Uni Watch Blog, and other stuff.
Ulmman is a true hockey fan, which was great to hear. He is also a Pittsburgh Penguins fan, which is nice for him but not so good otherwise. He did refrain from any gloating after I mentioned my Capitals fandom, and actually gave me some words of sympathy. He also proffered a couple of stickers with the image at the top of this post, a gorgeous dark-haired woman in an old-school Caps uniform, which he said he made as a peace offering for any Caps fans he might meet (he'll also be at the Baltimore Comic-Con in two weeks, where I imagine he'll be handing out a few more of those).
All in all it was a great afternoon, and wonderful to meet Ullman in addition to the other writers, artists, and publishers at SPX. Maybe I'll commission a pin-up some time...Sara in a Stanley Cup, maybe?
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Hockey Lexicon 1 - Hope Pass, Cobb
Learned a pair of new hockey vocabulary words in the Caps locker room tonight. The first one, from Karl Alzner, actually makes a lot of sense: hope pass. As in "no-look, speculative, I hope there turns out to be someone at the end of this" pass.
The second one, courtesy of Andrew Gordon, is: cobb. As in goose egg, nil, nada, zip. Usage: "We were down four-cobb after about two periods and ended up coming back and winning a big one in overtime" is how Gordon described the game he appeared in last season in NYR when the Caps were down 4-0 and ended up winning 5-4 in OT.
Hope pass is a good one, and I hope to work it into my vocabulary. Cobb makes absolutely no sense, so I'm gonna try even harder to use it on a regular basis.
The second one, courtesy of Andrew Gordon, is: cobb. As in goose egg, nil, nada, zip. Usage: "We were down four-cobb after about two periods and ended up coming back and winning a big one in overtime" is how Gordon described the game he appeared in last season in NYR when the Caps were down 4-0 and ended up winning 5-4 in OT.
Hope pass is a good one, and I hope to work it into my vocabulary. Cobb makes absolutely no sense, so I'm gonna try even harder to use it on a regular basis.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
What flies in the press box nowadays
As I’ve mentioned before, in addition to the Capitals I also cover several other teams and sports for DC Sports Box. Terps football and the Washington Freedom are two such teams, but my primary secondary beat (does that even mean anything, ‘primary secondary’?) is D.C. United and international soccer.
It’s been a good few weeks in the local area in terms of live international soccer. First there was the Gold Cup game between the U.S. and Honduras (not to mention the Haiti v. Grenada undercard) at RFK on July 8th, the Chelsea-AC Milan exhibition on July 24th in Baltimore, and most recently D.C. United taking on Real Madrid Sunday at FedEx.
It’s been a good few weeks for me too—I covered all three.
Sometimes I’ll complain to friends about having to take the Metro down to RFK on a weeknight or joke about the quality of the food in the media room (hint: not good), but really I have a great time every time I cover a game (I shared the beat with my friend and coworker Craig Stone). It’s rare like a Capitals game, in terms of personal interest, but then again the Caps have never put 70k butts in a stadium, so there’s that.
One thing I’ve noticed about these major international soccer events, however, is a difference in terms of the type of media presence in the press box, post-game interviews and mixed zones.
Basically, there are a lot more fans.
This is definitely not to say there are no fans in hockey press boxes, so let’s back up a moment. I don’t mean ‘fan’ in the sense of any person who likes a specific team. Go to the Caps press box, or any other, and you’ll find plenty of people who prefer a specific team.
Any team-specific blogger you may find out there (Storming the Crease, Musings of a Hockey Mom, even TheHogs.net, for example) is most certainly a fan of that team. And most other supposedly-neutral reporters covering teams are fans too- you want someone who likes the sport to cover it, right? They don’t necessarily have to root for the teams they cover—Greg Wyshinski, who lives in DC and is at many Caps games, likes the Devils, while Corey Masisak is a Penguins fan—but they have to love the sport.
No, what I’m talking about is fans being fans in the press box.
The most obvious transgression is cheering the press box. No matter your rooting interests, the press box is supposed to be a neutral atmosphere. That doesn’t mean media members don’t react to things happening in the game, but you gasp or smile instead of shouting and cheering.
At RFK stadium, the press box seating plan always has the same arrangement. The front and back rows on the right side are traditional media, the middle is announcers, statisticians and press staff, and the left back row is bloggers and new media. All of the news media who are in attendance for one game only are seated on the far left on the front row, and coincidentally enough that location, if any, is where cheers will emanate from during a game.
Every credential pass has tons of boilerplate language on the back, telling you all the things you can and can’t do, and there’s always a statement about crossing the line from media member to fan. The credential I got from the Gold Cup has a simple statement: “NO AUTOGRAPHS ARE PERMITTED DURING MEDIA ACCESS PERIODS AND AN ATTEMPT TO OBTAIN AN AUTOGRAPH MAY RESULT IN THE CONFISCATION OF THE CREDENTIAL.”
Yes, it was in all caps.
No brainer, right? I was surprised, but not shocked, when in the post-game mixed zone for United and Madrid, Kyle Sheldon, an underappreciated member of the United media staff, had to repeatedly tell “media members” wearing both credentials and Madrid jerseys that no, they could not stand along the barrier and ask every member of Real Madrid to sign their soccer ball, jersey, or whatever.*
And that’s another thing. At every international soccer game I’ve attended there’s been at least one, usually a few, people in the post-game press conference wearing soccer jerseys (and no, I don’t mean the players). They’re for one of the teams represented, or a previous team of one of the players.
That’s something you would never see in ice hockey, partly because hockey jerseys are unwieldy but also because they cross the line. Everybody knows, to go back to a site I previously cited, that Rob from Storming the Crease roots for the Caps. That’s fine, because he’s in the press box and the locker room not as a fan but as a provider of media content for an extremely technologically-savvy Capitals fanbase.
The jersey-wearers in soccer games are not, as far as I can tell, content providers (maybe they work on the technical side of a media organization, but they certainly aren’t writing, recording, or even paying attention to the press conferences I’ve seen them in) but rather establishing their physical presence as fans.
It fascinates me, as to why people do that. Is it really acceptable in cities outside of DC and sports outside of ice hockey to wear not just your team colors, but your team logo, while serving as a member of a supposedly-neutral press.
That strikes me as something like being an arbitrator and wearing a shirt from one of the parties involved, or wearing apparel from a company while sitting on the jury for a court case in which they’re involved.
Even if you are 100% completely objective in your thoughts and actions, your objectivity is questioned through your apparel. Would you, as a United player, want to take questions from a reporter wearing a Chicago Fire polo shirt? Even if the questions were completely legitimate, you would perceive bias and feel uncomfortable in your own locker room.
This isn’t an argument as much as an observation. Something that makes me respect the atmosphere and community of ice hockey as a sport that much more.
*I have to note that while the D.C. United media staff takes the lead in dealing with on-site press box concerns and the like for some these games, they are not in charge overall and have to follow a different set of guidelines for accessibility and credentials than for MLS matches. For example, I had to go through CONCACAF for my Gold Cup credentials, and the United staff was not involved at all with the Chelsea-AC Milan game.
It’s been a good few weeks in the local area in terms of live international soccer. First there was the Gold Cup game between the U.S. and Honduras (not to mention the Haiti v. Grenada undercard) at RFK on July 8th, the Chelsea-AC Milan exhibition on July 24th in Baltimore, and most recently D.C. United taking on Real Madrid Sunday at FedEx.
It’s been a good few weeks for me too—I covered all three.
Sometimes I’ll complain to friends about having to take the Metro down to RFK on a weeknight or joke about the quality of the food in the media room (hint: not good), but really I have a great time every time I cover a game (I shared the beat with my friend and coworker Craig Stone). It’s rare like a Capitals game, in terms of personal interest, but then again the Caps have never put 70k butts in a stadium, so there’s that.
One thing I’ve noticed about these major international soccer events, however, is a difference in terms of the type of media presence in the press box, post-game interviews and mixed zones.
Basically, there are a lot more fans.
This is definitely not to say there are no fans in hockey press boxes, so let’s back up a moment. I don’t mean ‘fan’ in the sense of any person who likes a specific team. Go to the Caps press box, or any other, and you’ll find plenty of people who prefer a specific team.
Any team-specific blogger you may find out there (Storming the Crease, Musings of a Hockey Mom, even TheHogs.net, for example) is most certainly a fan of that team. And most other supposedly-neutral reporters covering teams are fans too- you want someone who likes the sport to cover it, right? They don’t necessarily have to root for the teams they cover—Greg Wyshinski, who lives in DC and is at many Caps games, likes the Devils, while Corey Masisak is a Penguins fan—but they have to love the sport.
No, what I’m talking about is fans being fans in the press box.
The most obvious transgression is cheering the press box. No matter your rooting interests, the press box is supposed to be a neutral atmosphere. That doesn’t mean media members don’t react to things happening in the game, but you gasp or smile instead of shouting and cheering.
At RFK stadium, the press box seating plan always has the same arrangement. The front and back rows on the right side are traditional media, the middle is announcers, statisticians and press staff, and the left back row is bloggers and new media. All of the news media who are in attendance for one game only are seated on the far left on the front row, and coincidentally enough that location, if any, is where cheers will emanate from during a game.
Every credential pass has tons of boilerplate language on the back, telling you all the things you can and can’t do, and there’s always a statement about crossing the line from media member to fan. The credential I got from the Gold Cup has a simple statement: “NO AUTOGRAPHS ARE PERMITTED DURING MEDIA ACCESS PERIODS AND AN ATTEMPT TO OBTAIN AN AUTOGRAPH MAY RESULT IN THE CONFISCATION OF THE CREDENTIAL.”
Yes, it was in all caps.
No brainer, right? I was surprised, but not shocked, when in the post-game mixed zone for United and Madrid, Kyle Sheldon, an underappreciated member of the United media staff, had to repeatedly tell “media members” wearing both credentials and Madrid jerseys that no, they could not stand along the barrier and ask every member of Real Madrid to sign their soccer ball, jersey, or whatever.*
And that’s another thing. At every international soccer game I’ve attended there’s been at least one, usually a few, people in the post-game press conference wearing soccer jerseys (and no, I don’t mean the players). They’re for one of the teams represented, or a previous team of one of the players.
That’s something you would never see in ice hockey, partly because hockey jerseys are unwieldy but also because they cross the line. Everybody knows, to go back to a site I previously cited, that Rob from Storming the Crease roots for the Caps. That’s fine, because he’s in the press box and the locker room not as a fan but as a provider of media content for an extremely technologically-savvy Capitals fanbase.
The jersey-wearers in soccer games are not, as far as I can tell, content providers (maybe they work on the technical side of a media organization, but they certainly aren’t writing, recording, or even paying attention to the press conferences I’ve seen them in) but rather establishing their physical presence as fans.
It fascinates me, as to why people do that. Is it really acceptable in cities outside of DC and sports outside of ice hockey to wear not just your team colors, but your team logo, while serving as a member of a supposedly-neutral press.
That strikes me as something like being an arbitrator and wearing a shirt from one of the parties involved, or wearing apparel from a company while sitting on the jury for a court case in which they’re involved.
Even if you are 100% completely objective in your thoughts and actions, your objectivity is questioned through your apparel. Would you, as a United player, want to take questions from a reporter wearing a Chicago Fire polo shirt? Even if the questions were completely legitimate, you would perceive bias and feel uncomfortable in your own locker room.
This isn’t an argument as much as an observation. Something that makes me respect the atmosphere and community of ice hockey as a sport that much more.
*I have to note that while the D.C. United media staff takes the lead in dealing with on-site press box concerns and the like for some these games, they are not in charge overall and have to follow a different set of guidelines for accessibility and credentials than for MLS matches. For example, I had to go through CONCACAF for my Gold Cup credentials, and the United staff was not involved at all with the Chelsea-AC Milan game.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Re: The lack of recent activity
Just got back yesterday from a week at the beach with the girlfriend and another couple we've known since college. The couple currently lives in Pittsburgh, having moved there after meeting at college. She is from north-central West Virginia, he from north of Baltimore. This is relevant.
As a couple composed of one person (she) from a small town whose nearest major city is Pittsburgh, and one person (he) with no compelling interest in professional sports, they obviously have gravitated toward the pro sports teams from the Steel City...at least the successful ones.
This post isn't to begrudge them their fandom (though, curiously, she didn't seem too interested in the Penguins while we were in school from 2001 to 2005, and his Steelers support must kill his Ravens-loving parents inside). They made some jokes about Geno and his parents, I asked when Crosby would move out of Lemieux's basement, she called him "Fleury" whenever he let in a goal in Wii laser hockey...all was well.
Rather, what struck me was the prevalence of Pittsburgh imagery and memorabilia in the city itself. That it took the girlfriend and I half as long coming from the Washington suburbs than our friends from Pittsburgh to get to Rehoboth Beach was not lost on us. Nonetheless, the Penguins and Steelers were basically the only sports teams you could find on shirts, hats, posters, etc. in the various tchotchke shops along the boardwalk and main drag (there was a smattering of Eagles and Phillies stuff too). The same with the other fine vacationers spending their time in the city- plenty of people wearing Steelers and Penguins logos and sporting Stillers bumper stickers (as well as other non-sports related Pittsburgh stuff), but nary a Capitals* or Redskins logo to be seen.
We surmised the reason for the Pittsburgh dominance. Is Rehoboth Beach really that much of a major destination for Pittsburghians? There are certainly several other major sports cities much closer to the Delaware Shore than south-west Pennsylvania.
And there definitely were people wearing Phillies and Flyers shirts, so perhaps it was just that the Pittsburgh images stood out more to me as an individual.
The conclusion we arrived at was not that there was a massive influx of Yinzers to Rehoboth Beach, but rather a combination of 1) said Pittsburgh residents being extremely overt about their city and sports allegiances, and 2) a desire on the part of retailers in the city to capitalize on bandwagon interest and popularity. And to be fair, I did see a few Colts Super Bowl XLI Champions hats tucked away in the corner of one of the sports memorabilia shops, which lends a great deal of credence to that theory.
There isn't really a specific argument to this post; it's more of an inquiry into why there was so much black and gold kicking around on the Delaware shores this week. Perhaps its all bandwagon, perhaps not. If a plethora of Penguins logos was the worst part of my vacation, well then, really what am I complaining about?
*Okay, I saw one weird photo-painting montage of several Caps players in an "art" gallery off Rehoboth Ave, but to be fair they had similar montages of every Pittsburgh and Philadelphia team, as well as several composite images of the Mona Lisa holding dogs, so I'm going to say that doesn't count.
As a couple composed of one person (she) from a small town whose nearest major city is Pittsburgh, and one person (he) with no compelling interest in professional sports, they obviously have gravitated toward the pro sports teams from the Steel City...at least the successful ones.
This post isn't to begrudge them their fandom (though, curiously, she didn't seem too interested in the Penguins while we were in school from 2001 to 2005, and his Steelers support must kill his Ravens-loving parents inside). They made some jokes about Geno and his parents, I asked when Crosby would move out of Lemieux's basement, she called him "Fleury" whenever he let in a goal in Wii laser hockey...all was well.
Rather, what struck me was the prevalence of Pittsburgh imagery and memorabilia in the city itself. That it took the girlfriend and I half as long coming from the Washington suburbs than our friends from Pittsburgh to get to Rehoboth Beach was not lost on us. Nonetheless, the Penguins and Steelers were basically the only sports teams you could find on shirts, hats, posters, etc. in the various tchotchke shops along the boardwalk and main drag (there was a smattering of Eagles and Phillies stuff too). The same with the other fine vacationers spending their time in the city- plenty of people wearing Steelers and Penguins logos and sporting Stillers bumper stickers (as well as other non-sports related Pittsburgh stuff), but nary a Capitals* or Redskins logo to be seen.
We surmised the reason for the Pittsburgh dominance. Is Rehoboth Beach really that much of a major destination for Pittsburghians? There are certainly several other major sports cities much closer to the Delaware Shore than south-west Pennsylvania.
And there definitely were people wearing Phillies and Flyers shirts, so perhaps it was just that the Pittsburgh images stood out more to me as an individual.
The conclusion we arrived at was not that there was a massive influx of Yinzers to Rehoboth Beach, but rather a combination of 1) said Pittsburgh residents being extremely overt about their city and sports allegiances, and 2) a desire on the part of retailers in the city to capitalize on bandwagon interest and popularity. And to be fair, I did see a few Colts Super Bowl XLI Champions hats tucked away in the corner of one of the sports memorabilia shops, which lends a great deal of credence to that theory.
There isn't really a specific argument to this post; it's more of an inquiry into why there was so much black and gold kicking around on the Delaware shores this week. Perhaps its all bandwagon, perhaps not. If a plethora of Penguins logos was the worst part of my vacation, well then, really what am I complaining about?
*Okay, I saw one weird photo-painting montage of several Caps players in an "art" gallery off Rehoboth Ave, but to be fair they had similar montages of every Pittsburgh and Philadelphia team, as well as several composite images of the Mona Lisa holding dogs, so I'm going to say that doesn't count.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
One small addition = One big improvement?
Last week, for an opening post, I drafted up a nice piece about how the Knuble acquisition was very good for the Capitals but the continuing lack of a real second-line center was still extremely problematic. Whoops.
Now, my original post was predicated on the argument that Brooks Laich, while in general a serviceable second-line center- he wins faceoffs, is very responsible defensively, can score (two straight 20-goal seasons) and set up teammates (30 assists last season)- he is not the type of pivot that excels with a winger like Alexander Semin. In some instances Semin, Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom play together, but usually the two Alexes are separated.
Without getting too reductive in terms of each player's skill set, Ovechkin is the type of winger who creates his own scoring chances while Semin (who is certainly capable of the same) excels more as a finisher, i.e. working in tandem with a set-up man. Laich may have had 30 assists last year, but when your signature move is almost losing the puck on a breakaway, you're more suited to crashing the net than dishing to Semin. Brendan Morrison, on the other hand, is a playmaker. He has seven 30+ assist seasons, and while Japer's Rink is pretty excited about his goal-scoring potential, the Caps don't need another 20-goal scorer, they need a quality set-up man who can also skate up and down the ice in Bruce Boudreau's up-tempo system (as an aside, I'm very disappointed there aren't any videos on Youtube showing Michael Nylander aimlessly skating in circles in the offensive zone).
It remains to be seen if Morrison fulfills his destiny as a #2 pivot, obviously, but this was a shrewd move by GM George McPhee, who likely targeted a couple free agent centers and then waited past the first week of free agency for prices to drop before snagging a bargain (I might be giving McPhee too much credit here, but probably not). Backstrom is definitely the Caps #1 center, Dave Steckel and Boyd Gordon are very good as 3rd and 4th line centers, but Fedorov's departure left the second slot wide open. Nylander is out of the picture because of his style and lack of productivity, and while Keith Aucoin will be good competition for Morrison, expect the newly-acquired former Hobey Baker winner to win out. While Fedorov's leadership is irreplaceable, Morrison (or even Aucoin for that matter) will even be an improvement in terms of on-ice performance.
Now, my original post was predicated on the argument that Brooks Laich, while in general a serviceable second-line center- he wins faceoffs, is very responsible defensively, can score (two straight 20-goal seasons) and set up teammates (30 assists last season)- he is not the type of pivot that excels with a winger like Alexander Semin. In some instances Semin, Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom play together, but usually the two Alexes are separated.
Without getting too reductive in terms of each player's skill set, Ovechkin is the type of winger who creates his own scoring chances while Semin (who is certainly capable of the same) excels more as a finisher, i.e. working in tandem with a set-up man. Laich may have had 30 assists last year, but when your signature move is almost losing the puck on a breakaway, you're more suited to crashing the net than dishing to Semin. Brendan Morrison, on the other hand, is a playmaker. He has seven 30+ assist seasons, and while Japer's Rink is pretty excited about his goal-scoring potential, the Caps don't need another 20-goal scorer, they need a quality set-up man who can also skate up and down the ice in Bruce Boudreau's up-tempo system (as an aside, I'm very disappointed there aren't any videos on Youtube showing Michael Nylander aimlessly skating in circles in the offensive zone).
It remains to be seen if Morrison fulfills his destiny as a #2 pivot, obviously, but this was a shrewd move by GM George McPhee, who likely targeted a couple free agent centers and then waited past the first week of free agency for prices to drop before snagging a bargain (I might be giving McPhee too much credit here, but probably not). Backstrom is definitely the Caps #1 center, Dave Steckel and Boyd Gordon are very good as 3rd and 4th line centers, but Fedorov's departure left the second slot wide open. Nylander is out of the picture because of his style and lack of productivity, and while Keith Aucoin will be good competition for Morrison, expect the newly-acquired former Hobey Baker winner to win out. While Fedorov's leadership is irreplaceable, Morrison (or even Aucoin for that matter) will even be an improvement in terms of on-ice performance.
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