Top-5 Most Popular DC Athletes Right Now

I know, I know, this post has already been run by Steinz over at the WaPo (a voting in which I participated), but SB Nation DC also had a list today, so I thought it would only be fair to jump on the bandwagon and chime-in.

The term 'popular' is left vague so there is room for interpretation, but here is how I define it - as a combination of recognize-ability (name recognition), and being well liked; I believe that a notorious person can still be popular. My initial list for Steinz a few weeks ago was this:

1. Ovechkin
2. McNabb
3. Orakpo
4. Backstrom
5. Zimmerman

My logic:

• Ovie is widely known and loved and has to be #1. That said, the overwhelming popularity of the Redskins in this town pushes football players to greater heights. I realize McNabb has not played a game, but he is more widely recognized than Ovechkin; as Chad Dukes and Lavar Arrington said on WFAN a month or so ago, if you put McNabb and Ovie in a mall, McNabb would be the one who more easily creates a mini-riot. As much as I hate him and that the Skins acquired him, he is a close #2.
• I skipped Portis and Gil because I thought they were not generally well liked.
• I should have replaced Rak with Cooley, but thought Cooley's injury removed him from the spotlight too much.
• Strasburg had not played a game and was not as widely recognized as he is right now.
  
• Backstrom was fresh off of a season where the Caps elevated themselves to the #2 team in the DMV, so was very newsworthy.
  

Ah, how quickly things change......my list for today would look like this:

1. Ovie
2. McNabb
3. Cooley
4. Portis
5. Strasburg
6. Backstrom
   

• I ranked 6 because at this moment, Strasburg is #5, but his hype will likely die down after about 2 months, and I expect him to drop a few slots. The only way he stays that high is if he puts up All-Star/Cy Young candidate numbers immediately. When
  
• Rak was a mistake the first time, I should have put Cooley in that spot; Rak is just not as widely known as the man formerly known as Captain Chaos.
• Portis is not completely well-liked, but my Dad, who is not a sports fan, knows him, which puts him in select company.
• Ryan Zimmerman is having a terrific season but struggling for All-Star votes, so it is hard to put him anywhere near my top-5 anymore. He just isn't widely recognized, and won't be until the Nats contend, or he does something outlandish like gets a tattoo on his face.

My only major differentiation from the Steinz and SBNDC lists are the omission of Gilbert Arenas, but come on, isn't he closer to the least popular athlete in DC? I can see John Wall, London Fletcher, and Mike Green pushing for honors, but I think that list of 6 is head and shoulders above the rest right now.

(Image courtesy of misterirrelevant.com)

Chris Cooley With Jake & Amir

Hey, I chuckled.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Week 2: Redskins 9, Rams 7 - Knee Jerk Reactions

Football season is under way! The hair pulling, TV-screaming, remote control throwing and furious cigarette smoking has returned in full force. Before I let rationality cloud my judgment, here are my knee-jerk reactions from the second game of the season:

-This was a win that felt like a loss. The Rams are horrendous, and thanks be to God for that. It's disconcerting to say that, because I don't know how you'd have been able to tell the teams apart today without the different uniforms. Small and steady gains on offense, bend-but-don't-break defense, stalled scoring drives...can you tell who I'm describing?

-Football Outsiders' theory is that blowing out a bad team is a better indicator of future success than barely beating a good team. So, yeah.

-What a boring game.

-Zorn's play-calling was pretty bad. On the goal line in the 3rd quarter, he gave Campbell zero chances to throw it. The kid basically already threw two TD passes, which were dropped (Thomas and Sellers). Let him get his stats! And Jimmy baby, don't call a sweep to the weak side with Betts (STAY IN BOUNDS) when all you need to do is bleed the clock. And don't go for it on 4th and 1 at the end there, that's just asinine. Take the field goal.

-Landry missed Jackson big-time on his long run.

-What's with the fumble-itis? Every other play the ball is squirting loose "after" we're down. Twice in two weeks (Cooley last week, Santana this week), we've been saved by the refs missing actual fumbles. Not to mention the actual, real, documented fumbles.

-Santana Moss is screwing my fantasy team.

-The Three Stooges: Malcolm Kelly (4 rec., 41 yards); Devin Thomas (1 dropped TD); Fred Davis (1 rec. -2 yards). I hate you Vinny Cerrato.

-Randle El is our most consistent wideout to this point.

-Cooley is our best offensive player to this point.

-It's time for television to embrace the video game view. I am aching to know what Campbell is seeing down the field. Is that vaunted Rams secondary shutting everything down or does he just not see open guys? Unless we're at these games, we'll just never know.

-The stats don't lie, to an extent: Campbell was efficient and had his castmembers held on to the ball, he'd have two TDs to show for it.

-More shotgun please.

-A big play please.

-A touchdown please.

-Rogers was charged with shutting down Donnie Avery, their best wideout, because Rogers is our best cornerback, by far. And he succeeded. Meanwhile, big $$ Deangelo Hall got burned again for 7 catches and a touchdown to some guy named Robinson.

-Carrot Top

-Dear Fellow Fans: You boo for bad efforts, not bad execution. I didn't see bad efforts. Dear Fellow Fan sitting by me at bar: Colt Brennan is on IR, and cannot possibly replace Campbell, not to mention how stupid it would be to replace your starting QB while he is having a decent game.

-At the end of the day, the 'Skins are what the scoreboard says. We "almost" had some touchdowns, but good teams don't bother with "almost." They hold on to the ball and punch it in after long drives. They don't let the friggin' Rams convert 50% of their third downs. *sigh* 1-1 heading to Detroit, let's make it an easy one for once, huh?

Chris Cooley Takes Over Furburgers (and Hot Clicks)

In lieu of Furburgers this weekened, we will let Mr. Cooley take over our links by posting his work from Friday's Hot Clicks from SI.com.

And I don't think I've mentioned this, but I met Cooley once and asked him about being called "Captain Chaos," he said he hates it, doesn't know why, but hates it. I think the man needs a new nickname.

(Image courtesy of Chris Cooley's smoking hot wife)