Wizards Sign C Fabricio Oberto

He's won a gold medal. He's won an NBA championship. He's officially the biggest winner on the Wizards. For that, we'll take him at the biannual exception. Whatever.

Mike Wise on Sports Towns: "I'd Take DC Over L.A., Miami, Seattle, Denver and yes, Dallas"

New 106.7 The Fan radio host and super tall Washington Post columnist Mike Wise answered a few questions at Mr. Irrelevant today about his new gig. He's excited, nervous, hopeful, blah blah etc. The most interesting part, to me, came in his assessment of DC as a sports town:

"The idea that D.C. is a lousy sports town is what I’ve heard since I got to town five years ago. Measured against the passion of Philly, Pittsburgh, Boston, New York or Chicago, yeah, I agree. Beyond the football team, it doesn’t have as many zealots or characters or crackling passion for the games and the people that play them as those cities. I would still take D.C. over L.A., Miami, Seattle, Denver and, yes, Dallas."

I've lived in DC, Denver, Philly and New York. I've seen "zealots", "characters," "crackling passion" at pro and college games in each city, listened to local radio, watched local TV, followed local sports coverage in all of these places. And I can say with unequivocal honesty that ranking sports cities based on fan "passion" is complete and utter baloney.

I might be alone on this. It just irks me when I hear DC called a "bandwagon" sports town, and then as soon as the Knicks drop below .500 in New York it's like they don't exist. I get steamed when DC fans are labeled "average," meanwhile the Philadelphia airwaves are filled with people lambasting their players 24/7. No one in New York City gives a hoot about the Rangers anymore; most bartenders at sports bars never knew a Rangers game was on. In Manhattan. During the playoffs.

The strength of a city's fanbase comes down to three basic things in my view: 1.) winning; 2.) heritage; 3.) The Star. One of the three, and any city can go bonkers for its team. Take it all away, and a place like Chicago can become a sports siberia. Just look at the Blackhawks. They lost their stars in 1995, they started to lose, and they fell off the face of the earth. Now they're good again, have the stars again, and Chicagoans are pretending they were there all along. But no one's calling them bandwagon fans. Huh.

Most of the fanbases Wise puts ahead of DC also are blessed with heritage that comes from having been around for so damn long. Throughout the 20th century, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Chicago were vibrant cities with blue collar people. Sports were affordable and a subway ride away at most. The teams became embedded in the culture and civic identities were formed around what felt like the neighborhood squad. Having been around so long, with so few other teams in each league, also brought multiple championships and multiple generations of followers. Fandom in those cities is passed down from father to son pretty easily.

That's just impossible to have in an expansion city - meanwhile those very same places, especially in the South - go buckwild rabid for their college teams. Because there's heritage there. DC has had one team around more than 35 years: the Redskins. And you see the passion there. You think that's a coincidence?

Passionate Pittsburgh fans displaying their loyalty at a Pirates game. Image via Fedje Baseball Tour.

Here's the bottom line: every city has great sports fans, zealots, characters, and every city has fickle, fair-weather morons. How many there are is mostly tied to heritage, and how passionate they are at any given time depends on how successful they are currently or whether the star player is still around (see Iverson, Ripken Jr., Sakic). And a lot of it is just plain luck. Wilbon lauds Pittsburgh fans like his morning jelly doughnut, meanwhile the Pirates have been awful and no one has been going to their games for like 18 years, even with their shiny new stadium.

Give it 20 more years. Let Ovechkin have a few victory parades, the Zorn Star to deliver a Super Bowl or two, the Nats to win more than 90 games, and the Wizards to shed The Curse 'O Lez Boulez just once, and DC will be an orgy of sports passion. It will happen. And I can't wait.

Happy Trails, Brent Johnson

Yesterday, George McPhee said what most of us already knew: Brent Johnson would not be a member of the Washington Capitals in 2009. Today, it became official: Johnson is a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins after signing a one-year deal.

Former Capitals goalie Brent Johnson.

Brought in before the 2005 season, Johnson suffered through the first two post-lockout seasons as Olaf Kolzig's back-up, weathering the rebuild years with professionalism and class, playing behind a shaky defense that boasted names like Bryan Muir, Jamie Heward and Mathieu Biron. Then, at the height of the team's sprint to the playoffs in 2008, Johnson was essentially put on hold; the team's acquisition of Cristobal Huet made Johnny a press-box fixture from early March through the end of the season.

In 2008, Johnson was back in his normal backup role, this time behind the newly-acquired Jose Theodore. It didn't take very long for Johnny to make a strong push for the team's No. 1 slot, going 8-5-0 before suffering a hip injury during a Nov. 12 game at Carolina. Injuries have never been kind to Mr. Johnson.

Johnson's final record as a Washington Capital: 34-41-12. Hardly the stuff of legends. However, he was a fan favorite because of his steady demeanor and underdog status. He helped guide the team through several dark winters and, despite the obvious fact that there was no longer room for him on a team with Simeon Varlamov and Michael Neuvirth waiting in the wings, he badly wanted to play for this team.

Quality teammate, quality person and, with decent health, a quality backup on a quality team: three cheers for Johnny on the Spot.

But now that he's a Penguin, let us never speak his name again.

[Getty Images via NHL.com]

McPhee: "If we played a better game in Game 7, maybe we win the Stanley Cup."

George McPhee and Bruce Boudreau just took an hour's worth of questions from Capitals season-ticket holders, a wide-ranging discussion that touched on everything from last week's development camp to the upcoming season to José Théodore's apparent refusal to uncover his head during the National Anthem (paging Bill O'Reilly!). Any real news? Nah, not really, unless you're a founding member of the Brent Johnson fan club. Also, Boudreau said Théodore is still the team's No. 1 goalie going in to training camp, a sentiment that is (hopefully) nothing more than an attempt to publicly do right by the vet.

The starting goalie for the 2009-10 Capitals (for now) according to Bruce Boudreau.

Here are some highlights from the conference call, along with whatever I can remember from Saturday's development camp-concluding scrimmage:

On development camp: McPhee said the coaches agreed that the 'All-Camp' team would look something like this:

Stefan Della Rovere - Cody Eakin - Trevor Bruess
John Carlson - Dmitri Orlov
Braden Holtby

Della Rovere made the list despite missing the last few sessions of camp with a shoulder injury. Orlov, meanwhile, might have been the best player on the ice on Saturday. He's an extremely smooth skater and passer who possesses a low, hard shot and loves to throw the odd hip-check.

What's surprising here is the omission of two players who were near-consensus picks for the camp's three stars among this town's hockey cognoscenti: Mathieu Perreault and Michael Dubuc.

Perreault is a diminutive fella who has no problem carrying the puck into high-traffic areas. His involvement in the offensive zone was hard to miss at Saturday's scrimmage, and his speed and shiftyness are impressive. Dubuc, on the other hand, scored 7 goals in three scrimmages during camp. Last year, Jake Hauswirth had a similarly impressive output as an invitee and it resulted in a professional contract and a shot at making the team in Hershey. Will Dubuc, who spent last season with the South Carolina Stingrays, be similarly rewarded?

On John Carlson: "Carlson is going to be a really good player...he's going to contend for a job this year" - Bruce Boudreau

Carlson didn't have his best outing on Saturday; he got turned around on a second-period rush, recovered in time to take the puck back, only to throw the puck blindly into the slot, which resulted in a turnover and scoring opportunity for the white team.

On Anton Gustafsson: "I was really surprised by how big and strong and put together he is," Boudreau said of the 6-foot-3, 200 pound Swede, who was the team's first pick in the 2008 draft. Gustafsson suffered a concussion mid-week after crashing headfirst into the goal and sat out the final sessions of camp. "We don't know if he's going to crack the lineup this year but he certainly thinks he wants to."

On the team's recent success in the draft: "We weren't getting the results I thought we needed in my early years as a manager," McPhee said. "We kept the same personnel but we've changed the way that we've scouted and it's really made a big difference for us...the draft is our lifeblood."

On replacing Donald Brashear's fists toughness: "At the moment we have to look at Detroit and say, here's a club that doesn't invest in [fighters] a whole lot." - GM

On free agency and the salary cap: "We do have room to do a few more things." - GM

On Mike Green's health: "I talked to Mike Green today and he's in incredible shape right now...He's in as good shape as he's ever been in, and healthy. As far as Mike Green is concerned, we're okay with that." - BB

On departing players other than Sergei Fedorov and Viktor Kozlov: "Probably Brent Johnson would be the other that [will] not return. - GM

On the goaltending depth chart: "[Varlamov] did great in the playoffs but Jose won [32] games for us. Varly's gotta prove it again to me...To me, Varly and Michal [Neuvirth] still gotta knock José off his perch to be the No. 1 goalie on our team." - BB

On Joe Finley: "We're really toying with the idea of moving him up to forward." - BB

Good call. Finley skated on Hauswirth's line during Saturday's scrimmage and looked very comfortable parked in front of the goal on offense. His skating needs some work, but the guy's a mountain (6-7, 230+) and was at his best with his back to the goal, a la Tomas Holmstrom. With the team's logjam on the blue line, playing the wing is Finley's best path to the NHL right now. You're telling me his size wouldn't make a great addition to a second-unit power play?

Boudreau also singled-out defenseman Brett Flemming for praise. "Flemming really looked like a hockey player. He looked really solid and came on and got better as the week went on."

On the team's crowded defense corps: "We are very deep on the blue line. It's a position of strength for us," Boudreau said. "You cannot ever have enough defensemen who can play at the NHL level."

On the team's captain: "Chris Clark is healthy. It's the first time in two years that he's been healthy." - BB

We've heard that before. Let's hope it's for real this time.

On the team's best attribute going forward: "Our ability to win the games against big teams in their buildings." - BB

[Mitchell Layton/Getty Images via ESPN]

Friday Furburgers: The Apocalypse is Upon Us

Dogs and cats living together! Hamburgers eating people! $8 gallons of milk! Vinny Cerrato making a smart personnel move! That's right, today is the end of days.

Because yesterday the four horsemen rode through town and announced that Vinny Cerrato had snagged another young stud defensive end in the supplemental draft, Jeremy Jarmon. It cost a 3rd round pick in the '10 draft, when Jarmon likely would have gone in the 2nd if not higher. In other words, Vinny got what is known as "good value" in a transaction, instead of creamed.

A few years back, the 'Skins missed the opportunity to solve their impending RT disaster when they passed on OT Jared Gaither in the supplemental (5th round). There were character issues with Gaither, who'd failed out of school. Fine. But now he's a starter for the Ravens, and the 'Skins are lining up scrubs to play RT. This year, Jeremy Jarmon was made available when he lost his NCAA eligibility after testing positive for a banned over-the-counter weight loss supplement. When you have a chance to snag a talented young player on the cheap, you do it.

There are those critical of the move because "a third round pick for anyone in the supplemental draft is a little high." And a pessimist might look at recent DE moves (Jason Taylor, Erasmus James) and expect failure. After all, the Redskins haven't had much success developing DEs. Ever. Kenard Lang is probably the best in-house developed DE of the last 15 years.

But Jarmon has a motor, the work ethic, and certainly the pedigree to make it. Most importantly, perhaps, his legs are younger than 35 years old. At 6-3, 278 pounds, the former All-SEC end is worth a look at least. Hey, better than keeping the pick next year and having Vinny be tempted by a punter or another pass-catching tight end.

***

Without further ado, and after a two week hiatus, your Friday Furburgers. Links from the past week (or two), for the weekend:

Obligatory video of newest draft pick sacking a QB. He doesn't beat his guy clean, but he doesn't give up on the play either.
YouTube

Jarmon's statline last season: 38 tackes, 9 tackles for a loss, 4.5 sacks, 4 hurries, 2 forced fumbles, 6 passes broken up (12 games).
University of Kentucky

Jarmon runs the 40 in the 4.7-4.8 range and has a 31" vertical.
Rotoworld

Matt Mosley posts a blog entry while drunk, declaring Devin Thomas the 'Skins' '09 breakout player. A coach has been "whispering" to him about this, apparently. I've been trying to get my girlfriend to whisper sweet nothings in my ear about Redskins wideouts for years.
ESPN.com NFC East Blog

Adam Jones hit the game-winning RBI during the All-Star game. Probably because he can hit all pitch types with equal awesome (check bottom right sidebar).
BBTN Clubhouse July 9th

Maryland basketball fans are the ACC's "most irritating (and occasionally tasteless)." Better than "bandwagonning" or "nonexistent", which are the usual descriptors used for local fans. Progress people.
Pat Forde

Terps football: near unanimously expected to finish dead last in the ACC Atlantic.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Alex Ovechkin is the 3rd most exciting hockey player ever, and you and I are of the "it's-free-it's-me YouTube generation." I think I like that.
Michael Farber

There's been so much phenomenal blog coverage of the Caps' Summer Development camp scattered around the interwebz. Japers put all the Tweets into one widget feed (there's a sentence I couldn't have said a year ago), and from there you can find it all.
Japers Rink

As predicted, D John Carlson ('08 1st round pick) has been dominating the camp (video).
Capitals Insider

To catch you up: the Caps have now re-signed all the RFAs they were expected to (except for Jurcina whose contract will be decided in arbitration at the end of July): C Boyd Gordon, RW Eric Fehr, D Jeff Schultz, D Shaone Morissonn. They have $1.5 million in cap space and 8 NHL defensemen including Jurcina under contract for this season. Someone's gonna go.
Japers' Unofficial Salary Cap Info Tracker

Caps clear out some organizational depth, sending D prospect Keith Seabrook to the Calgary Flames for "future considerations."
NHL.com

I just hope for Gilbert's sake that Obama doesn't butt-sweat like I do.
DC Sports Bog

Random facts, which is a great way to kill time and break up a boring conversation. Things like "American car horns beep in the tone of F." Or "The average person spends 2 years on the phone in their lifetime." Or "Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both duelers are blood donors." Consider this my official duel challenge, Cerrato.
Carnegie Mellon - Random Facts

[Image via SEC Live News]

'Skins Snag Kentucky DE Jeremy Jarmon with 3rd Round Pick in Supp. Draft
No word yet on which position he'll be arbitrarily switched to. My guess is RT or punter.

Midseason DCLS Beltway Awards

It's the All-Star Break, and we at the DCLS would like to hand out the appropriate awards to our beloved miserable baseball teams. Categories considered but ultimately excluded were "Best Team", "Worst Team", and "Top Reason You May Not Want to Kill Yourself". Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2009 Midseason Beltway Awards!

Most Valuable Player: Luke Scott, Orioles

In only 66 games, Scott is sitting at .305/.384/.592 with 18 HR and 51 RBI. He ranks in the top 15 in the AL in slugging percentage (3rd), OPS (4th), and HR (15th). He has been the Orioles most consistent and dominant hitter since he came off the DL in late May. If for no other reason, he deserves this accolade because he is a notoriously streaky hitter who has yet to completely cool off. Until I just jinxed him.

-Honorable Mention: Adam Jones, Orioles; Adam Dunn, Nationals; Brad Bergesen, Orioles

Least Valuable Player: Daniel Cabrera, Nationals

0-5. 5.85 ERA. 16 K. 35 BB. 2.08 WHIP. $2.6 million. General lack of soul. Conned both area baseball teams into believing he was anything more than an awful basketball player stuck in an awful baseball player's awful team's uniform. Follow? Doesn't matter, he's our hands down loser.

-Honorable Mention: Mark Eaton, Orioles; Joel Hanrahan, Nationals

Best Hunting Beard: Joe Beimel, Nationals

Two words: Awesome.

More on that here.

-Dishonorable Mention: Sidney Crosby, Penguins


Best (Almost) Record-Breaking Performance: Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals

His 30-game streak was only the 7th such streak of the past decade, so we applaud his effort to enter baseball lore.

-Honorable Mention: Orioles beat Red Sox, June 30


Best Single Game Performance: Luke Scott, Orioles, July 7

Just a double away from the cycle and with 7 RBI to boot, Scott's performance about a week ago goes down as the Beltway's best of the season.

-Honorable Mention: Brad Bergesen, Orioles, June 9 and July 1; John Lannan, June 6


Unsung Hero: Josh Willingham, Nationals

If only because that photo just has to be included here. No, but seriously, dude's hitting .304/.419/.576. That's a .995 OPS in case you can't add, good enough for 5th in the NL were he to qualify.

-Honorable Mention: George Sherrill, Orioles

Guy Who Needs to Produce in the Second Half: Brian Roberts, Orioles

Any way you choose to look at it, the guy has had an awful year. Perhaps our expectations are unfair of the O's unquestioned team leader and catalyst, but that's what happens when you sign a brand new contract worth over $10 million a year. Do better, Brian, because the lineup ain't as potent without ya.

-Honorable Mention: Matt Wieters, Orioles; The Entire Nationals Bullpen, Nationals

Most Overpaid Player: Dmitri Young, Nationals Potomac Nationals

$5 million for a 35 year old with no place in the future of the franchise to play zero games. That's a bad dollar to game ratio, if you ask me.

-Honorable Mention: Melvin Mora, Orioles; Daniel Cabrera, Nationals


Breakthrough Performance: Nolan Reimold, Orioles

Although he's cooled down of late, Reimold has himself a comfortable position in AL Rookie of the Year talk. Yes, the AL Rookie class is somewhat lacking in production relative to hype, but Reimold is putting up above average power numbers and looks to be that 3rd outfielder of the future.

-Honorable Mention: Brad Bergesen, Orioles; Jordan Zimmerman, Nationals

Manager of the Year: Dave Trembley, Orioles



Because it's funny.




Honorable Mention: Manny Acta, Nationals


Because it's funny-er.

Caps Re-Sign C Boyd Gordon to 1 year deal
Notice how that's re-sign not resign. Anyways, no surprises here, and the deal's likely under $1 million worth $761,250.

Culture of the Caps: Summer Development Camp

Easter Day 2003. Call it the tipping point. The cherry blossoms were in bloom. The news was confusing me and making me hungry for uranium cake. The DOW was at 35 trillion gazillion. The Caps were squandering a 2-0 series lead to a lower seeded team. I kissed a girl, and I liked it.

The tipping point in question here was, of course, the bitter 3OT loss to the Lightning that changed the course of Washington Capitals history forever. That Easter Massacre proved that the old ways of team building were fatally flawed and that the defeatist attitude that pervaded the team and its fanbase would have to be wiped clean. From the ashes of this ill-fated day would emerge the phoenix of Alexander Ovechkin and the new Capitals: a shrewdly built roster whose core talent was drafted and developed by Caps scouts and coaches. Leonsis and McPhee realized on that day that real champions are made from within.

Now, after five years of replenishing the prospect ranks, streamlining the scouting system, stabilizing minor league affiliations, building a state-of-the-art complex in Ballston and standardizing a hockey system from the NHL down to the ECHL, the Caps have created a cohesive organization top to bottom.

The inner-workings of the revamped Washington Capitals are on display during this week's Summer Rookie Development Camp when the organization's prospects get a taste of professional experience and begin their assimilation into Caps Culture. Boudreau on the camp:

Our whole thought process is to show these young players...what it's like to be in the NHL. How many meetings you go to every day, the video you see, the work ethic on the ice. And I think [last year] we accomplished all of that. So the guy's leaving here saying "You know what, I know what I gotta do to become a better player" and that's what we want them to do. And we also want them to say "You know what? What an organization. Look at the place we're playing in, look at the people who are watching." Get them hungry.

And they have good reason to be hungry: 9 Hershey Bears (AHL) made their NHL debuts with the Caps in '08-'09; seven current Caps were Calder Cup champion Bears before they made the big squad. Hope and promise are not empty words in the halls of Kettler Capitals Iceplex. You work hard, you get rewarded. The meritocracy applies to the coaching staff too: Boudreau and new assistant coach Bob Woods were promoted after championship seasons with the Bears, and Bears assistant Mark French is the new Hershey head coach.

As the prospects learn to play together, they also learn to like each other. Mike Green in a recent interview explained what makes these Caps different: "We have such a good group of guys. You get on a lot of teams and guys don’t care that much. Here, it’s a lot different. The guys are my family.” The cameraderie amongst familiar faces at Summer Rookie Camps is already evident after Day 1 on the ice. And free agents actually want to come to DC for less money now. "Hockey players enjoying their time and each other in DC" is the new "Jagr hates everyone and nobody gives a shit."

Most importantly, however, Caps Culture is about where the Caps are going and not where they have been. The likes of former Caps greats hang from the Kettler rafters, but otherwise the past and its spotty history has been left behind. Previous Caps squads have been good but not quiiiite good enough; gritty but unskilled; skilled but half-hearted; playoff flops. The team's rocky history has developed a cynical fan base bitter towards departed stars who couldn't get it done.

But that's over now. The organization is stocking itself with winners and getting it done in the minor leagues. Ovechkin is the world class player and leader around which the Caps have built a steady organization replete with hockey talent, with able coaches to mold it, and the infrastructure and ownership to support it. It's a positive place where nobody remembers Esa Fucking Tikannen and the future continues to look brighter by the day. It's on display this week at Kettler.

Camp Roster (not including free agent camp invites):

5 Star Prospects to watch:
D John Carlson ('08, 1st round pick)
C Anton Gustafsson ('08, 1st round pick)
D Dmitri Orlov ('09, 2nd round pick)

4 Star Prospects to watch:
G Braden Holtby ('08, 4th round pick)
RW Dmitri Kugryshev ('08, 2nd round pick)
LW Stefan Della Rovere ('08, 7th round pick)
C Mathieu Perrault ('06, 6th round pick)
LW Francois Bouchard ('06, 2nd round pick)

3 Star Prospects to watch:
G Dan Dunn ('07, 6th round pick)
D Josh Godfrey ('07, 2nd round pick)
D Joe Finley ('05, 1st round pick)
D Eric Mestery ('08, 2nd round pick)
D Patrick Wey ('09, 4th round pick)
C Jake Hauswirth (free agent signee)

Notable Absences:
D Karl Alzner, LW Oskar Osala, G Michael Neuvirth, G Semyon Varlamov are all too damned good at this point.
C Marcus Johansson ('09, 1st round pick) could not get out of a prior commitment to his Swedish team.
D Keith Seabrook ('04, 2nd round pick) hasn't been to a Caps camp yet. What's the deal Keith-y-poo?
D Sasha Pokulok ('05, 1st round pick) is officially a bust and will never wear a Caps sweater.
C Red Rover (undrafted free agent) has gained 15 pounds of solid beer gut and has lost a step, though he's now a monster in the corners like never before.

Finally:
A likely scene at some point this week:

Manny Being Canned-y

Nationals fire Manager Manny Acta on eve of All-Star Week, as predicted. The Nats are atrocious, not improving, and mailing it in. Too bad you can't fire the players too. Replacement Manager TBD, doomed.