The Hockey Stop

I was watching the Redskins game today and during a commercial break was surprised to see a Capital One Bank commercial with Skins QB Donovan McNabb and Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin.

It is one of the cheesiest ads I've ever seen, but hey, at least Donovan and Ovie have a good sense of humor and don't take themselves too seriously.



And here is a previous Capital One Bank commercial with just Ovechkin:

Since moving back to Washington, D.C. this summer I've noticed something different in the air. No, it's not the stifling heat and humidity creating a natural sauna every time I step outside. Nor is it the pollen making me sneeze every five minutes.

There is a breeze beginning to blow into the Nation's Capital from places as far away as San Diego, Philadelphia and Kentucky. And it is refreshing the air in this city of perpetual losing sports franchises. There is a cautious optimism in the atmosphere. Some long-suffering D.C. sports fans are whispering that there could be a whole lot of winning right around the corner.

Is this what Boston felt like just before the Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and Revolution began to dominate?

I can only hope this city will savor some of the success that Boston achieved seemingly all at once.

Regardless, Capitals star Alex Ovechkin suddenly has some illustrious company stealing the local and national headlines in the form of Nationals pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg, new Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb and the Wizards' No. 1 draft pick John Wall.

The last time I visited D.C. was during the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and Ovechkin was still slightly behind President Barack Obama as the biggest star in D.C.

At the time the Capitals were the only winning franchise in town and even Washingtonians who mix up ice hockey with curling could get behind Ovi and the Caps. Dan Snyder was doing everything in his power to anger as many 'Skins fans as possible; Gilbert Arenas was waiting to serve his sentence in a halfway house for gun play in the Wizards locker room after the team's beloved anti-gun owner Abe Pollin had passed away; and the Nationals were coming off two 100-loss seasons in a row.

But my how times have changed in The District. Now in addition to Ovechkin apparel there are Strasburg shirts, McNabb sweaters and Wall jerseys for sale at City Sports next to the Verizon Center in the Gallery Place-Chinatown neighborhood.

And the banners lining the VC proclaim "John Wall: Game Changer." Ovechkin had to win the Hart trophy to nab the keys to the city, but all Wall had to do was arrive in D.C. for Mayor Adrien Fenty to hand him the keys.

Wizards and Capitals owner Ted Leonsis has said that when one local sports team wins it is a rising tide that lifts all boats.

The Capitals, Wizards, Redskins and Nationals all still have a lot to prove and many challenges ahead to get to that next level.

But having leaders like Ovechkin, Strasburg, McNabb and Wall creates a collective excitement that I've never seen in Washington, D.C. before.

The talent that has arrived or will soon be arriving could create a perfect storm that turns the Nation's Capital into the center of the sports universe. Time will tell if all this talent translates into winning. But either way Washington sports fans finally have a lot to cheer for a change.

Whether or not the Washington Capitals have what it takes to win the Stanley Cup this year remains to be seen (Pens and Devils in the East and 'Hawks and Sharks in the West are tough tasks to say the least).

But Cup or not, the Capitals reached a significant milestone tonight in the history of the franchise -- their 5-1 home win against the Ducks was their eighth straight, which is the team's longest winning streak in 26 years.

There is still a lot of hockey left to play this year, including the Vancouver Winter Olympics, but right now the Capitals are the best team in the NHL, or at least the best team in the Eastern Conference. Washington is tied with Chicago and positioned only two points behind San Jose for the league points lead with 76.

All streaks must come to an end at some point, but for long-suffering Washington, D.C. sports fans (think Redskins, Wizards and Nationals) this is a moment to savor.

This lonely Caps fan in the City of Angels is definitely enjoying it.

This is a story from my beloved birthplace of Washington, D.C. about two proud professional sports franchises that are going in opposite directions.

One, the Washington Capitals, are on the cusp of a Stanley Cup because their owner, Ted Leonsis, did all the right things. The other, the Washington Redskins, are a perpetual disappointment because their owner, Daniel Snyder, did everything wrong.

So what did Leonsis do right and what can Danny boy learn from his success?

First, let's get one thing crystal clear for those of you readers who aren't familiar with the sports obsessions of our nation's capital -- Washington is a football town, not a hockey town. There are many historical and demographic reasons for this that I won't get into. But when it comes to sports, despite their current state of mediocrity, the 'Skins are number one and the Caps are somewhere behind the Wizards and in front of the Mystics and D.C. United.

That said, Leonsis has turned a night at the Verizon Center into an event where loyal Caps fans and bandwagoners alike "Rock the Red" to cheer one of the most exciting and talented teams in the NHL.

And how did this happen? Listen up Danny boy.

Leonsis and General Manager George McPhee built this franchise through smart (and lucky) drafting, smart trades (or not trading) and a solid developmental system. But when Abe Pollin sold the franchise to the AOL exec in 1999 Leonsis made some of the same mistakes that Snyder continues to make -- namely throwing heaps of cash at over-the-hill or simply unmotivated players. In this case, it was signing Jaromir Jagr to the largest ever contract in NHL history -- $77 million over seven years with an option for an eighth year. Jagr didn't live up to expectations, playing uninspired and mediocre hockey during his time in Washington.

Then in the 2003-2004 season Leonsis and McPhee made a decision to unload all the high-priced talent (or former talent) in what some refer to as a "fire sale."

This is where luck came into play as the Caps nabbed the number one draft pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft and chose Russian sensation Alexander Ovechkin. The rest as they say, is history. Ovechkin has turned into arguably the greatest professional hockey player in the world and his playful personality and fun-first attitude has created a buzz in D.C. not seen since Joe Theismann was taking the Redskins to Super Bowls and setting team records. Oh, and Theismann just happened to be the last D.C. pro athlete to win league MVP back in 1983 before Ovechkin won the first of two Hart trophies in 2008 and was given the keys to the city by Mayor Adrian Fenty.

The Capitals have developed and signed young talent such as Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin, Mike Green and Simeon Varlamov. They also hired head coach Bruce Boudreau who took the team from the bottom of the Eastern Conference to the playoffs, earning him the Jack Adams Award as best coach. This past offseason the Caps mixed in some veteran talent with the addition of Mike Knuble, who is not afraid to crash the net and score dirty goals, something the Caps were missing in the grind of the playoffs.

And the fans are excited for a long playoff run this year. And why shouldn't they? They have watched their owner and GM guide this team the right way, methodically putting all the pieces together over the years. And this is the result -- an electric atmosphere on the streets of Gallery Place-Chinatown around the Verizon Center and loads of talented young players on the ice who are growing together into a Stanley Cup contending team.

On behalf of all Caps fan I want to say a big thanks to Ted Leonsis for rebuilding this franchise the right way and putting the fans first.

Now what not to do.

Our $1.3 billion Bethesda native Daniel Snyder really, really wants to win. But all he gets is mediocre and sometime horrific results (anybody watch the Lions game?). So why is that? It probably starts with how he was able to buy the team and the stadium following the death of Jack Kent Cooke -- borrowing $300 million from a French investment bank and assuming $155 million in debt.

What does he do next? Strips off the name of beloved owner Jack Kent Cooke from the stadium in Landover, Maryland for a naming rights deal with FedEx. I find it ironic that Snyder has no problem getting rid of the Cooke name but when it comes to the name Redskins, which many consider a racist slur, he won't budge. This despite the possibility of losing millions of dollars because the group fighting the name is taking it all the way to the Supreme Court. These Native Americans are trying to get the high court to deny the Redskins trademark because they consider the name and logo to be offensive.

The name Redskins by the way was coined by their racist owner George Preston Marshall who refused to integrate the team until 1962 when he was forced to by the federal government under the threat of revoking the lease on D.C. Stadium (now R.F.K. Stadium). But will Snyder change the name like Pollin did with the Bullets? Of course not.

Just a side note -- there actually was another professional football franchise in Washington before the Redskins arrived from Boston. The Washington Senators played for one season in 1921 and were also referred to as the Washington Pros or Washington Presidents. So there you go, three nicknames that could replace the unfortunate name Redskins.

So how does Snyder treat the fans and employees? How about suing season-ticket holders. I must be kidding right? Nope. The 'Skins sued 125 season ticket holders for $3.6 million. Because of the economic downturn the ticket holders asked to be released from multiyear contracts and instead of negotiating the Redskins sued.

And the employees are treated even worse. According to the Washington Post, six former ticket sales agents have filed suit against the Redskins arguing that they are owed thousands of dollars in overtime pay that the Redskins won't pay because of "a federal exemption for amusement and recreation workers."

And on the field and the sidelines it gets even worse. Poor decisions by Exec VP of football operations Vinny Cerrato and the impatience of Snyder in building the franchise through the draft and smart trades has led to a team of overpaid and underperforming players who talk a big game but consistently have nothing to show for it where it actually counts on the scoreboard.

Let's run through the list of awful free agent signings -- Bruce Smith, Deion Sanders, Mark Carrier, Adam Archuleta, Dana Stubblefield, Jeremiah Trotter, etc... And now Albert Haynesworth and DeAngelo Hall signed to astronomical contracts, and guess what ... underperforming.

Then there is the questionable decision to replace Joe Gibbs with an untested quarterbacks coach named Jim Zorn. His bizarre play calling is starting to reveal what a mistake that was.

And quarterback Jason Campbell has never been able to get the confidence he needs and the creativity a pro quarterback needs to make plays on the fly.

So, to all those disgruntled 'Skins fans who are furious at the organization after ending the Lions' 19-game losing streak -- there is hope in the District and it comes from a bunch of Cup-hungry young hockey players who are poised to bring a championship to Washington, D.C.