Back in the Saddle

A quick note on tonight's impressive away victory over the Chicago Fire: I have, unfortunately, found it difficult of late to drag myself down to RFK to watch the sorry performances that DC United has managed against far less talented opponents. I tuned into Fox Soccer Channel tonight half expecting University of Maryland alum Stephen King to run roughshod over disinterested visitors. Instead, to my pleasant surprise, I was treated to an inspired performance featuring long, threatening runs by Gonzalo Martinez, skillful handling by Clyde Simms, Jaime Moreno, and Marcelo Gallardo (who unfortunately allowed himself to be baited into a red card), and the resurgence of one Luciano Emilio.

DC's poor run of play has drawn substantial scrutiny for the former FC Koln prospect. To my shame, I have found myself questioning whether the 20 goals netted by Mr. Emilio last season were some type of fluke that unreasonably raised expectations on the team. And yet, tonight, while in mid-sentence attempting to explain to my wife why I believed that Luciano had lost touch, he took a ball at the top right hand corner of the goal box, attacked and broke down two Fire defenders while avoiding a third, and forced Jon Busch to redirect a shot right down to Jaime Moreno's foot for the equalizer. For the next half hour, Emilio was in impeccable form, culminating in an injury time run down the left side of the pitch where he single-handily broke the Fire's back on an impressive shot to the corner of the goal. Good times may be here again.

Political Animal

"Politics, at its best, is about bringing people together for the common good."
Sen. Chuck Hagel, America: Our Next Chapter

For residents of DC, the contrast between the performance to be staged in this city tomorrow at the National Building Museum and the performance staged outside a Marriott in Woodley Park last Saturday is likely to be remarkable. Another piece, perhaps, of absurdist theater as a parting gift to what is left of the Democratic Party.

I am looking forward to the turning of the proverbial page. The analogies and metaphors employed to describe political campaigns aside, politics is not a sport. Sports are designed to produce winners and losers -- indeed, there would be no point to a contest if there was not, ultimately, a defined winner and loser (whether determined in a single match or determined by where you are on the table at the end of the season). Politics can certainly be reduced to such a calculus. Government can be used to reward one's allies and punish one's enemies. Ultimately, however, this is not the government envisioned by the civics and history classes that enfranchised most American school children. The belief in government derives from a deeply held American faith that, however flawed, the convening of disparate (sometimes warring) viewpoints within a structured form of republican government can lead, through some magic formula, to a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. The use of sport as a contextual tool to understand developments in political campaigns, then, demeans the process. Rather than focus on whether a particular candidate would be an exceptional public servant or whether a candidate will be able to effectively govern, we are immersed in analysis that tells us whether a candidate's campaign team has out-manuevered or out-performed their opponents' campaign teams. And certainly this is important -- after all, one must win an election to be an elected official -- but it is not the alpha and omega of campaigning.

A common derision aimed towards Senator Obama, particularly by supporters of Senator Clinton, is that Senator Obama has no record to support claims that he will bring a new style of governance to the White House. Scott McClellan's recent publicity (humility) tour for his recent book draws further attention to the criticism insofar as Mr. McClellan describes his disillusionment borne from an inexperienced political figure who promised widespread bipartisan appeal only to fail spectacularly and further drive a wedge between the two parties in this city. However, this criticism of Sen. Obama, I believe, is a creature of the failure to conceive of the Democractic party primary as anything other than sport. Chris Matthews famously harangued Texas state senator Kirk Watson over his inability to name Sen. Obama's legislative accomplishments in what was apparently brilliant television, but in the many hours that I have been subjected to Matthews' commentary, I have never once heard him try to inform his audience of Sen. Obama's accomplishments. That, apparently, is not brilliant television. It does not, then, seem terribly surprising that the conception that Sen. Obama is a blank slate, a political novice, has seen such widespread acceptance.

Reading Senator Hagel's most recent book, the Senator briefly discusses his work with Sen. Obama to enact nuclear non-proliferation legislation. Senator Hagel's discussion of the bill fills only a paragraph and while Sen. Hagel profusely praises Senator Biden in discussing a trip the two took to Northern Iraq, no similar fulsome complimentary words are thrown Senator Obama's way. Moreover, it is, perhaps, not remarkable that a Democrat is working with Senator Hagel, given his outspoken criticism of our current Administration. However, working with Senator Coburn, particularly on improving government transparency and accountability is remarkable. These two examples don't overcome the criticism of a thin record, but what they do is provide an indication of why some Republicans (like, for example, well, me) have crossed over and thrown their support behind someone who seems to be willing to listen to other viewpoints and, perhaps, bring people together for the common good.

Now, certainly, the sport coverage aspect of campaign coverage has been utilized masterfully by Senator Obama's campaign, as the underdog, david vs. goliath, narrative has controlled for the entirety of the primary season, increasing interest and the level of commitment in his campaign. But perhaps now is the time to spend some time for us to ponder how either of the two Senators running for President may govern rather than how they might win. But perhaps not.

Building Ties

I grew up as a rabid fan of the Cubs and Bears (eventually adding the Bulls to that group later in childhood) largely as a product of the western suburb culture of Chicago. My neighbors were Cubs and Bears fans; our local Catholic parish priest would provide updates on Bears' scores during mass and during the 1984 NLCS against the Padres, to prevent widespread absences from our elementary school, the administrators decided to set up a tv in the gymnasium so we could all watch a day game in Wrigley. However, I never had a connection to the players per se. I had never obtained an autograph from a Cubs player in all the time I spent at Wrigley; the only football game I ever saw in Soldier Field featured the USFL's Chicago Blitz and not the NFL's Bears; and to the extent there was any personal relationship, my sisters and I once met Wilber Marshall at a Sears where he was signing autographs. That was it. My loyalty to these teams was unrelated to the players or their personas; it was, instead, a connection to other fans.

Now, in my thirties, I have taken advantage of the opportunity to experience another side of being a fan. Spring trainings and frequent road trips to see these teams play has built a connection both with the franchises and the players that people them. When Carlos Marmol is dominating on the mound, I can turn to my wife or sister and remind them of watching him pitch in a AAA spring training game against the Brewers and the quick exchange we had as he signed a baseball and demonstrated his command of the english language.

The remoteness of fan from player seemed perfectly natural as a kid. As a fan of a "big" club, one was simply just another face in a crowd of 30,000 or more. There's nothing wrong with it and the distance certainly never impacted the rabid nature of my affinity for the teams. Nevertheless, I find everyday things like shopping at the same Babies R' Us as Coach Brenda Frese, eating lunch a table away from Greg Maddux and David Wells, playing golf at the same tournament as former Nationals reliever T.J. Tucker, and hanging out with NFL players at charity events at Union Station to be no less thrilling than when I got the attention of one of the Bears' outside linebackers for thirty seconds as a nine year old (only I am old enough and wise enough to recognize how pathetic this all is). For these reasons, I love being a fan of D.C. United.

On Sunday, for the second year in a row, we went to D.C. United's "meet the team day" at RFK. The first year we went, I spent much of the time embarrassed about how excited I was just to be there standing in front of a number of players that I paid significant sums of money to watch run around a field chasing down a spherical object. This year, with last year's experience behind me, I was much more able to enjoy just being there. In particular, I was in a far better position to appreciate how much children enjoyed the opportunity to make a connection, however brief, with D.C. United's squad. The attendance -- and patience -- of the players was impressive. Attitudes are generally great and some of the players seem to genuinely enjoy the chance to interact with fans. Marcello Gallardo, Jaime Moreno, Gonzalo Martinez, Franco Neill, Jeremy Barlow, James Thorpe, Mike Zaher, Ben Olsen, Santino Quaranta, Luciano Emilio, Fred, Jeff Carroll, Pat Carroll, Jose Carvallo, Ryan Coredeiro, Rod Dyachenko, Zach Wells, Marc Burch, Dan Stratford, Quavas Kirk, Domenic Mediate, Devon McTavish, Bryan Namoff, Clyde Simms, Coach Tom Soehn, Coach Chad Ashton and Coach Mark Simpson made themseleves available for three hours and tolerated all reasonable requests from fans in attendance. Only Francis Doe, Gonzalo Peralta (for good reason), and Dane Murphy were not in attendance.

The three hours these players spent, even if only for a few hundred fans, clearly has an important impact on many of the children in attendance. For me, on the verge (precipice) of starting my own family, I am an even more committed season ticket holder because of the promise of one day bringing my daughter to a "meet the team day" event. Sunday was a credit to the organization, D.C. United's players, and D.C. United's fans and I am very appreciative of having had the opportunity to once again participate.

Months...

March turns to April, April to May, and now May to June and I failed to muster the self-absorption necessary to add even one more missive into the echo chamber of the blogosphere. It is not as if sports have become any less important in my life. Before failing to make the effort to catch the most recent woefully inadequate performances by D.C. United at RFK, I had gone to nearly every home game. The season began with the promise of a squad that was head and shoulders above the rest of the MLS and has now collapsed to the cold reality of a passionless, uninspired, underachieving group of players sporting VW logos on their chest. In April, I ended up at a baseball stadium in six of nine days: first, enjoying the Cubs post 13 runs against a reeling Bucs squad on consecutive weekend games at Wrigley; next, appreciating the impressive skills (both on the mound and at the plate) of Johan Santana now in full display with the New York Metropolitans; and finally, watching the Cubs drop two of three to the woeful Nationals at their great new park here in DC. Coach Pinella may not want Chicagoans to get all "giggly" about the North Siders, but it is difficult not to be impressed by a team that storms back from an eight run deficit in the sixth inning featuring one of the team's relievers shutting down the Rockies on a ten-pitch, nine strike, three strikeout inning (Marmol is very, very good). My wife and I caught most of the three game series against the Dodgers on television and after having spent a significant part of my three decades on this spinning globe at Wrigley, that small patch of land in Chicago looks to be a great place to be at the moment.

In this part of the country, Nationals Stadium is not such a bad place to be either. The stadium is a beautiful place to watch baseball, easy to get to by metro, and currently features a moderately interesting assemblage of malcontents and can't miss prospects (that missed). As comes with the territory in the District of Columbia, the people attending the game can ruin the experience. The opening game of the Cubs-Nats series was marred in our section by a group of sixteen year olds screaming profanity laced epithets at the opposing team and others sitting in their section. Friends that have sat in the same (relatively nice) seats have endured other fans, intoxicated by the first half inning, drowning the joy out of the experience of a baseball game with x-rated vitriol screamed over the heads of young boys and girls in the rows before them. A consequence of the Nats inability to draw well in spite of the new stadium and the team's lack of interest in preventing ticket brokers from buying up significant blocks of season tickets is that woe befall all those fans who actually bought season tickets for themselves (I declined to renew mine). The ticket brokers have been drastically cutting the prices for their tickets (I bought four field tickets that sell for $58 a piece from the team through individual game sales for a little over $20 a piece from a broker looking to mitigate his loss for one of this week's games against the Cardinals) meaning that any lout can act like an ass without repercussion in your section without any fear of any meaningful consequence other than being asked to leave the stadium in the seventh inning when surrounding fans can no longer endure the pathetic, inebriated, offensive tirades. In two-thirds of the games I have gone to this year, I have experienced no problems. But those are not great odds for the casual fan looking to find an enjoyable way for the family to wile away an evening.

Working the Refs

The WCAC final also featured Bishop O'Connell's boys basketball coach, Joe Wootten, tirelessly complaining to the referees. In addition to the fabulous play on the court, Wootten's antics were singularly impressive. While Wootten's indefatigable whining did not change of the outcome of the game, one hopes that someone in the SRO crowd at Bender made note of his performance and informed the Clinton campaign.

After sitting through SNL's shameless suck up to the disingenuous ramblings of campaign strategists who have failed miserably in order to watch two solid live performances by Jeff Tweedy (an Obama supporter), I am even more puzzled by why HRC continues to waste her time and the dignity of her public service by whining about the inequity of everything. As Maureen Dowd usefully muses this morning, how does this strategy help demonstrate how HRC will be ready on day one... is it Presidential to complain that you are being asked to answer questions first (and subsequently volunteer to answer open questions before your opponent has a chance to)? What kind of president would go before the UN and whine that the international press isn't looking hard enough into Ahmadinejad's relations with slum lords in Tehran?

What is more offensive is the cacophonous voices, outside of SNL's utter irrelevance, that have added their two cents to this bizarre tactic and, in the process, willingly sacrifice credibility. On Saturday morning, the New York Times ran an article by Jacques Steinberg that used HRC's campaign's absurd complaints as an excuse to take shots at Obama. Later in the day, the Associated Press got to distribute a piece entitled "Media Expert Decries Campaign Coverage" based on the "analysis" released by HRC partisan Walter Shorenstein (he's already maxed out on direct financial contributions to the primary campaign). Regardless of how much I read or listen to the melodic voice of Howard Wolfson, I don't understand the point or the basis for the whining.

On February 11, we went to the Comcast Center for the third time in three months. Even after witnessing the highly entertaining Illini game and the historic American University upset, the Obama rally at Comcast was the most enjoyable time I've had in the stadium. It wasn't getting caught up in the persona or delivery of a (Chicago Bears supporting) charismatic Senator from my home state that impacted me... it was the time spent waiting for the candidate, which presented the opportunity to meet people that were enthusiastic about becoming reengaged in the country's political process. While an inane piece in today's Washington Post focused on the pop star concert quality of Senator Obama's reception, few focused on the enthusiasm people in the stadium felt for something very droll: the choice of a nominee for President of the United States. And while Mark Penn and Howard Wolfson bitterly complain to anyone within earshot that the press isn't being fair, the mainstream press derides Obama's supporters -- particularly those who pack into arenas or stand outside filled arenas -- as naive ingenues held rapturously captive by the even more melodic sound of Obama's cadence. The thousands that seem to thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to see the Senator deliver the same canned speech, going to great lengths (at the University, the line out of Comcast seemed to stretch from the Center to Byrd Stadium) to do so, have had their motivations, and intelligence, questioned in ways that weren't even applied to Promise Keeper rallies. Should Obama's supporters, then, bury newspaper editors and cable news networks with letters complaining about the lack of similarly critical or dismissive pieces about Clinton's supporters? What exactly would or could be achieved?

An attempt at an objective review of the strategy employed by the HRC campaign seems to indicate that what really is at work here is the eternal principle of CYA: it is not anyone on the campaign's fault that the Clinton dynasty got prematurely derailed. Instead, the media's thinly veiled (by fabric woven with gossamer thread) hatred for HRC doomed the campaign from the very beginning (leaving aside the fact that the candidate was widely viewed as the frontrunner for the nomination up until voting started). Penn can continue to collect millions of dollars touting the great work he did adapting Matt Groening for Tony Blair's "last successful campaign" and Wolfson can go back to a private practice of blaming other people for the problems of his less well-publicized clients.

Actually, Wootten would be a poor addition for the HRC campaign team. After O'Connell lost the championship game despite the coach's pleading with the referees, I doubt that he told his kids that they would have won had it not been for the bumbling of the men in stripes. Instead, I would imagine that Wootten told his players that they played well and that they just ran into a buzzsaw, a formidable opponent that just played better over the course of the game. I would imagine that Wootten was gracious, advised his players to take pride in what they had achieved, and that he thanked them for their incredible effort. As such, he's probably got the wrong temperament for politics, which is too bad as the campaign probably needs all the volunteers it can get.

We are...

After back to back road losses at Louisville and Syracuse in February, the Hoyas started to be derided as overrated and overexposed. Convincing wins over Providence, Cinci, and St. John's has done little to quell the growing criticism of the team by college hoops pundits. But, frankly, these shots have had, I believe, little impact on the enjoyment Georgetown's fans derive from following this squad. Through forty minutes of their last home game against the Johnnies, Gtown let St. John and Anthony Mason Jr. hang around before taking over to close out the game. In the interim, DaJuan Summers went through a ridiculous stretch that included a missed one-handed breakaway slam (an opportunity created by his flash into a passing lane for a steal), an immediate benching, a subsequent missed slam dunk (this time with two hands), and then, even more absurdly, a missed layup at point blank range that Hibbert followed up by putting in the basket. While 0 for 3 at the rim, the fans at the Verizon Center stayed fully behind Summers and the team (sans students, as, once again, many more Gtown students could not spare the time to attend the second to last home game of the season), and they repaid the faith -- Summers, while 0 for 3 at the rim was 5 for 8 from behind the three-point arc. Fast forward to today's game, against a tough Marquette team in Milwaukee, and Georgetown once again evidenced why DC has gotten behind this team. The Hoyas' sloppy passing led to a remarkable 20 turnovers, but as Clark Kellogg and Gus Johnson observed, it is hard to imagine a team less phased by a prolonged run of poor play. Against Marquette, this team overcame a horrible game by Jessie Sapp, poor offensive decision making by Summers, and an injury that seemed to reduce the effectiveness of a blossoming Austin Freeman. It was Patrick Ewing Jr.'s best game as a Hoya, proving that PE2 has the ability to change the course of game, building on what he did for the team last year in its impressive win over Pitt at home. Ewing's defense -- he effectively shut down James and made sure that the Golden Eagles did not get a shot off with the chance to win the game at the end of overtime -- passing, and rebounding sparked the impressive win.

Come tournament time, much will be said about controversial calls that helped Georgetown win games against Villanova, Marquette and West Virginia, but none of the calls at issue in those three games, to my mind, come close to what DeMarcus Nelson was allowed to get away with on Ben McCauley when Coach K was gifted his 800th win earlier in the day. Nevertheless, I hope this is the case. I hope that most of what Gtown has done this season is overlooked and that "fluke" wins and the road losses to Memphis, Pitt, Louisville and Syracuse are emphasized by folks commenting on the tourney. This team can lose focus and its guard play can be shaky (Wallace, who has been the rock of the backcourt, has faltered of late), but I can't imagine any team in the country that would want to match up against them in an elimination game.

To that end, the final regular season game against Louisville is huge. First, it provides the opportunity for Gtown to make up for a game they let get away from them in Louisville. Second, it would close out an amazing undefeated record at home. Third, it would continue the remarkable progression of JTIII's teams... from 16 and 11 in his initial 2004-2005 season, to 19 and 8 in 2005-2006, and 23 and 6 in 2006-2007. Should the Hoyas close out with a win, they'll finish 25 and 4 heading into the Big East tournament, capping an incredible season.

And the guard play looks like it will continue to improve even after the departures of Wallace as a graduating senior (how strange that comment is for someone who lives within walking distance of the Comcast Center -- indeed, the Hoyas have four graduating seniors who will play their last home games at the Verizon Center next Saturday ... Wallace, Hibbert, Ewing, and the ridiculously under appreciated Tyler Crawford) (I kid, as Gist, Osby, and McAlpin will all hopefully graduate from UMd this year). Much has been made of Georgetown's recruiting class for 2008-2009, featuring two highly touted 6' 10" interior players (Greg Monroe and Baltimore's Henry Sims) and another big forward, Chris Braswell. But that class also features a pretty good guard named Jason Clark that will join the backcourt with Freeman, Wright, Rivers, and Sapp. After Clark's heroics (in part) keyed a satisfying win over DeMatha, I went to watch him in person at Bender Arena as Bishop O'Connell took on Gonzaga in the WCAC finals last Monday. It made for one of the more enjoyable sporting events that I've witnessed in the past couple of years. The level of basketball played by these two teams was amazing -- Clark impressed, both in his offensive prowess and his fearless defense at the top of the key and inside the paint (he is very, very good) as did his teammate, sophomore guard Kendall Marshall... who has already committed to UNC (?). But both Clark and Marshall were overshadowed by a very disciplined Gonzaga team and a remarkable run by Harvard-bound senior (?) Max Kenyi, who at one point made twelve consecutive shots (of varying degrees of difficulty, the most shocking of which was a baseline dribble drive that resulted in an explosive hammer dunk) against O'Connell and effectively buried the upstarts. Kenyi's second-half performance (for the game he was 13 for 16 and scored 30 points) eclipsed a great game from Clark (who finished the game with 26 points and willed O'Connell back into the game).

Without doubt, the losses of Hibbert, PE2 and captains Wallace and Crawford will hurt the Hoyas in a conference that will, unbelievably, be even stronger next season. The question, however, is, how long will they hurt? Another soft non-conference schedule may give the Hoyas time to fully integrate their four very talented freshmen into the rotation and with the return of Sapp, Summers, Rivers, Macklin, Freeman, and Wright (hopefully healthy), Gtown may even be deeper than it was this year.

Magic...

When we ventured across the Atlantic to check out the kick-off of the Addicks' Championship season, the team on the pitch did not inspire great confidence. Weaver and Thatcher looked competent, Moo2kil and Sam showed promise, Semedo began to build his following, and Ambrose, Bent, Reid, and Todorov presented a lackluster attacking match on a poor Iron side. We had come to see a slaughter and left shaken by, as the OS put it, "a reality check on what lies ahead." After the disastrous start, however, Charlton has appeared to have found its form and appears to have settled into a promotion push.

And so, later today, with hopes renewed, Charlton will line up against Scunthorpe once again with a second chance to live up to the expectations of its supporters. Weaver, Moo2kil, McCarthy, Magic, Ambrose, and Sam will all likely find themselves again in the starting XI (with, perhaps, Semedo rejoining them), but the prospects for the team's attacking game seem to have been improved with the complement of ZZ, Andy Gray, and Varney taking the place of Bent, Toddy, and the "hefty hobbit."

I have marvelled at Pards deft work during the transfer window. Selling Reid for 4 million quid is, well, magic. Bringing Andy Gray in for 1.5 million pounds: magic. Adding the cover of Halford and Cook on loan: magic. Adding the depth and promise of Paulo Monteiro: magic.

While many may mourn the loss of the captain, I fear that Reid may be able to martial only marginally more games for Sunderland than Danny Mills gave Derby. The Addicks squad that takes the pitch against the Iron today is, in my mind, far more balanced than the team that started this campaign. Magic.