That is not a typo! Fans are going OOF this morning after that kick in the gut and while I tried to keep my expectations low going into the season because of how the off-season went and the injuries to Laich and Backstrom early on, the team sucked me in with their play and gave me and all fans hope that this year would be something special. Unfortunately.....
A season of ups and downs came to a crashing and resounding halt last night as the Capitals inexplicably failed to show up for a series deciding Game 7 against the New York Rangers. One game removed from a heavily one-sided and poorly officiated Game 6 in New York the Caps saw the team's disappointing history once again rear its ugly head. Game 7's are not good to the Caps, now 2-7 all-time. Of course this series never should have gone 7 games. Despite the Rangers being one of the least penalized teams, and the Caps one of the most during the regular season, there was a lot of questionable calls or non-calls throughout the series that extended it to play until there was nothing left.
Some people say "God hates Game 7's" or "God hates the Caps" by no stretch of the imagination is that remotely true, unless you believe that Gary Bettman is indeed God, which he himself does, so if that's the case then I guess it would be true. If you listen to Ovechkin after the game he said somebody wanted it to go 7 games, the NHL needed ratings, the NHL needed extra revenue, well after the first two East series ended in six or less it kinda makes sense. In fact of the "Original Six" that made the playoffs Chicago advanced quickly against Minnesota, Montreal went out quickly in an ugly series against Ottawa and the other 4 (NYR, Boston, Toronto and Detroit) all went 7 games with three of those teams winning, Toronto being the exception but they were playing Boston and blew a 4-1 lead to lose in OT.
I'm not saying there is a conspiracy and I'm am salty over what happened. Its one thing had the Capitals completely blew it themselves like they did against Montreal a few years back or Tampa Bay but this series was dictated by the refs who did a poor job in most of the game. However good teams find their way to overcome it. If there was one good thing to come of it, you have to hang your hat on the fact that the Caps penalty kill was very good against the Rangers allowing only 2 goals.
All of that said the Caps fans should be satisfied. The season could have been completely lost to the lockout. Once the season started fans had high expectations, they've become accustom to their team making the playoffs the past 8 or so years. However the season started terribly. I, as did many, chalked it up to a 3rd (or 4th) coaching staff and regimen in the past year. Once the team fully bought in to Oates' system, learned the power play, and became 100% healthy, or at least as close as they would get over the final two months of the season, the Caps rallied from being the worst team in the NHL to the 3rd seed, albeit by default to being the winner of the Southeast Division...a division which no team seemed to want to win and which if not for the NHL's set up they'd have been looking at a lower seed.
Regardless the Caps saw a resurgence from Alex Ovechkin which could end up with him being the MVP of the league, if only because Sidney Crosby ended up breaking his jaw and missing the final month or so of the season. A season that saw Mike Green healthy for the first time in 3 years recapture his offensive prowess. A season that saw a Power Play start slow and finish at 25%. The Caps have a long way to go though. Their defense let their goaltending down far too many times. Their second tier players either struggled (Chimera, Mojo, Perreault) until late in the season or were injured (Laich) for most of it. Penalties became the team's undoing early in the season and ultimately at the end. To win you have to stay out of the penalty box or your team will be too tired to hold a lead or make a comeback at the end. The Caps main problem was the delay of game penalty though they also were a team hit with unsportsmanlike conducts for chirping the refs, mainly Mike Ribeiro. Ribeiro was also a huge positive as he was the 2nd line center the team has been seeking for years but with the lower salary cap, how much Ribs wants and his stupid penalties you have to wonder if he'll be back.
Next season won't be an easier. I've stated for years the Caps window of opportunity would be closing this season, that's not to say they don't still have a few more years it just won't be as easy. Now that the Southeast Division doesn't exist they'll be facing the Rangers, Penguins, Flyers Devils and Islanders more often and in turn it will make getting to the playoffs that much tougher. Of course gritty wins against those teams could help increase the Caps likelihood for advancement in the Playoffs as it will make them that much more tougher and hopefully smarter, even if the playoffs are a totally different ballgame. One positive, and huge lift, would be if the Caps are able to bring over Evgeny Kustensov. That kid could be better than Ovechkin and if he joins the team late in the season he could end up being a secret weapon if he adapts to the NHL game quickly and the other teams don't have a good scouting report on him or aren't used to him since they haven't played against him.
As the off-season approaches changes are bound to happen though most guys are signed for next season. In my mind the locks to return, unless the team needs to get under the cap or can acquire other pieces to build their depth with, are Ovechkin, Backstrom, Brouwer, Green, Carlson, Oleksy, Hillen, Alzner, Laich, Hendricks, Beagle, Erat, and Holtby. Players on the bubble, based on cap situation, their play this season or the fact that they could be replaced internally, include Perreault, Johansson, Riberio, Ward, Fehr, Chimera, Erskine, Crabb, Volpatti and Neuvirth. Players that won't be back are Wolski, Schultz, and Poti. And players who could fill needs internally include Wilson, Kundratek, Orlov, and Kustensov. All of this is my opinion and I'd be fine with seeing most of the roster return but I know its not overly likely. Some of my "safe" guys could be traded though I'd hate to see them go since they're vital cogs and the radio guys are already saying to trade Backstrom and Green because they have the most value and will reduce their cap number. I feel that's drastic talk out of emotion in the hours after a let down, though I'm sure on other blogs like Japer's Rink or Russian Machine Never Breaks fans have been reading that for months, definitely years, but with better analysis as to why.
Alas the season is over and for the next few days and week speculation will run rampant. You can't but feel that let down with so much left to play and with the talent this team has and has had for the past 5+ years and you can't help but wonder if or when it will be our time. As my favorite reporter (who I swear I'm in love with...if that's possible, though I'll always keep it professional between us, unless she doesn't want me to lol) put it the way I've felt for years "a professional goal of mine to cover Stanley cup finals. Just may not happen here in DC" (say it ain't so..tho we'll chalk it up to the years of underachievement). For me the Caps are one reason I've stuck around this area, I love my team, I love going to games, there is no better atmosphere in sports. I still have the taste of success and the bitterness of defeat from the team's 1998 run that ended in a sweep in the Stanley Cup Finals. I do fear that I may never see them play another game in the Finals whether I'm still in the DMV or if I decide to call some other place home. I'll always know Caps fans are the best and if you live or lived here and grew up a Caps fan, you'll always be pulling for them no matter where you are. I'd love to bring myself far enough along in my writings to be able to cover this team one day but I won't deny this is just a hobby for me, one that I don't do nearly enough. Maybe this will light that fire inside me again to take my writing to the next level. At least for the time being I know that my blood pressure can now return to normal and my sports stress has been lessened...until football season.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Friday, February 1, 2013
What the Hell is Wrong with the Capitals?
Once the NHL lockout ended everyone knew it wouldn't be easy out of the gate for the Washington Capitals. While the majority of their players were returning from the prior season many of the players hadn't played in an actual professional game since last May. Add to it that the team was going to have 6 days before the season started to gain chemistry with their lines and learn and adjust to their 3rd Head Coach and offensive and defensive scheme in 14 months and one had to figure the team would need some time to adjust to everything while having to play games every other night.
We are now two weeks and 7 games into the 48 game season and Washington is a cellar dweller at a lackluster 1-5-1. Scoring has been hard to come by for the team as has the ability to avoid committing penalties. In turn the Capitals end up with no energy by the end of the game which has lead to consecutive late game losses on their two game road trip to Canada.
The season started sluggish with an ugly loss to Tampa Bay in which the team gave up 6 goals which primarily came at the fault of poor defensive positioning, lazy neutral zone turnovers, and a failure to kill penalties. Six games later that still seems to be the case. The Caps dropped their home opener in similar but even uglier fashion against Winnipeg and failed to set up any type of offensive strategy against Montreal. As if the team's performance wasn't bad enough the usually raucous Verizon Center crowd was not only dead but half empty by the start of the 3rd period of the Montreal game. In the games to follow the Capitals fell behind New Jersey 2-0 before mounting a valiant comeback in the final 5 minutes thanks to some power play execution, but ultimately losing with under a minute to go in overtime. The team's ability to battle back however left fans optimistic. The team no longer gives fans the impression that they can come back when down a goal let alone two or three goals but in the New Jersey game they strung together a solid 10 minutes to end the game against the Devils and then put forth a solid 40+ minutes against Buffalo which lead to the team's first win of the season. The Caps came out pretty strong against Ottawa with a solid first 40 minutes and a 2-0 lead before the wheels fell off and the team allowed the Senators to score 1 in the 2nd and 2 in the 3rd. Against Toronto the Caps held again held a 2-1 lead heading into the 3rd period, this despite 8 Toronto power plays in the first 40 minutes, before ultimately falling 3-2, the 4th straight game with a 3-2 final.
Entering the Ottawa game the Caps were 94-0-9 when leading after two between February 24, 2009 and Tuesday, now they've lost 2 straight. The refs definitely got to the Caps in the team's first two games especially the first home game where Mike Ribiero was high-sticked twice but no penalty was called and yet he got hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct for chirping at the refs. Last night the eight penalties just gassed the Caps by the time the 3rd period came around and they had nothing left in the tank, they couldn't skate with the Leafs and they couldn't muster a shot on the Leafs goalie for over 10 minutes in the final period.
Add to it the players that played during the lockout, Ovechkin, Backstrom, Perreault, Johansson, and Holtby among them, have done nothing of use this season. Ovechkin has two goals, both on the power play, Backstrom has 4 assists, Perreault and MoJo spend more time in the dog house than they do on the ice and Holtby has lost his spot to Michal Neuvirth. On the flip side Joel Ward leads the team in goals and will soon eclipse last year's total, Matt Hendricks has played hard and tough, Ribiero has shown flashes, Joey Crabb has been a huge surprise and the most consistent player, Neuvirth has kept the team in most of the games he's started, and on defense "the Lumberjack" John Erskine has been blocking shots, hitting players...he rocked Phil Kessel last night, and even scored a goal on a muffin shot but has also blasted some beauties on net. The rest of the team has been mediocre (Mike Green) to unfortunate (John Carlson who has been on the ice for most of the goals for and against).
Adam Oates isn't a coach that's going to motivate his players. He feels they have a job to do, they know it, and they need to do it. They're trying the experiment of Alex Ovechkin on the right wing, it isn't working. Until Ovechkin learns to evolve and adapt to the fact that the NHL opponents know he's going to use the same stupid moves as he enters the offensive zone he's not going to be the Ovechkin of old, in fact with the gray showing in his hair he's just becoming old Ovechkin. I read he did relatively well in the KHL, I guess teams over there don't watch game film and plan for facing him or he's such a superstar over there they let him do his stuff because they're in awe of him. Add to it the detractors of Ovi will be willing to point to the fact that his offensive production as well as Mike Green's have been on the decline since around the time a doctor was busted for steroids and records showed unnamed Capitals players were his clients. I don't believe they used them nor do I think it would have helped their performance but I do think Ovi may need to go to the Eye Doctors of Washington and get some Lasik since he seems to be missing the goal just a bit to the right...and why not its worked for Green right? Unfortunately unless Ovi is willing to grind and battle and even go so far as to stand in front of the net to try and deflect shots he's going to be stuck in his rut of shooting long shots with little traffic in front and an easy save for the goalie because he can't blow past defenses like he once did.
If the Caps are going to make a run they'll have to do it soon. The next two games are both at home but they're against Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and with Caps fans growing so frustrated with the team's effort, record and play and there being more and more empty seats with each passing home game I would expect the Flyers and Penguins fans to pack the Verizon Center..tho with the tighter security at Verizon I'd expect some of those opposing fans to not get in because of weapons.
So that goes back to the original question...What's wrong with the Capitals? Its a little bit of everything. I've stated for years that their window of opportunity would be closing by the end of this season or next and it could be upon us or it could just be the whole lockout situation. What seems to be a lack of offensive strategy definitely isn't helping this team and not having the time to install it prior to the season, or in game because of penalties, makes the learning curve that much more difficult. Having Brooks Laich out with a hip injury certainly doesn't help since he's a leader on and off the ice and a grinder that gets dirty. In the end penalties is a main culprit. Too many 5-on-3 shorthanded situations; chirping at the refs, which seems to get called more against Washington than their opponents even though both sides do it and we'll see how strict the refs are when Pittsburgh comes this Sunday because Crosby constantly chirps at the refs especially against Washington; many of the penalties are careless some are even questionable and it gets even more confusing when the opponents do it and nothing gets called. The Caps can't control that they can only control their actions and they're going to have to learn from it, stay under control and do their best to put together solid efforts. If not the season will fully be lost. While the team has been outscored more in the 2nd period than any other they are dead in the 3rd so every opponent knows if you work the Caps hard the first two periods they'll have nothing left to finish and that will be the time to strike. Its essentially Dale Hunter hockey but with less energy in the final stanza. Is coaching the problem? Its too early to tell but I don't think so. These players are veterans and they shouldn't need a lecture. They've been there before and they're better than they're playing. They can talk a good game with they know what they're supposed to do and how they can make things easier but they aren't executing. A trade won't fix the problems but with George McPhee's fingerprints all over this team there is a chance that before the season is out Leonsis may decide that GMGM needs to be too.
We are now two weeks and 7 games into the 48 game season and Washington is a cellar dweller at a lackluster 1-5-1. Scoring has been hard to come by for the team as has the ability to avoid committing penalties. In turn the Capitals end up with no energy by the end of the game which has lead to consecutive late game losses on their two game road trip to Canada.
The season started sluggish with an ugly loss to Tampa Bay in which the team gave up 6 goals which primarily came at the fault of poor defensive positioning, lazy neutral zone turnovers, and a failure to kill penalties. Six games later that still seems to be the case. The Caps dropped their home opener in similar but even uglier fashion against Winnipeg and failed to set up any type of offensive strategy against Montreal. As if the team's performance wasn't bad enough the usually raucous Verizon Center crowd was not only dead but half empty by the start of the 3rd period of the Montreal game. In the games to follow the Capitals fell behind New Jersey 2-0 before mounting a valiant comeback in the final 5 minutes thanks to some power play execution, but ultimately losing with under a minute to go in overtime. The team's ability to battle back however left fans optimistic. The team no longer gives fans the impression that they can come back when down a goal let alone two or three goals but in the New Jersey game they strung together a solid 10 minutes to end the game against the Devils and then put forth a solid 40+ minutes against Buffalo which lead to the team's first win of the season. The Caps came out pretty strong against Ottawa with a solid first 40 minutes and a 2-0 lead before the wheels fell off and the team allowed the Senators to score 1 in the 2nd and 2 in the 3rd. Against Toronto the Caps held again held a 2-1 lead heading into the 3rd period, this despite 8 Toronto power plays in the first 40 minutes, before ultimately falling 3-2, the 4th straight game with a 3-2 final.
Entering the Ottawa game the Caps were 94-0-9 when leading after two between February 24, 2009 and Tuesday, now they've lost 2 straight. The refs definitely got to the Caps in the team's first two games especially the first home game where Mike Ribiero was high-sticked twice but no penalty was called and yet he got hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct for chirping at the refs. Last night the eight penalties just gassed the Caps by the time the 3rd period came around and they had nothing left in the tank, they couldn't skate with the Leafs and they couldn't muster a shot on the Leafs goalie for over 10 minutes in the final period.
Add to it the players that played during the lockout, Ovechkin, Backstrom, Perreault, Johansson, and Holtby among them, have done nothing of use this season. Ovechkin has two goals, both on the power play, Backstrom has 4 assists, Perreault and MoJo spend more time in the dog house than they do on the ice and Holtby has lost his spot to Michal Neuvirth. On the flip side Joel Ward leads the team in goals and will soon eclipse last year's total, Matt Hendricks has played hard and tough, Ribiero has shown flashes, Joey Crabb has been a huge surprise and the most consistent player, Neuvirth has kept the team in most of the games he's started, and on defense "the Lumberjack" John Erskine has been blocking shots, hitting players...he rocked Phil Kessel last night, and even scored a goal on a muffin shot but has also blasted some beauties on net. The rest of the team has been mediocre (Mike Green) to unfortunate (John Carlson who has been on the ice for most of the goals for and against).
Adam Oates isn't a coach that's going to motivate his players. He feels they have a job to do, they know it, and they need to do it. They're trying the experiment of Alex Ovechkin on the right wing, it isn't working. Until Ovechkin learns to evolve and adapt to the fact that the NHL opponents know he's going to use the same stupid moves as he enters the offensive zone he's not going to be the Ovechkin of old, in fact with the gray showing in his hair he's just becoming old Ovechkin. I read he did relatively well in the KHL, I guess teams over there don't watch game film and plan for facing him or he's such a superstar over there they let him do his stuff because they're in awe of him. Add to it the detractors of Ovi will be willing to point to the fact that his offensive production as well as Mike Green's have been on the decline since around the time a doctor was busted for steroids and records showed unnamed Capitals players were his clients. I don't believe they used them nor do I think it would have helped their performance but I do think Ovi may need to go to the Eye Doctors of Washington and get some Lasik since he seems to be missing the goal just a bit to the right...and why not its worked for Green right? Unfortunately unless Ovi is willing to grind and battle and even go so far as to stand in front of the net to try and deflect shots he's going to be stuck in his rut of shooting long shots with little traffic in front and an easy save for the goalie because he can't blow past defenses like he once did.
If the Caps are going to make a run they'll have to do it soon. The next two games are both at home but they're against Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and with Caps fans growing so frustrated with the team's effort, record and play and there being more and more empty seats with each passing home game I would expect the Flyers and Penguins fans to pack the Verizon Center..tho with the tighter security at Verizon I'd expect some of those opposing fans to not get in because of weapons.
So that goes back to the original question...What's wrong with the Capitals? Its a little bit of everything. I've stated for years that their window of opportunity would be closing by the end of this season or next and it could be upon us or it could just be the whole lockout situation. What seems to be a lack of offensive strategy definitely isn't helping this team and not having the time to install it prior to the season, or in game because of penalties, makes the learning curve that much more difficult. Having Brooks Laich out with a hip injury certainly doesn't help since he's a leader on and off the ice and a grinder that gets dirty. In the end penalties is a main culprit. Too many 5-on-3 shorthanded situations; chirping at the refs, which seems to get called more against Washington than their opponents even though both sides do it and we'll see how strict the refs are when Pittsburgh comes this Sunday because Crosby constantly chirps at the refs especially against Washington; many of the penalties are careless some are even questionable and it gets even more confusing when the opponents do it and nothing gets called. The Caps can't control that they can only control their actions and they're going to have to learn from it, stay under control and do their best to put together solid efforts. If not the season will fully be lost. While the team has been outscored more in the 2nd period than any other they are dead in the 3rd so every opponent knows if you work the Caps hard the first two periods they'll have nothing left to finish and that will be the time to strike. Its essentially Dale Hunter hockey but with less energy in the final stanza. Is coaching the problem? Its too early to tell but I don't think so. These players are veterans and they shouldn't need a lecture. They've been there before and they're better than they're playing. They can talk a good game with they know what they're supposed to do and how they can make things easier but they aren't executing. A trade won't fix the problems but with George McPhee's fingerprints all over this team there is a chance that before the season is out Leonsis may decide that GMGM needs to be too.
Monday, January 28, 2013
The Digital Age Takes a Bite Out of Sports Tickets
The day of the souvenir ticket stub may be a thing of the past. One thing that can be a cherished reminder of an experience one had at a sporting event is being pushed by the wayside by many a sports team and soon ticket stubs may be no more. Why this is being done can be argued but should it be done isn't even up for debate in my opinion.
For many years I used to keep the tickets from games that I went to in great condition. I'll admit over the past few years I've just jammed most of them into my pocket only to be disappointed when its all crumpled up by the time I get home. This last happened with the Nationals first home playoff game in team history, I still kick myself for not keeping that ticket in as mint condition as possible. It was a historic game for the franchise and while some may see it as less significant if not totally insignificant others share the same belief I do. Now while that ticket may not be in the best of condition it and the painful memories of that game will be something I'll still cherish for years to come.
You see a ticket stub is more than the cost of the ticket or the location of where one sat or even the two teams or certain players out there doing battle. Ticket stubs hold memories that one can share with their children and grandchildren down the line. For some its the first game a father takes a son to, for others its the first date a couple went on and for others its a historical moment in sports history. Stories decades old have been told of a young boy that went to a game with their father and at that game they saw Jackie Robinson become the 1st African American to play in Major League Baseball; of grandpa taking in the game where Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a single game; Roger Maris hitting his 61st Home Run; The Ice Bowl; Gretzky's first game, Cal's 2161; whatever the case may be. Many of those stories are accompanied with the ticket stub from that game. Either its been kept in a safety box, in a top loader, a book, been signed or even framed. All those games are a piece of history. And while tickets can be bought after the fact on the secondary market it doesn't make them any less special to he who bought it, at least if they're a collector, because that game holds a special or significant meaning to that person or someone they know.
In fact my boss told me a story earlier this month about his son giving him a Christmas gift. That gift was a framed picture of the two of them at a Baltimore Ravens game and next to the picture was one of their tickets from the game. That is what a ticket stub means to some people. I myself purchased a ticket from the 2002 NCAA Championship Basketball game because Juan Dixon and the Maryland Terrapins not only played in that game but they won it. Its an item I've added to my collection and the closest I'll ever come to having attended the game. The ticket also looks better than some shitty black and white or color 8x10 sheet of paper with details of the game and ad that isn't as easy to store or as nice looking as that little rectangular one.
The decline in the original ticket began a few years back as more people went electronic and "green." You could order tickets online and have the option of having them mailed to you at your home or you could print them off from your computer. Sure that was an easy option and you didn't run the risk of them being lost or stolen by the postal service. My first time dealing with the "print it yourself" option not only was there a service charge for handling of like $18 but you also had to pay $3 to print your tickets. Yes that's right. Not only was I using my ink and paper which I had paid for but I also had to pay $3 for a "convenience fee." Any way for a company like TicketMaster to make a buck. Then when you printed the ticket there would be extra stuff on it, like an ad or offer that would eat up that ink and helped to take up the whole page.
Earlier this year my work received our package for our Georgetown Hoyas season tickets but all that was inside was a card, much like a savings or debit card. With the card you have the option of using it at the stadium to get in and take your seats or you can print them off from the Hoyas ticket site. Luckily printing them off or emailing them to someone else was a free option with these but I'm not so sure that's the case if you bought single game tickets.
A few months later the same thing happened with our Washington Wizards tickets, and then our Washington Capitals ticket. Monumental Sports and Entertainment was moving full fledged into this new and cheaper way of doing tickets, any why not they were the ones running or part owners of the TicketMaster company when the previous situation happened, at least I believe they still were at the time. Plus Ted Leonsis is a mogul and technology guy so he's going to go for online and cheap the best he can so as to continue to grow his empire. That's not to say there hasn't been a lot of bumps along the way. Fans are complaining about it taking longer to get into Caps games and the cards taking longer to get people in. I went to one game and did not see the cards being the problem as much as the security measures but I also got there 30 minutes prior to the game and had a paper printed ticket in hand.
Today comes word that the Washington Nationals will also be going the online route with their tickets and this just saddens me. I knew it would most likely be a reality at some point but there are just so many people, especially baseball fans, that love the thicker stock ticket over a card or the personal computer printed ticket. I loved seeing the special ticket that the teams would use for the team's first home game and then seeing different players for each of the next 4 or 5 games that would then recycle over however many pages the ticket book went. Now that's going to be gone.
I will say the card can make it a tad more convenient if you have one per ticket compared to one per account as Washington Monumental has done. It is also something you can just keep in your wallet at all times but what if you lose your card or it breaks? Isn't it more of a hassle to have to report it stolen and have the tickets reassigned electronically? Also this is a real cost cutting measure. While programming the cards could cost a pretty penny, and I'd assume their is a computer program that is a huge time saver, its a lot cheaper for the sports teams to purchase the cards in bulk than it was to print season tickets in mass as they have for many years and then send them via FedEx, UPS or DHL to the season ticket holder. Now that the teams are saving money on the printing don't you think some of that savings should trickle down to the people who are buying the tickets? I mean depending on the sport and where one is sitting you're paying at minimum of $50 and up to a few hundred for every game. Sure a giveaway at a game is nice but just as the owners would like to save money so would Joe Schmo who makes a less in a month or even year than some players make in a game.
I'm sure another reason the ticket industry is changing is to cut down on scalpers outside of the stadium. Knowing that someone can print the tickets off of a computer like you can with these, the buyer will be more suspect to trust someone outside the stadium than they would if they had the rectangular ticket so more people are likely to go to the box office to try and purchase tickets than go to the homely looking dude shouting "TICKETS! TICKETS! WHICH ONE OF YOU CRAZY MOTHER F-KERS NEED A TICKET?"
What's even sadder is that the sports teams know that they can exploit the fans even further. Say you go to a game and see a perfect game thrown or someone breaks Kareem's all-time scoring record, or whatever other notable achievement that will cause resale of a used ticket to sell for more than a ticket normally would after the event. After the accomplishment has taken place you have to figure that the teams will see it as a perfect opportunity to capitalize on the fans that want to have a better looking piece of history by printing out 17,000 tickets that resemble the soon to be old school style and sell them for like $20-$50 per ticket. They know people will pay and those poor saps that already paid $50 to see the game may be paying another $50 on top of it. Don't believe me? They know we're all suckers and owners are all about the dollar. After all they need to have a profitable company or they'll just tell you that you're going to have to pay more while they still fail to improve their roster or upgrade the facility.
I really hope that fans voice their frustrations enough that the owners reconsider it but this reminds me of growing up and listening to Sony and Nintendo tell the consumers that the cartridge games cost more because of what they have to do in terms of making them and that once the games go to a disc the prices will drop. Well as the years have gone on and the systems have switched to the disc games the prices are still $50-$60 for most games. And why not...they know that we're addicts and we're going to pay exactly what they tell us to. Maybe not all of us but the majority.
For many years I used to keep the tickets from games that I went to in great condition. I'll admit over the past few years I've just jammed most of them into my pocket only to be disappointed when its all crumpled up by the time I get home. This last happened with the Nationals first home playoff game in team history, I still kick myself for not keeping that ticket in as mint condition as possible. It was a historic game for the franchise and while some may see it as less significant if not totally insignificant others share the same belief I do. Now while that ticket may not be in the best of condition it and the painful memories of that game will be something I'll still cherish for years to come.
You see a ticket stub is more than the cost of the ticket or the location of where one sat or even the two teams or certain players out there doing battle. Ticket stubs hold memories that one can share with their children and grandchildren down the line. For some its the first game a father takes a son to, for others its the first date a couple went on and for others its a historical moment in sports history. Stories decades old have been told of a young boy that went to a game with their father and at that game they saw Jackie Robinson become the 1st African American to play in Major League Baseball; of grandpa taking in the game where Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a single game; Roger Maris hitting his 61st Home Run; The Ice Bowl; Gretzky's first game, Cal's 2161; whatever the case may be. Many of those stories are accompanied with the ticket stub from that game. Either its been kept in a safety box, in a top loader, a book, been signed or even framed. All those games are a piece of history. And while tickets can be bought after the fact on the secondary market it doesn't make them any less special to he who bought it, at least if they're a collector, because that game holds a special or significant meaning to that person or someone they know.
In fact my boss told me a story earlier this month about his son giving him a Christmas gift. That gift was a framed picture of the two of them at a Baltimore Ravens game and next to the picture was one of their tickets from the game. That is what a ticket stub means to some people. I myself purchased a ticket from the 2002 NCAA Championship Basketball game because Juan Dixon and the Maryland Terrapins not only played in that game but they won it. Its an item I've added to my collection and the closest I'll ever come to having attended the game. The ticket also looks better than some shitty black and white or color 8x10 sheet of paper with details of the game and ad that isn't as easy to store or as nice looking as that little rectangular one.
The decline in the original ticket began a few years back as more people went electronic and "green." You could order tickets online and have the option of having them mailed to you at your home or you could print them off from your computer. Sure that was an easy option and you didn't run the risk of them being lost or stolen by the postal service. My first time dealing with the "print it yourself" option not only was there a service charge for handling of like $18 but you also had to pay $3 to print your tickets. Yes that's right. Not only was I using my ink and paper which I had paid for but I also had to pay $3 for a "convenience fee." Any way for a company like TicketMaster to make a buck. Then when you printed the ticket there would be extra stuff on it, like an ad or offer that would eat up that ink and helped to take up the whole page.
Earlier this year my work received our package for our Georgetown Hoyas season tickets but all that was inside was a card, much like a savings or debit card. With the card you have the option of using it at the stadium to get in and take your seats or you can print them off from the Hoyas ticket site. Luckily printing them off or emailing them to someone else was a free option with these but I'm not so sure that's the case if you bought single game tickets.
A few months later the same thing happened with our Washington Wizards tickets, and then our Washington Capitals ticket. Monumental Sports and Entertainment was moving full fledged into this new and cheaper way of doing tickets, any why not they were the ones running or part owners of the TicketMaster company when the previous situation happened, at least I believe they still were at the time. Plus Ted Leonsis is a mogul and technology guy so he's going to go for online and cheap the best he can so as to continue to grow his empire. That's not to say there hasn't been a lot of bumps along the way. Fans are complaining about it taking longer to get into Caps games and the cards taking longer to get people in. I went to one game and did not see the cards being the problem as much as the security measures but I also got there 30 minutes prior to the game and had a paper printed ticket in hand.
Today comes word that the Washington Nationals will also be going the online route with their tickets and this just saddens me. I knew it would most likely be a reality at some point but there are just so many people, especially baseball fans, that love the thicker stock ticket over a card or the personal computer printed ticket. I loved seeing the special ticket that the teams would use for the team's first home game and then seeing different players for each of the next 4 or 5 games that would then recycle over however many pages the ticket book went. Now that's going to be gone.
I will say the card can make it a tad more convenient if you have one per ticket compared to one per account as Washington Monumental has done. It is also something you can just keep in your wallet at all times but what if you lose your card or it breaks? Isn't it more of a hassle to have to report it stolen and have the tickets reassigned electronically? Also this is a real cost cutting measure. While programming the cards could cost a pretty penny, and I'd assume their is a computer program that is a huge time saver, its a lot cheaper for the sports teams to purchase the cards in bulk than it was to print season tickets in mass as they have for many years and then send them via FedEx, UPS or DHL to the season ticket holder. Now that the teams are saving money on the printing don't you think some of that savings should trickle down to the people who are buying the tickets? I mean depending on the sport and where one is sitting you're paying at minimum of $50 and up to a few hundred for every game. Sure a giveaway at a game is nice but just as the owners would like to save money so would Joe Schmo who makes a less in a month or even year than some players make in a game.
I'm sure another reason the ticket industry is changing is to cut down on scalpers outside of the stadium. Knowing that someone can print the tickets off of a computer like you can with these, the buyer will be more suspect to trust someone outside the stadium than they would if they had the rectangular ticket so more people are likely to go to the box office to try and purchase tickets than go to the homely looking dude shouting "TICKETS! TICKETS! WHICH ONE OF YOU CRAZY MOTHER F-KERS NEED A TICKET?"
What's even sadder is that the sports teams know that they can exploit the fans even further. Say you go to a game and see a perfect game thrown or someone breaks Kareem's all-time scoring record, or whatever other notable achievement that will cause resale of a used ticket to sell for more than a ticket normally would after the event. After the accomplishment has taken place you have to figure that the teams will see it as a perfect opportunity to capitalize on the fans that want to have a better looking piece of history by printing out 17,000 tickets that resemble the soon to be old school style and sell them for like $20-$50 per ticket. They know people will pay and those poor saps that already paid $50 to see the game may be paying another $50 on top of it. Don't believe me? They know we're all suckers and owners are all about the dollar. After all they need to have a profitable company or they'll just tell you that you're going to have to pay more while they still fail to improve their roster or upgrade the facility.
I really hope that fans voice their frustrations enough that the owners reconsider it but this reminds me of growing up and listening to Sony and Nintendo tell the consumers that the cartridge games cost more because of what they have to do in terms of making them and that once the games go to a disc the prices will drop. Well as the years have gone on and the systems have switched to the disc games the prices are still $50-$60 for most games. And why not...they know that we're addicts and we're going to pay exactly what they tell us to. Maybe not all of us but the majority.
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
The Beast Leaves DC, Leading to Saditude
This day was bound to come. The writing has been on the wall for months, despite the feeling yesterday that the Nats could wait on making a move. Who knows who gets injured in the coming weeks or Spring Training. Many of us held out hope not wanting to accept facts or face the reality of the situation.
You see I became a Michael Morse fan in 2010 when he smacked 15 Home Runs for the Nats in 98 games. I had no idea who he was and at the time I was only really coming around to giving the Nationals a chance. I knew who most of the players were but like much of the DMV I didn't pay too much attention to the Nats because, well they sucked. This Morse fellow though, he had that something special to me as I looked over the box scores. The team boasted power from Adam Dunn, the seemingly oft-injured and "under performing" (to my expectations) Ryan Zimmerman, and the slow trotting and underrated Josh Willingham. Morse hit one less Home Run in nearly 160 at-bats less than Willingham, good enough for fourth on the team.
In 2011 Morse had a strong Spring Training but was kept in a platoon in Left Field with Laynce Nix. Because of this The Beast struggled mightily through May before being relegated to the bench. In late-May Morse was given a shot at first base when Adam LaRoche went down for the season due to injury and Beast Mode swept across NatsTown. The legacy began and, in my mind, Michael was the biggest character on the team. A team mired in a losing culture for so long had an identity. There was playfulness, there was excitement, and while winning can do that, you knew that Morse had a huge hand in that. By season's end Morse finished in the Top 10 in batting average, home runs and RBI, and fourth in Slugging Percentage.
After the season I came across this article regarding Ryan Braun's PED case and was surprised to read about Morse's situation from year's before. The story actually made me more of a fan. Here was an athlete that accepted the punishment handed too him. He didn't make an excuse, he didn't deny it or lie or go through some charade. Then to see that he was suspended three times for the same thing because of a technicality, I felt bad for the guy but knew I'd support him for the rest of his career. He was refreshing. Not a Lance Armstrong or a Barry Bonds.
Morse started 2012 on the disabled list and didn't return to the lineup until June. Once back Morse was the team's primary Left Fielder and added protection to a line-up that consisted of rookie phenom Bryce Harper, LaRoche, Zimmerman, and eventually Jayson Werth upon his return from injury. As Natitude soared throughout DC many a fan became accustomed to participating in Morse's late inning walk-up music A-Ha's "Take on Me." Morse helped lead the Nats to the best record in baseball and had possibly the highlight of the year when he had to replay a grand slam after the umpires had to go to the video replay.
A season that saw a Morse bobblehead, females who loved him, and males who had man crushes on him didn't come without some hate. Despite being a huge part of the team and being knowingly slower than most of the players Morse drew the ire of some fans, we'll go with intoxicated since they thought they could play it better, when he failed to get to some balls hit to Left Field in the team's first home post-season game in history. I sat their and listened to the negativity all the while going "hey dumb asses you realize he's playing with a sore hamstring AND they have him shaded too far towards center when a right handed batter is up?" But I digress.
For me I was lucky to attend the bobblehead game and I was lucky to attend that first home playoff game, a game in which I sat in Left Field right behind Morse. Loving The Beast like I did I started a card collection of him and was able to grab some very rare cards. My favorite, which started the collection was a card from Topps Tier One that he inscribed "BEAST MODE," I later picked up a Topps Tribute auto inscribed "The Beast." They are by far two of my favorite pieces in any of my collections. At the playoff game I also ended up picking up a game-used bat which is just amazing to look at and for Christmas I bought myself a Morse jersey.
Unfortunately the off-season came to early for the Nats and certain players would be staying and certain players would be going. Morse was a bubble player. It would depend on what transpired between the Nationals and LaRoche. Before the Nats and LaRoche contact talks got serious, the Nats added Denard Span to play CF. That move meant Harper would play LF and Werth would be in RF. Morse was now a option at First Base or a trade chip because you're not going to have a guy getting paid $7 million getting paid to come off the bench...this isn't the NBA and in baseball guys making that much tend to either start or spend time on the disabled list...I'm looking at you A-Rod.
For months the saga between LaRoche and the Nats played out with LaRoche wanting a 3 year contact and the Nats holding steady on a 2 year offer. The drama went on for so long because if LaRoche signed somewhere else then the team signing him would forfeit a 1st round draft pick to the Nats. Many fans, especially me, preferred the Nats save the money on a LaRoche deal and use it for help in the bullpen. This month however the Nats and LaRoche agreed to a contract and that set in motion the move that would eventually make Morse a member, once again, of the Seattle Mariners. There was talk of Seattle, Boston, New York (Yankees), Texas and Baltimore all being in on Morse. I'd have loved Baltimore since I'm a fan of theirs as well and they're still local so I could go to O's games, he'd be reunited with his pal Adam Jones and I could see him play over 100 games in the season.
The move is unfortunate since I feel that LaRoche will not only not duplicate his production from last season but I feel he's likely to get injured again. I didn't like the signing two years ago and I'm not too fond of it now. I love how well he produced last year and I get the team needed a left handed power option in the lineup but Morse is THE MAN, even if he is addicted to those Real Housewives shows. The team also has durability issues with Zimmerman and Werth so if either of them goes down the team will be missing more power from the line-up and Morse could fill in in the outfield. The team also could have rotated players allowing them to rest, of course not keeping a regular lineup or routine can hurt more than help.
As I mentioned the Nats decided it was in their best interest to stick with LaRoche as well as stick with younger options on the bench in Roger Bernadina and Tyler Moore who will most likely supplant LaRoche in a year or two. My preference would be to see the team trade LaRoche after the season and re-sign Morse since he'll be a free-agent at the end of the year. Injury riddled or not, which Morse admittedly has been, the kid has talent and power, he's hit some of the longest home runs I have ever seen and playing first base will limit his injury risk compared to being in the outfield. And while he's not as good defensively at first base as Roach he's not much of a dropoff.
You better believe the first thing I'll do when MLB The Show comes out is I'll be trading Roach for Beast the second it enters my PS3. Yes I'm really gonna miss Michael. From his long flowing locks (man crush) to his running around the field and high-fiving fans when the team clinched a playoff spot to his laid back joking demeanor to his presence in the lineup I will miss Beast but will also cherish so many memories from his time here in DC. While I'll still be able to follow and interact with him on Twitter I'll always be saddened that he's no longer rocking the Natitude. Thank you Michael for all that you did for the team and the fans. Hopefully that ballpark doesn't stunt your numbers out there on the West Coast and hopefully you'll be back on a team in the DMV after the season. Keep BEAST MODE alive!
You see I became a Michael Morse fan in 2010 when he smacked 15 Home Runs for the Nats in 98 games. I had no idea who he was and at the time I was only really coming around to giving the Nationals a chance. I knew who most of the players were but like much of the DMV I didn't pay too much attention to the Nats because, well they sucked. This Morse fellow though, he had that something special to me as I looked over the box scores. The team boasted power from Adam Dunn, the seemingly oft-injured and "under performing" (to my expectations) Ryan Zimmerman, and the slow trotting and underrated Josh Willingham. Morse hit one less Home Run in nearly 160 at-bats less than Willingham, good enough for fourth on the team.
In 2011 Morse had a strong Spring Training but was kept in a platoon in Left Field with Laynce Nix. Because of this The Beast struggled mightily through May before being relegated to the bench. In late-May Morse was given a shot at first base when Adam LaRoche went down for the season due to injury and Beast Mode swept across NatsTown. The legacy began and, in my mind, Michael was the biggest character on the team. A team mired in a losing culture for so long had an identity. There was playfulness, there was excitement, and while winning can do that, you knew that Morse had a huge hand in that. By season's end Morse finished in the Top 10 in batting average, home runs and RBI, and fourth in Slugging Percentage.
After the season I came across this article regarding Ryan Braun's PED case and was surprised to read about Morse's situation from year's before. The story actually made me more of a fan. Here was an athlete that accepted the punishment handed too him. He didn't make an excuse, he didn't deny it or lie or go through some charade. Then to see that he was suspended three times for the same thing because of a technicality, I felt bad for the guy but knew I'd support him for the rest of his career. He was refreshing. Not a Lance Armstrong or a Barry Bonds.
Morse started 2012 on the disabled list and didn't return to the lineup until June. Once back Morse was the team's primary Left Fielder and added protection to a line-up that consisted of rookie phenom Bryce Harper, LaRoche, Zimmerman, and eventually Jayson Werth upon his return from injury. As Natitude soared throughout DC many a fan became accustomed to participating in Morse's late inning walk-up music A-Ha's "Take on Me." Morse helped lead the Nats to the best record in baseball and had possibly the highlight of the year when he had to replay a grand slam after the umpires had to go to the video replay.
A season that saw a Morse bobblehead, females who loved him, and males who had man crushes on him didn't come without some hate. Despite being a huge part of the team and being knowingly slower than most of the players Morse drew the ire of some fans, we'll go with intoxicated since they thought they could play it better, when he failed to get to some balls hit to Left Field in the team's first home post-season game in history. I sat their and listened to the negativity all the while going "hey dumb asses you realize he's playing with a sore hamstring AND they have him shaded too far towards center when a right handed batter is up?" But I digress.
For me I was lucky to attend the bobblehead game and I was lucky to attend that first home playoff game, a game in which I sat in Left Field right behind Morse. Loving The Beast like I did I started a card collection of him and was able to grab some very rare cards. My favorite, which started the collection was a card from Topps Tier One that he inscribed "BEAST MODE," I later picked up a Topps Tribute auto inscribed "The Beast." They are by far two of my favorite pieces in any of my collections. At the playoff game I also ended up picking up a game-used bat which is just amazing to look at and for Christmas I bought myself a Morse jersey.
Unfortunately the off-season came to early for the Nats and certain players would be staying and certain players would be going. Morse was a bubble player. It would depend on what transpired between the Nationals and LaRoche. Before the Nats and LaRoche contact talks got serious, the Nats added Denard Span to play CF. That move meant Harper would play LF and Werth would be in RF. Morse was now a option at First Base or a trade chip because you're not going to have a guy getting paid $7 million getting paid to come off the bench...this isn't the NBA and in baseball guys making that much tend to either start or spend time on the disabled list...I'm looking at you A-Rod.
For months the saga between LaRoche and the Nats played out with LaRoche wanting a 3 year contact and the Nats holding steady on a 2 year offer. The drama went on for so long because if LaRoche signed somewhere else then the team signing him would forfeit a 1st round draft pick to the Nats. Many fans, especially me, preferred the Nats save the money on a LaRoche deal and use it for help in the bullpen. This month however the Nats and LaRoche agreed to a contract and that set in motion the move that would eventually make Morse a member, once again, of the Seattle Mariners. There was talk of Seattle, Boston, New York (Yankees), Texas and Baltimore all being in on Morse. I'd have loved Baltimore since I'm a fan of theirs as well and they're still local so I could go to O's games, he'd be reunited with his pal Adam Jones and I could see him play over 100 games in the season.
The move is unfortunate since I feel that LaRoche will not only not duplicate his production from last season but I feel he's likely to get injured again. I didn't like the signing two years ago and I'm not too fond of it now. I love how well he produced last year and I get the team needed a left handed power option in the lineup but Morse is THE MAN, even if he is addicted to those Real Housewives shows. The team also has durability issues with Zimmerman and Werth so if either of them goes down the team will be missing more power from the line-up and Morse could fill in in the outfield. The team also could have rotated players allowing them to rest, of course not keeping a regular lineup or routine can hurt more than help.
As I mentioned the Nats decided it was in their best interest to stick with LaRoche as well as stick with younger options on the bench in Roger Bernadina and Tyler Moore who will most likely supplant LaRoche in a year or two. My preference would be to see the team trade LaRoche after the season and re-sign Morse since he'll be a free-agent at the end of the year. Injury riddled or not, which Morse admittedly has been, the kid has talent and power, he's hit some of the longest home runs I have ever seen and playing first base will limit his injury risk compared to being in the outfield. And while he's not as good defensively at first base as Roach he's not much of a dropoff.
You better believe the first thing I'll do when MLB The Show comes out is I'll be trading Roach for Beast the second it enters my PS3. Yes I'm really gonna miss Michael. From his long flowing locks (man crush) to his running around the field and high-fiving fans when the team clinched a playoff spot to his laid back joking demeanor to his presence in the lineup I will miss Beast but will also cherish so many memories from his time here in DC. While I'll still be able to follow and interact with him on Twitter I'll always be saddened that he's no longer rocking the Natitude. Thank you Michael for all that you did for the team and the fans. Hopefully that ballpark doesn't stunt your numbers out there on the West Coast and hopefully you'll be back on a team in the DMV after the season. Keep BEAST MODE alive!
Monday, December 31, 2012
2013 Fearless Predictions
I started doing this last year on Twitter but didn't write down any of them so I could keep track of what did and didn't come true. I do remember some that did and figured I'd turn this into a yearly thing. While some of these I seriously believe will happen, many are to be taken as light-heartedly and as jokes...in case you couldn't figure that out. Hope you enjoy some of them. All of these were written before December 30, 2012.
Personal
(myself or friends)
- March 20th, the night of our Circus
event, will be my best day of the first half of year
- I will drop at least 40 lbs by Christmas
- I will drink soda
no more than 3 times in 2013
- I will play in the
2013 Bethesda Big Train Celebrity Game this year, not as a celebrity obviously
and I will hit a HR
- I will
average at least 1 blog post a week on www.laichitis.blogspot.com
(shameless plug)
- In turn if
I keep up the writing and improve with each post I will achieve some form of
validation, at least locally
- By
the end of the year my cousin John will come to the decision it is time to
retire but won’t do so until the end of 2014, right before closeout
- John will
also get a new dog, but not a foo-foo dog. Chocolate Lab seems to be the best
fit.
- Britt
McHenry will meet her future husband
- Britt McHenry will be staying in DC and will
ascend within ABC 7, taking over full-time for Tim Brant who will move on by
June 2014
- Britt McHenry will receive an overture to
co-host a DC Sports Talk radio show
- I will complete the year without
meeting my father…again though not necessarily by my choice
- My cousin Pam finally graduates college
- My cousin Kristin will get pregnant again.
This time with twins. One will be Hispanic, one black, her husband still
white
- Mark Cruz will finally get engaged.
50/50 shot that it will either be to his girlfriend or a transvestite masseuse
in the Philippines
- 4 of my friends on
Facebook will end up pregnant or getting someone pregnant during the year
-Tori Hill somehow
finds her way into the Nats clubhouse while at a game next year, possibly
sneaking in or flirting with Lombardozzi
- No matter how many
blog posts I have in 2013, all combined will not accumulate to the 2 I wrote on
Britt last spring (2600+)
- I will continue to
use Twitter but more for sports, jokes and networking than for bitching about
my job
Sports Cards &
Memorabilia
- I will add one
extremely rare Juan Dixon card to my collection, it will not be the triple
logoman from Exquisite
- HobbyKings.com and
Panini America will work on a basketball card set if JDC and some other HK guys
get their shit together
- Upper Deck will go
out of business
- Even when they do
things right Panini will not get the respect its due from many members on the
basketball side of the hobby
- I will open at
least 50 boxes of cards this year and the money would still have better been
spent on singles
- I will sell off
some of my collection this year once I get my shit in order
- I still won’t pull
a Michael Jordan autograph
Sports
- The Los Angeles
Clippers win the NBA Championship (I’ve had OKC since the end of last season)
- the NHL lockout
will finally end…but it won’t be until July - NHL ratings will fall on TV and arena’s will
be down at least 20%
- the Washington
Nationals will win the 2013 World Series
- Michael
Morse will hit 40 HRs as a member of the Washington Nationals or
Baltimore Orioles
- Angela Rypien will
lead the Baltimore Charm Lingerie Football Team to the Championship
- Despite their
offensive line and secondary woes the Redskins will not address the needs
noting their strong record
- the new women’s
soccer league will be a success
- the WNBA will
continue to falter despite Candace Parker leading the Sparks to the
championship
- Kevin Love, Josh
Smith, Amar’e Stoudamire, and Dwight Howard will all be involved in big trades
in the summer
- Chris Paul will
re-sign with the Clippers and the Clippers will go to the WCF & unseat the
Lakers as the team in LA
- Rex Ryan will be
fired, Tim Tebow will end up in Jacksonville, Mark Sanchez will remain in NY
- Despite becoming
favorites the Angels, Dodgers, and Blue Jays don’t make it out of the
Divisional Series, one won’t make playoffs
- The Orioles will
not see the same success as last year
- FP Santangelo and
Bob Carpenter will be back next season for Nats broadcasts, just not on MASN
- LeBron James
suffers a serious injury and misses much of the 2013-14 season
- Strasburg wins NL
CY Young, Bryce Harper joins 40/40 Club
- the Washington
Wizards will continue to suck
- the Washington
Nationals will have more wins at the end of the NBA regular season than the
Wizards
- A wrestler
currently in WWE or TNA will die, possibly while performing
- Dwyane Wade misses
a week with an ingrown toe nail
- The Rock will end
CM Punk's title reign only to drop the title to Dolph Ziggler who cashes in his
Money in the Bank briefcase
- The New York
Yankees will finish 4th in the AL East
- Baseball finally
does something to protect pitchers from batted balls after a scary incident in
July
- Andray Blatche
will glue his finger up his nose
- Brett Favre will
attempt another NFL comeback, this time with the Oakland Raiders
- Speaking of the
Silver & Black...so will Donovan McNabb (black guy, silver hair)
- A fat person will
finally win the Nathan's hot dog eating contest..then will be disqualified when
its found out its a pregnant woman and it was technically two people competing
- Manny Ramirez
attempts a comeback in a Beer League Softball and is cut for being out of shape
and unable to hit the ball
- Joe Flacco will be
franchised by the Ravens and fans will call for him to be replaced by Tyron
Taylor by Week 6
- RG3 will remain amazing while Romo and the Cowboys will still suck
- Despite deserving
a chance, Juan Dixon will not be given one last shot to make it back into the
NBA
- Andy Reid and Rex
Ryan face off in a championship match...for pie eating
Movies/Music/Celebs
- John Travolta & Tom Cruise will finally admit they’re gay and are actually a couple (I think I did this one for 2012 too)
- John Travolta & Tom Cruise will finally admit they’re gay and are actually a couple (I think I did this one for 2012 too)
- Lindsay Lohan will
manage to stay sober….for 20 minutes
- I’ll see maybe 6
of the following movies at the theatre the first half of the year: Gangster
Squad, The Last Stand, Safe Haven, Snitch, The Heat, Jurassic Park 3D
(AMAZING), 42, Pain & Gain, Fast & Furious 6, Olympus Has Fallen,
Monsters University, White House Down
- the following movies
will underperform: Oz The Great & Powerful, A Good Day to Die Hard, G.I.
Joe: Retaliation, Hangover Part III, Fast & Furious 6
- Oblivion’s lack of success will again cause people to question why Tom Cruise is put in movies
- Oblivion’s lack of success will again cause people to question why Tom Cruise is put in movies
- Will Smith will
give M Night Shyamalan his highest grossing movie since The Sixth Sense with
After Earth tho we may not see another Will Smith movie or look at him the same
again for at least 5 years.
- Sleeper
Movies: Olympus Has Fallen, Now You See Me, Much Ado About Nothing, White House
Down
- Iron Man 3 and Man
of Steel will fail to impress me, though Amy Adams will help Superman
- A young blonde
actress and candyland pop starlet (names removed for my safety) will have a
photo scandals
- Blake Lively and
Ryan Reynolds will get divorced
- Kim Kardashian
will marry Kanye West and Kanye will put out a sex tape with Kris, Humphries
not Kardashian
- Justin Beiber will
hit a girlfriend and get busted for drugs
- Andy Roddick
knocks up Brooklyn Decker
- Taylor Swift will
get pregnant..it will not be Daren Hayes’
- Rihanna won't
learn her lesson and will get smacked around by Chris Brown again
- Gabriel Iglesias
will be recognized as the funniest comedian alive
- Katt Williams will
continue his downward spiral until he kills himself at a Home Depot
- Psy will quickly
be forgotten about but will end up going on a tour with MC Hammer and later
joined by Vanilla Ice
- Gangnam Style will
go the way of the Macarena and Tubthumping only being heard at sporting events
- Christine Lakin
will make a (don't call it a) comeback with a new TV show
- Betty White and
Zsa Zsa Gabor last another year
- While men would prefer a scandal involving Carrie Underwood we'll only get the announcement that she is with child
- While men would prefer a scandal involving Carrie Underwood we'll only get the announcement that she is with child
Politics/World News
- We will know less
about what happened in Benghazi by December 31, 2013 than we do now
- Two former US
Presidents will pass away..George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter
- someone will die
in the penguin exhibit at a zoo and people will demand penguins be sent back to
Antarctica and banned from zoos and aquariums across the US
- There will be at
least one news story of someone going to the hospital because they got their
penis stuck in one of those Chinese finger locks
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