Olympic Fan
05-10-2017, 11:38 PM
Earlier today, an ESPN commentator suggested that Wednesday night would be one of the most important evenings in Washington DC sports history.
The Capitals were facing the Penguins at home in the seventh game of their second-round NHL playoff series; the Wizards were at Boston for the decisive fifth game of their NBA series with the Celtics; the Nationals were at home for the third game in a four-game series against the nearby Orioles (after losing the first two games of the set in Baltimore).
Well, not a great night in our nation's capital -- but not a wipeout either.
The Penguins shut out the Capitals 2-0 to win their series. I'm not much of a hockey guy, but the commentary I'm seeing is that this outcome reinforces Washington's status as the greatest chokers in all of pro sports -- a consistent regular season juggernaut ... and a consistent postseason flop. Somebody who knows more about the sport either confirm this or set me straight.
At almost the same moment as the Caps were falling, Boston was putting it to the Wizards. The Celtics scored 16 straight points in the first quarter and the Wizards never made a real run. This series is not over -- Boston leads the best of 7 series 3-2, but in this situation, the team that wins Game 5 almost always wins the series (I think I saw 84 percent of the time).
It looked like a clear sweep as the Orioles took a 6-2 lead on the Nationals. It was 6-4 in the bottom of the ninth when the Nats rallied, scoring three runs to steal the win. It was a dramatic victory, but the baseball game was clearly the least important of the three Wednesday night events -- the other two were key playoff games. This was an early season baseball game -- even with another loss, Washington would have remained well ahead in the NL East.
Overall, a pretty dismal night for the DC sports fan (which includes Tony Kornheiser, who spent Wednesday's PTI touting the Capitals and the Wizards). It's the kind of thing they'll do a 30 for 30 show about in a few years.
The Capitals were facing the Penguins at home in the seventh game of their second-round NHL playoff series; the Wizards were at Boston for the decisive fifth game of their NBA series with the Celtics; the Nationals were at home for the third game in a four-game series against the nearby Orioles (after losing the first two games of the set in Baltimore).
Well, not a great night in our nation's capital -- but not a wipeout either.
The Penguins shut out the Capitals 2-0 to win their series. I'm not much of a hockey guy, but the commentary I'm seeing is that this outcome reinforces Washington's status as the greatest chokers in all of pro sports -- a consistent regular season juggernaut ... and a consistent postseason flop. Somebody who knows more about the sport either confirm this or set me straight.
At almost the same moment as the Caps were falling, Boston was putting it to the Wizards. The Celtics scored 16 straight points in the first quarter and the Wizards never made a real run. This series is not over -- Boston leads the best of 7 series 3-2, but in this situation, the team that wins Game 5 almost always wins the series (I think I saw 84 percent of the time).
It looked like a clear sweep as the Orioles took a 6-2 lead on the Nationals. It was 6-4 in the bottom of the ninth when the Nats rallied, scoring three runs to steal the win. It was a dramatic victory, but the baseball game was clearly the least important of the three Wednesday night events -- the other two were key playoff games. This was an early season baseball game -- even with another loss, Washington would have remained well ahead in the NL East.
Overall, a pretty dismal night for the DC sports fan (which includes Tony Kornheiser, who spent Wednesday's PTI touting the Capitals and the Wizards). It's the kind of thing they'll do a 30 for 30 show about in a few years.