The 2010 SCCA ProSolo series visited the Washington, DC area this past weekend, and as usual, I was there. My not-so-trusty WRX and my codriver Gabe decided to take on ESP as a cohesive team this year, instead of me running ladies class.
I'll post a full writeup later -- obviously, I've been lacking in the "make a blog post" bit lately -- but to make a long story short, it was a carnage-filled weekend for too many folks. Starting with Jay Storm's FSP Impreza during the practice starts on Friday, through McCance's scare with some blown hoses on his WRX on Saturday and then the Kozlak's Solstice GXP going into limp mode on Sunday, I could only pray I might get through the weekend unscathed.
No such luck. As Gabe came off his final run of the heat on Sunday, he found the car stuck in second gear. :(
In the end, I finished in the third and final trophy spot in ESP. The car's at IAG right now for diagnosis, and hopefully repair.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Falling Down The Mountain...
...end up kissing dirt.
So goes a song by one of my favorite bands of all time.
Being good or even dominating during the regular season means nothing when it comes to taking the big prize home. What's worse is being told over and over again, "You'll do it this year," after having been unsuccessful the previous one, and after failing, "Next year it'll be yours."
I know. I've been there. And I, for one, got sick of the set up.
People who engage in a sport are, by nature, competitive as hell. That's half the reason to participate, to work out that competitive nature. My sport is autocross, a time trial involving driving a temporary course as fast as I can, without knocking over the course markers. Cars are classed based on modifications and perceived handling/horsepower advantages.
For many years, I ran that green Camaro Z28 in FS at the National Championships, which were held in Topeka, Kansas until this past September. I started off running ladies class, with tons of expectations to win, and when I didn't even earn a trophy those first two years at Nationals, I started running open class, against the guys. Seems odd, yeah, but my mentality was that I'd push myself even harder, and wouldn't choke at Nationals as I'd done my first two attempts. Plus, to me, it would mean more to earn an open class trophy than to win a ladies-only championship.
From 1999 to 2002, I improved steadily each and every year, coming closer to my goal of an open class National Championships trophy. In 2002, I even finally managed to earn some trophies during the season in open class, starting with the Ft. Myers ProSolo where I snagged the final trophy in FS, driving my trusty green Z28. I held that medal the entire fifteen hour ride home to Maryland. I also earned a trophy driving a stock-classed Corvette in a street-prepared class, pissing off a fellow competitor along the way when he told me that I "couldn't" drive a stock car in a street prepared class (which you can) and I responded, "Do you have a problem getting beat by a stock car or by a girl?"
the AS Corvette being run in BSP; I got the third and final trophy spot
Finally, in 2003, after a solid year in ProSolo and at a few National Tours, I found myself within the trophies after the first day of the National Championships. Alas, I fell to two out on the second day, finishing 0.149 behind the final trophy spot. My friends told me, "Next year, you'll do it," and I believed them.
Come 2004, after another solid year of competition, I again was in the trophies after the first day, though this time, I was running someone else's Camaro Z28 1LE. However, after staying out a bit too late, and not really getting a chance to walk the north course as well as I should have, I again fell out of the trophies -- a heartbreaking 0.068 out of trophies, to finish 8th in F Stock. "You will do it next year," everyone told me. I sucked it up, and nodded.
The rain of 2005 made a bad situation worse. I'd allegedly coned my first run, then it started to rain. This wasn't the first time this had happened to me during the 2005 season, and it hurt like hell to have it happen again. The only reason I even showed up for the second day of competition is because I had a codriver and he was in the trophies. He finished in the final trophy spot, while I languished in the bottom third that year. However, I did beat him over four events to win the 2005 Southeast Division championship. Did it ease the pain? No.
I didn't consciously realize it, but 2006 would be my final attempt at an open class trophy in F Stock. The 2005 Mustang was thought to be a dominant chassis to the established third and fourth generation Camaros, and an even better version -- the Shelby GT -- was coming for 2007. The 2006 Solo National Championships would be the final hurrah for my 1996 Camaro Z28 1LE that was my darling, my baby, my little green terror. As had been the case for two of the past three years, I was right there heading into the second day of competition. On my last run on the second day, I distinctly remember getting the time slip from the course worker at the end of the course, and her saying, "Awesome run!! 52s?!" And I just stared at the 52.9 that I'd just run, realized it wasn't enough for a trophy, and burst into tears.
I drove back to my grid spot, and sat in the car, crying. Everyone knew why. No one dared approach me until I'd let it all come out. Did I drive my best? I thought so at the time. Did I do everything I could? Again, I thought so at the time. We'd put my front sway bar on Jerry's car and did back-to-back testing. His car was set up exactly like my green one, and we codrove for maximum tire warmth, since Heartland Park was a terrible site for cold tires. But I just didn't drive fast enough.
Why do I bring this pain up? Because I'm tired of seeing so many people who have no competitive background whatsoever rag on the Washington Capitals for their first round playoff loss. If anyone thinks that those guys aren't being their own harshest critics, that they aren't feeling like they've let down themselves as well as their fans, then those people don't know the meaning of the word "competitive".
Did the players play their hardest? They thought so. There was cases where it didn't exactly look like much effort was being put forth, yes. Where a player wasn't making his presence exactly known, yes. But, as an amateur athlete, even I know that my best may not actually be the best I could have done, and I am damned sure that those professional athletes have done that kind of self-reflection on what happened during those seven games and don't need a ton of couch-jockeys telling them what they allegedly did wrong.
So goes a song by one of my favorite bands of all time.
Being good or even dominating during the regular season means nothing when it comes to taking the big prize home. What's worse is being told over and over again, "You'll do it this year," after having been unsuccessful the previous one, and after failing, "Next year it'll be yours."
I know. I've been there. And I, for one, got sick of the set up.
People who engage in a sport are, by nature, competitive as hell. That's half the reason to participate, to work out that competitive nature. My sport is autocross, a time trial involving driving a temporary course as fast as I can, without knocking over the course markers. Cars are classed based on modifications and perceived handling/horsepower advantages.
For many years, I ran that green Camaro Z28 in FS at the National Championships, which were held in Topeka, Kansas until this past September. I started off running ladies class, with tons of expectations to win, and when I didn't even earn a trophy those first two years at Nationals, I started running open class, against the guys. Seems odd, yeah, but my mentality was that I'd push myself even harder, and wouldn't choke at Nationals as I'd done my first two attempts. Plus, to me, it would mean more to earn an open class trophy than to win a ladies-only championship.
From 1999 to 2002, I improved steadily each and every year, coming closer to my goal of an open class National Championships trophy. In 2002, I even finally managed to earn some trophies during the season in open class, starting with the Ft. Myers ProSolo where I snagged the final trophy in FS, driving my trusty green Z28. I held that medal the entire fifteen hour ride home to Maryland. I also earned a trophy driving a stock-classed Corvette in a street-prepared class, pissing off a fellow competitor along the way when he told me that I "couldn't" drive a stock car in a street prepared class (which you can) and I responded, "Do you have a problem getting beat by a stock car or by a girl?"
Finally, in 2003, after a solid year in ProSolo and at a few National Tours, I found myself within the trophies after the first day of the National Championships. Alas, I fell to two out on the second day, finishing 0.149 behind the final trophy spot. My friends told me, "Next year, you'll do it," and I believed them.
Come 2004, after another solid year of competition, I again was in the trophies after the first day, though this time, I was running someone else's Camaro Z28 1LE. However, after staying out a bit too late, and not really getting a chance to walk the north course as well as I should have, I again fell out of the trophies -- a heartbreaking 0.068 out of trophies, to finish 8th in F Stock. "You will do it next year," everyone told me. I sucked it up, and nodded.
The rain of 2005 made a bad situation worse. I'd allegedly coned my first run, then it started to rain. This wasn't the first time this had happened to me during the 2005 season, and it hurt like hell to have it happen again. The only reason I even showed up for the second day of competition is because I had a codriver and he was in the trophies. He finished in the final trophy spot, while I languished in the bottom third that year. However, I did beat him over four events to win the 2005 Southeast Division championship. Did it ease the pain? No.
I didn't consciously realize it, but 2006 would be my final attempt at an open class trophy in F Stock. The 2005 Mustang was thought to be a dominant chassis to the established third and fourth generation Camaros, and an even better version -- the Shelby GT -- was coming for 2007. The 2006 Solo National Championships would be the final hurrah for my 1996 Camaro Z28 1LE that was my darling, my baby, my little green terror. As had been the case for two of the past three years, I was right there heading into the second day of competition. On my last run on the second day, I distinctly remember getting the time slip from the course worker at the end of the course, and her saying, "Awesome run!! 52s?!" And I just stared at the 52.9 that I'd just run, realized it wasn't enough for a trophy, and burst into tears.
I drove back to my grid spot, and sat in the car, crying. Everyone knew why. No one dared approach me until I'd let it all come out. Did I drive my best? I thought so at the time. Did I do everything I could? Again, I thought so at the time. We'd put my front sway bar on Jerry's car and did back-to-back testing. His car was set up exactly like my green one, and we codrove for maximum tire warmth, since Heartland Park was a terrible site for cold tires. But I just didn't drive fast enough.
Why do I bring this pain up? Because I'm tired of seeing so many people who have no competitive background whatsoever rag on the Washington Capitals for their first round playoff loss. If anyone thinks that those guys aren't being their own harshest critics, that they aren't feeling like they've let down themselves as well as their fans, then those people don't know the meaning of the word "competitive".
Did the players play their hardest? They thought so. There was cases where it didn't exactly look like much effort was being put forth, yes. Where a player wasn't making his presence exactly known, yes. But, as an amateur athlete, even I know that my best may not actually be the best I could have done, and I am damned sure that those professional athletes have done that kind of self-reflection on what happened during those seven games and don't need a ton of couch-jockeys telling them what they allegedly did wrong.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
The Time Is Now
I've been a Capitals fan for a very long time... a die hard since 1988. In all that time, the Caps have only ever visited the Conference Finals twice (the first time being swept), and the Stanley Cup Finals once.
The 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs start today, Wednesday, April 14. The Capitals have their first playoff game tomorrow against the Montreal Canadiens, on Thursday, at Verizon Center.
Here's hoping they can do what no other Capitals team could do since 1974. :)
The 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs start today, Wednesday, April 14. The Capitals have their first playoff game tomorrow against the Montreal Canadiens, on Thursday, at Verizon Center.
Here's hoping they can do what no other Capitals team could do since 1974. :)
Thursday, April 8, 2010
I'm a Loser, Baby...
So, this morning, the Washington Capitals Club Scarlet posted the winner of their "How I Became a Caps Fan" contest, in which the winner gets a game worn jersey after the team takes on the Boston Bruins on April 11.
Read the winning entry and tell me how this woman is a Caps fan?
I didn't expect to win, but I also didn't expect to lose to someone who isn't even a fan of the team. :( For contrast, my entry is posted below.
Title : You Never Forget Your First
The year was 1986 and I was a high school sophomore when my mom won a set of four tickets to a Washington Capitals game during the Montgomery County Fair. Mike Ridley would be acquired from the New York Rangers in a deal that sent Bobby Carpenter to the Big Apple in return. Larry Murphy and Scott Stevens would be two of the top three scorers for the team.
And I would still not see my first Caps game live.
For some odd reason, my mom never redeemed the voucher for the tickets that year. My family – myself included – wasn’t that much into hockey at the time. We were passing fans in that we’d watch it on TV, but it wasn’t a passion for my parents, myself or my younger brother.
Yet, my mom still didn’t forget about the tickets, and at the onset of the 1987-88 season, she wrote a letter to then-owner Abe Pollin, asking if she would still be able to use them. Mr. Pollin himself wrote back, asking what game she would like to go to. After looking over the schedule, we settled on the February 14th game, as it was the closest game to my birthday. They’d be playing the Calgary Flames, which, coincidentally, was the team pennant hanging in my bedroom at the time.
Our seats were excellent, just four or so rows from the ice. In retrospect, it was amazing what we got to see – future Hall of Famers, including Mike Gartner, who scored the game-winning goal in overtime, and Brett Hull, who was a tenacious rookie on the Flames, mucking it up in the corners and blasting pucks towards the net with that wicked shot of his.
Seeing Gartner hustle down the boards in overtime to clinch the 5-4 win over the Flames sealed it for me. After watching my first NHL game live, I was hooked, and by my senior year in high school, I was skipping out early on Fridays in order to get to the Capital Centre for games. The year after I graduated, I was working full-time and had the spare cash to get a single season ticket for myself, and was able to see the Capitals make it to the Wales (Eastern) Conference finals for the first time in franchise history, even though they were swept by the Boston Bruins. It was heart-breaking, but I was thoroughly hooked by this time, it didn’t matter. I would be back for more.
I was a season ticket holder at the Capital Centre for all of two years before I went to college full-time and had to come to my senses. I never forget Mr. Pollin’s kindness in letting my family use those tickets after the fact, and the excitement of that first game being won in overtime. Over twenty years later, I am a full season ticket holder, and again, I am witnessing franchise records and history being made. It’s an exciting time to be a Capitals fan, but then again, when isn’t it?
Read the winning entry and tell me how this woman is a Caps fan?
I didn't expect to win, but I also didn't expect to lose to someone who isn't even a fan of the team. :( For contrast, my entry is posted below.
Title : You Never Forget Your First
The year was 1986 and I was a high school sophomore when my mom won a set of four tickets to a Washington Capitals game during the Montgomery County Fair. Mike Ridley would be acquired from the New York Rangers in a deal that sent Bobby Carpenter to the Big Apple in return. Larry Murphy and Scott Stevens would be two of the top three scorers for the team.
And I would still not see my first Caps game live.
For some odd reason, my mom never redeemed the voucher for the tickets that year. My family – myself included – wasn’t that much into hockey at the time. We were passing fans in that we’d watch it on TV, but it wasn’t a passion for my parents, myself or my younger brother.
Yet, my mom still didn’t forget about the tickets, and at the onset of the 1987-88 season, she wrote a letter to then-owner Abe Pollin, asking if she would still be able to use them. Mr. Pollin himself wrote back, asking what game she would like to go to. After looking over the schedule, we settled on the February 14th game, as it was the closest game to my birthday. They’d be playing the Calgary Flames, which, coincidentally, was the team pennant hanging in my bedroom at the time.
Our seats were excellent, just four or so rows from the ice. In retrospect, it was amazing what we got to see – future Hall of Famers, including Mike Gartner, who scored the game-winning goal in overtime, and Brett Hull, who was a tenacious rookie on the Flames, mucking it up in the corners and blasting pucks towards the net with that wicked shot of his.
Seeing Gartner hustle down the boards in overtime to clinch the 5-4 win over the Flames sealed it for me. After watching my first NHL game live, I was hooked, and by my senior year in high school, I was skipping out early on Fridays in order to get to the Capital Centre for games. The year after I graduated, I was working full-time and had the spare cash to get a single season ticket for myself, and was able to see the Capitals make it to the Wales (Eastern) Conference finals for the first time in franchise history, even though they were swept by the Boston Bruins. It was heart-breaking, but I was thoroughly hooked by this time, it didn’t matter. I would be back for more.
I was a season ticket holder at the Capital Centre for all of two years before I went to college full-time and had to come to my senses. I never forget Mr. Pollin’s kindness in letting my family use those tickets after the fact, and the excitement of that first game being won in overtime. Over twenty years later, I am a full season ticket holder, and again, I am witnessing franchise records and history being made. It’s an exciting time to be a Capitals fan, but then again, when isn’t it?
Sunday, April 4, 2010
I'm Bad... I'm Nationwide...
Pat and I, along with friends Heather and Dennis, ventured out to Columbus, Ohio this past weekend to take in a Capitals game in a town I've only driven through (many, many, many times on my way out to Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska or further west, for autocrosses). After the March 12th game against the Lightning, we came to an inebriated decision to drive to Tampa Bay for the March 20th rematch, but fortunately, we all sobered up and scrapped that before our credit cards were charged. Instead, Heather and I individually decided that driving the six hours to Ohio would be "smarter" than the fifteen hours to Tampa, and so the idea to go to Nationwide Arena on April 3rd was born. Some discussion, some emails, and voila, we were all set to meet up with an autocrossing friend of mine from Cleveland at the arena on Saturday night.
Heather and Dennis left about thirty minutes ahead of Pat and me, and it took us about the same amount of time to get to the hotel. Monitoring our whereabouts via Twitter and Foursquare, we managed to confuse each other with late and duplicate "check-ins," plus Dennis thought Pat and I had left closer to 11 (instead of the 9:30AM we actually did leave). Needless to say, he was shocked when I tweeted that I was 45 minutes from Columbus, despite the fact that I was driving the famed 400K mile Camaro Z28 1LE that's been affectionately nicknamed the Green Terror for my alma mater's mascot. Pat and I arrived at the hotel about thirty minutes behind Heather and Dennis, and Sean was done autocrossing at National Trail for the day, so he was getting ready to head over as well.
A quick jaunt from the hotel to the Tip Top Kitchen (on a recommendation from NHL.com contributor and former Washington Times sports writer Corey Masisak) saw all four of us ordering the delicious pot roast sandwich (on a pretzel roll, some of us getting the sweet potato fries as a side, and other getting fried green beans or regular fries). The savory meal would last us through the game until further exploits at the Horn-Guy-recommended "R" Bar after the game.
Nationwide Arena evidently has issues with "printing" tickets ordered via Ticketmaster, and Dennis couldn't retrieve the tickets until after 6PM. Sean arrived while we were waiting for the tickets to be "printed" and we immediately took up spots for warmups while Pat went for refreshments.
We would need the alcohol. Greg Wyshynski, of Yahoo Puck Daddy, had clearly called Columbus the "Central U.S. command center of Jersey Fouls" and he wasn't kidding. From the general foul of wearing a jersey of a team that wasn't playing, to the "Hockey Town" Red Wings #97 jersey, we saw quite a plethora of eye-numbing fouls. However, coupled with the fact that the bunny was wearing a powder-blue Crosby jersey, this chick was the "winn4r" of the pathetic sites we witnessed.
We did get a good view of the warmups, as well as of the game, however. We ended up being near both of the Caps clubs that were in attendance (the Road Crew and the Fan Club), on the end where the Caps were shooting twice.
The theme for the Blue Jackets is "Carry the Flag." It doesn't seem very threatening, especially when coupled with a weak video introduction that was a parody of the "needs more cowbell" SNL skit (here's an old version of it from 2007). This one was a play on the AC/DC "For Those About to Rock" video, and the line was "needs more cannon." This led into a "Live from Columbus, it's Saturday night!" with some of their top players (not the opening lineup, which I think would have been more appropriate) mentioned.
The Caps started off very strongly in the first, with crisp passing and a dominant presence in the Blue Jackets' zone. Mathieu Garon was tested early and failed often, letting through two of the first four shots on net. Semin started the scoring, and Flash continued it. However, things were about to change for the worse.
Jason Chimera, coming into Nationwide Arena for the first time since the late December trade that sent Chris Clark to Ohio (along with Milan Jurcina, temporarily), was coming into the BJ's zone at, as he put it, "full speed," and got caught up with defenseman Anton Stralman as he entered the crease. Garon was the unfortunate braking point. While he tried to shake off, Garon would end up being replaced by Caps killer Steve Mason.
A few miscues on the part of the Blue Jackets minutes later would find Mason facing down the league's best power play on a 5-3. Mike Green, after whiffing on a perfectly open net moments previous, would take a sweet setup and send the puck straight in for his 19th of the season. However, the Caps would not score again, and, in fact, the defensive breakdowns would begin almost immediately. With the rest of the second penalty still on the board, Rick Nash and Antoine Vermette would take the puck to Jose Theodore and slide one by to "fire the cannon" (which is damned loud, by the way) and narrow the lead to 2 before the end of the first period.
The cannon was mercifully silent during the second period, and most of the way through the third, not for lack of BJ attempts though. Theo would face 36 shots versus the 23 taken on Mason (and 4 on Garon), and he'd stop all but two, including a flurry of shots during a 5-on-3 situation caused by a Chimera cross-check followed closely by a Shaone Morrisonn tripping call.
Vermette would score even strength on another Nash feed late in the third period, but Theo would hold off the rest of the onslaught and as a result, take the first star of the game. It was a too-exciting finish to what should have been a routine win for the league-leading Capitals. Yet, another mediocre game -- and -2 finish! -- for Alex Ovechkin and more disinterested play for countryman Alex Semin would be part of the problem. With Brooks Laich back in the lineup, albeit with a college-style cage, some of the weak points of the penalty kill and the power play units have been shored up -- let's face it, Jason Chimera was not a good replacement for the Iron Man -- but even Laich wasn't up to the task of cracking Mason beyond that one Green tally.
RJ Umberger would make some disparaging remarks about the Capitals' post-season chances in the press conference after the game, saying that Washington doesn't "play right" and that no Western Conference team would be outmatched by them. However, no other Eastern Conference team has a better record against the West than Washington, so if not the Capitals, then who should face the best of the West for the Stanley Cup? Maybe Umberger is a bit bothered by his team being out of the playoff picture in the West, though teams with worse records in the East are still in contention, and if so, that's a valid concern. Yet, to call out the Capitals -- who would still be in the playoffs even if the wins over supposedly weaker division opponents were left out -- is just being a poor loser on his part. He later tried to backpedal on his comments, but honestly, I'm not surprised about his initial remarks, considering he's a former Flyer.
After the game, we all headed over to the R Bar, which was touted as "the most awesome hockey bar ever" by Sam "The Horn Guy." Sure enough, the place was a mecca of hockey souvenirs, including a Baltimore Skipjacks pennant! Turns out that one of the owners is from the Baltimore area, hence the Skipjacks, Baltimore Colts and Orioles pennants being tucked away in the entrance area. Other cool touches included the penalty box/boards booths, hockey sticks and pucks everywhere, and the 100oz beer towers of Molson Canadian for $18. Well, the $3 PBR 24oz cans weren't bad either.
After chatting with some Pens fans from Waterloo, Ontario (may your French-speaking, Habs-fan children be the bane of your existence!), and Todd, who told us he was one of the guys responsible for the boards at Nationwide, we called it a night. Sean went back to Cleveland (with his own interesting story of the drunk-driver-in-a-mirror-image-car), and the rest of us staggered back to our hotel. All-in-all, it was a great time to be had. Nationwide Arena is a very nice site, and the Columbus fans were very gracious hosts! If the Caps are in Ohio again next year, I think I'm going to have to make the trek again.
Heather and Dennis left about thirty minutes ahead of Pat and me, and it took us about the same amount of time to get to the hotel. Monitoring our whereabouts via Twitter and Foursquare, we managed to confuse each other with late and duplicate "check-ins," plus Dennis thought Pat and I had left closer to 11 (instead of the 9:30AM we actually did leave). Needless to say, he was shocked when I tweeted that I was 45 minutes from Columbus, despite the fact that I was driving the famed 400K mile Camaro Z28 1LE that's been affectionately nicknamed the Green Terror for my alma mater's mascot. Pat and I arrived at the hotel about thirty minutes behind Heather and Dennis, and Sean was done autocrossing at National Trail for the day, so he was getting ready to head over as well.
A quick jaunt from the hotel to the Tip Top Kitchen (on a recommendation from NHL.com contributor and former Washington Times sports writer Corey Masisak) saw all four of us ordering the delicious pot roast sandwich (on a pretzel roll, some of us getting the sweet potato fries as a side, and other getting fried green beans or regular fries). The savory meal would last us through the game until further exploits at the Horn-Guy-recommended "R" Bar after the game.
Nationwide Arena evidently has issues with "printing" tickets ordered via Ticketmaster, and Dennis couldn't retrieve the tickets until after 6PM. Sean arrived while we were waiting for the tickets to be "printed" and we immediately took up spots for warmups while Pat went for refreshments.
We would need the alcohol. Greg Wyshynski, of Yahoo Puck Daddy, had clearly called Columbus the "Central U.S. command center of Jersey Fouls" and he wasn't kidding. From the general foul of wearing a jersey of a team that wasn't playing, to the "Hockey Town" Red Wings #97 jersey, we saw quite a plethora of eye-numbing fouls. However, coupled with the fact that the bunny was wearing a powder-blue Crosby jersey, this chick was the "winn4r" of the pathetic sites we witnessed.
We did get a good view of the warmups, as well as of the game, however. We ended up being near both of the Caps clubs that were in attendance (the Road Crew and the Fan Club), on the end where the Caps were shooting twice.
The theme for the Blue Jackets is "Carry the Flag." It doesn't seem very threatening, especially when coupled with a weak video introduction that was a parody of the "needs more cowbell" SNL skit (here's an old version of it from 2007). This one was a play on the AC/DC "For Those About to Rock" video, and the line was "needs more cannon." This led into a "Live from Columbus, it's Saturday night!" with some of their top players (not the opening lineup, which I think would have been more appropriate) mentioned.
The Caps started off very strongly in the first, with crisp passing and a dominant presence in the Blue Jackets' zone. Mathieu Garon was tested early and failed often, letting through two of the first four shots on net. Semin started the scoring, and Flash continued it. However, things were about to change for the worse.
Jason Chimera, coming into Nationwide Arena for the first time since the late December trade that sent Chris Clark to Ohio (along with Milan Jurcina, temporarily), was coming into the BJ's zone at, as he put it, "full speed," and got caught up with defenseman Anton Stralman as he entered the crease. Garon was the unfortunate braking point. While he tried to shake off, Garon would end up being replaced by Caps killer Steve Mason.
A few miscues on the part of the Blue Jackets minutes later would find Mason facing down the league's best power play on a 5-3. Mike Green, after whiffing on a perfectly open net moments previous, would take a sweet setup and send the puck straight in for his 19th of the season. However, the Caps would not score again, and, in fact, the defensive breakdowns would begin almost immediately. With the rest of the second penalty still on the board, Rick Nash and Antoine Vermette would take the puck to Jose Theodore and slide one by to "fire the cannon" (which is damned loud, by the way) and narrow the lead to 2 before the end of the first period.
The cannon was mercifully silent during the second period, and most of the way through the third, not for lack of BJ attempts though. Theo would face 36 shots versus the 23 taken on Mason (and 4 on Garon), and he'd stop all but two, including a flurry of shots during a 5-on-3 situation caused by a Chimera cross-check followed closely by a Shaone Morrisonn tripping call.
Vermette would score even strength on another Nash feed late in the third period, but Theo would hold off the rest of the onslaught and as a result, take the first star of the game. It was a too-exciting finish to what should have been a routine win for the league-leading Capitals. Yet, another mediocre game -- and -2 finish! -- for Alex Ovechkin and more disinterested play for countryman Alex Semin would be part of the problem. With Brooks Laich back in the lineup, albeit with a college-style cage, some of the weak points of the penalty kill and the power play units have been shored up -- let's face it, Jason Chimera was not a good replacement for the Iron Man -- but even Laich wasn't up to the task of cracking Mason beyond that one Green tally.
RJ Umberger would make some disparaging remarks about the Capitals' post-season chances in the press conference after the game, saying that Washington doesn't "play right" and that no Western Conference team would be outmatched by them. However, no other Eastern Conference team has a better record against the West than Washington, so if not the Capitals, then who should face the best of the West for the Stanley Cup? Maybe Umberger is a bit bothered by his team being out of the playoff picture in the West, though teams with worse records in the East are still in contention, and if so, that's a valid concern. Yet, to call out the Capitals -- who would still be in the playoffs even if the wins over supposedly weaker division opponents were left out -- is just being a poor loser on his part. He later tried to backpedal on his comments, but honestly, I'm not surprised about his initial remarks, considering he's a former Flyer.
After the game, we all headed over to the R Bar, which was touted as "the most awesome hockey bar ever" by Sam "The Horn Guy." Sure enough, the place was a mecca of hockey souvenirs, including a Baltimore Skipjacks pennant! Turns out that one of the owners is from the Baltimore area, hence the Skipjacks, Baltimore Colts and Orioles pennants being tucked away in the entrance area. Other cool touches included the penalty box/boards booths, hockey sticks and pucks everywhere, and the 100oz beer towers of Molson Canadian for $18. Well, the $3 PBR 24oz cans weren't bad either.
After chatting with some Pens fans from Waterloo, Ontario (may your French-speaking, Habs-fan children be the bane of your existence!), and Todd, who told us he was one of the guys responsible for the boards at Nationwide, we called it a night. Sean went back to Cleveland (with his own interesting story of the drunk-driver-in-a-mirror-image-car), and the rest of us staggered back to our hotel. All-in-all, it was a great time to be had. Nationwide Arena is a very nice site, and the Columbus fans were very gracious hosts! If the Caps are in Ohio again next year, I think I'm going to have to make the trek again.
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