Trapped by the 'tism with the MAO of the Week (9-14)

The 'tism rays beaming from the Kettler Iceplex have been duly noted in these parts, and we couldn't be happier with the abundance of smiles. We have already rewarded both the Capital Captain Chris Clark and his cohort Olaf Kolzig subsequent MAOs for their pertinent positivity, with them saying on different earlier occasions that all of the moves the Caps made have been brilliant, and that they are on the verge of playoffity. Thus we cannot simply hand them another honor when they are basically restating the position in front of media peoples (where was our invite, by the way?). Not even if Tarik El-Bashir drops luscious lines like "optimism flowed freely," and Alex Ovechkin describes his hair as "gangster-style."

No, this week's MAO relates to the soon-to-be wrapping up Washington baseball season, where the sport's writers are now taking to analyzing the Nats' after-the-fact brilliance in comparison with their before-the-fact dire predictions of doom. Barry Svrluga, not unlike Dmitri Young, rocks hard every day by posting in blogs, holding chats, writing books, writing game stories and dominating baseball coverage in this city. While he may have that undesirable "objectivity" keeping his material from being truly 'tism-riffic, he occasionally gets excited about the way things are going, and in this morning's Notebook, he couldn't possibly hide his enthusiasm about how the team did in 07 despite what everyone predicted in the season's beginning as hopelessness personified in baseball form. Under the completely inconspicuous headline "Better Than Expected?", Svrluga dangles this nugget of retrospective 'tism for us all to lap up.

"With 16 games remaining, 10 at home, the Nationals need to go 7-9 to better
their 71-91 mark from a year ago. Considering the dire predictions prior to the
season, that would seem to be an accomplishment."

We too feel like the surpassing of dire expectations this year was an accomplishment, as was maintaining a youthful movement, replenishing the minor divisions and revitilizing the careers of guys who turned out to rule. Svrluga then probes the Master about the good that came from this season, to which ChairManny answers in the most frankly 'tismatic way possible.

"It won't mean anything to me," Manager Manny Acta said last week. "From Day One here, I wanted to play .500."

You have to love the Master's unflappable tism, which never frayed despite that tough April and the subsequent attempts to rectify its effect on the season. But, as with the Caps continued confidence in their new team structure, you already know how Manny, the MAO's mascot, feels. Therefore, we salute Svrluga this time, for even someone who was "trapped into being an optimist last year" can be rightly swayed into the 'tism territory by peppy managers, lovable players and dance-inspiring field brilliance. And when the Nats finish the next 16 games unblemished, fulfilling Manny's not-as-dire preseason prediction, another trap will be set.