Nats Fans: Less Flappable Than Nats Beat Writers

When Bobtimist posted a link on his Twitter feed this morning pointing to a poll in the Nationals Journal, I felt an almost immediate sense of familiarity.

The subject matter of the poll, of course, was whether the firing of the Master of 'Tism himself, Manny Acta, increasingly rumored to be imminent, would be warranted right now. A steady 55-56% of Nats fans have been maintaining that such a dismissal is, at the very least, ill-timed. It's worth noting the wording of the survey question: "Is it the right time to fire Manny Acta?", perhaps indicating that the questioner has already determined the Master must go, and just wonders when the right time is to drop the ax.

This survey brought to mind another such polling of the mindset of Nats fans, one undertaken just last summer, when things were looking similarly bleak for the franchise. The tide of optimism was strong then, even as the Nationals limped towards that 100 loss plateau they had so valiantly avoided a year prior. Back then, as now, a majority of the fanbase expressed confidence in Manny, 4/5 going so far as to say he would one day lead the franchise to a winning record. Back then, as now, Nats fans showed how strongly they ultimately believe in this team and remain hopeful in its future, in stark contrast to the continual snark, gloom, and overall negativism found in the pages of Nationals Journal and elsewhere.

There is, of course, that voice out there that is (usually) optimistic in the form of our buddy Boz, who so eloquently stated the dignity with which Manny still carries himself, and the support he still enjoys amongst his players. This is not some team implosion, poisonous locker room needing to be purged type situation (a situation, incidentally, that has been prophesied by naysayers whenever an alleged "troublemaker" or "cancer" with a name like Young or Dukes has been signed). It's just another struggling chapter in a re-building ballclub, one made all the more difficult with all that Bowden stuff that went down, and with all this young pitching trying to find its footing.

So, no, the time is not right to fire ChairManny, and we shouldn't assume such an action is or should be imminent. He's been the perfect character guy to keep a positive attitude through all this painful-if-necessary losing, and deserves to see things through to their ultimate, successful, winning conclusion. The fans seem to get that.

Needless Piling-On Is Becoming Tiresome

The Nationals have won two in a row (perhaps paving the way for the Caps’ to win two in a row, seeing how the collective fates of the franchises are intertwined, at least in our eyes), stingily holding on to one-run, ninth inning leads on consecutive nights.

Still, the resounding attitude towards the club is defined by snark, as illustrated by the blow-up over a couple of missing “O’s” on a couple of uniforms and, most disappointingly, if subtlely, a needless, uninformed shot in a Washington Post piece not even about the Nationals.

The article in question was written by Keith Richburg and was about the alleged over-the-top home-run-friendliness of the new Yankee Stadium. Of course, to put it in proper context, a shot at the Nationals is in order:

“Nationals Park in Washington, in its second season on the Anacostia River, featured 18 homers in the first six games -- more because of the Nationals' pitching than the wind or sloping stands.”

Haha, see, the Nationals are so bad that naturally it’s just their pitching and only their pitching that has caused this home run explosion at their second-year park. Of course, a closer look at the numbers, and not just a lazy reach-back for another “Nats stink” dig, reveals that the Nationals themselves actually hit eight of those home runs. So, perhaps an improvement in the team’s hitting, and not just a sluggish start by its pitching staff, has something to do with this gaudy total, huh? Again, though, this does not fit in with the motif that the Nats just flat out stink in every way and must be ridiculed with no mention whatsoever of any positive developments.

It really seems that in the heart of every baseball writer is the desire to pen cheeky “ho ho ho, our home team is so bad, those bums, heh heh heh, what are ya gonna do” types of columns. Everyone wants to wax on about their own “lovable losers”. And when they can't write full columns prematurely predicting historical catastrophes for the home team, they write little zany one-liners in unrelated columns. Anyone who loves optimism like we do should not let it go unnoticed.

Fortunately, our man Boz still gets it, even if he does throw in a completely unnecessary crack about “Natinals”. But at least his is a delightful piece of positivity in a newspaper world of smarm and sarcasm.

REPORT: Redskins' Season Not Over Yet

Despite some contrarial thoughts from the usual suspects (La Canfora, Jason; Jenkins, Sally), the Redskins season — despite losing one game on the road by nine points mainly from injuries and a freakish case of stone hands plaguing the secondary — is not over yet. Unfortunately for the O-haterz currently dancing in their Chad Hutchinson jerseys, eagerly anticipating the inevitable dalliance between Dan Snyder and Pete Carroll sometime after the Trojans romp on the Buckeyes, they have failed to notice that the Redskins have a grand total of fifteen more games to play before the Jim Zorn era can officially be called deader than the female gluteous maximus tissue that comprises Jerry Jones's eyelids.

That's right folks, even if the Redskins managed to be unsuccessful in the whole "game-winning" or "offensive" portion of Thursday night's pagentry-stuffed ode to the insufferably yappy Giants scourge, they still have close to 93.75% of the season remaining before Zorn is replaced with Tony D'Amato. But after the supposedly pathetic, disorganized, wimpy, hopeless, indicative-of-poor-management-decisions performance against the refs and mental cobwebs in the dead-grassed lands of Meadow, haven't the Redskins shown already that they don't belong in the cupcake crushing, reality show spawning NFC clever-word-that-rhymes-with-East? We here (and I say "we" despite this being the first post in like, an entire Nationals season, for a certain Transformers-monikered internetter) are more than confident that the events of last Thursday, which already seem further away than that time when people had questionable thoughts about Elijah Dukes, will not represent what will obviously be a successful 08-09 season. Take if from current DCO contributor/biter Tom Boswell, who in his latest call for collective 'tism, notes how maybe this thing could maybe somehow work, maybe.

Oh Boz, sure the column is rife with uneasiness over our often confused, playbook overloaded, heavily studying, somehow overcoming the memorization of eight-billion plays quarterback, but I couldn't help but return from my laziness-inflected hiatus after this poetic, business card-sloga worthy nod:

"So, Redskins fans should have patience. (Pause.) Okay, that didn't work. How
about optimism? Let's try that. "

Couldn't agree more Boz, although please, can we get a URL shoutout somewhere? I promise I will contribute a Wizards post or two if the DCO is mentioned somewhere between that Vice President chick's wardrobe choices in the Post. Why can't Boz direct his burgeoning readership to the blog with more dead links than Shawn Hill's elbow? Regardless of our fledgeling brushes with success and consistency, not since TruthAboutIt called us "sanguine," have I been so happy to have contributed to the internet back before Yahoo! began devouring bloggers like so many chicken fingers served without bitterness at Sideline (although I remain as unpaid as Todd Lowber when it comes to bliznogging). Shoutout to Boz for keeping the fanbase pointed in the positive direction.

It's refreshing to hear a take on the work-in-progress-ness that is the current skins. It's not like Boz was scraping the bottom of the metaphoric metaphor barrell as one Mike Wise did in his shopping at Taylor-mart coverage of the tragic selling-off of the late Sean Taylor's personal items, which so totally was a paralell between what everyone already is calling a dead season, and the subsequent selling off of Brandon Lloyd jerseys, or whatever. Nice literariness Wise-ass.

But back to the Redskins, and the fact that they aren't as done-zo as the usage of the word done-zo. First of all, the first-class running game, which couldn't be properly utilized as the skins somehow were both fighting off a double-digit deficit and the predilection for running those running plays directly into a defensive lineman, remains strong, and will remain the first-mentioned, first-run aspect of the team's success in subsequent weeks, first. Second, despite the overlaudiness of coverage regarding the Giants and their defensive line, the 'skins managed to give up, lets count 'em, one lone sack, on the first play of the game, after which, clever, picture painting with words columnists, we guess, changed the channel to Project Runway. So lets not count out that suddenly old decrepit offensive line yet. Many might even say that proper adjustments were made. And the defense, sure it was in bend-don't-break mode for about two whole quarters, and one might get the notion that running Brandon Jacobs over and over again would likely lead to the Giants not having to kick a bunch of field goals and whatnot, but the D also made proper adjustments, and even, gasp, got to the quarterback, and again gasp, made turnovers occur!

Solid run game, solid o-line play, solid D: the foundation of success that the Redskins have been riding on during a streak of decency that continues to be mistaken for mediocrity. The hallmarks of these past two playoff appearing teams are currently there. One rusty performance, where nine points were the difference between lauding successes and detailing mistakes, out of sixteen can be neglected. Anyone remember that Patriots team that opened the season to a 31-0 loss to the Bills only to, after a devastating loss to Steve Spurrier and the skins, go on to like never lose again? What was the difference with that team? How about optimism?

Once More Re-Enforcing the DCO Mantra

Ernie Grunfeld is a believer. George McPhee likewise is with the program. Now, in just two weeks, a third DC sports mainstay has joined the ranks of those publicly adhering to core DCO philosophy.

Mere days after his biggest downer of a column since his DC Baseball is Dead tantrum of late 2004, Tom Boswell came back with a piece that was (eventually) more uplifting.

Sure, he lead with the approaching-dead-horse stat of 9,000, that sickening alleged number of DC-area TVs tuned in to a Nats game on average, following up with a rent dispute or two, succeeded by cheapskate innuendo directed at the owners, topped off with two fans’ tragic deaths and an encore involving an FBI investigation.

Wow. Guess the team is headed for retraction, right? At least relocation certainly.

Nonsense.

Finally, Boz gets to the good, or at least the this-is-not-the-end assurances that so eluded him during his Linda-Cropp-induced lunacies of that dark winter of 2004. He states, for the sake of ship-jumpers and knee-jerking Nats-buryers everywhere: “…the life of a franchise is measured in decades, not in weeks.” And he’s right. Let’s all remain calm.

Within the last six years, the Mets (back on the track to darlingism post-Willie) endured seasons of 86, 95, and 91 losses, with significant drops in attendance to go with them. Go back ten years further and you see more losses, and worse attendance. In short, the Nationals are hardly the first team to ever go through a few seasons lacking 90 wins and 3 million fans.

Boz nicely wraps it up with a summary of the quality sub-3.90 ERA starting rotation the Nats are boasting, with a tip of the cap to “quiet progress.” His penultimate sentence is one word, the same word that adorns DCO’s humble little masthead: Relax.

Good advice. Sound philosophy.

Looking to Dodge 100 Again

Following last night’s victory over the Baltimore/Washington/Pennsylvania/Delaware/Maryland/West Virginia/North Carolina Orioles (right, Pete?), the Nationals' record at mid-season is 32-49. This represents but a dropoff of one game from last season’s non-historical terribleness. The win, propelled by the ever-gelling lineup heart of Dukes-Milledge-Flores, puts the Nats not on pace for 100 losses! It’s quite the achievement, when you think about it.

Given last year’s annihilated-by-inuury pitching staff and this year’s annihilated every position conceivable, it’s really something the team will not be combining to lose 140 games in the two inaugural years of the Epoch of Manny. Someday, Manny and the World Champion Nats, powered by MVP Elijah Dukes, will look back fondly on such early and midsummer travails as the basis for an NL East dynasty. They’ll see such bad-at-the-time events as Austin Kearns and Paul Lo Duca missing substantial time (those “opportunities” Man Act waxed about telepathically) that opened the door for non-rotation in every outfield spot not occupied by Willy Mo Pena, securing Milledge and Dukes in their starting roles and providing the spark for the growing 2-3 threat in the lineup.

Likewise with $5 million man Lo Duca, whose injury gave away his job to Jesus Flores, who should have had it all along. The true steal from the Mets, Flores is aptly filling the 4th or 5th spot on a nightly basis.

So with 81 games down, there is no appreciable step back to be found. Some may note, perhaps legitimately, that no true steps are being taken forward, but as ChariManny said, how can he/we evaluate this team until he has his guys back? Put an improving-when-he-was-hurt Ryan Zimmerman back in the lineup, along with a fully healthy Nick Johnson (possibly still only a theoretical being), and the team could be well on its way to improving upon last season's history-defying pace. All things considered, this team is showing the same resilience it did last year, going through an almost identical chronological order of struggle-excel-struggle-tread water….as its predecessor. All that’s left now is to keep the losses under 100 (or 90), ruin another team’s postseason dreams again in September, and continue to look to that bright future.

Boz detailed the coming magnificence nicely in his latest column. Ignore the stuff about the non-Washington team (except the part that mentions a score of 30-3) and it’s a great read.

Return of the Meaty Legend

It’s been nearly a year since His MeatHook-ness began his occasional-batting-title-chasing romp to Comeback Player of the Year honors, doing it in a fashion that brought well-deserved and accurate accolades from DCO. With Dmitri Young now set to return against the Orioles, the stage is set for defense of that Comeback award. And yes, we will call for Dmitri to be the first back-to-back winner of this award if he performs at the same high level. After all, it will be another comeback, right? It’s his award to lose.

Dmitri’s comeback is sure to be as successful as Jason Bergmann’s slightly unexpected return yesterday. After all, didn’t GM Bowden practically tell Bergmann he wasn’t coming back after that >10.00 ERA he posted early this season? Seems Bowden’s faith in Bergmann is as unflappable as Manny’s faith in Luis Ayala (what’s that Manny said? “I’m never going to give up on him.” Some might call it blind, stubborn, ill-conceived management. We call it ‘tism in action, and it is why ChairManny is so lauded in these pages). Both are currently being handsomely rewarded. Bergmann shut down the Mets while his teammates took 6+ innings to warm up and get their batting/baserunning down, and Ayala, for the second game in a row, earned a hold.

Given the constantly right decision-making going on since the seemingly traditional slow start to the season, it’s hard to see Dmitri hitting anything less than .325 from here on out. And even if he struggles, hitting, say .300, there is capable backup and derided-but-now-brilliant offseason pickup Aaron Boone, catalyst of two game-saving double plays yesterday, to pick up the slack.

Thus the Nationals leave New York after a wildly successful four game series. Looking past the loss of a starting first basemen, we saw three wins, one pitcher rattled then demoted, at least two gameday crowds loudly decrying their soon-to-be-described-as-“embattled” manager, and one non-playing closer profanely calling out his absent teammates in the losing locker room:



Consider the Mets knocked down a peg. The same must now be done to these on-the-verge-of-cockiness Orioles. Boz, you’re not helping.

Nelson Figueroa Is Who He Is

“[The Nationals] were cheering in the dugout like a bunch of softball girls. I am a professional, I take great offense to that. … They won tonight, but in the long run, they’re still who they are, a last-place team.”

Poor put-upon Nelson Figueroa, who had to endure some clapping from the Nationals’ dugout last night as he gave up six runs in five innings (two unearned, thanks to some fine erroneous-baseball-slinging by himself and Carlos Delgado).

Since the Nats are who they are, let’s look at who Nelson Figueroa is: he’s a career 9-20 pitcher with a stellar 4.71 ERA. Sadly, however, he didn’t have the opportunity to contribute to the Mets’ historic choke/collapse of last September. It was a collapse, incidentally, to which these temporarily last-place Nationals were happy to contribute with a 5-1 record against the Mets in that critical division-lead-whittling-away stretch between 9/14 and 9/30. To put it more succinctly, the Nationals were denying making dreadful history while the Mets were embracing it. The Mets' choke job will live on in memory long after these minorly inconvenient Nats' rebuilding seasons are forgotten.

To be fair, Figueroa does know something about last-place teams, having toiled for the futile Pirates of 2003 and 2004, when he pitched in nicely with a 2-4 record and 4.36 ERA. The Mets themselves, of course, know have knowledge of last place teams, having been one themselves not too many years ago, with records of 66-95 in 2003 and 75-86 in 2002 (before rebounding with that 4th place 71-91 finish of 2004).

So that’s who this whiney tool is. The Nationals, as we optimistic types know, are a turnaround in progress. Perhaps a slow turnaround, but a turnaround. They are, for now, a last place team still gradually pulling themselves out of a franchised-sized hole MLB graciously dug for them during years of neglectful hive ownership and hampering. They are a team making tangible gains, as the Master, Manny Acta said towards the end of T-Boz’s sometimes-painfully punny column from yesterday: "Last year [on May 10] we were 9-25," Acta said. "Now we have 15 wins. Wait." Wait. As in, wait until our brilliantly drafted studs and Manny-molded budding stars develop into the division-threatening squad they can be. It’s not that far off, and it won’t take a prone-to-failure $100 million + roster (hi, Mets) to do it.

We also can’t help but wonder why Figueroa was so angered to hear the dulcet Elijah-Dukes-led tones of ‘tism emmenating from the Nats’ dugout (this smells like a symptom of another Manny-led life turnaround, by the way)? Is his New-York heart so embittered that he only responds to the jeers, taunts, and fair-weatherism of the louty Shea faithful? Is the slightest bit of positivity anathema to his dark and heavy soul? Whatever self-loathing and optimism-hating issues may be there, apparently this little bit of cheering and clapping brought them blazing out. That and years of ineffective pitching. He is who he is.

Why It's Obvious the Skins Will Win, and We Welcome Back an Old Friend (at least for this week)

Thomas Boswell came out firing in this morning’s paper with the kind of optimism he usually reserves for baseball’s Opening Day. Seriously it’s as if he’s trying to single-handedly revive the defunct Manny Acta Optimist of the Week Award. Maybe he misses receiving MAOs of the Week and this is his attempt to pad his mantle with our virtual trophies. If so: success! Boswell is our Optimist of the Week. Even though it doesn’t appear to be a “weekly” award anymore, it’s still a fine, noble recognition. It’s also a reflection of my personal bit of thanks, since this wonderful piece helped pull me out of post-Orange Bowl despair around 1:30 this morning.

It’s not just the overall theme that “of course the Redskins will win tomorrow” permeating every pore of this article that lands Boz the distinction, it’s his seemingly uncalled-for complete evisceration of everything the Seahawks have “accomplished” (see, even I’m doing it) this season. Rarely have I seen a DC-area media-type so thoroughly trash a non-rival. Not even a non-rival; a team that basically doesn’t exist in the minds of area football fans who do not have Matt Hasselbeck on their fantasy squad. The Bucs would evoke a more passionate response. That’s why it’s so marvelous in it’s apparent unprovoked hostility.

Some highlights:

- Snootily referred to Washington State as the “other” Washington
- Classified Seattle’s schedule as “lame”
- Condescendingly called the Seahawks “a pleasant 10-6 team from a weak division.”
- Called Seattle’s opponents “patsies” and their road to the playoffs a “a marshmallow roast”.
- Wrote off of four Seahawks’ wins as victories over “chumps” (49ers, Rams)

Later, Boswell’s delightful statistical gymnastics (his wheelhouse), resulting in the conclusion that the Skins have one of the NFC’s best defenses and the Seahawks possibly the worst in all of football (since they “only played strong defense against lousy teams”), were a stroke of tear-jerking brilliance.

I only wish he would have spent some time slamming Seattle’s blandly cliched “12th Man” gimmick. Ugh. How much longer must we suffer a team in any sport referring to its crowd as the “x” man (12th in football, 10th in baseball, etc.), with each offending team somehow thinking they have exclusive claim to overdone and non-original premise. And a “12th Man” flag on top of the Space Needle? Just when it couldn’t get any dumber…
Also, Shaun Alexander stinks.

In the end, Boswell’s optimism would seem to wane a bit when he says this magical Skins’ run will end, though he definitively states (in case we missed the point of the preceding paragraphs) the end will not come at the hands of the Seahawks. We know better, however. Just as we’re confident of a win this weekend, we’re equally confident that, next week, Boz will be back with a list of reasons the Redskins can’t possibly lose in Dallas. We look forward to that, as well as to the wealth of Boswell stat-twisting conclusions the matchup could offer. We throw out this one to chew on: why Todd Collins should replace Tony Romo in the Pro Bowl. Go at it, Tom.

Update: Dr. Z agrees regarding The 12th Man, etc. Perhaps he, like Boswell, is trying to recapture some of that past glory.

Boz: Back on the 'Tism Train

Less than a week after shades of shock and horror at the Nats’ typically risky-yet-strangely brilliant acquisition of Elijah Dukes, Thomas Boswell is again looking on the sunny side of the team’s off-season, praising the signing of Paul Lo Duca. Right off the bat, Boswell, in a DCO-esque fit of stat-spinning, cites Lo Duca’s .297 batting average over the last two years (neatly covering up the .272 from last season, which still would be an improvement over much of the Washington lineup), bringing the masses hope that the loss of Brian Schneider may not hurt so much after all. At the very least, the catcher position will receive an offensive boost.

Later, Boz rightfully praises what was essentially the second half of a cagey-veteran double signing, with playoff hero Aaron Boone’s inking being the first half. But it’s more than just a strengthening of the bench and a young team with such wise old timers, it’s something of a good-behavior-enforcer stockpiling.

Lo Duca, supposedly he of the famous “know your place, rook” admonition to Nats newbee Lastings Milledge, is almost certainly a guy to help keep the youngsters with (allegedly) troubled pasts in line. Along with the famously redeemed Dmitri Young, the increasing veteran presence in the clubhouse will help push high-risk signings/tradings like Dukes/Milledge towards the lesser-risk side of the scale. A dose of Manny’s patented optimism will cinch the deal.

Boz knows it, and probably did all along, even during last week's hand-wringing.

Boswell Rides Again (MAO of the Week for 9-21)

We thought we might have lost him in those pre-season days of August, but Tom Boswell, T-Boz, has come home in a big way, now pulling down his third Manny Acta Optimist of the Week award. Even the award’s own namesake, he who embraces ‘Tism above all others, has not (yet) received such a tremendous honor.

Boswell truly caught our attention early this week with a call for a September celebration. A celebration for a baseball team that did not lose 120 games by a stunningly wide margin. It was perhaps the biggest step on T-Boz’s return to the loving of optimism he had seemingly shunned a month previous.

He followed up this minor masterpiece with an exhortation to enjoy the 2-0 ride the Skins are giving us. Compiling reasons for optimism in the same manner Rocky McIntosh and Area 51 are compiling memorable defensive plays, Boz doubles the ‘Tism by simultaneously dismissing any slight negatives that may be attempting to nag the faithful.

Not content to leave it at that positive note, however, he took things even a step further with his heartfelt (if, at times, overly fawning) tribute to The Bobby, RFK Stadium. While we at the DCO may be a tad too young to remember such things as a victory over the Cowboys (curses upon them) in the 1972 NFC Championship game, we can remember grand ‘Tism-filled spectacles such as muddy domination of Jerry-Glanville-and-MC-Hammer-backed Falcons teams en-route to Super Bowl glory and the true definition of home-field-advantage in seat-bouncing taunts of “we want Dallas” (curses upon them). Throw in an HFS-tival or two, and there are some fine childhood and high school memories.

It was a touching (if, again, perhaps excessively gushing) tribute to a stadium that, much like the baseball (and sometimes soccer) team that resides in it, has been slammed far too much these past three years.

It will be a busy weekend for DCO. Specifically, a busy Sunday. The DC Optimist will be in attendance at the Nationals’ last home game at RFK, hoping to track down Man Act for some desperate last-minute ‘Tism nuggets. Just a few hours later, Bobtimist Prime will grace the parking lots of FedEx Field, preparing to watch Eli Manning (continue to) do his best Ryan Leaf impression. Not a bad way to spend the day.

Best Column Evar?

'TISM
DCO (hearts) T-BOZ

T-Boz Leaves Anonymous Comment, References DCO

While our most-favorite Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell has recently been teetering on the brink of 'tism-hating with his wary Redskins columns, doing such unmentionable things as questioning the team's makeup and actually worrying about what certain meaningless games amount to, all has since been forgiven. In Sunday's analysis of the skins' T-Boz once again nodded in the direction of the DC Optimist, referencing one of our hallmarks of pertinent Redskins offseason analysis.

"After the misery of 5-11, everyone, especially Gibbs, who claims he has the
right personnel in hand to build a fine team, wants clarity and rapid
improvement."

Hmm, that wouldn't be the same, slightly offensive 5-11 term first referenced in this very webspace in July, would it? We have already altered the site to better cater to T-Boz's navigation, and we pleaded for him to give us a quick shout out for providing great column suggestions during lull months, and he (sort of) gave us our due, not-so-much as dropping the t-word in another Nats lovefest, but we didn't expect this sort of tribute. I am guessing that being awarded two and a half MAO of the Weeks amounts to something in this great blogosphere, no? Now, the sudden burst of fame that ultimately will bestow itself on this site as a result is making us a bit weary. Which 'tism term will we need to turn into fashionable t-shirts for Jamie and D-Steinzz to rock on the next blog show? What if we are linked to Deadspin and subsequently cared about by the rest of the Sports Blogging community of basement-dwellers? What will our ballhype numbers look like then?

Some may think we would be upset that Boz again stole from us, but we can't be mad at him after he decided to bless our not-so-often utilized comments section in lieu of his latest material mining.

"I come here daily (since your endorsement from the Sports Bog) but don't see
many comments, which is a shame because this is the most entertaining DC Sports
Blog out there. I assume it reflects not a lack of interest, but the nature of
those who typically leave comments to be 'tism-haters. Rest assured that many of
us appreciate your efforts to accurately editorialize the goings on of our
beloved DC teams and fail to comment because there is really not much to comment
upon when someone simply gets it right. Thanks."

We are pretty much positive that this "anonymous" comment was from Boswell, who we now happily count as one of the fifty regulars getting their 'tism fix from us.

Initial Panic and a Call for Calm

In a confounding swing of the ‘tism pendulum, it would seem that admitted antagonist and optimism-hater-in-recovery Mike Wise is in the process of trading places with two-time MAO of the Week winner Tom Boswell. The telling evidence can be found in each’s assessment of the Redskins’ 14-6 preseason victory over the Titans on Saturday night.

We’ll start with Boswell’s column, written as he inexplicably continues to ignore the surging team playing in the Redskins crumbling old home (actually, we should probably say surging TEAMS; see, we still pay attention to the other footballers). This rather depressing entry into Boz’s portfolio reads like a pre-season Redskins’ surrender. It’s the kind of all-hope-is-lost-right-off-the-bat reactionism we’ve previously seen elsewhere.

Frankly, we expected more from Boz. Every time he seems to be letting a little light of ‘tism into the conversation, he shuts the door with a flood of negativity (we’ll hold back on “optimism-hating”). He says, “Yes, it’s only one meaningless preseason game” (yes it is) then follows that statement with, “…it’s probably not too early to start worrying” (yes it is). He essentially attributes the dominance of the Redskins’ starting defense solely to the absence of super-QB Vince Young. Apparently, Young alone would have shredded the ‘Skins secondary and “no-show” Sean Taylor. He would have run straight through the highly effective Laron Landry and London Fletcher.

The key omission on the not-playing topic, of course, was how a healthy Chris Samuels would have picked up some of those missed blocks Boz bemoaned, or how a playing Clinton Portis would have added the necessary flair to the running game to get Ladell Betts past those six yards on four carries our suddenly ‘tism-disliking (not quite hating) columnist seemed vexed over. Such things clearly would have led to multiple Redkins' offensive scores, taking one less arrow out of the Quiver of Knee-Jerk Panic Boz apparently has slung over his shoulder. Speaking of those injured Redskins, there is a place for them in the column as well, framed as yet another preseason disaster, even though such injuries have already been proven as unworthy of our panic.

To be completely fair, Boswell comes around a little towards the end, praising the Redskins’ “energy” and the stoic play of Todd Collins (even though early in the column he derided such late-game heroics as meaningless because of the usual “third-stringers-and rookies” circumstances). He refers to the victory as a baby step, which is kind of nice, but it’s still hard to get past the overwhelming sense of (unwarranted) dread oozing from every paragraph prior.

Mike Wise, on the other hand, presented a change of pace as refreshing as a lime popsicle (I’m eating a lime popsicle). From the man who earlier this month confessed to getting a kick out of “contributing to the insecurity of any team’s core fan base” came a column urging, of all things, patience. Patience with Jason Campbell (“let’s not be rash” he said; are you listening, Tom?). Patience with the pass protection/run blocking (putting Chris Samuels injury in the proper frame of reference, again!). Wise spent a good deal of the column’s space dealing specifically with Campbell’s past successes, and his continuing drive for self-improvement, which is balanced nicely with his refusal to get down on himself over a rough performance.

Campbell’s level head and bright-future-gazing attitude come through near the end, as he declared that some of last year’s debacles “happened for a reason” and that they were merely meant to “prepare us for something greater.” Regular DCO readers will have no trouble figuring out what something greater is.

What does all this mean? That the universe is being torn asunder because out of nowhere Mike Wise is semi-embracing ‘tism and Thomas Boswell appears to be shunning it in the same way he is suddenly shunning baseball columns, his true love? Partially, yes. But in a more important sense it means that (here it comes) for now we should mold our attitudes towards this initial preseason game after those of Mike Wise, and drop the Boswell-like panic-mongering like memories of a 5-11 record.

MAO of the Week (6-29)

While we continue to soak in the Wizards' drafting brilliance, we pause to honor our Manny Acta Optimist of the Week. In a week where even the brightest of optimists was tested by the struggles of our Nationals, it is good to look back at how we felt at the beginning of the week, in that brief yes-we-have-key-players-hurt-but-we-still-feel-good, pre-Braves-series couple of days. Nobody better expressed the sentiment of the day (and literally, probably one day) than the now-two-time-winner of the MAO of the week, Tom Boswell. He will share the award with His Honor, the President, Stan Kasten, for reasons we will delve into in a moment.

Boz caught a little flak for his 'tism-dripping column on Monday (we hear ya, man), but that doesn't mean he was wrong. Back then, he was writing about how the Nats bounced back from a demoralizing series against the Tigers and took 2 of 3 from the Indians. Surely this bounce-back attitude is even more important now, as the series-from-hell (maybe even below hell) against Atlanta was arguably even more brutal. Thus, time for another bounce-back. Playing the part of Cleveland will be Pittsburgh.

Premier Stan picks up the shared award for his comments (quoted right in Boz's column, how convenient) expressing confidence in GM Jim Bowden and our hero (reverent silence), Manny Acta. Kasten rightly gave Bowden his proverbial props for putting together this lineup (these "pieces") in the face of a rebuild-and-damn-the-present climate. And in Manny, "we've found a manager that can manage." What else do you need?

For Stan's assurance that the two most important non-player positions on the club are secure and, more importantly, well-manned, and for Boz's never-ending willingness to point out that, despite bad stretches such as the Nats have experienced recently, they continue to defy expectations, we have our first shared MAO of the Week.

MAO 6-8: The Plan Fruitioning

Yesterday the Nationals had their third-ever MLB draft, selecting sixth overall, and several other times in the early rounds, boosting their burgeoning farmlands in Potomac with high-grade live armstock, maintaining the youth-based focus of The Plan™ and promoting grassroots success that was slashed and burned to the core by neglectful hive ownership. Attempting to yield crops from what was a cut, burned and salted landscape is something that takes strongminded, level-headed and strategic decision making. And based on the superbly bright prognosticating regarding the eight nicely bred young men chosen by all of the deciding parties, we have named the Nationals' brain trust as this week's MAO of the Week.

DCO's favorite writer and constant purveyor of 'tism, Tom Boswell was on hand to pick the brains of the trust, noting that their mutual excitement over each of the picks was contagious, and despite the lack of Red Bulls for the fantastically excitable General Manager Jim Bowden, this swarm of 'tism was exquisite and should never go unchecked. We would first of all like to commend the Boz for attempting to throw our requested four letters into his column, for we noticed that they were obviously clipped from the final print of the Post by overzealous, under-rested copy editors whom recognize no word unless it has been listed in Merriam-Webster's 11th. We would like to extend a thank-you for the (sorta) shout out to the Boz, whose report of the Nats's head-people-in-charge and their assurrance that all picks were top-of-their-list good, delivered this nugget of 'tism that was especially exciting.

Every team falls in love with its own picks and thinks its rankings are smarter
than anybody else's. But by nightfall, the Nats' front office practically needed
sedation. According to President Stan Kasten, the team's top three picks,
including Burgess, the 49th pick, were in the Nats' top 20. "There was a big
cheer when we knew we'd get Burgess," Kasten said. Even pick Nos. 67 and 70 were
graded in Washington's top 30. "You have to discount any team's enthusiasm,"
Kasten said. "But we're really happy."

No enthusiasm is discounted in these parts, Mr. Kasten. And the aforementioned Michael Burgess, whose bat power is already approaching legendary status (473-foot home run over the 60-foot-high center field wall in Sarasota's Smith Stadium), shall now be known as the Meaty Legend, for his hearty, five different types of swine approach to the plate. Looks like The Plan™ will be working out just fine for the Nationals, whom with the sixth overall pick took Missouri State lefty Ross Detwiler, a brilliant pick, whose franchise-uplifting potential mirrors another impressive sixth overall pick by a neighboring franchise. With number 31, the Nats grabbed Georgia High School lefty Josh Smoker, who has hack sportscenter announcers salivating at the possible highlight package calls. Headline writers too are eagerly anticipating their first "Smoker Lit Up" or "Smoker Chokes" upon the emergence of this fire-metaphor attached baseball player.

What is equally great about getting such spectacular raw talent in the draft this year is pairing them with an equally spectacular manager. Again taking the time to punish laziness as if it were candy-reaching four-year olds, Acta's benching of his near-progeny in Felipe Lopez is again proof that he's the best. And never would we neglect to mention this legendary clash with the Times' beat(down) writer Mark Zuckerman, where the ChairManny not so much as preaches the 'tism gospel as he enforces it. Kudos to you Manny. For even with a slightly less successful homestand, running out grounders is uber-important. Manager Acta knows that if we are going to fall, we are going to fall the right way, "like an American."

YOU'RE WELCOME BOZ. LOVE: Your Muses. Now a favor...

Dear Boz;

Thanks for all of the awesomes in your alloted baseball column space. We may feel slighted that you—possibly through the Post's kick-ass technorati links on your column— read a spectacular DCO post about ChairManny and had it influence this recent opus. Your public displays of 'tism (PDT) have been so very wonderful that we feel honored to serve as your muse. We may get a little testy with you as we do with everyone we love (like Antawn Jamison). But we are not bitter that you, unlike Bog-god Steinberg, haven't given us props yet. 'tism is bound to become a worldwide phenomenon, thanks in part to the contributions of our readers, but it's still on the low-low. All we ask for in return for hooking you up with ideas to run with, aiding your union-backed, chunky salary, is one word. We think it's time for the 'tism to erupt like exploding manhole covers in the District. We think it's time for you to simply add the four letter word that is on everyone's lips to your next column, how about the one you are very likely compiling regarding Dmitri Young, the greatest hitter of all time. In this column, we beg of you, say "tism," and not in a clever word-find sort of way where you write "Maybe the problem with Levale Speigner's sporadic pitching is a latent case of autism," or subliminally spell it out in a sentence like: "His bat is magnificent." No, we want more. Write that the Nats are just "bursting with 'tism."

You could even mention us on Washington Post Live. Littles is our homey, he'll remind you. Maybe you can be in the middle of raising your voice at optimism-hater Sally Jenkins about how Lebron isn't Kobe because he plays in a vastly inferior conference, and he is just as much of a teammate bus-thrower-under and whiney brat delivered from scrutiny by terrible officiating, and then you simply say it. That's all we ask for. Since getting on the blog show is out of the question unless we are accused of leering at teenagers (our eyes are for Kelli Johnson only, you can tell her that), or the Deuce of Davenport, (DING!), we need this exposure. We'll even give you new tags so you can easily get to our coverage of you (see below). So please, just say it, you owe us.

Thanks again;

Bob, c/o The DC Optimist

The Chorus of Defiance

Maybe you too have been riding the high-cresting wave of 'tism that is sweeping through RFK stadium after the Nats brilliant trip through the depths of the NL Central. Sure it came to a bit of a crashing halt last night by way of Brad Penny's mullet and Juan Pierre's slapping, but ever since overcoming injuries to 80 percent of their starting rotation, harnessing the untamed dance that is the Chico sideways fastball and withstanding the plague of the Speigner, the Nats are the talk of the town.

Playing the muse to frequent DCO topic Thomas "milky whiteness" Boswell, the Nats, with "more wins than the Yankees," have inspired one of the most compelling pieces of 'tism yet to be printed this season. It's only fitting that Boz's latest 'tism opus, where "The Plan" is praised, Matt Chico is "promising," Shaun Hill is Brandon Webb, and Hanrahan, Fruto and Ballester are big-upped, comes on the heels of his 3,472,387,013,478th bashing of the Baltimore franchise and their clatch of whiny overpaid oft-injured "pieces." It is pretty sweet that Ted Lerner isn't mortgaging off one of his grossly overpriced high-rises in Bethesda for the services of forgettables like Aubrey Huff, David Segui, Albert Belle and Will Clark, instead relishing in the dreg-tastic goodness of Mike Bacsik, Jason Simontacchi, Dmitri Young et al. Of course Boz pleads for the organization to open checkbooks come '07 for the always ballyhooed, yet never fruitioning free agent class. The DCO, never one to stray from The Plan, say, forget that. Look again at the Yankees (and again look at their worse record than the Nats), who have consistently added checkbook-crunching free agents to their glam-rock lineups only to have them suck, get hurt, get caught, or get hated on. Big-dollar free agency in baseball has worked in very very few instances, and the names of such bustaroonies as Vaughn (both Gregg and Mo), Pavano, Drieford, Ashby, etc. all ring a lot louder than Pedro Martinez (and that is not counting his brilliant days in Queens, right Mets fans?).

Another reason why the Nats are/will be better than the O's is the presence of a much more awesome manager, possibly even the greatest manager in the history of baseball, Manager Acta. I think more praise needs to be heaped on Manny for stitching this lineup together, something Sam Perlozzo can't do with six available outfielders all whimpering and dugout-slapping. ChairManny benches negligent powerhitters for not gutting out groundouts, seeing the efforts blossom into productive seasons. ChairManny knows when to pull strugglers like Speigner after two innings of hittable pitches, unlike Perlozzo, who was way to slow to touch the hand while Dannys Baez was on the mound tossing BP pitches in one-run games. This is how Manny Acta is treated in his hometown. This is how Perlozzo is.

THE MANNY-FESTO (MAO of the Week 5-11)

Optimism isn't just an airheaded, blindly homeristic, borderline delusional way of reading into the barren local sports scene. Optimism isn't just a Mr. Bean I-don't-givea-crap way to look past the inevitable ridicule of the local and national media. Optimism isn't a foolish method to ignore obvious flaws, instead harping on a few good qualities like having a butta-faced girlfriend. No, optimism is more than that. Optimism is a way of life, a philosophy, a lifestyle choice, a movement. No one better understands the struggles of our movement better than our fearless leader. When attitudes get a bit colder in the district's sports fandom, we marinate in the warm glow of positivity that eminates from the fuzzy soul of Nats P.E. Teacher-like coach Manny Acta, the first-ever two-time recipient of the MAO of the Week award, an award which was also named after him. In a rather Schneider-on-the-basepaths slow local sports week, with drearyness seeping from such bastions of optimism as Joe Gibbs and Tom Boswell (the DCO Board briefly considered stripping the Post columnist of his own MAO of the Week Award), it is Acta who shines above all. Mark Zuckerman of the Washington Times understands this, and despite neglecting us our necessary percentage for giving him the idea for his piece, he has profiled Man-Act in a way that warms our hearts.

We don't see Manny as simply a rah-rah-ing motivator of a coach who slaps the bottoms of GIDPers in an effort to slap away the grim reality of the looming historic implications of ineptitude. No, MAO is our leader, our revolutionary savior, our chairmananager, our chairManny who neglects ruining fine lunch spreads when encouragement can be better achieved through motivational quotations. We have already begun passing out copies of "Best of Successories" to our contingent, printing them in a little red book format. We gather in 2005-at-RFK numbers chanting selected passages from it, hoping to bring down the established elites that run the local sports scene with their trade demands, contract fusses, and obligations to foreign lands.

Working together works. - Dr. Rob Gilbert.

The country is full of good coaches,
What it takes to win is a bunch of interested players. - Don Coryell

There are days when we think there is no hope, but then we look to chair-Manny's teachings and realize that his example is the ultimate version of whatever we have been trying to accomplish.

...Acta continues to stay the course. Rather than dwell on whatever negatives
come out of each loss, he looks for small rays of hope. When the Nationals lose
3-1, he points to the strong performance he got from his starting pitcher. When
they rally late to make things close, he applauds his players' ongoing efforts.
And when they lose eight straight games, he points to the fact that five of
those were by two runs or less.

Sound a little bit like your favorite optimism-themed blog? It's no coincidence. DCO supports Manny and his glorious revolution. Your only choice in this matter is to join us!

MAO of the Week, 4-27

We present this week's Manny Acta Optimist of the Week Award (MAO of the Week) to Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell, primarily for his convincing argument in today's paper that first-round draft picks (particularly high ones) are not only overrated, they are potentially dangerous. Thus, the Redskins' rekindled talks with the Chicago Bears regarding a trade for Bears LB Lance Briggs should not be dismissed out-of-hand as just more star-chasing by Washington management. It could be that trading the 6th pick overall for Briggs and the 31st pick overall is the very move the 'Skins need to make, if for no other reason than to save themselves from (A) Trading up to draft Calvin Johnson or (B) Drafting LaRon Landry at #6.

Our MAO of the Week goes on to examine the checkered history of high-first-rounders. He even, stunningly and again convincingly, implies a direct correlation between having no first round picks and Super Bowl success plus a high franchise financial value.

The pattern started here in '62, when the Redskins traded the draft rights to
the great Ernie Davis of Syracuse for Bobby Mitchell of the Browns. Mitchell
integrated the Redskins and has a bust in Canton. Davis died of leukemia and
never played in the NFL. Since then, the Redskins have become the most
valuable franchise in American sports.

How's that for a positive spin? The Redskins end their colorless history by dealing a (sorry) cancer? That deal with then-Browns owner Art Modell was so one-sided that the Browns, and Cleveland in general, have since been a bit unlucky both in the draft and on the field. Modell could only escape the ineptitude by packing up and nesting in ballmer.

The fact that Boswell later clubs former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson and his bafflingly worshiped Draft Pick Value Chart is gravy.

Also, as noted previously by Boswell and this blog, Washington has shown a bit of increased maturity this season when it comes to signing free agents and making trades. While the notion of the Briggs trade may have seemed unwise at first, the 'Skins rejected an even unwiser counter-offer: sending second-year LB Rocky McIntosh to Chicago in the deal. This reversed a trend on giving up on developing players, perhaps prematurely (hi, Patrick Ramsey) in favor of overpaying for veterans.

Last week, Boswell, aided by obvious contributions from the DCO, convinced Washington that the Nats weren't the worst team of all time, and with the general optimism displayed in the locker room the Nats responded by winning...yesterday. We hope that Boswell's shiny columns will again be predictive of wonderful occurrances during tomorrow's draft.

MAO of the Week, 4-20

One of the coldest stretches (temperature-wise, not Zimmerman-wise, nor Wizards-wise) in the history of the month of April looks to be fading away, and like the suddenly warming temperatures in the DC area, optimism in the local professional sports clubhouses is beginning to brighten up the attitudes of players and fans alike. It is with this Eternally Springing Hope that the DCOptimist would like to present the second of its weekly Manny Acta Optimist of the Week (or MAO of the Week, for its redness like the chairman, but with a slightly lower body count) award to who else but Manny Acta. The award, which was named in Acta's honor for his consistently bright and cheery nature in the face of doom, will be presented to him for his recent remarks following the Nats getting nearly shut out by a 44-year old from an even crappier team.

"I love the way we are playing right now. They do not give up. They are giving
all the effort they are supposed to give," rookie manager Manny Acta said after
his team cut a 4-0 ninth-inning lead to 4-2 and had men at second and third base
before falling short to Philadelphia at home yesterday. "We were not going to
play the whole season the way we played the first week. That's pretty much
impossible. We are a different team now. I hope it can stay like this."

Simply irresistable spirit for the rookie manager in what is fast becoming a slightly memorable season. Of course Man-Act loves the way the Nats are playing now, after their 13th inning mercy killing of the Phils on Wednesday (after going 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position), narrowly avoiding another implosion by fading closer Chad Cordero on Monday and being saved by this lovely April weather Sunday, the Nats are avoiding ineptitude like people avoiding death-by-beat-up-Hondas while crossing University Boulevard in Langley Park. Thomas Boswell notes, in a column eerily resembling a certain blog, that the cheery nature of Acta is rubbing off on his players, making the team so much different than the historically crappy teams they are often compared to.

"This Nationals team does not have the dismal attitude, the dreary clubhouse
atmosphere, the palpable cloud of depression that follows a breathtakingly awful
team. An upbeat club, even if it lacks talent, can only be so bad. Knowing that
you can't be a good team doesn't curse you. Hating your situation, rather than
working realistically to improve, is what blights a season."

Many might think attitudes like this is are, like Sidney Crosby's last two playoff games, pointless, and leading to no wins. But we here at the DCOptimist know the importance of a great attitude. Why, to some, it may be a strange thing that once a blog hits the interwebs, the worst finish in the history of the ever occurs on the court followed closely by two star players on the only viable playoff team going down with injuries, only to be then cruelly followed up by bad baseball and worse weather. But, like the Penguins, we know a quick exit from this is upon us, and like Wizards coach-cum-scientist Eddie Jordan says, "We have a point of reference now. We can throw everything else out the window." Hey, we could be Seattle.