Brashear and Motzko: Can They Be Stopped?

Last night, the Capitals accomplished two tasks that have proven quite difficult for most NHL teams this season: they scored on the New York Rangers and were scored upon by the New York Rangers. The confluence of these rare events resulted in one of the better games I’ve attended in recent years. Throw in the scoring prowess displayed by the unlikely combination of a career minor leaguer and a career bruiser and there was even more to love about the game. Who knew that, with all the line juggling we’ve seen this year, the ultimate offensive fourth-line chemistry would be found between Donald Brashear and Joe Motzko. Brash even pummeled Colton Orr (almost casually) for good measure. With teams possibly forced to give added defensive attention to this burgeoning juggernaut, Alex Ovechkin’s steady climb up the scoring leaderboard should accelerate.

There was an enthusiasm in the building I’d not sensed since the home opener. Even though the crowd was on the not-so-large side, and even though it was moderately polluted with Rangers’ fans, it got into the game in a big way in the third period and overtime. And why not, as the Caps continued to bury early-season demons as they un-bury themselves from the depths of the NHL (caught the Kings and Coyotes; getting ready to pass them). Getting scored on first? No longer a problem. Early two-goal deficit? No longer a problem. Lost a couple of third-period leads? Even less of a problem: just finish the job in OT, with the NHL’s highest-scoring defenseman, Mike Green (he of the 30-plus minutes on ice), deftly beating the likely-still-stinging-from-a-first-period-Ovechkin-slapshot Henrik Lundqvist.

The standings are looking friendlier in these days of three-game-winning streaks and 6-3-1 recent records. Wins are solidly in double digits. The playoffs are only six points away. The division lead is coming into view at only nine points away. The strange Southeast Division (with all teams sporting negative goal differentials) is definitely still there for the taking. The chance for much conference and division ground-gaining is there this weekend, with Buffalo and Tampa on tap. The trip to Detroit after that looks intimidating, but didn’t that early season trip to Ottawa look equally so? That worked out pretty well. The stuff after it…well, that’s why the wins need to keep coming so we can forget about it.

More Fun:

DCO friend Jill does her best Ovie-on-Jagr impression in post-game broomball action.


DCO friend Brian menacingly patrols the defensive zone during the same.

More DCO Validation

I know you are wondering where Bob has been, being that his last two posts have been two photoshops, one bogarted from a more talented friend, and another that had all of the internet scratching their heads at the slightly obscure reference. As a result, the DCO has effectively turned to a spectacular one-pony show. But explanations for a star's absenteeism is something we leave to area professional sports reporter bloggers, all of whom have a reasonable timetable for Gilbert Arenas's imminently successful return.

Instead of worrying about whose alias sits at the bottom of each post, we will concentrate on one of the most important weeks of football in the history of this fantastically successful sports blog. Emphasizing fantastic, or fantasy, an eventful event occurs this weekend, with Bob's fantasy football squad "Romo-Grip" taking on DCO's fantasy football squad "DC Optimist" in their company's fantasy football super bowl. This potentially fiery matchup pits the dominant, overall points champion Romo-Grip, named after Tony Romo's unsuccessful bid to secure a playoff game winning field goal, a team that is made up of the number one tight end (Antonio Gates), the number one receiver (Randy Moss), the number one running back (Ladanian Tomlinson), and other dudes that consistently landed "the Grip" in the top slot. DC Optimist, made up from guts, waiver wire deals, and also Randy Moss (the two were in different conferences, thus similar makeups). So who ya got? Who cares, right?

The ultimate overall purpose of this unprecedented matchup (and painfully self-serving blog post), is to further the vindication of the superior prognostic abilities of the two head writers of this blog (boy that's a lot of 'ofs'). I'm sure you have been heading elsewhere for your fantasy football advice, possibly even paying for 'expert' advice from dudes who likely aren't matched up with their esteemed partners in their league's super bowls. The DCO team has, in one fell swoop of a football season, dominated all aspects of their league, and guarantee their readers that one of them will be the top fantasy performer of the year.

These results mean you should still check the DCO for your local sporting insights. Lets check the overall stats: Right about the Nats, Right about the skins (sort of), going to be right about the caps, and now, right about fantasy football team constructions.

Want to be the next "Romo-Grip," or "DC Optimist?" Follow this trademark. Neither Romo-Grip nor DC Optimist feature a Cowboy, a Giant, nor an Eagle representative. Why would this strategy work? Not only do you avoid the quagmire of Eli-ownership, but also, you don't have to be that tool who cheers whenever a clown like Romo winks. Have the number one pick? Choose Tomlinson, who has been lighting it up latelty. You can even learn from the mistakes of these two juggernauts, like avoid the Denver Broncos defense and Marc Bulger like the plague, as both teams partook in these cancers to poor results. But resilliance has also been a hallmark of these two fake teams, as despite wasting a draft pick on those scrubs, they were subsequently replaced in an effective manner.

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.

Heading for the New Jersey Sweep

So far this week it’s DC 2, NJ 0.

Wizards: Downed the Nets to roar back to .500 and fifth place in the East, just half a game out of first-round-home-court-advantage territory. The slumping Orlando Magic are just two games away and should be nervously looking behind them.

Capitals: Took out the Devils to win their second straight, improve to 5-3-1 under the brutally motivating Bruce II (two consecutive scratches for Pothier! A private/public team-lashing that has resulted in two desperately enthusiastic performances/victories). As seemingly every Caps story printed in the Washington Post reminds us, the team is still in last place and in need of a winning streak. Two games is a (modest) winning streak. Solid playoff positioning is less than ten standings points away. The moniker of “not the worst team in the NHL” is only two points away. A small step, this imminent overcoming of the hopelessly future-less LA Kings, but one easily reachable. After that, the equally hopeless Panthers are ripe for passing, then the Sabres, then the Lightning, and so on.

This Sunday: the Redskins look to complete the Jersey-defeating trifecta by shocking the Giants in the Meadowlands. Does Todd Collins starting on the road in December against a supposedly superior opponent sound familiar, and perhaps a familiarly perfect recipe for a stunning upset? It should. Kent Graham in Denver, anyone? That was shocking. This could be, too. Let’s just hope it snows on Sunday night.

Capitals Looked Sounded Were Probably Great

On a night when party-hosting duties kept me from seeing or hearing all but about a minute of the game, it would appear that the Capitals put quite the hurting on the Atlanta Thrashers (doing my best Bryant Gumbel impression here).

Wait a minute; wait just a minute. Turning on the TV just now to catch some non-Redskins NFL action has revealed that the game is being replayed on CSN. Marvelous. I’ve missed the first two goals, but I’m looking forward to seeing Mike Green’s continuing brilliance and Alex Ovechkin further creeping up on the NHL goal-scoring lead (and his getting back within shouting distance of a 100-point pace), much as the Capitals subtly creep up on the rest of the Eastern Conference.

There’s still a bit of a ways to go in that regard, but once the points are made up it’s incredible how far a streaking Caps team could rise and how quickly they could do it. Only 11 points between 15th place and 4th place! Sure, there are a lot of teams in that mix, but there are 50+ games left in the season. With the Caps clinging to .500 or slightly better through the getting-to-know-you stages of Bruce II’s tenure, it’s no longer just blindly optimistic to think that the worst is behind us. It might even be closing in on objectively realistic. Beating Atlanta, a team that has pulled off a similar turnaround after an 0-6 start, is a necessary step towards a renewed respectability.

Speaking of Bruce: calling out lackluster play and backing it up with surprising-but-necessary healthy scratches? Brilliant. Where have we seen this before with the Caps? How about never? Or at least, not recently. You’ve got to like the results and, if you were at the game, got to love your free pound of wings obtained via the 6-goal outburst (I always enjoyed my late-Saturday-morning Jerry’s pizza years ago after a Friday-night-Caps scoring binge). Even some normally crusty commentators across the message boards are praising Bruce and appear to be primed for a long-term embracing

Wow, just look at all those plus-ratings scattered across the Caps’ side of the box score. A lot of movement back towards the happy side of 0 for a lot of players. Continuing efforts like this one on this week’s home stand will push the Caps back towards the happy side of 8th place in the East.

Redskins Would Appear to Win By Eight

It looks like the Redskins could have snapped their losing streak and maybe secured themselves an important win and tie-breaker in climbing back into the wild card race. The 24-16 victory over the Bears, quasi-abley announced by Bryant Gumbel, who might sort of be the most hedgy, waffling-ist announcer in history (my favorite: Chris Cooley catches the ball at the Bears' 10; first-down marker is five yards behind him at the 15; Gumbel: “what would appear to be a Redskins’ first down.”), almost devolved into the sort of soul-crushing collapse we’ve seen too often lately.

With less than seven minutes left, the Redskins with the ball and a four-point lead, it might not qualify as complete optimism-hating to have fleeting visions of three-and-outs, punts, and opposition game-winning-drives. But lo: an aggressive, pass-centric, non-three-runs-up-the-middle-and-out drive! It looked a little dicey with a pair of runs for minimal gain at the Bears’ 20, but the Saunders-beloved Todd Collins’ dainty toss to Ladell Betts quenched any uneasy queasiness that might have crept in to the hearts of even the most ‘tism-loving Skins fan.

A victory. Jason Campbell again somehow dodging multiple ligament/tendon tears in his knee (not to diminish the abject suckiness of a dislocated patella). Portis finally finding serious room in the open field again. Shawn Springs! The aforementioned aggressive drive with a small lead in the fourth quarter! Exactly what we all needed to see. Maybe. Right, Bryant?

On the Redskins' postgame show Trevor Matich, who, after briefly lamenting "the games [the Redskins] gave away" earlier this year, put it best when he said, "Let's concentrate on the hope." One down, three to go.

Not So Easy, Is It?

So, the Cleveland Cavaliers have a little bit of an issue with winning sans superstar. What a shame. Based on the Wizards’ 105-86 throttling of the Cavs, we at DCO have no qualms in declaring Cleveland’s springtime sweep of the Wiz completely fraudulent and LeBron et al’s improbable and ultimately futile run to the NBA finals nothing more than the flukiest aberration this side of a Miami Dolphins’ victory. Is there any more true equation in the entire universe than No LeBron = No Chance? Contrast that with the Wizards’ truisms (‘tisms?) of:

Wizards - Gilbert = Still Excellent Chance(s) of Winning
Wizards + Healthy Gilbert = Stunning Post-season Run

Bigger picture, the victory means a .500 record (9-4 since that little early season bump) and a phoenix-ish rise to 5th place in the East. A different kind of Phoenix is next up, and while it’s undoubtedly tempting for those optimism-haters out there to write this game off as a launching pad to a sub-.500 record, keep in mind that Dallas is 8-1 at home, and that “1” is courtesy of a 12-point stunner from the Wizards back in November. The point is, a 15-4 Suns team need not look like an automatic L.

The Redskins should take note of the win-streaking, odds-beating, and injury-overcoming as they prepare for their own season-salvaging run, starting tonight. We’ll even take the field-goal-only path to victory. Anything.

More Potential Redemption Acquired

Somehow it doesn’t seem to be the moment for intricately dissecting the Redskins and all the reasons for positivity in their admittedly disappointing 17-16 loss to the Bills. Besides, it’s so obvious they’re going to go 9-7 and make the playoffs that it’s useless talking about it anyway. The stunning 4-0 run starts with the Bears on Thursday.

It is the moment, however, to celebrate the Nationals’ continuing transition from MLB-destroyed rebuilding team to fabulous-braintrust-restored team. Budding contender, even? The bringing in of huge-upside-laden Elijah Dukes (or "Troubled Outfielder Elijah Dukes" as the popular descriptor reads) shows that the Nats are, more than ever, interested in a team that can produce now and well into the future (as opposed to the building of a team that could maybe produce in the future only).

Of Dukes, Premiere Stan Kasten said, “"I would feel really good if we could make this a success story." In that vein, he brought last year’s stunning success story, Dmitri Young, along with Font of Optimism Manny Acta, to meet with Dukes. The same message that worked with Young (don’t screw up) was given to Dukes. With newly found depth in the outfield, the Nats are in a can’t-lose position here. If Dukes works out, increased productivity was acquired for nothing (player to be named later). If he regresses, he’s out and Milledge and/or Pena steps in for extra playing time. Win-win.

Speaking of winning, it’s amazing that there seems to be no lesson learned from last season, when the team won far more than they were “supposed” to, as the Nats may yet again be written off by the rest of baseball – well before the season begins and even before the meaty part of the off-season. Perhaps overly desperate and eager to atone for his and his fellow expert cronies’ bafflingly wrong prognostications about the Nats last year, Yahoo!’s Tim Brown writes “…it appears the Nats' lone option is to overachieve. Again” This snarky little quip after he almost embraced the ‘tism in the preceding paragraph. You disappoint us, Tim. Again.

So here we are, set to see yet another success story blossom in DC. Just as some cities/teams are burdened with the moniker “where careers go to die”, (Tampa Bay Rays?) the Nationals are well further on their way to becoming the place “where teams go to revive”. The list is growing: Belliard, Young, Redding, Milledge, Pena, Dukes. What other reclamation/imminent-success projects will come along this winter? We should know more after the big Meeting

No Step(s) Back

“It wasn’t a step back. We made plays at the end…we just didn’t win the game.” Wiz coach Eddie Jordan spoke thusly after last night’s one-point loss, but the same words could have easily been uttered by Caps coach Bruce II after his team’s defeat by the same margin. DCO completely agrees with such an assessment of both teams. The Wizards still own a winning record since their non-ideal 0-5 start, and the Caps still have a respectable 2-2-1 mark since their coaching change (and their ballyhooed power play movement still looks good). There has been a lot of ragging on the refs on the Caps’ boards today. Whether or not they unjustly waived off two Washington goals was ultimately immaterial, as the Caps played well enough down the stretch to almost tie eventually win.

While the Wizards had the opportunity to set up for a last-second jumper to win the game, the Caps put consistent serious pressure on the Hurricanes and came oh so close to getting that tying goal. So close was Nicklas Backstrom to scoring on a backhand late in the third period that, even as of 4:00 PM Saturday, Yahoo!’s box score shows him netting his third goal of the season with a minute left.

No setbacks here. Ever forward.