Chris Clark Is a Hockey God

While we eagerly await the Wizards’ impending eight-month reign over the Eastern Conference, a tip of the ‘tism cap to the Captain of the Wiz’s Verizon Center co-occupier is in order.

As information continues to filter in regarding Chris Clark’s recent injury injuries, the inevitable (and apt) comparisons to Dale Hunter gain momentum. The terms “grit” and “scoring touch” seem to be getting paired a lot. After his impressive-enough shift-finishing-following-tooth-loss almost a year ago, we might have wondered what it takes to actually prematurely end one of Clark’s shifts. Now we know: chipped tooth and a slapshot-butchered ear. As nasty as the ear business looked and sounded, the added knowledge of a second injury incurred just seconds before adds to the growing stature of #17.

We already know he doesn’t shy away from whatever tough questions come his way, and we’ll soon find out it takes much more than just a chunk of tooth and ear missing to make Cap’n Clark shy away from his grittiness-with-a-30-goal-scoring-touch style of play.

We hope he makes it back tomorrow to play the Rangers, who are dressed in their usual Halloween fare of a high-priced, underachieving alleged Cup contender.

Until then, bring on the Wiz.

Now That the Ugliness Is Out of the Way...

I never thought I’d resort to this, but let’s look to the Detroit Lions for hope in the aftermath (expect to see that word a lot this week) of the 52-7 non-win against New England. A little while ago, you may remember, the Lions went on the road against the Redskins and lost by 45 points, in their case, 45-0. Pretty bad loss. A pretty bad way to start off the 1991 season. But the Lions recovered, got back their key injured players, and eventually made it all the way to the NFC Championship game, where they of course again lost to the Redskins. So, the point is, it’s possible to bounce back from such a brutal non-win on the road and still make something of your season. If the Lions can do it, anyone can.

Note to Brian Belichick about that game: the Redskins were winning 45-0 in the fourth quarter, and had the ball on the Lions’ 1-yard line. It was a first down, even. One yard away from a truly gaudy 52-0 score. But not only did the Skins’ down the ball four straight times, benevolently giving it back to their convincingly dispatched foe, they did it with their backup QB (the legendary Jeff Rutledge), just to be sure the early crushing success of Mark Rypien did not accidentally result in more points. Such was the concern of Joe Gibbs and the Redskins not to needlessly show up an opponent. It’s called class and respect you drab-sweatshirt-wearing cheater. I know you’re still bitter about being held to the same rules as the rest of the league, but have a little respect (mercy?) for a team clearly beaten and beaten badly. Don’t go for it TWICE on fourth down, tool. Even the haughtiest Cowboys teams led by the likes of Irvin and Sanders weren’t this earth-shatteringly arrogant and heartless. Here’s hoping the Colts lay 90 on you.

But DCO, you may ask, didn’t you celebrate the late TD the Patriots scored against the Cowboys a few weeks ago, kind of sort of running up the score on them? Wasn’t that equally classless? Perhaps. That game was slightly closer, however, and right on the heels of Dallas’ miraculous (perhaps soul-selling?) victory over the Bills, in which they came back late in the game after facing a similar deficit. There: positions rationalized. End of complaint portion.

Seriously, though, at 4-3 and with the truly woeful Jets coming up next week, it’s possible, even probable, that at this time next week we’ll see the Skins at 5-3 and just a game behind the Giants at the halfway point of the season. Such a win would also match last year’s win total, with eight more games to improve upon it.

All is far from lost. They’re not the Dolphins (0-8). They’re not the Rams (0-8). But maybe they could be the *1991* Lions (12-4).

Historical Precedent for an Upset

Not too long ago (ok, a little bit long ago), there was a ragtag group of individuals in New England - visitors in New England, if you will - not highly thought of in the rest of the world. They faced down what was widely considered to be the greatest force in history. They were given little to no chance to succeed if they chose to go head-to-head with this force. They started a little scrap in the Northeast and eventually shocked the world with the ultimate result.

But enough historical bush-beating. The Patriots are the English, the Redcoats, as it were. The Redskins are the American colonists. How ironic that a team named in honor of those noble colonists who fought against English dominance now plays the very role of dominator. How much further ironic that the Patriots will today attempt to hold on to their (perhaps ill-gotten) power not far from the very cradle of American liberty.

Consider: The English stole the colonists’ money and land through taxes. The Patriots steal opponents’ defensive schemes through illicit videotaping. The English crushed weak opposition throughout the colonies with brutal tactics. The Patriots have brutalized such patsies as Buffalo, Cleveland, and the NY Jets, mostly with unnecessarily lopsided scores (though the late TD against the Cowboys was welcome). The English were perceived to be invincible against all but the French. The Patriots are perceived to be invincible against all but the Colts (sorry for that comparison, Indy). The English eventually got it handed to them. The Patriots could be ripe for a handing.

More:
Bill Belichick = King George III
Redskins’ secondary = Minutemen
Tom Brady = Lord Cornwallis
Jason Campbell = Who else, GW
Gillette Stadium = Yorktown
Game Result = The World Turned Upside Down

It’s happened once before. It can happen again. To Arms!

Update at 0-24: Um, we can still salvage this one (this post and the game, I mean). To keep this comparison going, remember how bleak it looked at Valley Forge?

Caps Continue to Rack Up Solid Performances; Victories to Soon Follow

The Capitals continued along the road towards an inevitable winning streak with a magnificent 18-shots-against defensive performance and a completely serviceable 26-shots-for offensive performance. The penalty kill continued its recent resurrection, going 7 for 7, and the power play again showed tantalizing signs of life, despite the final 1 for 7 tally. All this added up to a 4-3 loss last night, but strongly indicates better things are on the way. We feel pretty confident at this time calling shots-against nightmares earlier this month complete flukes. That is, the complete opposite of the 3-0 start of earlier this month, which was not the least bit fluky, but rather a hint of what this season could be.

Performances lately look encouragingly similar to those of the afforementioned undefeated days, and we see the seeds of more extended winning streaks within such performances. We see gritty late-game comebacks in back-to-back nights (so close, so close) as evidence that the team does not lack heart, and will continue to battle back from deficits, perhaps stealing a game or two in the process. Sooner or later they will grow tired of late-game deficits, and an improved power play will net the necessary goals to prevent them.

If nothing else, feel better because at least as of right now the Caps are better off than the Rangers. What about the Rangers? What about their high-priced free-agent toys named Drury and Gomez that made them such fashionable picks to win the Cup? Those two centers have a combined 9 points (3 G, 6 A), while the perfectly fine center the Rangers jettisoned has 8 points (4 G, 4 A). It could be another delightfully long winter at MSG with big names that just (again) don’t mesh. We certainly hope so.

The Caps learned to avoid such tactics the hard way. Early season struggles (losing 6 of 7) show that their new way might not be pretty all the time. However, with solid (and thus, winnable) outings now piling up, it’s only a matter of time before the wins do as well, and all that good, home-grown talent, sprinkled with sanity-driven free agent acquisitions, will pay off. I choke on these words even as I am about to write them, but look at Pittsburgh last year. They stumbled around as a relatively young team for a couple of months before putting it together and, well, they lost in the first round of the playoffs, but you get the idea.

MAO of the Week: 10-26 TOSS-UP!

Hello boys and girls and welcome to another edition of PT-er-DCO, where today we will discuss this week's most optimistic sports personality. A person who, in the face of non stop defeatism, instead spread 'tism. Yes, this week's MAO is none other than Tony Kornheiser, who on the Thursday edition of Washingtonpost.com's strange "Talking Points" vide-blog-thingies, said the Redskins could possibly win on Sunday. "Talking Points" is the current Kornheiser presence on the post.com where viewers are treated to random video footage of him and Wilbon yapping shot by a cameraman who enjoys seeing himself in the mirror. This is what Washingtonians are given instead of the dreck that Kornheiser had been writing in the post-bandwagon era where most of the material involved finding someone's name that was similar to an older historical figure's name and making reference to it. But as much as we don't miss what TK was outputting, we were refreshed with his words on Thursday. Just about everyone in the world, even Canada has the Redskins getting their burgundy and gold hinds handed to them by some quarterback you may have heard about non-stop all season and his head coach, whatever his name is and their curious scouting techniques that may have been touched upon in the sports broadcasting landscape. Yeah, we are actually pretty sick of hearing about this "best ever" team and their tough road to 7-0, beating such powerhouses as the Miami Dolphins, the New York Jets, the Buffalo Bills, et al on their way to astounding offensive prowess and fantasy numbers. That is why we think it's nice that Kornheiser is sort of waffling onto the side of the skins, saying "the Redskins have good players at every position." Wow, impressive words, and without even making a reference to Jason Campbell's last name, which is the same as a soup manufacturer.
Kornheiser's debate partner in this webisode is sports editor Cindy Boren, who makes a "Dumb and Dumber" reference that likens the skins' possible victory to Lloyd's million-to-one chance of getting a date with Mary ("So you're telling me there's a chance" being the correct quote). Kornheiser sternly rebuffs Cindy's flippant tism-hatred by continuing to harp on the Redskins' goodness (another form of B-Lloyalty, maybe?).
Frankly, we agree with TK and think that the (insert overpraising adjective here) Pats have yet to see a guy like Sean Taylor, who has single-handedly set back quarterbacking with his ability to fly towards whatever ball is in his vicinity, occassionally nabbing an interception in the process. People are constantly impressed with all of the offenses that have welcomed the skins, yet afterwards, those offenses are questioned for their ability to properly perform. Why? Mostly it's because of the brillilant schemes of Gregg Williams, who dials down the blitzes against Martz and Co during the 34-3 bludgeoning of the Lions, goads Favre into going deep during their "should-have-won-it" loss in Green Bay, and scores major points during their "definitely-won-it-despite-major-injuries" victory over the Cards last week. This defense is special and it should be a mitigating factor, disrupting this oiled-up machine or whatever related picture of efficiency there is to describe that Boston-area team's offense, and likely nabbing turnovers.
Similar predictions were layed upon the skins before their visit to Philadelphia earlier this year, remember then? ESPN.com "national" polls had the entire world picking against the skins. In that game, it was those defensive backs sealing the win and the season for the Eagles, aparently.
Now if the associate offensive head whatever on the Redskins side of the ball can be as prolific with his backs, maybe this game-winning defense can be off the field long enough to maybe, just maybe seal a victory. According to Kornheiser, it is very possible.

With the Ship Righted, A Win

Finally, a win for all of their keeping-shots-down trouble. After the shot-giveaway parties in New York and Buffalo, the Caps put forth their third straight sub-30-shot defensive effort (vs. NYI - 21; vs. Pitt - 22; vs. TB - 29), and this time came away with a victory. Perhaps now we can put to rest our fears that the team was in danger of devolving back to the giving up of 40+ shots/game of yesteryears. Those little defensive slip-ups of a week to 10 days ago certainly gave optimism-haters like ESPN the fuel they needed to drop the Caps down in their seriously flawed power rankings (seriously, how do the New York "We Love to Lose 1-0" Rangers still merit such a high spot, #11?), and make snippy comments about losing skids. Of course, dropping is a relative term, since even at 3-0 the Caps could barely crack the top 20 in the Chris Berman network's eyes.

The penalty kill, now again featuring Boyd "Selke" Gordon, has also righted itself after a slight relapse and looks to be heading back to the heady early season era of 100%. The PP will join its special teams partner soon enough. There was at least some true pressure applied last night, again reminding us of the halcyon days surrounding the brilliant home opener. Like the Redskins' offense, there is simply too much talent to stay dormant forever.

Eight games, eight points (three ahead of those high-flyin', high-signin' Rangers). Not bad for a team waking up from its rebuild hibernation. Much better than some teams who should in theory be defending division titles.

Clark: 1 2 of 30

Chris Clark, wisely moved back to the top line by Glen Hanlon, has made the move pay off not seven minutes into tonight's game. Clark, goal; Ovechkin, assist. Methinks we'll see that complimentary scoring a couple dozen more times this season.

2nd period: He can also score off his knee.

Important Stat From Peter King

I’ve tried to ignore this, having already been slightly negative yesterday (granted, it was about Philadelphia, and apparently I’m not alone in that regard), but I can’t let it go, and I can’t get it out of my head.

Peter King, treading dangerously close to old school Larry-King-randomly-bloviating-in-USA-Today territory, writes in the MVP Watch section of his MMQB, “Is it my imagination, or does [Tony] Romo lead the league in smiling?”

Ugh. I’m lost as to what else to say. Just, ugh. Perhaps this statement is rooted in statistical analysis, NFL-wide research, and hours of pouring over sideline footage, but more likely it’s a disgustingly flip remark and yet another indication of the inexplicable fawning over the slick-fingered Romo (no, we will never forget The Snap).

Leads the league in smiling? Maybe. He certainly leads the league in doofy backwards hat wearing. What about the rest of the Cowboys? What charming, adorable stats to they rack up? Does Wade Phillips lead the league in cute puppy scratching? Does Jerry Jones set the NFC standard in hearty chuckles? Will Roy William dust the rest of pro football when it comes to vivacious winking? Again, ugh.

There, it's out of my system. More traditional 'tism on the way, we swear.

VOTE

While we continue to enjoy the Redskins' surviving of a late-game comeback attempt, let's help our phriends in Philadelphia deal with the fact that their team was unable to pull off the same feat. Vote here on what you see for the Eagles the rest of this season. Enjoy the leading nature of the question, then enjoy even more the results from those legendarily loyal Philly fans.