Monday, April 17, 2006

Weekend Sports Summary

Not a glamourous sports weekend like the past two but during the weekend the Wizards clinched a playoff spot, D.C. United is off to their best start since 1999 and the Nationals won their first series of the year, taking two of three from the Marlins.

The Wizards blew a lead vs Chicago Friday night and lost a gut wrencher. They bounced back to beat the Cavaliers yesterday and at 40-40, are in fifth place in the NBA's Eastern Conference. The Wizards have now clinched back to back playoff spots for the first time since the '86-87 and '87-88 seasons. A nice accomplishment since this team had been to the post season once (1997) before Eddie Jordan took over as coach of the Wizards.

Josh Gros and Christian Gomez scored as D.C. United (2-0-1) beat Houston 2-0 Saturday night. Goalkeeper Troy Perkins, starting in place of the injured Nick Rimando, now has back to back shutouts. United's next match is Saturday at New York (4:00 PM ESPN2)

Ryan Church blasted a pair of homers, including the game-winning two-run shot in the ninth as the Nationals (4-9) beat Florida 7-5 to take two of three from the Marlins. Saturday night John Patterson tied a career high by striking out 13 as the Nats ended its six-game skid 2-1 at Dolphins Stadium. Yeah, the Nats are 4-9 but Patterson is turning out to be the ace of this team and each game was very entertaining. Right now I'll take it as this team continues to get screwed by Major League Baseball, who now says new owners of the Nats will be named in mid May.

I've pretty much stopped caring about the Caps and hockey in general since the lock out. I went to one game this year thanks to free tickets. The desire to go back to other games or watch them on TV just wasn't there. Caps Rookie Alex Ovechkin does have 51 goals and over 100 points. He has been the lone bright spot in what has been a dismal season for the Caps.

Started reading this book

March 2, 1962, Hershey, PA. Philadelphia Warriors Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points against the New York Knicks.

The author, is former Washington Post sportswriter Gary Pomerantz. An excerpt follows:

He came with a body and an ego perfectly sculpted for dominating his game. The ego was essential: For a player to score one hundred points in an NBA game, he must not only want to do it, he must, on a deeper level, need to do it--to take an opponent, an entire sport, and bend it to his will--to show that it could be done and only by him. In one hundred there was hubris but also a symbolic magic. In our culture the number connotes a century, a ripe old age, a perfect score on a test. Scoring one hundred points meant infinitely more than scoring, say, ninety-seven. One hundred was a monument.

Writers and players and coaches prophesied such a night for the young Wilt Chamberlain. He was a one-man revolution. He entered what was still largely a white man's game, took it above the rim, and made it his. The game's traditionalists, seeing the future, blanched. He was, at the core, an individualist, the ultimate alpha male. He loved his sport, he loved his women, and he loved himself. He was averaging fifty points per game during that 1961-62 season, and as his scoring numbers grew so did the prophecy.

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