Top Ten D.C. Area Sports Moments 2000-2009

10. Michael Jordan returns and plays for the Wizards.



Jordan generated a ton of interest and revenue for a struggling NBA franchise. Not much of a front office executive though.

9. Georgetown returns to the NCAA Final Four in 2007.



What's interesting about this story is the Hoyas were coached by John Thompson III, the son of the long time Hoya coach who went to three Final Four's and won the NCAA title in 1984.

8. Maryland Football wins the 2001 ACC Championship



Under new head coach Ralph Friedgen, the Terps came out of nowhere and surprised everyone by winning their first ACC title since 1985 and going to the Orange Bowl. Prior to the 2001 season, Maryland's last bowl game was the 1990 Independence Bowl.

7. Wizards beat the Bulls 4 games to 2 in the first round of the 2005 NBA playoffs.



Prior to this, the Wizards had made the playoffs once (1997) since 1988 and their last playoff series win was in 1982 when they beat New Jersey in the first round.

6. Joe Gibbs returns to coach the Redskins in 2004.



The results were mixed, two playoff appearances (2005, 2007) but the overall record was 31-36 including a 1-2 record in playoff games.

5. George Mason goes to the Final Four in 2006.



This team barely got in the NCAA tournament, then shocked former champs Michigan State, North Carolina and Connecticut on their way to an unlikely Final Four. They lost to eventual champion Florida. This run to the Final Four had a huge impact on the school today as enrollment is up and there are new buildings being constructed on campus.

4. Alex Ovechkin



Drafted by the Capitals in 2004, he's won two NHL Most Valuable Player awards and is easily the most exciting player in hockey today. Caps have gone from barely filling Verizon Center post NHL lockout, to selling out every game this season. The Caps are a legitimate Stanley Cup contender right now.

3. Baseball returns to Washington DC.



The Montreal Expos move here and play at RFK Stadium from 2005-2007 before moving to Nationals Park at the beginning of the 2008 season. We lost the Senators in 1971 and had nothing until the Expos came here (I became a Baltimore Orioles fan after that) There's a long way to go before this team is competitive but it's great to be able to go to the ball yard again.

2. Maryland Basketball: 2001 Final Four, 2002 National Championship



Terps finally get to the Final Four, then win it all the next year. I followed this team all my life and it was tough seeing them lose to Duke in 2001 but great to see them beat Indiana for the title the next season. Remember, Gary Williams brough this program came back from the dark days following the death of Len Bias and NCAA probation.

1. Redskins Darrell Green and Art Monk make the NFL Hall of Fame in 2008.



Monk and Green going into the Hall of Fame in 2008 is my #1 because those two had great careers here and I was able to see them in person a lot at RFK Stadium. Two class acts in what is easily the greatest era in Redskins history.

Art Monk finished his career with 940 receptions for 12,721 yards and 68 touchdowns in 224 career games. He was the first NFL player to catch more than 900 career passes and he retired as the game’s all-time leader in receptions. He was the first NFL player to record more than 100 receptions in a season. He also caught at least one pass in 183 consecutive games. Monk was clutch when the Redskins needed a catch to keep a drive alive.

Darrell Green played 20 seasons for the Redskins, recording 1,321 tackles, 59 interceptions, nine forced fumbles and seven fumble recoveries. He also scored 11 touchdowns (eight by interception return, two by fumble return and one on a punt return). Green earned seven trips to the Pro Bowl, was named NFL Man of the Year in 1996 for community service and won the NFL Humanitarian Award as well.

It was a thrill seeing both of them enter the Hall of Fame together.

CJ

Had to post something about the passing of former Washington Bullet guard Charles (CJ) Johnson. He was an important member of the 1978 Bullets team that won their only NBA title. I became a Bullets fan in the early '70's when I went to a couple games at Cole Field House. The Bullets new arena, the Capital Centre, wasn't finished yet so the Bullets played some home games on the University of Maryland campus during the early part of the '73-'74 season.

Let's go back to January 1978. Bullet GM Bob Ferry signed CJ to a 10 day contract as the Bullets were decimated with injuries, suiting up just seven players against Phoenix one night. I remember the play by play voice of the Bullets Frank Herzog moaning about how can the Bullets compete with just seven players.

CJ was signed and arrived at the Cap Centre via helicopter just in time for his first game. He was signed as a reserve but occasionally started during his two seasons with the team and he became a fan favorite with his hustle. He always played hard and seemed to nail the clutch shot when teams focused primarily on Wes Unseld, Elvin Hayes and Bob Dandridge.

Bullets fans remember that CJ had one of the all time great moments in Bullets history as he hit a half court shot as the buzzer sounded to end of the third quarter of game 7 in Seattle. That fired up the Bullets as they won game seven and the title 105-99. I remember Herzog's call "CJ with the ball....the long shot issssss GOOOOOODDD!!!! He hit it at mid court...from the right side! Everything is breaking the Bullets way!" Ok, so it's not as famous as Celtics announcer Johnny Most classic "Havlicek stole the ball!! It's all over… It's all over!!" but it's something I won't ever forget as I was a sophmore in high school when the Bullets beat Seattle that year. Somewhere in this house I have a cassette tape of the final half of this game.

Wes Unseld, Elvin Hayes and Bob Dandridge were the heart of that championship squad but CJ was the final piece to a very talented team that always seemed to fall short in the playoffs. Teammate Phil Chenier summed it up best about CJ in an article I read earlier today. "He was an incredible defensive player, he seemed to be the type of player who never got riled or nervous".

CJ was 58. He had cancer.

RIP CJ. I won't ever forget that shot.

Bullets Fever!

Pete Maravich

I just finished reading this excellent biography on Pete Maravich by Mark Kriegel. I'll give you a summary of Pete's career here but do check out this book if you like sports biographies.

"Pistol Pete" starred at Louisiana State University and for three NBA teams. Pete Maravich is still the all-time leading NCAA scorer, averaging an incredible 44.2 points per game in three varsity seasons. Two things I want to point out. One, this was without the benefit of a three-point line and two, freshman were not allowed to play on the varsity team.

Maravich was a basketball legend, a dazzling ball handler, incredible shooter and a creative passer. A lot of his NCAA records will never be broken simply because these days it is rare a college superstar stays in school longer than one or two years.

The book provided many facts of which I was unaware. For example, I had no idea that his father, Press Maravich, coached in the ACC. Press coached at Clemson and N.C. State, where he won an ACC championship. He got an offer to coach at LSU and Pete followed his Dad.

After graduating college, Maravich was the third pick in the first round of the NBA draft. He averaged 23.2 points per game his rookie season. After spending four seasons in Atlanta, Maravich was traded to the New Orleans Jazz for four number one draft picks, a couple second round picks and cash. Throughout his NBA career, despite putting up impressive numbers and making the all star team six times in ten seasons, Pete struggled to live up to the legend he created at LSU. He was injured a lot as his body took a huge toll thanks to the reckless style he played.

Basketball ultimately didn’t make it in New Orleans, and the Jazz moved to Utah. Maravich lasted part of the first season there and was later released. One goal he coveted was a championship, so he signed a free agent deal with the Boston Celtics, who had a rookie by the name of Larry Bird playing for them. At first it was a struggle for Pete to come off the bench, but he eventually fit in and the Celtics won the Atlantic Division title. They failed to reach the NBA finals that year and the following training camp, in the fall of 1980, Pete quit basketball for good due to injuries.

In his ten NBA seasons Maravich scored 15,948 points in 658 games for a 24.2 points per game average. He led the league in scoring with a 31.1 points per game average in 1976-1977. His NBA single game high was 68-points (At LSU it was 69, again, with no three point line) against the New York Knicks in February 1977.

On January 5, 1988, while warming up to play a pickup basketball game Pete collapsed and died of a heart attack at the age of 40. An autopsy revealed the cause of death to be a rare congenital heart defect; he had been born with only one coronary artery instead of the normal two.

The reason I like Pistol Pete so much was one Christmas I got a book of sports heroes. In it there were several biographies and pictures of sports stars from the '60's and '70's and Pistol was one I liked. Maybe it was the droopy socks and the long hair, I don’t know. Playing hoops at Wood Acres as a little kid, I always pretended to be him.