By DCist contributor Brett Gellman

The Maryland Terrapins (2-2, 0-1 ACC) are coming off one of the most disappointing losses of the Friedgen era after surrendering a 21-point lead in the second half of last Saturday's game at Wake Forest. Late in the third quarter with Maryland up 21-3, Terps QB Jordan Steffy threw a red zone pass which was intercepted by Wake CB Alphonso Smith and subsequently returned for a school record 100 yard touchdown. Fortunately, it was televised on ESPNU so most Terps fans were saved the pain of witnessing the team’s collapse. Then again, listening to the network’s commentators alone was painful enough.

The Terrapin offense failed to produce a first down after the turnover, which gave the Demon Deacons just enough time for 2006 ACC Freshman Player of the Year QB Riley Skinner to drive down the field before time expired to tie the game. The defending ACC Champions took advantage of the momentum shift, scoring 28 unanswered points, ultimately winning in overtime at BB&T Field in front of a rejuvenated crowd.

While the Deacs may have saved their season after a shaky start, Maryland, who essentially gave the game away, now has their back against the walls and faces an even stiffer challenge when they travel to Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway to face the 10th ranked Scarlet Knights.

Despite having to fend off a persistent Chivas Guadalajara attack for most of the game and playing a man down for 50 minutes, United pulled out a 2-1 victory in the first leg of the Copa Nissan Sudamericana home-and-home series.

From the get-go the Goats took advantage of quick, incisive passing to carve through the United midfield. Four times in the opening 16 minutes Chivas attackers had a clear line to the goal, yet they were unable to capitalize.

Though Chivas exhibited more aggression at first, United started to make more dangerous runs with the ball. Fred gave the Goats' defense fits with his jackrabbit-like cuts and dribbling, while Jaime Moreno used deceptive first touches to beat his markers.

Reigning MLS Most Valuable Player Christian Gomez stepped up to make the best run of all. The Argentinean streaked through the midfield, changed speeds effectively, and maneuvered into the penalty box before making a smart pass to Fred. Though the Brazilian's cross barely missed Moreno and Luciano Emilio, its clearance landed the ball at the feet of Ben Olsen. From 30 yards out, the midfielder snapped a bounding shot past the reach of goalkeeper Luis Ernesto Michelle.

Photos by Kyle Gustafson

With one week left until the start of the regular season, the hockey world has been divided into two camps along the question of whether the Capitals will make the playoffs this year. The first camp consists of every Caps fan with a blog, up to and including team owner Ted Leonsis. All agree that the team can do it. The second camp contains every other fan and writer in the hockey universe, who agree that this is another year that the Caps will not make the playoffs, even though many concede they could finally come close.

Surprisingly, it's time to add Atlanta Thrashers coach Bob Hartley to the list of the faithful. Last season, Hartley led the Thrashers to their first playoff appearance ever. Explaining to Phil Foley why he wants his team to work even harder now, Hartley said, "Florida's getting better, Washington's getting better, Philadelphia's getting better. Those are three teams that were not in the playoffs. That means three teams are not going back."

While we're not sure we want to take the word of anyone who thinks the Florida Panthers and Philadelphia Flyers are sure shots for the postseason, we're excited that someone who makes his living in hockey on a team not called "Capitals" thinks the Caps have made enough improvements to get back into the mix this year. Follow the jump for a list of Eastern Conference playoff teams that might have declined enough last summer to let the Caps squeak in.

Well, we are reaching the end of the season. The Nationals stand two games away from their stated, and admittedly pathetic, goal of 72 wins -- one better than last year. They have 5 games remaining, two against the Mets and three against the Phillies, all on the road. Given that the Nats are 30-46 on the road this year, these last two wins should be tough. That said, the Mets seem desperate to see the Phillies in the playoffs this year, and the Nats have won three of the last four against Queens' finest, including last night's 13-4 win. Lets face it, anytime your team gives up a home run to Ryan Langerhans you know you are in trouble.

One Hill of a Pitcher
Shawn Hill has been one of the bright spots for the Nationals this year. His 4-5 record and 3.42 era don't reveal the quality of his season. For example, he has three games this year where he has given up 2 earned runs or fewer in at least 6 innings pitched, and yet had didn't get a decision. Hill is one of the pitchers that the Nationals are counting on to bolster their rotation next year. Hill has been suffering from an injury since Spring Training, and will undergo surgery on his right elbow to release a radial nerve, which is the same injury that John Patterson had. Hopefully, Shawn will not follow down Patterson's path, even if it leads to a former Miss D.C. Svrluga has a good breakdown of Shawn Hill's career here.

The Descent of Lopez
There is an interesting little tidbit in one of Svrluga's posts about the last game at RFK. Apparently, Felipe Lopez is the one player that Barry knew who "declined to take a shift" handing out t-shirts to fans before the game on Sunday. Lopez has been accused throughout the year of having attitude problems. Last year, he was considered an important building block for this team. This year he is only hitting .241 with a .306 OBP. These numbers, combined with attitude problems, make you wonder whether Lopez is still an important part of this team. Many have speculated that the reason Bowden wants to bring back Guzman this year is to remind Felipe that this team has other middle infielders ready to step in.

Briefly Noted
There really isn't a lot to find about a team that is 70-87 and has 5 games left to play.

Meaningless statistic of the week: Washington left fielders are second in the National League in being hit by pitches with 13. Way to lean into them guys!

It's hardly the nicest stadium, but RFK Stadium holds a venerable place in Washington sports history. Open since 1962, when it was called District of Columbia Stadium, the venue has hosted two MLB franchises, the Washington Redskins during their glory years, the most successful MLS club ever, international soccer tournaments, concerts, and on and on. It even hosted Team America! Sunday's final Nats home game, a 5-3 win over the Phillies, isn't the last time RFK will be used, but it ends a major chapter in the park's history.

One of the first multipurpose pro stadiums in the U.S., the stadium, renamed for the assassinated Robert F. Kennedy in 1969, is a somewhat dingy, crowded place. The baseball configuration has a vast outfield with seats far above the playing surface atop a green wall. The concessions are fairly basic, there is some peeling paint, and the innards of the stadium are a little cramped. But we liked it anyway. It was a cozy, homey place to watch baseball's return to Washington.

Despite the plethora of visiting teams' fans at every game, diehards have always come to RFK. During the last game of the 1971 season, after which team owner Bob Short would move the Senators to Texas, rowdy fans unfurled a huge banner reading "Short Stinks." As the game drew to a close, fans stormed the field and the team had to forfeit. And this Sunday, fans unfurled three banners reading "Short Still Stinks" in a tribute to those old Washington baseball partisans.

Photo by Specialed98

Written by DCist contributor Jesse Kaye

T-21 days.

The countdown is on for what may determine the fate of a large part of Southeast D.C. October 19 is the date set by the Deputy Mayor for Planning & Economic Development when all RFEI's, or requests for expressions of interest, are due -- and the date by which we ought to finally have an idea of what will happen to Poplar Point.

A year ago, the Bush administration and the National Park Service requested to turn over ownership and control of what everyone knew was going to be one of the largest PUD (planned use developments) projects this city has ever seen. Just across the river from the new Nationals Stadium now sits Poplar Point, a 130-acre site offered for development by the D.C. Government. It was originally going to be the new DC United stadium site, however after the fallout of negotiations between Victor MacFarlane, owner of DC United, and Mayor Fenty, an RFEI (request for expressions of interest) was released internationally for any investor/developer who could invest $200 million into the proposed project. Macfarlane’s cap was $150 million.

All documented interests must be presented to the city no later than October 19, 2007 for review and discussion. What makes this situation difficult is that Ward 8 Council member Marion Barry has publicly shunned Fenty’s outcome with MacFarlane and refuses to acknowledge any other proposals, which could cause quite an uproar as we approach the deadline.

The original idea was to have DC United move to their new stadium just 4 years after the Nationals moved into their stadium, which would allow the Redskins to eventually rebuild at the RFK, allowing for all four of D.C.’s teams to play within their home city. However, with Fenty’s recent move to offer Poplar Point publicly, the Redskins might just be staying put for a long time.

These are exciting times in Nationals land. The Nats are currently in control of the NL East!

We realize that someone without any imagination, or joy in their life, might say that the team has been eliminated from the postseason, and is currently 15 games under .500.

To them we would point out that all of the remaining games for the Nationals are against either the Mets or the Phillies, two teams separated by 1.5 games in the NL East. In their last two games against the Mets, the Nationals have come from behind and sent a clear message that they are not going to roll over for either team. They seem determined to make both teams work for each victory, and the fate of the NL East could very well be decided with the Nationals on the field.

Photo by KJ Grabosky

In beating the Eagles in their nest last night, there were a number of plays you could point to as being critical--not the least of which was Laron Landry's game-ending decapitation of Philly wideout Kevin Curtis to seal the deal. But if you were a fan looking for something a little defining or divining, the Skins offensive series to end the first half was probably the stretch of play that gave you that first tingle that maybe the team was onto something.

Getting down the field from their own 27 to the Philadelphia 1-yard-line was a process of tension and guts. A neck-snapping sideline juke here, a brisk QB scramble there, culminating in Antwaan Randle-El's twisting, whole-body effort to advance the ball as far as possible. From there, the Skins sputtered, picked up some dumb penalties, started moving backwards. But thanks to a weird decision from Andy Reid to ice kicker Scott Suisham that gave Joe Gibbs the needed extra minute to sack up and take a shot at the end zone, we got to watch the Savior toss a perfect pass right into Captain Chaos' breadbasket for the touchdown. Washington went into the locker room with the lead and never relinquished it.

By no means am I strictly an NFL guy. When the lights dim after the Super Bowl each year, I seamlessly move with the seasons into the maelstrom of college hoops and then the long, drawn-out, slow-motion marketing fantasia that is the NBA. Over a lifetime, I’ve soured on baseball but stayed constant to soccer, the sport I participated in myself as a child, with engrossingly mediocre results.

But then, the NFL comes around again and I’m reminded of how spit-polish perfect a sporting product it's become. The season, parceled out in 16 sumptuous helpings, strikes the right note from the outset. Right there, in Week One, stakes are actually decently high—yet a stumble doesn’t mean the end of the world, as it does in the college game (Ouch: Michigan, Virginia Tech, UCLA). In just two weeks of Sundays, Saints fans are worried, Texans fans are thrilled with the Matt Schaub Era, everyone’s nice and mad at the Patriots, and everyone’s thoughts and prayers are with Buffalo Bill player Kevin Everett (good news: movement has returned to small degrees to his arms and toes—keep him in your thoughts).

By special contributor Brett Gellman of The Upstate Life

This Thursday's nationally televised contest, in which the West Virginia Mountaineers will visit the Maryland Terrapins in College Park, will be the last time these border state rivals meet until 2010. Not only are bragging rights on the line, but the Mountaineers' national title hopes are also at stake. Both schools will be playing their hardest opponent thus far and both stand undefeated at 2-0.

Both squads looked equally unimpressive in their wins last week. Marshall gave West Virginia a run for their money but the Herd ultimately ran out of gas by the late second half as the Mountaineers pulled away 48-23.

Meanwhile, Maryland picked up an unimposing win against lowly Florida International in front of roughly 10,000 at the Orange Bowl last Saturday night. The Terps started off strong with two rushing TDs by senior tailback Keon Lattimore but the offense soon sputtered and failed to capitalize on the momentum generated in the first quarter. The Terrapin defense locked up the victory after turnover mistakes plagued FIU in the forth quarter.

Sunday afternoon D.C. United went toe-to-toe with the New England Revolution in a battle for supremacy of the Eastern Conference, and arguably the entire MLS. The match did not disappoint. It was a competitive affair in which each side took turns playing from behind before United dealt the knockout blow and cruised to victory. By most standards, it was a fantastic match.

Flash forward to last night. D.C. United is facing a Real Salt Lake team residing in the basement of the Western Conference; a team that, for all intents and purposes, is on life support. Replace the verve and inspiration of Sunday's match with angst and frustration. Add eight yellow cards, 39 fouls, two missed penalty kicks, and more questionable calls than we could shake a fist at, and you get last night's clusterfuck of a soccer match. When the dust settled, D.C. emerged with the 2-1 victory behind goals by Luciano Emilio and Christian Gomez.

During the first 15 minutes of the match, United slipped into their old habit of playing down to their opponent. RSL took advantage of United's indifference to push forward offensively; two RSL wins and a draw in the two teams' last three meetings provided a boost to the visitors' confidence. Looking particularly dangerous was forward Alecko Eskandarian. The former United striker, fan favorite, and all around colorful character made a couple of jutting runs to the middle of the field before unleashing low, powerful drives that goalkeeper Troy Perkins could only parry out of bounds.

Photos by Kyle Gustafson

Recently we caught up with Washington Capitals owner and former Vice Chairman of America Online, Ted Leonsis, over email. Here's what Ted had to say about his role in the organization, his goals for the team, and his feelings toward the media. Please note that he uses emoticons without shame.

DCist: Now that you're completely retired from AOL, how much fun is it to get up every morning and not have to go to work?

Ted Leonsis: I actually am busier than ever. I still go into the AOL office a day per week to help. I go to the Caps and Mystics offices more often now, mostly because of the convenience of Kettler Capitals Iceplex. I have been working with sponsors and season ticket holders more than usual. As you know I have become a Filmanthropist. My first film goes into theaters in December and was just sold to HBO for a run on their networks. I am also hard at work on completing my second film, and have a third one in preproduction.

I am working on a book and I have become Chairman of a startup company called Gratis. I have joined some boards--made some angel investments in local companies including Clearspring Technologies. I am spending more time working out and getting healthy and I get to sleep a bit later--although this email is coming to you at 6:15 a.m. :-).

DCist: How was your first filmmaking experience?

TL: As to filmmaking, I believe the medium can be used to activate debate--shine a light on a tough subject--generate consumer volunteerism and charitable giving, while still being considered a "work of art."

I loved the process. I learned a lot. Nanking has been a big success, winning many awards on the film festival circuit and generating great reviews. Already in China it is the best selling foreign documentary in their history, with more than 1 million people going to the theaters to see it. The film was bought for international and domestic distribution and HBO has acquired the film. I intend to make many more films under the Filmanthropy umbrella.

Photograph (courtesy) of Ted Leonsis.

Bonjour! This Nats update is coming to you straight from Paris -- that is the level of our devotion to this team. How has the team repaid us? Well, they've gone 7-3 over their last 10 games, own a better record than 6 teams in baseball, and have all but guaranteed that they will not finish last in the NL East. They are currently 6 wins away from tying last year's record, a feat that would certainly earn manager Manny Acta some manager of the year votes. The pessimist will point out that they are still 14 games under .500, and maybe it is the Parisian air, but I think this team is doing pretty well.

E5!
Despite our optimism and the team's record over the last 10 games, the Nats have been plagued by errors recently. They are currently 5th in the National League with 100 errors. Ryan Zimmerman currently has as many errors (23) as he does home runs. He also committed two errors in one inning against the Braves on September 7th, and has already committed 8 more errors this year than last year. Many people in the organization project that Zimmerman will eventually be a gold glove third baseman, but they have to find this increase in errors to be disconcerting.

Wily Mo Finds His Stride
Wily Mo Pena's two home runs last night give him a total of 7 homers in his 21 games as a National. That is two better than his total in 73 games with the Red Sox earlier this year. Many in baseball felt that playing regularly would help Pena's stats, and he seems to be proving that as a National. While it is nice to have a player who is a threat to go deep in every at bat, we wonder what Pena's future is with this team. In addition to his 7 home runs, he has 20 strikeouts. It's one of life's great mysteries why any pitcher throws him anything but a curveball.

Useless Statistic of the Week: At .888, Dmitro Young has the 31st best OPS in baseball. There are no other Nationals in the top 90.

So, the first game of the season basically came down to a single third-and-seven from midfield in overtime. Convert, and the Redskins move closer to a sudden-death score. Fail, and the Dolphin offense, which had in the late-going proven to be a difficult squad to banish from the field, takes over with a chance to cast a pall over the entire season with a win. This is why we beseeched Redskins offensive coordinator to run the ball this season. By the time the Redskins had gotten to this point, they’d called about forty rushing plays, and that steady diet of smashmouth had the Dolphins’ defense reeling.

Not to deny the coaching staff some credit, this is why they went out and drafted Jason Campbell. He hadn’t, by the time overtime started looking inevitable, distinguished himself statistically. It had been a pretty shaky game. An early errant pass ended the Skins first drive with an interception. A late throw downfield to Brandon Lloyd in the endzone netted another. By the angle shown during the broadcast, Antwaan Randle-El’s ability to at least adjust the path of a pass that ended up incomplete may have prevented a third. (There’s no reason to feel bad about the second interception—anytime a throw to Brandon Lloyd results in a positive outcome for anyone, it’s a net gain for humanity.)

Yesterday afternoon's contest between D.C. United and the New England Revolution carried several levels of significance. With six games remaining for United and most of MLS, teams are becoming increasingly desperate to capture the three point bounty of each remaining game in the scramble for playoff spots.

The Revolution came into RFK Stadium as the toughest foe remaining on United's schedule. The game constituted the last time United would face a sure-fire playoff team. The match was also essential in establishing supremacy of the Eastern Conference of the MLS and securing home field advantage in the playoffs; a single point separated the two teams at the game's start.

The three point prize would also help D.C. maintain its front-runner status in the race for the Supporter's Shield. United took a big step in accomplishing these goals by beating the Revs 4-2.

The match started in familiar fashion for United: a composed and ambitious attack led to several scoring opportunities and the first goal of the game. In the 21st minute Christian Gomez found himself on the receiving end of a Bryan Namoff cross and headed the ball home, but the goal was disallowed; replays showed Gomez offsides by the slightest of margins.

Photos by Kyle Gustafson

Tonight on the season final of ESPN's Friday Night Fights, D.C. native Lamont Peterson (21-0 with 9 KOs) will fight Frankie Santos (15-3-3 with 7 KOs). Peterson has quickly risen in the Light Welterweight division and is currently ranked 7th by the WBO and 5th by the WBC. ESPN's Joe Tessitore just declared Lamont the Prospect of the Year.

Lamont and his brother Anthony were abandoned by their parents at an young age. Both were homeless for a few years until they were noticed by boxing coach Barry Hunter at the age of 10. Hunter instructed the brothers, and they quickly rose in the amateur boxing ranks.

Lamont last fought on May 25th at the D.C. Armory on a card with his brother Anthony. In that fight, Lamont used body shots and his uppercut to beat John Brown in the 8th round by TKO. Peterson's opponent in this fight, Frankie Santos, has lost his last three fights and, has only had two fights since 2003. Lamont is looking to have a strong performance and position himself for a title shot.

Peterson is fighting on the under card to Zap Judah's first fight since losing to Miguel Cotto. The fight will be televised on ESPN2, and the program starts at 10:30 p.m..

Dear Al Saunders:

Please run the ball this year.

Seriously, Al. In this, the Fourth Season of the Second Coming of Gibbs, you’ve got to run the ball! I realize that you got handed a crazy paycheck last year to be the steward of the offense, and on some level, I imagine that you had to go out there and prove you deserved it. After all, you didn’t want to be thought of the same way we Washingtonians think of Paul Wolfowitz’s girlfriend! So you flipped to the back of your Tolstoyian playbook, and set out to prove you had the innovations of a genius. The schemes, the gimmicks, the weird pass packages. Handing the ball off forty times a game? That for six-figure earners, right?

Well, sometimes it pays to nurse the fundamentals of the game than to break new ground. And if you want a tidy lesson on this, let me direct your attention to the three games you played between December 4 and December 18 of last year:

Since we last left the Nationals, the team has gone 4-3 and pulled itself out of last place in the NL East. They are one win away from 63, and thus avoiding the humiliation of triple digit loses this year. They are also nine wins from tying last year's total. These are the metrics we have to use to judge a team that wasn't really competing for the post-season anyway (during the pre-season, Vegas had the over/under on Nats wins set at 66). Nineteen of their last 23 games are against either the Mets, Braves, or Phillies. With each of the those teams still vying for the post-season, nine wins would be an accomplishment.

Walk-Off
Ryan Zimmerman's walk-off hit on Sunday gives him six game-winning hits and one game-winning walk in the last two years. That gives Zimmerman more game-winning hits over the last two years than David Ortiz, Derek "Mr. Clutch" Jeter, and everyone else in the league. This phenomena happens frequently enough that the team has established a tradition of congratulating Ryan after these hits by punching him. According to Austin Kearns, "They're not love pats."

Following in Ryan's footsteps, Jesus Flores hit a game winning walk-off two out double last night to give the Nats their fourth straight win and raise them to two games out of last place in the NL East. It is unclear how much physical abuse Flores took as a result of his hit.

Photo by Flickr user dcJohn