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When rumors were floated two weeks ago that the District might host an opening stage of the 2011 Giro d'Italia, local cyclists crossed their fingers for what would be one of the few opportunities to see the world's best professional cyclists stateside. Not only did the rumor turn out to be true, but planning for not one, but two stages in the city are underway.

The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear an appeal in the case of whether the Washington Redskins' name is offensive, the Associated Press is reporting.

On offense, the Redskins have -- or had -- a small handful of players that other teams might be interested in, at least before this debacle of a season unfolded. They are -- or were -- as follows: Chris Samuels, Chris Cooley, Randy Thomas, Santana Moss, and perhaps Clinton Portis. Of those five, only Moss will play today, cementing an already depleted and inept d'oh!-ffense as a complete non-threat. And, oh yeah, the league's third-best scoring defense in the Denver Broncos comes to town today, feeling a little desperate as they try to break a two-game slide. Denver 26, Washington 10.

Noted graphic designer Ken Carbone used his space at Fast Company earlier this week to address the National Football League's ugliest helmets, of which there are plenty. (Helloooooo, Tampa Bay!) As someone with an amateur hobby of monitoring professional and major collegiate sports uniforms -- for instance: have you seen these new Nike college football unis, apparently left to us from a race of super-intelligent hypergalactic beings? -- this editor believes Carbone hit a lot of the right notes. The best helmets in the NFL do belong to teams which have a natural symmetry in the logo (Eagles, Rams, Vikings), or teams who stick with classic, clean insignias and color schemes (Cowboys, Bengals, Browns -- and although Carbone forgot them, the Packers).

Friday's highlights belonged to the Caps' defense. In a 3-1 win over the Minnesota Wild, Washington's defensemen were responsible for the majority of goals scored, while Semyon Varlamov again turned in a strong performance between the pipes. Despite the Wild having the best penalty kill percentage on the road in the NHL, the Caps' first goal of the game came from Mike Green on a power play in the second period.

The Nationals will be holding a news conference at 2:30 p.m. to officially name their new field manager, but there won't be any surprises: Jim Riggleman will be returning to manage the team on a permanent basis in 2010. Both ESPN's Tim Kurkjian and the Associated Press reported last night that Nationals sources confirmed that Riggleman would have his interim tag removed today. Riggleman led the Nats to a somewhat respectable 33-42 record after taking over from previous manager (and new Cleveland skipper) Manny Acta in July. He previously managed in San Diego, Chicago, and Seattle before coming to D.C., compiling a 555-694 record over ten years of service on the bench.

Welcome back, Captain Clark – with a little help from his trusty sidekicks Alex and Semyon, of course.

Congratulations appear to be in order for Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who -- if published internet reports are accurate -- will win his first Gold Glove when winners are officially announced later today. Zimmerman, whose defensive play at the hot corner in 2009 was one of the few real consistent highlights for the Nationals during a tumultous season, is reportedly one of four debutant winners this season. Zimmerman was the likely favorite for the award with last year's recipient, New York's David Wright, having an injury-plagued season, but the face of the Nationals did have competition from San Diego's Kevin Kouzmanoff for this year's honor. The official Gold Glove winners will be announced later today; and even though ESPN is busy wondering whether baseball's highest defensive honor really means anything, we feel confident stating that Nationals fans will take whatever positives they can get their paws on.

Tonight the Capitals came from behind to beat the Florida Panthers 7-4. With Alex Ovechkin and Mike Green among a slew of injured players, Mike Knuble put up four points to spark the win. The total tied his personal best, from Valentine's Day, 2003. Asked what it was like to be a leader on this team, Knuble calmly dismissed the assertion. "It's just one game," he said, talking up the importance of hard work over a long season.

This time last year, the Washington Redskins were fresh off an election-eve home beatdown by the Super Bowl champs–elect, the Pittsburgh Steelers, in a game noted for the stunning prevalence of Steelers fans at FedEx Field. A little past the halfway mark of the season, that game officially kicked off the team's late-season demise, where they'd go 2-6 and labor to put up points in virtually every game. The offensive line looked slow, tired, and hurting, and so did Clinton Portis -- whom we all hoped only looked like that because he was behind that slow, tired, and hurting o-line. The defense, for the most part, manfully willed the team into games before the offensive ineptitude just became too great a burden to bear.

We reported yesterday on rumors that the Giro d'Italia, one of professional cycling's biggest events, may come to the District for an opening stage in 2011.

Heat 93, Wizards 89: It was the Dwayne Wade show at the Phone Booth last night. When Wade was on the court, he poured in 40 to lead all scorers; unfortunately for the Wizards, they couldn't transplant their very good play for the short periods of time when D-Wade was on the bench to when he was playing. Gilbert Arenas had 32 to lead Washington, and Brendan Haywood and Caron Butler both chipped in double-doubles -- although the three were an ugly combined -34 in plus/minus. Statistics aside, it just wasn't enough to overcome Wade, who was hitting key baskets all night. With back-to-back games against two of the league's five best players, the Wizards will probably be relieved to see mega-star-deprived Indiana next on the slate. Oh, and Mike Miller picked up an injury to his arm -- but as Dan Steinberg notes: what's new?

As a competitive cyclist who mourned the postponement of this year's only professional race in the District, I was ecstatic, though slightly skeptical, to stumble acros the news this morning that organizers of the Giro d'Italia, one of the three grand tours of international cycling, were thinking of bringing the opening stages of the race to D.C..

So there you have it, Redskins fans. Dan Snyder apologizes that his team has made your Sundays miserable for the better part of two months. He "feels bad" for you. He's "embarrassed." Here's the man many people are attributing with lead one of this town's biggest cultural institutions to a slow drive into irrelevance, telling you he's sorry.

In a move which should surprise no one, D.C. United head coach Tom Soehn removed his name from consideration for the team's head coaching position in advance of his contract's expiration yesterday, effectively ending six years of service with the club. Soehn, an assistant coach from 2004 to 2006, was promoted to head coach for the 2007 season and started brightly, leading United to the MLS Supporters Shield in his first season. But after two consecutive years in which United failed to make the MLS playoffs, it was obvious that the club would not be extending his three-year contract, which was due to expire at the end of 2009. Soehn finished his tenure at United with a 55-48-31 record in all competitions.

Sometimes, when you have as much talent as the Caps' roster, you get in your own way. Despite coming in on a six-game winning streak, facing a team that was 2-4-5, a hefty 40-28 advantage in shots, and a solid performance by Jose Theodore, the Capitals lost 4-3 in overtime on Friday.

Via the masnsports twitter feed, it appears that some preposterously deluded reality television production company has picked the wrong major league baseball team to build a superfan show around. To wit:

Remember the scene in Fever Pitch where Jimmy Fallon nearly attacks his UPS guy for his season tickets? How about all the challenges he faces throughout the movie as he struggles to balance his baseball fandom with real life?

Continue reading "Reality Show in Works About 'Die-Hard Nationals Fans'"

Wizards 102, Mavericks 91: Something tells me that the Wizards are going to be a real interesting team this season: new coach, a whole host of new players, and old players returning with the grudge of last season's epic failure hanging over their heads as motivation. But for whatever reason, the Wizards' hopes seem to always rest on the back of Gilbert Arenas. And man, the old Gilbert was back last night: dishing dimes, driving to the hoop with strength and finesse, and reminding us of that guy whom you could have made an argument for as the best fourth quarter player in the league three years ago. Gil had 29 points and nine assists in the Wizards season-opening 102-91 win on the road in Dallas. Of course, it wasn't all Agent Zero -- new boss Flip Saunders has stressed defense during the offseason, and Washington held the Mavs to only 39% from the field. Andray Blatche, Randy Foye, and Caron Butler also chipped in double digits. Dirk Nowitzki (and his long hair) paced Dallas with 34.

With their chances of making the postseason finally dashed on Saturday night after a heartbreaking 2-2 draw in Kansas City, D.C. United's focus moved from the inconsistency of their on-the-field performance to their arguably much more intriguing off-the-field affairs. Besides a potential coaching change and plenty of questions about a major shake-up in the front office, the more pertinent debate is perhaps the still-looming issue of finding a new home for the club.

I don't know about you, but I enjoyed a Sunday devoid of heartbreak, frustration, incomprehension, incompetence, and the ungodly combination of the four. It was a restful day, one which got my week off to a nice start. Of course, that will all change tonight -- when the Redskins new play-calling system proves to be the glorious failure we all knew it would be in a 24-9 loss to the visiting Eagles -- but at least we're one day closer to the following weekend after it does.

              

Based on DCist photography contributor Brian Knight's photographs, yesterday's Marine Corps Marathon was a passionate whirlwind of emotions: elation, sadness, struggle, and whimsy, all in a blur of movement and color. It's appropriate then, that such an exhausting event required an earlier-than-roosters wake-up call for our intrepid photographer -- of course, DCist managing and arts editor Heather Goss (who somehow escaped the reach of Brian's lens) just had to do him one better and actually run the 10K yesterday.

Capitals 5, Thrashers 4: Last night's game between Washington and Atlanta was a tight affair for the first thirty minutes. It was at that point that the Caps unleased an offensive fury, the likes of which hasn't been seen since that glorious day when I mastered the unstoppable wraparound glitch in NHL '95 for Super Nintendo. Jeff Schultz, Matt Bradley, and Chris Clark all scored in one minute and 22 second span in the second period -- and Washington needed them all, holding off Atlanta's late surge to win 5-4 on the road. In a matchup of two of the league's most prominent scorers, Alex Ovechkin's team topped Ilya Kovalchuk's, although Kovalchuk scored twice and the Great Eight was held pointless for only the second time this season. Ondrej Pavelec certainly had a bad night between the pipes for the Thrashers -- not only did the Caps smoke five past him on only 14 shots before he was pulled, but Schultz's goal was on a simple clearance attempt from 85 feet away which took an incredibly fortuitous hop into the back of the net.

Over the past few weeks, many a Redskins fan could surely be spotted muttering that this, this! would never have happened with Joe Gibbs at the helm. But if circulating rumors hold any sort of accuracy, he might not be far from the team soon enough. Pro Football Talk is reporting that the legendary head coach might be returning to the team in a football director role. The whispers are that Gibbs would fill a role similar to that of Bill Parcells in Miami. Gibbs would be responsible for hiring a new coach and general manager, and generally getting the train back on track. It's not so crazy, really: Dan Snyder already consults with Gibbs regularly, most recently having dinner together before the 'Skins loss at Carolina, and Gibbs is probably one of the few people on Earth to whom Snyder would probably cede some control.

United 1, Toluca 1: D.C. United have spent this year on the fringes of pretty much everything. The fringe of the MLS playoffs. The fringe of silverware in the Open Cup. The fringe of victory or defeat (the team has 14 draws in 44 games over all competitions). The fringe of being able to put together a complete ninety minutes as a cohesive unit. Teams that live on such fringes often end up owing up their successes and failures to chance -- and so it is with United, whose advancement to the knockout stages of the CONCACAF Champions League (much like their chances to advance to the MLS Cup playoffs) now sits in the hands of other teams. On its own, the one-all draw at Toluca would probably be viewed as a success. American sides never fare well in the high altitudes and hostile atmospheres of Mexico, let alone against one of the marquee sides in the country. Additionally, Tom Soehn was understandably resting a large number of his regulars in advance of Saturday's league finale against Kansas City -- Ben Olsen, Clyde Simms, Jaime Moreno and Marc Burch sat, and Boyzz Khumalo, Rodney Wallace, Christian Gomez and Dejan Jakovic played abbreviated roles. With a win, United could have assured their place in the next stage of the competition, and they got off to as good a start as they could. Chris Pontius supplied a fantastic strike to open matters, but Israel López equalized for Toluca from the penalty spot in the 62nd minute. United was fortunate to hold on, as keeper Steve Cronin impressed again with several key saves. D.C. will now need Marathon to either tie or lose against San Juan Jabloteh to advance; it would be the first positive result for Jabloteh in the group stage, so don't hold your breath.

It may be dark, dark days for those loyal to the Washington Redskins, but those with glass half-full attitudes will recognize this as an opening for a golden age of 'Skins-related self-deprecating humor. The product on the field might be downright unwatchable, but at least we've stumbled upon: a) the subsequent parade of funny homemade T-shirts, b) the quintessential Zorn-face, and of course c) one of the most ridiculously hilarious stories in NFL history: the "consultant" who hadn't coached a down in the league for four-plus years and whose previous job was volunteering as a bingo number caller, who this week was given a promotion to the role of offensive playcaller after only two weeks on the job.

In a week when virtually every major writer in the area has taken their crack at the 'Skins (for me, the best was Tracee Hamilton's), the frustration and boos seemed to have reached a tipping point with the fans, too. A raft of, shall we say, revolutionary organizations are calling for a) a "blackout" at Sunday's game, b) true fans to not buy beer in the stadium, and, the biggie, c) owner Dan Snyder to relinquish complete control and to quit worrying about who his employees are and how they perform and go back to simply worrying about turning a profit. Call it the least Marxist revolution imaginable, but it would still constitute some kind of shocking upheaval for this team. At any rate, everyone's heard the gripes about management and coaching and Sherman Lewis' "fresh set of eyes", but there's still football to be played. Played badly, perhaps, but played nonetheless.

Capitals 3, Predators 2: The Caps won in a dramatic shootout -- we'll have a full recap tomorrow.

by DCist contributor Brett Gellman The Coastal Division of the ACC is representing the conference well, as two teams are currently ranked in the Top 25. It's going to be a real battle between Virginia Tech, Miami (FL), and Georgia Tech to see who will ultimately reach the conference championship game in Tampa Bay. As for the Atlantic Division? Well, it's just an utter mess.

              

The cold, blustery and wet conditions at RFK Stadium were nothing short of appropriate for the United States' final World Cup qualifier, really: the fitting backdrop for the conclusion of a road trip which has seen little sunshine for the men's national team. In the light of the car crash which severely injured forward Charlie Davies, most of the 26,243 on hand focused their meditations on one question: would the accident inspire the Americans to perform at the peak of their abilities, or would they simply fall flat in a match that both math and the accident had rendered much less of a priority?

So much for the "action" part of this post. The only professional sporting involving a team from the area last night was an exhibition basketball game; the Wizards won -- Gilbert Arenas had 24 and Antawn Jamison had 15 and 11 -- but c'mon, who really cares about an exhibition NBA game? Yes, although October may be one of the best months on the national sporting calendar, we in Washington are in a bit of a lull. The Redskins are pathetically struggling to make it through the easiest schedule stretch in NFL history at .500. The Capitals are on their first slump of the year, though it's still early. Our local college football teams, for the most part, are nothing to call home about, and hoops doesn't really kick in for another month or so. D.C. United is winding down a disappointing campaign, the Wizards are still in first gear, and the Nationals are stuck wondering how they can get their city to watch them on TV.