Am I the only one who almost went off the side of the road, because the extremely dull tone and snail like pace of the “John Thompson” show lulled me to sleep?

Well fear not loyal ESPN 980 listeners, AL KOKEN has been axed!  Technically his contract was not renewed.  But regardless, sound the trumpets!!!

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate Al Koken as a person.  I’ve actually worked with him in the past and he is very sharp on the world of sports.  However, his presence on  ”Afternoon Napping with John Thompson,” was a huge contributor to the shows boring pace.  I will give you this Kokin, you have a great knowledge of hockey and your predictions have been Nostradamus like, but you are BORING!!

What will become of the John Thompson Show?  Oh yea, I remember now, who cares!!  All I know is that no more Smoking Al, good riddance and unhappy trails, stick with hockey and stop trying to put me to sleep.

FOR OTHERS TIRED OF THE JOHN THOMPSON SHOW, TUNE TO 106.7 WJFK, IT’S BETTER.

It feels like Spring has finally made it’s way to DC, you can see it in the pollen covered cars, the seasonal runners out from their hibernation and the smell of ICE. 

It’s Round 1 Game 7 for the Caps tonight in what is becoming an annual event.  Ovechkin has done it all this series including an all out defensive stop in game 3 to scoring another YouTube worthy goal in game 5.  Tonight however is different, throw out the accolades and achievements, it’s game seven time, loser goes home.  Ovechkin can cement his place as a mythical DC sports star with a victory tonight.

Even more important than the Capitals exercising the demons from last year, is the thought they hold the state of the dc sports landscape in the palm of their hands.  After a depressing season by the Wizards, a lackluster 0-11 start for the Nationals and another “What are you doing” draft day for the geniuses. The Capitals can turn the spotlight on hockey and begin a run that could last more than one season. 

Look I’m selfish, most sports fans are, I need to feel good about the DC area teams.  Go Caps!!

Here are some random thoughts…….

Is it bad that Mel Kiper and Todd McShey make me vomit uncontrollably?

I have to give a shout out to the Red Sox… 11 in a row… After a sweep of the Yanks at Fenway…. Beautiful steal be Ellsbury.

Can’t forget about Champions League Semis today.  Let’s go Blues.  Barcelona has a video game like attack featuring Eto’, Messi and Henry, that Sports fans is RIDICULOUS.

That’s all for today, I will actively attempt to write more in the near future… Have you seen the Rooster?

For those who thought I was dead, or that may be the DCSPORTSPULSE was dead, think again suckas!!

I’m very much alive, but in a sports sense, I’m dying inside.  There hasn’t been too much to write about on a positive side other than the Caps, and I’ll be honest, I know shit about hockey.

Please comment if you do know about hockey, so I can steal your ideas and use them as my own.

The cancer that is Wizards basketball is sending me in a downward spiral.  Something I love to talk about and write about is now so hollow.  Ernie Grunfeld, where are you, and what did you do with the Washington Wizards?

Poor Eddie Jordan, replaced by a lame duck in Ed Tapscott, the same Ed Tapscott, who just two seasons ago was doing Wizards post-game.  Oh yea, put that on your resume.  In retrospect, it may have not been Eddies fault, but hind sight is 20/20 my friend. (Dirty Work reference)

It would have been nice to see someone with credibility get promoted, like Randy Ayers.  At least he would’ve made them play defense.  If you would have told me two seasons ago, when Haywood took his own name plate down from is locker, that if they let that Jabroni go, the Wiz would plummet to the worst record in the EAST, no in the whole NBA.  If you said that to me I would have called the police and had you arrested for smoking crack.

Here we sit now and that statement is true.  Haywood, that goofy soft son-of-a-bitch actually mattered.  I just want to scream sometimes.  Oh yea, where is GILBERT ARENAS?  I wish I could be paid 111 million dollars to sit on my ass.  How come Ivan Carter can’t tell us when he is coming back, that’s your job.

Ok, I’m getting heated, but can you blame me.  This team did nothing in the off-season to get better, and now they are paying the price.  Here is my wish list for the Wizards for next season:

1.) Find Gilbert Arenas and trade his ass.

2.) Let McGee play, stop babying him, if I read one more article about how raw he is, or that he’s going to be brought along slowly I’m going to pull my eyebrows out.

3.) Trade or release the following: Mike James, DeShawn Stevenson, Etan Thomas, Crintenton or however you spell it and BLATCHE.

4.) Give Tapscott is job at Comcast Sports back

5.) Instead of signing 15 guards, please get us some fucking depth at the 4 and 5.

I just want to say thanks to those who read this blog, I will be actively trying to post as much as I can, but if the Wiz stay like this and so do the Terps, you wont hear too much until Champions League.

Dr. Gonzo Reporting,

Have I fallen into a time warp of some sort?  Are the Wizards 0-5 again?  NO… NOT POSSIBLE!!!

Sorry Buck, for the second year in a row it is very very possible. 

I wonder what it’s like to live in Detroit or Boston or Phoenix, places where teams are expected to win, and guess what?  They do.  Places where teams don’t piss away November, places where teams are good in the beginning, middle and then peak at the end.  Ah, I dream of a Wizards team that can fully grasp that concept.

Now I’m well aware that Gil and Haywood are hurt and that Roger Mason is actually playing quality minutes with the Spurs, but WHY?  What physical or mental deficiency do the Wizards have, that cause them to play like the pre- D’antoni Knicks in November?

It’s about time to hit the panic button.  The East is way, way better.  The Hawks are for real (so far), the Celtics are dominant again, the Pistons just picked up “AI” and the Heat and Magic look ready for a playoff push.  Oh, yea and Lebron is Lebron.  Can’t wait til he jams the ball on Christmas day and puts his nuts on some poor excuse for a Wizards big man, I’m going with Peche.

So far, not so good.  Blatche, please play hard every night or just go away.  And what about Etan. Were we really to believe that a guy who sat out for a whole year, would be able to come in and be a dominant starting center.  He’s undersized to begin with. 

EDDIE, START JAVELLE MCGEE, NOW!!  The future is now, dumb down your impossible to learn offense so he can jam the ball down peoples throats.  I know Dee Brown can throw an alley oop, I’ve seen it.

My big problem is that even if the Zards turn it around, they wont do shit in the playoffs.  Guess what, they are still the same team that has lost three consecutive series to the Cavaliers.  No, wait I’m sorry, there worse than those teams, at lease on paper.  The Zards lost their big man that no one wanted two seasons ago, but who apparently was our rock of defense. Holy shit it doesn’t look good. 

If this team is still hovering around .500 at the trade deadline, please Ernie, please make a move.  I know some guys on your team that we could ship in a second, Peche sucks, Songalia is too slow, Daniels is too old, Deshawn thinks he can shoot, and Etan Thomas is nothing more than a POWER FORWARD….NOT A CENTER.

I apologize to the readers for my angry tone.  My cynicism is getting the best of me.  Yes, I’m aware that there are some positives, like Nick Young, Butler, Jamison, Dixon and McGee, but the negatives seem to outweigh them this season.  Nick Young needs to start, stop babying him.  Remember this franchise thrives on the big three, right now you have a big two and a bunch of wanna be scrubs.  Young equals “BIG THREE.”

Hey guess what Wizards fans, Gilbert Arenas isn’t walking through that door.  This may be a season to forget, but lets pray it’s not.

Until the Wizards get their first win, Steve Buckhantz and Phil Chenier should be put on suicide watch, no one hurts more when the Zards lose than those guys.  It seems like decades ago since the last time I heard a “DAGGER” go our way.

PG-Daniels, Dixon(Sixth Man), Brown
SG-Young, Stevenson
SF-Butler, McGuire
PF-Jamison, Songalia, Blatche
C-Etan, McGee, Songalia, Pech, Blatche if we must

The problem with this team lies in the offense’s inability to take advantage of fortuitous situations. A recovered onside kick in the beginning of the game leads to a short field yet they fail to even get a first down. Then an interception by Griff off a tipped pass but again, not even a first down. We settled for two field goals when we should have gone right for the jugular. Granted the Steelers have the #1 defense but a great team, and that is what we thought we had here in DC, a great team would have at least put the ball in the end zone once in this situation. Everyone wants to talk about how Zorn is much more fiery and brings more excitement to this team than Gibbs II. But the truth is this team is starting to look more and more like the Gibbs era than the Zorn era. Like Gibbs’ team, this team cannot score touchdowns. In fact the Redskins are tied for 19th with 3 other teams, Miami, San Fransisco, and Baltimore, in scoring despite having the leagues leading rusher and a QB who before last night had a rating over 100. How could this be?! You never want your team mentioned in the same sentence as Baltimore and Miami when scoring is the subject. So is Zorn really a genius? Is he a Zornstar? Or did D.C get a little carried away with a strong 6-2 start. The second half of the season will tell the tale. But in my opinion this is still a work in progress.

Beasts:
London Fletcher- Continues to be the heart and soul of a very good Redskin defense
Chris Horton- I’m convinced, Vinny actually found a gem.
D-Line- Got pressure on Burger and held fast Willie in check for most of the game

Herbs:
Carlos Rogers- Another dropped interception which could have been the game changer + pass interference= HERB
Jason Campbell- Looked lost and scared all game. Even at the end when most QB’s rack up their “garbage yardage” Campbell still looked inept.
Zorn- Called a poor game. We need more shotgun and no huddle for Campbell.
O-Line- Gave Campbell very little time. Jansen may be demoted again.
ESPN.com- For keeping the Redskins at number 5 in the power rankings. No way is this the fifth best team in the league right now.

Clinton Portis was the target of much of my venom earlier in the year. Not only did he call out his offensive line just days after a season opening loss to the Giants but he fantasized of playing with his old squad, The Denver Broncos. For these remarks he earned Herb of the Week honors. What a difference a month makes.

Now Clinton not only finds himself as the NFC offensive player of the week but more importantly the Beast of the Week, courtesy of The DC Sports Pulse. During the Skins impressive four game winning streak Clinton has gained 430 yards and averaged 4.7 yards per carry. Pretty good for a guy many think is over paid and under performing. He was great against Dallas but last week against Philly he was “money in the bank shawty what u drank”. During a game in which Santana Moss was held to 0 catches “Sheriff Gonna Getcha” came up huge. He literally carried the Redskins past Philly and into the NFL spotlight(#3 in ESPN’s power rankings). So what now for Portis?. Will he be satisfied with back to back 100 yard games and straight pockets? This blogger thinks not. In fact, Portis is due for a HUGE year. With a much improved passing game to pull that 8th man out of the box don’t be surprised to see “Southeast Jerome” go for over 1,500 this season. Yup, the days of Clinton calling out his lineman and Redskins great Brian Mitchell seem like a decade ago. What is fresh in the mind of Redskins fans today is a 4-1 record and a rushing attack that ranks 5th in the NFL do in large part to our very own Clinton Portis. CP, how could I hate thee?

Dr. Gonzo Reporting,

Just when I was feeling good about professional sports in this area, the Wizards go and tear my dreams apart.  Well not intentionally at least.

It was reported today that the much improved Brendan Haywood, will miss 4-6 months, not weeks, nursing a wrist injury.  WHY!!  First we lose Gil til January, then Jamison goes down in the first preseason game of the year, now this.  I can’t take it anymore.

Jamison’s x-ray yesterday revealed a knee contusion, but he vows to be back for the first game of the year in the phone booth against the New Jersey Nets.

Even if Jamison is ready to go by the home and season opener, losing Haywood may be a bigger blow than losing Gil.  Haywood improved his game by leaps and bonds last year, setting career highs in points, rebounds and blocks.  Haywood’s defense was much improved, and not having his 7 foot frame in the middle will be a serious handicap to the Wizards chances this season.

More troubling is the fact that injuries to the Wizards is becoming a huge trend.  It seems like Butler and Gil go down every year, but not Haywood and Jamison.  Jamison has been injury free for so long, this was bound to happen, I guess?  I’ve asked this before, but here goes: Is there something wrong with the Wizards training staff?

Why do we suffer so many injuries at the worst times?  Why are Wiz players sidelined for so long?  Who is in control?

Whatever the answers are to these questions, we may never know.  Instead we must focus on what we now have.  Blatche returns after a solid year in which he saw his minutes and production improve, Darius Songalia is back and healthy, Dominic Maguire is one year older, the rookie McGee is raw, but had 20 points and 8 boards against the Grizzles last night, and then there is the return of Etan.

They say Etan is in great shape, but he has a year of rust.  All signs point to him having a solid bounce back year and now he wont have to worry about sharing time with Haywood, who we know isn’t his best buddy on the team.

I’ve got my finger on the panic button.  The East has improved so much, the Bucks got better, the Raptors and Sixers got bigger, the Magic are tougher, the Heat are healthy and hungry and even the Bobcats and Knicks have better coaches who know how to win.  Oh yea, and I forgot to mention LeBron, the Pistons and that big three in Boston.  Where have all the cupcakes gone?

I pray we hear, “Dagger” rather than “No…Not Possible!!” all year.  But right now it doesn’t look good Buckhantz.