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The comments: should DC have a MLB team?
What a race! I happened to be on the road from Tim S's place in Charlotte going back to DC on Sunday, so I stopped off at my parent's house to wish dad a happy father's day and valuate some food items. The race was on, so we watched the last 70 laps together. Nothing like NASCAR and family, is there?
With 43 laps to go, the caution flag came out for the 80th time. Man, were there some cautions in this race. Y'all got some good DNF points this week, seeing how almost a third of the field ended the race in their trailers. Anyway, the caution comes out and everyone hits the pits to tank up on gas. Most teams figured it'd be a splash & go stop, because 43 laps where each lap is 2.5-miles long is just too far to go on one tank. So bam, in and out, everyone had pit stops of under 10 seconds. Except, that is, for Texas Thunder Mr. Atlanta Master of the Monster Paladin of Poconos Bobby Labonte. He took on four brand new tires. The long pit time put him back out on the track in tenth place, which is not where you want to be with only 40 laps left, but Jimmy Makar knew what he was doing. Earlier in the day, teammate Tony Stewart had gone 42 laps before pitting, and Jimmy figured Bobby's car would do the same.
It seemed like another mileage race was shaping up. If things stayed green, the top 9 guys would have to come in at some point, leaving Bobby out there in first. But things didn't stay green. About fifteen laps later, another caution flag came out. That meant several laps of low-speed caution driving, which conserves gasoline big time. Most teams determined that they could probably go the distance thanks to the caution.
What they didn't determine was that Bobby was reeling in cars regardless of their pit strategy. Knowing he had the gas to go more than the distance, he was charging hard on his fresh tires. Even so, it wasn't a lock that Texas Thunder would take the checkered. Bobby has done poorly at the flat Poconos track in the past, and he's terrible on restarts after a caution. He held tight, though, and despite 3 more cautions in the final 35 laps, he never slipped up. He just kept reeling in cars under green, and no one out there had anything for him. They all had gas, but they didn't have the determination or the breadth of character to hold off one of America's unsung heroes.
Other stuff happened in the race, but who cares?
In recent weeks we've been letting our picks do the talking, and we've used our comments to address the most pressing issues of the day. This week we turned our attention to the question of whether or not Washington, DC, should have a major-league baseball team. This question is fiendish in its intricacies, because several of our members live in the DC area, while the rest are spread out around the world (world meaning U.S.). I asked you should DC have a franchise, and if so, what should it be named. There were great responses all around. Let's get some highlights.
[Chris] The main reason DC shouldn't have a baseball team is that they already have enough sorry professional teams. I think the regions quota for losers has already been exceeded. REason #2, already enough overpaid whiners in the District.
Chris is right on both points, if you ask me. Chris and I both live in the DC area, and I can back him up on what he says. Duncan seems to have similar feelings, although he lives in the south:
Very intellectual flavor of the week. However, there should be no real controversy or question regarding the name: "Washington CrackWhores." I think it captures a lot of what lovely RFK and the surrounding area have to offer. (No offense intended to the locals.) Many a night former Mayor Marion must have sat around in a Super 8 in a crank induced haze surrounded by his ladies of the evening dreaming about the day America's former pastime (baseball) would come together with our nation's current one (crack) in teh capital of this great land.
I haven't actually been to RFK, so I can't say one way or the other about it's surroundings. It's interesting how people outside the capital region have such a negative attitude about former mayor Marion Barry because of his drug conviction. If only y'all knew of the many, many non-drug-related reasons he was a terrible mayor. Like, oh, I don't know, maybe the part where he sent the city spiralling into a decade-long toilet flush moneywise, crimewise, and educationwise.
[Nathan] Washington should have a baseball team if and only if they don't name it after a racial slur. For a majority minority city, Washington sure has an offensively named football team. NASCAR again shows itself to be a superior sport in this category. The only slur you'll find in this organization is in the title of the "Cracker Barrel 400."
Amen, brother. Amen. Let's see what my dad had to say:
As the nation's capital, DC should certainly have a team in the "national passtime". If the politicians can go to games more, they'll have less time to screw up the country. The team should not be given a name until the Washington Professional Football Club changes theirs. As the only "Dad" listed on the pool participants' roster, I thought all of you would be sending me gifts. I'm still waiting...
I'm sure I sent you something. In fact, I believe I sent you a present months ago. Sometime in December it was. Anyway, it looks like Nathan and my dad are right in sync on this one. But Tim, in an eloquent response, says the following:
Washington, DC should never ever ever have a major league baseball franchise. Baltimore is only 40 minutes away. Also, how would a baseball team make DC seem like a real city? If the Capitol Building, White House, Supreme Court, Smithsonian Museums, MCI Center, etc. can't do that, I don't believe a baseball stadium would help. Speaking of the MCI Center, that was a bright move. The Capitals and Wizards have the highest ticket prices in professional sports. Quick note: the Caps and Wizards put a price of $48.50 on all tickets, even though they charge much higher for many of them. The reason is b/c members of Congress are not allowed to accept gifts over $50 from lobbyists. Yes, let's not forget that DC had a major league team until the early 80's. They were so popular they had to move to Minnesota, a team that couldn't draw more than 6,000 fans if they tried.
Those are some great comments from Tim "Who left that drop of water on the counter?" S. He makes the Baltimore point and the former baseball team point. He also has the skinny on the pricing at the MCI center. His most powerful point, however, is the one about how the museums and fixtures of American government should make DC the capital, not its sports teams. Very good. You would've gotten bonus points if our last member, Kevin "Sobriety is for Suckers" K. hadn't come up with a tour de force of insight, comedy, and ethnic slurs against the Irish (by the way, last count showed DC as having about 8 people of Irish decent). Here are his comments, in their entirety.
Anyone who's been out to R.F.K. Stadium knows it needs some new cash poored into it and the neighborhood. (I'm not sure, but I think the initials stand for Really F*cking Krappy.) And, hey, what better way to revitalize a neighborhood than to build a new stadium? Just ask all the poor people evicted by the construction of Fulton County Stadium and then Turner Field here in Atlanta. Now that they're gone, their old neighborhood looks great!
The old Washington team name, the Senators, is useless. Not only has it been appropriated by a bunch of toothless Ottowan hockey players, but it makes you think of, well, U.S Senators. That august body has changed a lot since the 1950s, even if Strom Thurmond *has* been seated there for the past five decades.
So a new one is needed. In the same way that pro teams of Kansas City used to be themed around royalty (the Royals, the Chiefs, the Kings, and even the Negro League Monarchs), the Washington teams are already themed around racism. The Redskins are an obvious one, but there's also the Wizards (an obvious reference to the Klan) and the black-eagle emblem of the D.C. United (clearly a Nazi-style group). Even the Capitals play on the white surface of ice with a white building as its mascot.
So I'd say that if Washington does manage to lure the Expos away from its five fans, I'd suggest the following names:
1) The Washington Whiteys
2) The Capital City Caucasians
3) The D.C. Drunken Irishmen
(Notre Dame may have a copyright on that last one.)
Way to go, Kevin. You should take your snappy, Sinbad-esque material on the road. Except for Kevin's comments, I did some editing here for space. You should click here to check out the great comments from all the players in full.
Nathan extended his lead with a great week in the points. The thing that really put him over the top was his pick of Nemechek to win -- I mean DNF. My dad had his best week ever, picking Bobby Labonte to do exactly what he did. There were several critical DNF's this week. Neil, Will, my mom, and Ryan all missed the show.
This Week
|
Name & Position |
Points |
|
1. Nathan |
55 |
|
2. Dad |
50 |
|
3. Kevin K. |
45 |
|
3. Sharon |
45 |
|
5. Duncan |
40 |
|
6. Tim |
40 |
|
7. Chris |
35 |
|
8. Sandro |
30 |
|
8. Sean |
30 |
|
9. Dad |
30 |
Sharon and Kevin got enough points to bump me out of third place. I got enough points to make me want to quit the pool.
|
Name & Pos. |
Total Points |
Position Last Week |
Number of Starts |
Average Points per Start |
|
1. Nathan |
705 |
1 |
15 |
46.4 |
|
2. Sean |
675 |
2 |
15 |
46 |
|
3. Kevin K. |
590 |
4 |
14 |
42 |
|
3. Sharon |
590 |
4 |
15 |
39 |
|
5. Sandro |
585 |
3 |
15 |
39 (I'm slipping) |
|
6. Tim |
560 |
6 |
14 |
40 |
|
6. Chris |
540 |
6 |
15 |
36.1 |
|
8. Dad |
520 |
9 |
15 |
33.5 |
|
9. Will |
480 |
8 |
11 |
43.6 |
|
10. Duncan |
460 |
11 |
10 |
42 |
|
11. Mom |
385 |
10 |
13 |
29.6 |
|
12. Neil |
345 |
12 |
13 |
25.8 |
|
13. Ryan |
305 |
13 |
11 |
27.7 |
|
14. Guy |
220 |
14 |
6 |
40 |
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