This caused Nats GM Mike Rizzo to react. And react in the most awesome way possible. Via Adam Kilgore at The Post:

“Players take care of themselves. I’ve been I’ve never seen a more classes, gutless chicken shit act in my 30 years in baseball. Cole Hamels says he’s old school? He’s the polar opposite of old school. He’s fake tough. He thinks he’s going it intimidate us after hitting our 19-year rookie eight games into the big leagues? He doesn’t know who he’s dealing with. He thinks he’s sending a message to us of being a tough guy. He’s sending the polar opposite message. He says he’s being honest, well, I’m being honest. It was a gutless chicken shit fucking act. That was a fake-tough act. No one has ever accused Cole Hamels of being old school. This goes beyond rivalry and all that stuff. This points to, you take the youngest guy in baseball. He’s never done a thing. And then Hamels patted himself on the back. Harper’s old school. Hitting him on the back, that ain’t old school. That’s fucking chicken shit.”

This rivalry is getting really fun. Also: The Nats are 4.5 games ahead of the last place Phillies. Can not wait til they play again in two weeks.

Byce Harper, Ross Detwiler lift Nats over D-Backs. [Fed. Baseball]

Harper delivers another RBI, appears to have no ceiling. [Nats Enq.]

Even on the Left Coast, folks know Harper is the real deal. [SFC]

Tonight begins “Take Back The Park” Nats-Phils series. [WSJ]

Philly Sucks: Fans still plan to “March on Washington.” [PDN]

J-Reid: Nats can make statement, kick “unwanted” Phils fans out. [WaPo]

Even with Stras and Harper, Nats attendance struggles.* [WaPo]

Get ready for a whole lot of #NATITUDE, people. [DCSBN, Bog]

Adam LaRoche talks about injury while wearing awesome shirt. [CSNW]

After brutal Game 3 loss, Dale Hunter gives Caps the day off. [WaPo]

Karl Alzner has dogs that hate triple overtime losses. [CSNW]

Top 10 Caps gifs from playoffs thus far. [Japers' Rink]

Braden Holtby’s mom is awesome. [Russian Machine Never Breaks]

Looking for a cold one? Try a Crosby’s Tears Ale. [Puck Daddy]

Skins rookies will take the field today, and that means RGIII. [CSNW]

RGIII likely to sign four year, $21 million deal as No. 2 pick. [WaPo]

The one where Skins rookie Josh LeRibeus stabbed a carnie. [DCSBN]

Skins 2011 season as shown in GIFs. [Hogs Haven]

Career of Mariano Rivera, best there ever was, might be done. [NYT]

Looks like soccer heads won’t get Chelsea vs. Milan in DC. [DCSBN]

Metro will suck this weekend. Metro reaction: Deal With It. [WaPo]

* Ed. note: It’s May, attendance numbers will be fine once summer comes.

]]> http://misterirrelevant.com/index.php/2012/05/04/dmv-its-natitude-time/feed/ 5 http://misterirrelevant.com/index.php/2012/02/07/nationals-fans-phillies-fans/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nationals-fans-phillies-fans http://misterirrelevant.com/index.php/2012/02/07/nationals-fans-phillies-fans/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:55:11 +0000 Jamie Mottram http://misterirrelevant.com/?p=23949 The headline is a bit overblown, I’ll admit, but the blowback from the Nats’ “Take Back the Park” campaign is annoying. So, a few points for those who attempt to ridicule the Nats for having worse fans than the Phillies:

1. The Phillies have had 120-plus years to build their shitty little fanbase.

2. The Phillies have been a winning team for the past nine seasons. As a general rule, winning teams have more support than losing teams.

3. Bad Phillies teams actually drew less fans than bad Nats teams.

To that last point, the Nats have existed in Washington for seven seasons and have yet to field a winning team. They’ve averaged 26,000 fans/game. The last time the Phillies went seven years without a winner was 1994-2000, and they averaged 24,000.

Meaning, I wish we had a reason to invade Philly in the ’90s, if we were that obnoxious and it was actually a city worth visiting.

Winners

Brian Orakpo — Picked up two sacks and a forced fumble, which is pretty much his greatest game ever vs. an NFC East foe.

Evan Royster — Picked up over five yards/carry and recorded 167 total yards (giving him 314 in two starts). The highlight was a 28-yard run in which he evaded four or five tacklers before falling over.

Roy Helu — Had a 47-yard TD despite a bad wheel that prompted Ron Pitts to say, “He is definitely gimping.” Gimping!

Draft position — With the loss, the Skins appear headed for sixth.

Losers

Danny Smith — Special teams were a hot mess in so many ways: holding on a fair catch, shanking a punt, committing multiple block-in-the-back penalties on one return, giving up a big punt return and, of course, allowing yet another blocked field goal, their fifth of the season. Fire Danny Smith.

Kyle Shanahan — I don’t know who to blame for the sequence at the end of the first half that resulted in time expiring without an attempted FG, but Kyle it is. Incredible incompetence. Also, 10 points.

Rex Grossman — That was a flat-out ugly game for the Sex Cannon.

London Fletcher — Only made four tackles, which is weird. Also missed a tackle on Brent Celek’s 30-yard catch-and-run.

Donte Stallworth — Called for unsportsmanlike conduct after “going to the ground” to celebrate a TD that was not his own. The celebration, which was a shoe-shining thing, I think, was lame to boot.

DeAngelo Hall and Perry Riley — Teamed up to totally not make the tackle on Chad Hall’s TD.

Rocky McIntosh — Inactive today. Probably done as a Redskin. Great second-round pick, there.

Brandon Banks — Returned two punts for -1 yard.

Mike Shanahan — Not only did the Redskins lose badly to a division rival to finish the season 5-11, but they did so while making tons of mistakes. In addition to everything listed under Danny Smith and Kyle Shanahan, Shanny also challenged a call that was clearly correct. He lost that too.

Medium

O.J. Atogwe — Caught a gimme INT. Also gave up a long TD to DeSean Jackson and later flexed after tackling a RB for a 20-yard gain.

Santana Moss — Dropped a long gainer. Was later flagged for taking his helmet off after not getting the call; he was right, but still.

Even with such a clear line to gaining or losing such vital draft position, I just can’t do it. Beat Philly, and end this misery on a high note.

Kickoff: 1 p.m. ET
Line: Redskins +9
Prediction: Eagles by 6
Beer: No matter the outcome of this game, I will be having an Ayinger Celebrator to close the season. Thank God that’s over with. — Mr. I Beer Guy Chris Larkum

RMNB did a really nice job on these Jaromir Jagr signs for the mullet-headed one’s return to D.C. [Russian Machine Never Breaks]

It didn’t matter though as the Caps lost 5-1 to Philly. [Japers' Rink]

Tomas Voukoun had a “terrible performance,” says Vokoun. [Caps Insider]

Joe Theismann gave Hall, Davis and Williams a nice ripping. [Bog]

Awesome, quick highlight videos from Wizards practice. [Truth About It]

The best NBA blog in the world previews the 2011-12 Wizards. [BDL]

Explainer for what’s happening with Nick Young’s free agency. [Wiz Insider]

A Nats prospect proposed to his Titans cheerleader girlfriend. [Bog]

O’s sign Japanese lefty Tsuyoshi Wada for 2 years, $8m. [Camden Chat]

More on Wada, who’s known as “the Dr. K of Tokyo.” [Krem's Sports]

It’s about time Baltimore got rid of Luke Scott. [Dempsey's Army]

VT ranked 25th-best college football job in America. [Outkick the Coverage]

Maryland has yet another transfer, their seventh. [Testudo Times]

D.J. Adams’ blond hair was apparently an issue for Randy Edsall. [Bog]

JMU football outdrew 46 I-A schools. JMU! [JMU Sports Blog]

Dan Snyder is Romney supporter. Ted Leonsis is an Obama supporter. [Bog]

Winners

Oshiomogho Atgowe — The free agent signee played his best game as a Redskin. Atogwe registered six tackles and a crucial interception of Michael Vick on the goal line.

John Beck — Beck was a winner in this game because he was not Rex Grossman. We will get to Rex a little later, but Beck showed good speed and awareness in his time on the field. His stats were fairly pedestrian, 8 for 17 for 117 yards, but he also added a touchdown on a nifty QB sneak. Most importantly, he didn’t throw four interceptions.

Fred Davis — Ol’ Sleepy Davis hauled in six catches for 95 yards. He was the only receiver Rex could hit consistently, and he kept that same flow when Beck entered the game. The Redskins still had quality tight end play despite Chris Cooley leaving the game with a broken finger.

LaRon Landry — Quietly led the team with eight tackles and delivered one big hit on Vick. Pressure from Landry also forced Eagles backup QB Vince Young into a bad throw that was intercepted by DeAngelo Hall.

Sav Rocca – That dude keeps pinning punts inside the 10-yard line. Sadly, we didn’t get to see Rocca that much because Rex kept throwing picks.

Medium

DeAngelo Hall — He had to make the list somewhere. Hall picked off the errant Vince Young pass, but he also got burned on a deep ball that seemed like he should have been able to make a play on. Also, he had a serious whiff on a LeSean McCoy run.

Rocky McIntosh — The linebacker from the U is having one of his best seasons as a Redskin. He just seems to know the 3-4 defense well this year, and he made six tackles in the Philly game.

The Defense – Though the game was ugly, the defense kept the Redskins in the game. After the first quarter, the Skins D basically shut down the Eagles, blanking the Birds in the second half. If only the Skins had some offense, which brings us to …

Losers

REX GROSSMAN – REX PLAYED AWFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The stats show plenty (9 for 22 for 140 yards and four picks). Yes, four picks. Grossman got benched for Beck, and I’d venture a guess that Beck starts next week in Carolina.

Ryan Torain, Roy Helu — Maybe it was not their fault, but neither running back did anything. Injuries to Trent Williams and Kory Lichtensteiger hurt the run game, but Torain had a bad drop of a Beck pass and Helu never got to show off his speed.

Offensive Line — Losing two starters is going to hurt any line, but when the offense is as ineffective as thee Redskins were against Philly, the line has to take a large portion of the blame.

Matt Terl: Eagles, 24-17

I want to believe. Really, I do. I’ve got faith in the Shanahans. I loved the offseason moves, and they’ve largely played out the way I hoped. Rex, for all his faults, is at worst a serviceable NFL quarterback. But … it’s the Eagles, and I keep thinking about last year’s Monday Night Massacre. It’s the Redskins off a bye, which has been bad news for three years running. And it’s the Redskins just when people are starting to consider believing in them, which is usually a guarantee that things are going to go wrong. A win this week will totally change my tone, but for now I have to give the edge to a desperate Eagles team whose season is almost certainly on the line.

Andy Peden: Eagles, 34-24

I hate everything about this game. The Eagles are clearly desperate, and I hate betting against the desperate team. So far this year, they moved the ball in huge chunks only to turn it over. This will be the game where they have no turnovers and put it all together which will lead to a ton of highlights from last year’s MNF game. The Eagles D is soft. The gameplan should be to pound the rock with the Skins RBs getting 30-35 carries, but I’m guessing Rex gets to drop back way too much. With a Skins win, the Eagles are officially done. I’m not that fortunate. Hide the bourbon, cause I’d probably drink it all.

JP Finlay: Eagles, 27-24

I hate Eagles week. I get excited for Dallas week, and playing the Giants always generates a ton of emails with my NY/NJ friends from college, but Eagles week, it just sucks.

I’m not sure how, or even why, but the Skins are going to lose. And I fear it will be a heartbreaker. My gut says we take a close lead into the fourth quarter, but through boneheaded playcalling from Kyle Shanahan and electric play from Mike Vick, the Skins lose late. It will be close, but this ain’t horseshoes.

Todd Davis: Redskins, 27-20

Eagles make a few explosive plays, but Skins dominate time of possession and relentlessly expose Philly’s utter futility up the middle on defense. Torain, Helu both over 100 yards. Without Jason Peters, Kerrigan/Orakpo may dismember Vick. Keep an eye out for JMU’s own Akeem Jordan. Great to see a fellow Duke out there, but he’s just another undersized guy in Philly’s front seven.

Jack Kogod: Eagles, 28-23

Bad feelings here. I’m sure the Redskins will move the ball, I’m just not sure about their ability to finish drives.

Chris Mottram: Eagles, 31-24

Me: Redskins, 24-21

Composite prediction: Eagles, 26-23

A lot of us are a little touchy about almost blowing it at St. Louis, but at least we’re not Eagles fans, though it would be cool to go by “eatdatpussy445.”

ESPN the Magazine’s “What If Michael Vick Were White” piece is getting a lot of (negative) attention today, but I don’t know what the big deal is; they just photoshopped Colt Brennan in an Eagles jersey.