Ovechkin's Legend Continues To Grow

Very few fan bases get to witness a legend being made right before their eyes.  Even fewer get to see that happen to someone who has already established themselves as one of the greatest players to ever play their sport, but that is what Capitals fans have witnessed over the last two playoff series.  Alex Ovechkin continued his march out of his stat compiler purgatory on Wednesday Night by winning a Game 7 on the road to win the Eastern Conference Championship.  That win caused a frenzied scene in DC that was a personification of the frustration that DC Sports Fans have felt over the last 25 years without cheering for a team in a championship capacity.  DC fans, though, should not see Ovechkin's feats this year in the playoffs as merely a necessary means to break an arbitrary curse.  They should appreciate it for what it is; one of the greatest players of his generation finally getting the chance to fulfill his destiny in a Washington Capitals uniform.  Few fan bases get to see something like this because it is not the normal way that sports legends are made.

When a player gets drafted to be the savior of a franchise it usually does not take them as long, or go through as arduous of a career, as Alex Ovechkin has to make good on that promise.  Usually the savior comes in and within 5-8 years they lead their team into a position to win a championship.  Look at Jordan, Lebron, Gretzky, Bonds, Kobe, Crosby (sorry Caps fans, but its true), or Peyton Manning.  These greats had early growing pains, but within a short time frame they were able to lead their teams to the championship rounds, and most of them were able to win it all.  Even stat mongers like Dan Marino and Karl Malone were able to get to the gates of promised land early on, even if they were never able to finish the job. Capitals fans, though, are watching a unique career arc that has made this Stanley Cup berth all the more special.  For twelve years Alex Ovechkin has garnered numerous individual accolades without even having a chance to compete for a Conference Championship.  He has had to persevere through numerous coaching changes, accusations of lax work ethic, yearnings from the fan base to trade him from Washington, and countless epithets about  how his time to win a championship had passed.  He now finds himself with a new centerpiece for his dining room table and chance to give Caps fans a storied career that no other fan base has witnessed.

This blog has written about Alex Ovechkin's championship futility time and again, and what it means for his place in the annals of DC Sports History.  If Ovechkin is able to win the Stanley Cup this year it will solidify him as the greatest athlete the DC area has ever seen.  Ovechkin has become one of the greatest goal scorers of all time, and he has taken a niche franchise and made it the toast of the town.  Even the Redskins are taking a back seat for the next two weeks as the Capitals try to bring the first professional championship to Washington DC in a quarter century.  Ovechkin has ignited the entire city, and he has drawn even the most novice of DC Sports fan into the Capitals' orbit through his perseverance through adversity.  No other major sports figure played 12 years in the same city and fought through countless write offs to finally deliver their fan base from misery.  Now he has the chance to achieve a level of greatness that no other sports figure has attained within the DC area, and he could give DC Fans a storied career that is unique to the DC Fan experience.  As the Caps take the ice in Las Vegas on Monday Night, Caps fans should keep in mind that Ovechkin has already made them privy to a unique making of a hockey legend and bringing a Stanley Cup to Washington will make them witness to the crowning of the new king of DC Sports. 

With Every Caps Win, The Redskins Lose

The Capitals Game 1 win over the Lightning is undeniable proof to all DC Sports fans that this team has what it takes to possibly bring the greatest trophy in all of professional sports to the Nation's Capital.  It is also proof that Caps are winning over a new generation of DC Sports fans at the expense of the Washington Redskins.  The Redskins are king when it comes to drawing the attention of DC Sports fandom, but for the first time their hegemony over the DC Sports landscape is under serious threat from a single entity.  The Washington Capitals have stolen the show this spring as they ended Washington's Conference Finals drought, and with every successive victory the Caps win over another portion of the fan base that has become disillusioned with the product coming out of Ashburn, Virginia.  The Capitals are winning over fans in all facets of the fan experience while the Redskins continue to rest on their laurels, and it begins with the team the Capitals have put together this season.

Everyone loves a winner, and the Capitals have certainly proven they can win, but people love a winner even more when they do it with resilience.  The Capitals have been one of the best teams in the NHL over the last decade when it comes to winning in the regular season, but those teams were more high flying flashy type teams that wilted under pressure.  The Caps this season have been more gritty.  No one expected them to do much, and yet they find themselves three wins away from playing for the Stanley Cup because they have proactively persevered through adversity.  They won the toughest division in the NHL this season.  They came back from down 2-0 in the First Round to beat the Blue Jackets.  They finally vanquished their nemesis without three of their top players playing for a majority of the series, and winning Game 6 on the road.  They won Game 1 against Tampa in a convincing fashion which no one thought possible.  The Capitals are winning with heart, but when was the last time that was said about any Redskins team?  RG3's rookie year?  Cousins' first year as a starter?  It is hard to remember a Redskins team that was called gritty or resilient, and no Redskins team has done that and reached the level the Caps have this season.  The Capitals are winning over fans by the level at which they play and the level they have reached in the playoffs, but signs of the Capitals take over of the Redskins' territory can also be seen in the fan experience over the past decade.

Forbes Magazine does an annual valuation of all professional sports teams, and a look at the Redskins and Capitals current value show signs that the Capitals are making headway into taking over a larger part of the DC Fan Base.  The Redskins are obviously worth more than the Caps in absolute value, but the Capitals have outstripped the Redskins in growth rate within the DC market.  Half of the Redskins value (54.5%) comes from the NFL revenue share, while only 19.9% can be attributed to market size and 7.3% can be attributed to their brand.  The last two percentages may be good indicators of how well a team markets themselves within their own city, and if that is the case the Capitals once again outstrip the Redskins.  The Capitals market size value is 41.3%, which makes sense considering they do not have a rival in Baltimore to contend with, but the Caps' brand value is also higher at 12.8%.  Wouldn't it make sense for the Redskins to have a higher brand value when they need to compete with a team that is a 90 minute drive away?  These values show that the Capitals are doing more to endear themselves to the fan base through promotion and savvy marketing techniques, and that they are making more of an effort to reach out to fans to try and draw them in.  DC fans have responded by spending more money at Capital One Arena than Fed Ex Field. 

Forbes Magazine also gives the numbers for net stadium revenue for each team, and the lack of growth in the net stadium revenue of the Redskins since 2010 is staggering.  The Redskins have only seen a 36% increase in revenue since 2010, which is the worst in the NFL since that time and it is not even close.  The Colts are the next closest to that number with a 45.1% increase, and the only other teams to have below 50% revenue increases are the Buccaneers and Raiders.  So the Redskins have shown poor growth relative to other teams in their sport, and it has nothing to do with the large amount of money they already made.  The only NFL teams in 2010 to have $300 Million or more in revenue were the Redskins, the Patriots, and the Cowboys.  The Patriots have seen an 80.8% increase in revenue for obvious reasons, and the Cowboys have seen a 100% increase in revenue.  The Cowboys increase has less to do with winning, and more to do with a new stadium being opened, but that goes to the notion that the Redskins stadium experience sucks.  Redskins fans are unwilling to spend money on the team and it shows in the Redskins' lack of revenue growth.  Compare those numbers to the Capitals who have seen a 78% increase in revenue since 2010 and it is not hard to see that the Capitals are providing a better fan experience at their stadium that fans have responded to in a more positive light through spending more money at Capital One Arena.  In fact, the Capitals 78% growth is fourth best in the NHL behind the Penguins, the Kings, and the Predators.  The Penguins and Kings have both won Stanley Cups in that time frame, but the Predators growth should be an omen to the Redskins of what could happen if the Capitals can just make the Stanley Cup Final.

Last year the Predators made the Stanley Cup Finals and put Nashville into a state of euphoria with their catfish and stadium experience.  They did not win the Cup, but that run created an organic frenzied scene around the Predators that carried over into this season.  Nashville was hungry for a winner and the Predators delivered, and the Capitals find themselves in a similar situation.  A generation of DC Sports fans have come and gone without seeing a winner, and they are finally getting one with the 2017 Capitals.  While the Capitals have slowly changed the gravitational fields within the DC Sports landscape through relentless marketing and a positive stadium experience, a Stanley Cup appearance would permanently draw the interest of everyone living in the DC Area.  The Redskins would no longer be the automatic choice for kids who grow up in this area because the Capitals win, and win with a style and stadium experience the Redskins cannot duplicate.  The Redskins have already been losing fans to the Capitals over this decade, and with every successive Capitals victory this year they draw more fans to a product that has a more likable team, a better fan and stadium experience, and a winning tradition.  Seven more victories, and the Redskins will need to share the spotlight with the new kings of DC Sports.

In the Pens Series the Magic Number for the Caps is One

The collective thought process going through the Capitals fan base after Monday Night's series clinching win over the Blue Jackets was a sarcastic "Here we go again".  For the third straight year, the Capitals will face the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and Caps fans let the hockey world know how they feel about this match up the only way they know how to deal with their emotions.  Cynical passive aggressiveness.  Caps fans are inundating the DC Sports landscape with sayings like "Get ready for another Game 7 loss", "I guess the Pens win the cup again this year", and "We better win in 5 games, otherwise we are not winning the series".  Caps fans already resigned themselves to being disappointed once they saw that a black and gold 87 would be on the opposing side in the second round, but the fan base's cynicism is not without warrant.  The numbers for the Caps vs. Pens playoff history have been bandied about over the past 48 hours, and none really favor the Capitals (quick note: most of these numbers came from Pensburgh Blog.  Please check it out for a good history of this playoff match up).  The Capitals are 1-9 against the Pens all time in playoff series, yet they are 8-2 in Game 1 of those series and they blew a 2-0 series lead in 2009.  The Pens are 4-0 against the Caps in Game 7's, and they are 11-2 against the Caps in playoff overtime games.  Finally, in all five (yes, get depressed Caps fans, FIVE) of Pittsburgh's Stanley Cup Championship runs they have defeated the Capitals en route to the promised land.  All of these numbers equate to good reasons for Caps fans to be cynical about this upcoming match up, but there is only one number that should be coursing through the Capitals' mind right now.  One.

The number one should be on the Capitals' minds because for the first time in the playoffs it feels as if the Caps have that one thing, that one guy, that all Stanley Cup Contenders seem to have once the playoffs roll around.  They have that one hot goaltender who finds his stride come the playoffs.  They have that one guy who comes out of nowhere to make significant contributions no one saw coming (Chandler Stephenson).  They have that one guy everyone forgot was really good, and now is showing everyone why he is really good through playoff production (John Carlson).  They have that one line that seems to have "it" whenever they are on the ice, and one that can give production outside of the superstars on the team (Connolly-Eller-DSP).  They have that one guy who is not going to take shit from anybody and prove it by knocking heads and putting points on the board (Tom Wilson).  They have that one superstar who can come through in the clutch (Nick Backstrom).  They have the one superstar who has proven why he is the greatest in the most important game of the playoffs to date.  Finally, the Caps have that one thing that has been lacking in all other playoff runs this past decade.  Grit.  These Capitals have a sense about them this year that they will never give up.  It has been honed throughout the season and it was on full display in the series against Columbus.  The 2-0 comeback, the double overtime goal in Game 3, the relentless penalty kill the last 4 games, Backstrom's OT redirect goal in Game 5, Stephenson's short handed goal in Game 6.  All of this shows how this Capitals team will not be fazed by adversity as easily has they have been in the past, and that is a good thing because the one thing that is most important in this upcoming series with the Pens is more tangible than grit.  Winning.

All it will take is one victory.  One time for Alex Ovechkin to get the better of his nemesis to make the fan base believe in themselves again.  It does not matter how many times the Penguins have ousted the Capitals in the past, all the Caps need to do is win this one series against their most hated rival to give the fan base back some dignity.  One time where Caps fans get to celebrate in their own building, their own city, and not have to watch this travesty again.  There have been too many times over the past decade where Caps fans' hopes have been dashed in gut wrenching fashion in the playoffs, but all of those don't matter now.  All that matter is that the Caps win this one series, one game at at time, to give Caps fans something to come back at Pens fans with when the discussion of playoff success comes up.  The Caps need to win this one series so that Ovechkin can say he got the better of Sidney Crosby at least once when it really mattered.  Finally, the Caps need to win this one series in order to break the playoff futility of all DC Sports in order to give the fan base the one thing they want.  The chance to see their team play for a championship.

The Nats Need to End the DC Curse

It all started when John Wall hit the game winning shot against the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals this past spring.  Wall's miraculous shot vaulted him into the upper echelon of DC playoff lore, but it unintentionally set off strife within the different fan bases within the DC Area.  There was an underlying resentment of the Wizards when John Wall prolonged their season and forced a Game 7 that could possibly end the DC Curse.  This resentment stemmed from the notion that John Wall's Wizards had not endured the playoff misery that some of the other DC teams had to earn the right to be the first DC professional sports team to make their conference final since 1998.  The Caps had met that threshold through their almost laughable playoff ineptitude in the first two rounds since 2008, especially with their propensity for blowing 3-1 series leads.  The Redskins fulfilled their duties by just plain sucking for the better part of the past two decades.  The Nationals have been the favorite to win the World Series at least twice over the past four years but fell short, including blowing that Game 5 lead against the Cardinals in 2012.  The Wizards had not experienced that kind of failed hype in the playoffs until this past spring, and all of DC sports fans were looking to one of the other three teams to break the DC Curse due to their collective impotence in the post season.  By sheer timing the Nationals are that team at the current moment.  A look into the deeper psyche of the DC Sports fan base shows that the Nats need to be the team that finally gets to a conference final to break the DC Curse for all teams in this area.

The argument for having the Nationals be the first DC team to reach their conference final since the 1998 Capitals is due the nature of baseball in the DC area.  There is the pride.  The original Washington Senators were one of the charter members of the fledgling American League in 1901.  The Senators also had Walter Johnson,who some argue is the greatest pitcher to ever play the game, and who holds one of the MLB records that some say will never be broken with his 110 career shutouts.  Johnson also has the moniker of being the first professional athlete in the US to have a high school named after him, and that high school still stands to this day in Bethesda, Maryland.  The Senators also brought the first professional championship to this area by winning the World Series in 1924.  It would be the only World Series the Senators would win, and just like every other DC Sports team after them, the Senators sucked outside of a few random successful seasons.  This was where the pride met the fall.

The Senators left Washington for the first time in 1960 to become the Minnesota Twins, but they would be replaced months later in 1961 by a new Senators Team that would move to Texas in 1971 to create the Texas Rangers. The MLB was twice fooled by the Washington Baseball Fans, but for the die hard Senators fans the sting of not having baseball in the DC area left them empty.  The Nationals success has revived a section of this cities populace that no other team could muster based on the history of baseball in Washington DC.  The fact that baseball can trace its' roots in this areas to the turn of the last century gives it a unique nostalgia that can rally older fans that had no other team to root for other than the Senators, and who are looking to remove the chip off of their shoulder about losing baseball twice before in their history.  But old time baseball fans cannot fill all the seats, and that Nationals have endeared themselves to the young fans through players and fan experience.

Bryce Harper is the biggest sports figure in the DC area as far as young fans under the age of 10 are concerned.  John Wall jersey sales pale in comparison to those of Bryce Harper, and along with Strasberg, Sherzer, Werth, and Trea Turner, the Nationals have built an All-Star lineup that fans of the younger variety can get jacked up for and support through merchandising sales.  Nationals Park has also been rife with ravenous fans ready to spend their day at the stadium watching these young players perform, but it would be nothing without the stadium experience.  Nat Park is easily accessible through public transportation, and that convenience has allowed some of the watering holes around the stadium to become desired destinations for 20-30 year olds with no families and disposable incomes.  A generation of DC Sports fans have witnessed the Nats draft and retain young talent and create a fun experience that is on par, or even better than, the competing sports franchises within this area.  The youth have been drawn to Nationals Park from a young age, and it is this mix of the old and new that makes the Nationals the team of destiny for right now.

I wrote a long time ago that the Nationals were like House Targaryen because they once exclusively ruled this area in terms of popularity, but were exiled and now they are looking to reclaim their throne.  Despite their 3-0 loss on Friday night to the Cubs, the Nationals need to be the team to break the DC Curse and make it to the NLCS.  They can bring old an new together through the history of baseball within the DC area, and through the player personnel/stadium moves they have made as an organization over the past decade.  Seeing the Nationals play for a Pennant would bring the old and young in this area together just as the Cubs did for Chicago one year ago.  The Nats have earned the right to represent this area on national scale in their respective sport, and it is time for them to be the ones to end this horrible curse and send this city into a collective frenzy.  The Nats are the one team that could bridge generations of fans if they were to break this horrible DC Curse, and in an event driven town like Washington DC, it would make them the biggest event in town.

Ovechkin's Possible Farewell Speech

In the immortal words of DMX, "Here we go again".  The Capitals find themselves on the brink of elimination in the second round of the playoffs and again the Penguins are on the opposing side.  This scenario has happened so many times over the past decade that you would think the team and the fan base's acquiescence to failure would numb them into a stupor of denial once again.  But this year is different.  This year could mark the end of an era with all the impending free agent signings/decisions the Capitals need to make this off season, and the Ovechkin trade rumors gaining more traction in the wake of another perceived playoff collapse.  Even if the Capitals somehow comeback against the Penguins and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals there will still be drastic changes to the Capitals' roster due to the fact that there are too many high profile free agents to sign and limited cap space.  The greatest iteration of the Capitals roster in the Ovechkin era will come to a crashing end whenever the Capitals decide to exit the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season, and it very well could be tonight, which is why Ovechkin needs to give a kick ass pregame speech tonight.

The Capitals have been built around the greatest goal scorer of his generation, and he needs to be the one to deliver the speech that could possibly bring the Capitals back from elimination.  The speech, though, needs to be more heartfelt and emotional rather than a rah rah type speech.  You would assume that over the past four games the Capitals have gotten in each others' faces, called out people's names, broken enough sticks on their lockers, and used the F-word like its going out of style that another speech like that would ring hollow at a time like this.  Ovechkin needs to be the one to address the whole team tonight in a way that gives the team a renewed sense of brotherhood, and in my opinion here is how it should go:

"Alight boys, listen.  Tonight could be our last game together so listen closely.  I've had some pretty good success in my career:  Heart Trophies, Rocket Richard Trophies, goal scoring milestones, but I have never been a team champion at the highest level.  For all my success, I have never been able to inspire the teams I have played on enough to win it all.  That is why I am skating with Lars and Willy tonight, because my play so far has not lived up to the "C" I wear on my sweater or the pedigree I have built.  I asked to switch lines [this is just an assumption on my part but just go with it] because Bura has been killing it and I have been dragging TJ and Nicky down so far this series.  I have to face reality that I am not the goal scorer I was 10 years ago.  Think about that Nick [Ovechkin looks at Nick Backstrom in a reminiscent way].  Ten Years together.  The Young Guns, remember?  Hmfh, Not so young now, I guess. Right John? Karl? Beags? Ten years.  Some players don't get half that time to play together in this league, but we have had the privilege to be on the same team for Ten Years.  And we have been able to bring up guys like you Schmidtty......Kuzy..... Bura.........Willy.....Orly.....Holts........[Ovechkin looks at each one of them in the eye] you guys haven't been here as long but this is the only NHL team you have ever known.  You guys have put on a red sweater for your entire NHL career and not thought twice about it.  And when TJ, Justin, Winnik, Nisky, Brooks, Shatty, Lars, when you guys came in it was like we never missed a beat.  We're a family, but we know what is coming.  Most of us will not be here next year. The family is getting broken up after this season whether we win or not.  Ten years, Nick.  Ten years could be over tonight.  It will be over no matter what after these playoffs.  Which is why I ask you to play for that.  Fuck the Stanley Cup.  I want those ten years to last a little longer.  I want to play with the best team I have ever played with a little bit longer.  I want to see TJ score from the slot as many times as I can, I want to see Karl shut down the other team's best line, I want to see Willy check people as hard as he can, I want to see Kuzy make some ridiculous move and put a wrister over the goalie's glove, I want to see Winnik forecheck the shit out of the other team's top line, or Shatty unload some ridiculous shot from the point.  That is what I want, boys.  I don't want Ten Years to end.  I want to keep the only team I have ever known together for a little bit longer.  I'm playing tonight because I want to see all of you wear that red sweater for as long as possible.  I'm not playing tonight for any trophy.  I'm playing for my brothers who I want to keep here as long as I can.  From now on we play for each other, and if that means we get out of this series alive, then we know we have already won, because we get to have those Ten Years last one more game.  Let's go boys."

That is the route I would take with this speech, but that is just me.  And Ovi, since I know you read this blog religiously, please feel free to use any part of this you would like.