SB Nation DC - Half Smokes

Parents of Adam LaRoche thank Nationals fans in letter to the editor

2012-10-17T19:24:36Z

Very occasionally, Washington D.C. feels like a small town. When the parents of the baseball team's star first baseman send a letter to the local paper thanking the fans for their support of their son, that qualifies as one of those occasions.

Following the premature end of Washington's season, Dave and Patty LaRoche of Fort Scott, Kansas sent the following letter to The Washington Post.

Washington Nationals' organization, you are a class act. Your dedication to our military is unlike any we ever have seen, and the effort you put toward making the playoffs memorable cannot be described.

Watching your fans behave with such dignity when the Nats' dreams of extending their season came to an end Friday night demonstrated that they, too, are among the elite of this game. There was no booing, nothing thrown on the field.

They simply stood and applauded. Some even remained afterward to thank the players as they left the parking lot. Thank you, Nationals owners, employees and fans, for a night we will never forget.

Aw, that's actually kind of sweet. Dave and Patty's son earned the fans' applause in 2012, playing in 154 regular season games and finishing with 33 home runs, 100 RBI, and an OPS of .853, his highest since 2009. The Nats have an exclusive window to negotiate with the free agent until five days after the conclusion of the World Series.

PHOTO: Wale, John Wall Take In Robert Griffin III's Washington Home Debut

2012-09-23T17:08:35Z

Robert Griffin III makes his regular season home debut as a member of the Washington Redskins on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, and the dawn of the RGIII Era has apparently brought out two of DC's biggest personalities: Wizards point guard John Wall and rapper Wale. After the jump, check out Mr. Wall utilizing Instagram to capture the moment.

Wit the Homie @walemmg Redskins Game !! instagr.am/p/P7NgV2CaDc/
— John Wall (@John_Wall) September 23, 2012

I must say, Wale sure seems to lead an enjoyable life. Half smokes with Bryce Harper at Ben's Chili Bowl, sideline at Redskins games with John Wall, heck I think he just needs to dial up Alex Ovechkin for some quality time to complete his DC Athletes Bingo Card.

For more on the Cincinnati Bengals, visit Cincy Jungle. For more on the Washington Redskins, visit Hogs Haven and SB Nation DC. Visit SB Nation's NFL hub for any and all of your football coverage and analysis needs.

Saturday's Old Dominion Vs. New Hampshire Game Was Absolutely Nuts

2012-09-22T23:03:48Z

The late games haven't even kicked off on this college football Saturday, and we already have our game of the day. No, check that. We actually have our game of the year.

It happened Saturday afternoon at S.B. Ballard Stadium in Norfolk, and it matched the Old Dominion University Monarchs and the University of New Hampshire Wildcats in the Colonial Athletic Association opener for both teams.

There's no artful way to describe what happened, so we'll just run it down for you in list form after the jump.

Old Dominion won the game, 64-61. No, this was not basketball. This was football. The 125 points were the most ever scored in a CAA game. To win the game, the Monarchs outscored UNH 26-7 in the fourth quarter.
The Wildcats led Old Dominion 16-3 after one quarter, 40-24 at halftime, and 54-38 after three quarters. That will be a very long ride back to Durham, N.H. tonight.
The two teams combined for 74 first downs, 483 rushing yards (of which UNH had 389); 1,066 passing yards (of which Old Dominion had 730) and 1,549 total yards (a new Division I record).
Old Dominion quarterback Taylor Heinicke went 55-for-79 for 730 yards (a Division I record), five touchdowns and no interceptions. He also had 11 carries for 61 yards and another touchdown. The 791 individual all-purpose yards are also a Division I record
Read that again.
Old Dominion receiver Nick Mayers caught 12 passes for 271 yards and three touchdowns. For UNH, Nico Steriti carried the ball 21 times for 201 yards and two TDs.

Wow.

ANIMATED: Despite Loss, Maryland's Stefon Diggs Continues To Impress

2012-09-22T22:24:50Z

The Maryland Terrapins fell 31-21 in Morgantown on Saturday afternoon to the West Virginia Mountaineers, but Maryland uber freshman Stefon Diggs continued to wow the Terrapins faithful with his play. In addition to gaining 63 yards on kick returns and 25 yards on punt returns, Diggs hooked up with quarterback Perry Hills on three catches for 113 yards, with two of the completions leading to electric touchdowns. Join me after the jump, won't you, to watch Diggs at work.

First quarter 42-yard touchdown, with take off for the end zone at roughly the six-yard line. Oh my:

Fourth quarter 56-yard touchdown in which, by my count, he makes eight West Virginia defenders look silly (well, one poor guy actually got abused twice, so seven):

Both GIFs above courtesy of @SBNationGif

For more on Terps football, visit Maryland blog Testudo Times, plus SB Nation DC. For more on WVU football, visit West Virginia blog The Smoking Musket, plus SB Nation Pittsburgh.

PHOTOS: Maryland Goes With All-White Look Against West Virginia

2012-09-21T19:46:51Z

We haven't done a Maryland uniform story in a while, so it's about time the Terps unveiled another wild new look for their football team to wear Saturday afternoon.

At last check, Maryland was a 26-point underdog against No. 8 West Virginia in Morgantown. In response, the Terps have rolled out their new "White Ops" uniforms. Yes, we said "White Ops." You know, like Black Ops, but ... you know what, let's just get to the pictures.

Photos via @alex_prewitt, Maryland beat writer for the Post.

Clearly, the plan behind these uniforms is to blind the Mountaineers on both sides of the ball. The design and the color (or actually colors, since these are white uniforms we're talking about and scientists say that white represents the presence of all colors) get a resounding "meh" from us, though we do like Prewitt's description.

These #Terps 'White Ops' uniforms are either A) For ghosts or B) A member of the Assassin's Creed brotherhood.
— Alex Prewitt (@alex_prewitt) September 21, 2012

Why The Nationals (Lack Of) Celebration Was Just Fine With Us

2012-09-21T11:45:10Z

Oh, for God's sake.

Les Carpenter of Yahoo Sports, we have never had beef before, so far as we can recall. But then you had to go and write this, at the bottom of a quick, few-hundred word piece on the Nationals' blase attitude toward Thursday night's postseason-clinching win:

A division title might mean more, but in a [city] longing for a postseason spot - no matter how contrived it might be - it was worth more than a few handshakes and high fives.

We have a couple of questions for you, Mr. Carpenter, which we will ask below the jump.

1. You say that the Nats' celebration was too subdued, but then you cite the following celebratory examples as being "silly": dancing on tables, donning goggles, spraying alcohol. Some of the aforementioned has occurred after the clinching of wild card spots. Pray, Mr. Carpenter, what sort of celebration should have occurred?

2. When was the last time, Mr. Carpenter, that you saw a team celebrate ANYTHING when they had a 5.5 game division lead with 13 games to play? Should the unthinkable happen, a beer shower celebration two weeks before the end of the regular season would look ridiculous, would it not? And as Jack Woltz once said (and, come to think of it, as Davey Johnson might say himself) men in their position can't afford to be made to look ridiculous. (No, we don't know where the horse head fits into this analogy. Give us time.)

Answers on a postcard, please.

The Last Time A D.C. Baseball Team Made The Postseason ...

2012-09-21T02:45:09Z

On September 29, 1933, the Washington Senators, managed by Joe Cronin, defeated Joe McCarthy's New York Yankees, 8-5 to clinch the American League pennant.

The win, Washington's 98th of the season, was officially credited to pitcher Earl Whitehill, who improved his record to 22-8 by going seven innings and allowing five runs on eight hits with six walks and two strikeouts. Jack Russell pitched the final two innings to record his 13th save of the season. The losing pitcher for the Yankees, Red Ruffing, pitched all nine innings despite allowing eight runs on 10 hits and two walks.

Offensively, Washington's offensive stars were left fielder Heinie Manush, who doubled, homered, and drove in three runs; and first baseman Joe Kuhel, who went 2-for-4 with a double and drove in two more runs.

On that same day, Germany's Nazi government decreed that mid-size family farms could not be inherited by any other person except for the youngest son, could not be divided among the family, and could not be owned by any "non-Aryan" people.

So yes, it's been a very long time since a D.C. team played meaningful October baseball. Now, it's happened again.

PHOTO: This Blown Call Cost The Nationals A Run Wednesday Night

2012-09-20T03:12:49Z

Let's just get to this right now. Yes, the Dodgers got a run that they shouldn't have in the top of the fourth inning when Hanley Ramirez grounded into a fielder's choice play at third base. Ryan Zimmerman tagged out Adrian Gonzalez long before Matt Kemp crossed the plate.

The umpires huddled for a time before making a plainly incorrect call. The Dodgers should have been up 5-0 after the top of the fourth instead of being up 6-0. The photo below the jump makes it plain just how wrong the call was.

Via @recordsANDradio.

So there you are. However, we had to roll our eyes at the sentiments on Twitter during the Nats' game-tying rally in the eighth. Those sentiments were to the effect of "Washington should be winning right now, but the umpires gave the Dodgers an extra run." After Matt Kemp's home run gave the Dodgers the lead, the umpires got another blast of invective.

However, there is such a thing as the fallacy of the predetermined outcome. If the run is taken off the board, there's no guarantee that the game plays out in the exact way that it eventually did. Indeed, most of the negative stuff that affected the game (namely, John Lannan's poor start) had already taken place.

So blame the umpires for botching the call if you like, but blaming them for losing the game is rather a stretch.