Dan Steinberg was posting at the ungodly hour of 3:26 a.m., and so he was lucky enough to bring us the first word about the Nationals' new marketing slogan, which itself consists of only one word. And that word is ... wait for it ...
"Natitude." That's right, "Natitude." Attitude with an "n" in the front and one fewer "t."
Quoth the Bog:
A group of Nats employees came up with the "Natitude" brand campaign together, but Feffer said it was inspired by the way the team played in 2011, by Ryan Zimmerman’s walk-off home runs and Morse pounding himself on the helmet, by Jayson Werth getting dirt in his beard while sliding into third and Stephen Strasburg "closing down the Marlins’ own stadium on our terms," by Espinosa getting kicked out of the team’s weight room at midnight and Ian Desmond saying a double-header split with the Phillies was no longer acceptable.
We're not sure we'd join Feffer in citing beating the Marlins in a meaningless September game played at a crummy football stadium in front of three old men, their second wives, their mistresses, and their dogs as an inspiration. But he's running the club and not us, so what do we know?
Having said that, this is probably the best slogan the Nats have come up with since "Natstown" was used as a kind of self-mockery toward the end of the hurtful 2009 season. And we have no doubt that if the Nats find themselves in playoff contention down the stretch, every so-called "hustle" play will be greeted with shouts of "That's Natitude!" from all quarters.
And this, my friends, is why the capitalists will always win.