the accursed second round

May 8, 2018 10:24 AM

"With their Game 6 win, of course, the Capitals also did a service for the entire region. They ended a narrative that made no one happy, that wasn’t cute or goofy, that failed to interest the rest of the country, that had no redeeming charm or quirks and no catchy nickname. They were playing their B-team, and they were sizable underdogs. But they did not choke, gag or falter. They did not blow a four-goal lead after a player accidentally skated into a sinkhole. They just won." The stupidest streak in sports is dead, thanks to the Caps. Bye.

also Washington Post: Capitals’ win puts a dagger in the D.C. sports ‘curse’

SBNation: The Capitals beating the Penguins is extra special for legions of D.C. sports fans

Deadspin: The Capitals Finally Did It

posted by everybody had matching towels (16 comments total)

Saved you a click: the 'streak' is that the 4 major professional sports teams from Washington, D.C. - Capitals (NHL), Nationals (MLB), Redskins (NFL) and Wizards (NBA) - have all failed to advance to the final four of their sports playoffs for 20 years.
posted by smokysunday at 10:45 AM on May 8, 2018 [5 favorites]

Saved you a click

this isn't twitter, it's totally okay to actually read the links in the FFP
posted by everybody had matching towels at 10:52 AM on May 8, 2018 [25 favorites]

It’s as if there’s been some giant pot of gold and riches waiting in Pittsburgh, and we’ve all agreed that the most important goal in the world is reaching … Breezewood. Like, obviously that’s not true. But when you keep running off the highway a half-mile from the Breezewood Sheetz, you change the dang goal a bit. Maybe it’d be nice to eat a breakfast sandwich, drink a cup of coffee, and then see what happens next. Breezewood isn’t nirvana, but it’s so very much better than driving into a ditch.

As someone who routinely drives Pittsburgh-DC, this is just... both incredibly accurate and impressively savage.
posted by specialagentwebb at 11:06 AM on May 8, 2018 [8 favorites]

Breezewood, for the unenlightened, is the place in south-central PA where I-70, from MD/DC, meets I-76, the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It is a particularly egregious example of interstate-intersection awfulness, but nonetheless is an important waypoint on the road west from the Nation's Capital. A modern-day Dante might be inspired to design a circle of Hell like Breezewood.
posted by The Nutmeg of Consolation at 11:29 AM on May 8, 2018 [7 favorites]

I like how the article acknowledges that Washington has seen plenty of MLS success, but then brushes it away because it ruins the sob story.
posted by explosion at 12:28 PM on May 8, 2018 [3 favorites]

Lots of newly clean shaven men in my office this morning.
posted by octothorpe at 1:16 PM on May 8, 2018 [4 favorites]

Breezewood isn’t nirvana, but it’s so very much better than driving into a ditch.

Opinions vary.
posted by meinvt at 1:24 PM on May 8, 2018 [3 favorites]

Breezewood, for the unenlightened, is the place in south-central PA where I-70, from MD/DC, meets I-76, the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

I think you need to make it clear that those interstate freeways don't actually meet as proper controlled access roads, thus forcing you to waste 5-10 minutes getting through multiple stoplights and people pulling out of and into every chain restaurant, gas station, truck stop, and tourist trap in the Western Hemisphere, somehow compressed into ~1200 ft of road. The fact that they don't actually meet is maintained by said businesses lobbying for the interchange to never be built.

In short, may the next piece of de-orbiting space junk fall smack dab on Breezewood. And Go Caps.
posted by stevis23 at 1:27 PM on May 8, 2018 [4 favorites]

Of course, the cruelest timeline is where the Caps finally make the SCF... and go down to Marc-Andre Fleury again, this time as a Golden Knight.

(I personally don't expect either of them to make it and the final to be Lightning-Jets or Preds, but VGK keeps surprising me and maybe getting the 2nd round monkey of their backs will inspire Ovi and the Cap to new heights.)
posted by tavella at 2:04 PM on May 8, 2018 [3 favorites]

explosion: "I like how the article acknowledges that Washington has seen plenty of MLS success, but then brushes it away because it ruins the sob story."

Not just that, but the Sounders fans are some of the best in the league. They love their team and the team loves them. It is a big deal!

Ugh.
posted by TypographicalError at 3:39 PM on May 8, 2018

TypographicalError: You seem to have made a geographical error. The Sounders are in Washington state; the area in reference is Washington, D.C., thus making the team in reference D.C. United.
posted by Jeff Morris at 3:57 PM on May 8, 2018

I, uh, also forgot about the existence of DC United.
posted by TypographicalError at 4:09 PM on May 8, 2018

Why isn't it Jon Bois telling me about this? I refuse to learn anything obscure about sports unless it's Jon Bois explaining it.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 4:38 PM on May 8, 2018 [4 favorites]

From FiveThirtyEight, two weeks ago: Ovechkin Is The Best Player Never To Make A Conference Final

Go Jets Go
posted by Johnny Assay at 4:42 AM on May 9, 2018

The problem with characterizing DC's long dry spell as a "curse" is that there's no origin story, no reason for the curse. A good sports curse has to have a reason - a legend of the sport treated shabbily by the team, a mascot defiled, whatever. But there was no alleged source of any curse here, which is why it doesn't work as a curse story - it's just a long string of misfortune.

I have the same objection to talk of an "Andretti curse" at the Indianapolis 500. (Short version: the Andrettis are a storied and generally successful family in auto racing, over three generations, but have only one win at the Indy 500 - patriarch Mario's in 1969. They would come close time and time again after that, but have not won^* since.) But no one ever suggests any reason why the Andrettis should be cursed at Indy - which, to me, makes it not a curse, just a long run of bad luck.

^*As drivers. Michael Andretti has five Indy 500 wins as a team owner, which isn't too shabby.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 10:29 AM on May 9, 2018 [1 favorite]

Man, Ovechkin sure looked happy last night. I've seen a fair number of hockey players hoist the cup over the years, but he seemed the most excited and elated of any of them.
posted by Johnny Assay at 10:21 AM on June 8, 2018 [3 favorites]