The Latest Capital Fanatic: Big Rob

Since Capital Fanatic is "The Fan's Voice of Washington Sports", I'll introduce myself as a new Caps fan. Except for my time at Indiana University, I've lived in the DC area all my life. My sports allegiances lie with the Skins and IU basketball, with a budding interest in the Nats. (Why not the O's? Two words: Peter Angelos. And they're from Baltimore. I might as well root for the Ravens.)

I avoided hockey growing up for a couple of reasons. First, the Caps always ... ALWAYS lost to the Penguins in the playoffs. I knew spring was coming when I saw that the Caps were in the playoffs, had an "insurmountable series lead" against the Pens, then blew it in a matter of days. Why root for a team that will only crush your spirits?

The second, and more important reason why I avoided hockey, is because of the evil notion of ties. Back in the day, hockey had something called "Ties". These odd games came when both teams were deadlocked after four periods. Why not try shootouts, as they do now? Who knows, all that mattered was they both really tried hard, and they both got a nice little chit. How quaint. Bull. I could write a long rant about how ties are anathema to sports, but I'll save that for any potential comments.

So when Pope started his Capitals Crusade a few years ago, I was more than a little hesitant to jump on the bandwagon. "Hockey? Come on. The Caps suck, their uniforms are ugly, and hockey is just boring." I was wrong about the third point, the team is much better than they were last year, and their uniforms are cool as hell.

Besides, what's not to like about this team? They have some great young talent; their management has shown a willingness to build from within, while pulling off some good trades
lately; their uniforms are a refreshing take on an old design; their players' names easily lend themselves to nicknames; our star player is missing one of his front teeth, hockey player-style; and you can design entire drinking games around Craig Laughlin while mimicking his voice.

In short, I'm now a Caps fan.

As a first fan duty, the goal of the night for March 18, 2008: Alex Ovechkin's "geometry goal", as described by Al Koken, to make it 4-2. It almost happened a few seconds earlier with the empty net, but when I considered:

- it was completely accidental and meaningless, all we needed was to clear the puck, and the game would be over;
- as soon as it hit the board, I knew it was going in, which makes any play better; and
- one of their guys got injured on the accidental, meaningless play

I had to make Ovie's Geometry Goal ...

Big Rob's Goal of the Night (March 18, 2008)