Is this SERIOUS?

[DChero]

I think that we also have to consider that there at least of handful of 'best pitchers' in baseball, but Ovenchicken widely accepted as the best winger in the world. He may not have the status he deserves to all in the DC area, but there's a tremendous difference around the world.

 

[elocomotive]

He may not have the status he deserves to all in the DC area

You kidding? He's the #1 star in town by a mile, and that is saying a lot in a Redskins' first town. This is one article, people. Yeesh.

These days you see as many Caps shirts around town as you do Redskins shirt. The've sold out for 2+ seasons now in a town not known for it's hockey fans or as a sports town in general. That is an incredible accomplishment and a huge compliment to OV.

 

[loki604]

I agree without a doubt. Not only because baseball is a bigger sport the fact that most people in Pittsburgh over 35 were Pirate fans before they became Penguin fans(outside myself I don't know anyone else in the area that went to a Penguin game first). Heck look at all the national attention the Pirates got for this season along with the sale outs at home!

As for the article I don't have an issue with it. All media is fickle and for the "whats hot now" notion. OV has been in DC a lot longer and the media assumes fans are "used" to him whereas Strasburg is new so the tendency of the media is to follow along.

The Pirates were getting national attention because of the 18 losing seasons prior. And the Pirates were selling out games when fans from neighboring teams realized it's cheaper and easier to travel here and see their teams than in their home ballparks. They weren't just selling out random games. I'm not arguing that the Pirates wouldn't become more popular than the Pens necessarily, but I think this season is poor evidence. They were in first place and still not selling out games without the help of the away crowd.

 

[ritari330]

Washington DC sports currently rank like this:

1. Redskins (will never be replaced, it is a Redskin town)










2. College Basketball (G-town, UMD, GW, and now GMU and VT get more coverage than the pro teams)
3. Nationals (Baseball is still bigger than Hockey in all but a few US markets)
4. Caps
5. CFB (Hokies and Terps actually get larger DC radio and TV share than Caps or Nats but play much fewer games less often)
5. Wizards (nobody cares)

I would bet that even here in Pittsburgh if the Pkrates re-emerged they would eclipse the Pens. Baseball is just a bigger sport than hockey in the US.

Disagree 46. Majority of people don't give a flying hoot about college basketball. And the nats are behind the caps too. They got here around the same time the caps got OV, so I don't see how its possible that more players gravitated to the nats in the same time. Also caps game are 95% caps fans, you'll be lucky of its over 60% nats fans at natinals park now there are more seats available, but they probably get close to the same avg attendance.

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

I listen to a ton of sports radio and read the local papers a lot. I love the Caps and they are trending right now but CBB is and always will be #2 in the DC market. It is a basketball town and happens to have some good teams that have a history. The Nats and Caps may be interchangeable right now but that says something in itself considering tue Caps are one of the best teams in the country and the Nats are cellar dwellers. Ask yourself this...who got the HUGE MONEY FM radio deal and who swaps among the AM dial with an occasional FM game.

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

We also have to consider the fact that this is a hockey board so our perspectives are pretty skewed. I was born, grew up and have followed DC sports my whole life. The Caps are hot now, and that is great but it is not a hockey town.

 

[johnnytata]

It's not the Washington media... it's just ONE sports writer. All the others are saying it's OV and the poll on that page shows Ovechkin at 89% and Strasburg at 10%, though it is a Capitals blog (so not exactly scientific).

I think Washington has a pretty tremendous sports media. Two of our own host the most successful sports talk show on television. Though like just about any other town, hockey is just not as important as sports like football and baseball. This is just one bad column by a writer who is, frankly, kinda new to DC.

hmmm....dc media is fairly fickle, very reactionary and "what have you done for me lately."

and, i think, egocentric.

they make comments such as "mike shannahan could get away with _______ in denver, but he can't get away with it here." i mentioned this in a thread on the general message board as well. it's a "we're smarter" way of thinking, and i think the fans in this city sometimes reflect this mentality.

i suppose they should to some extent believe the world revolves around dc, but i think that mentality can be insulting to fans of other teams. we aren't that stupid, and unlike other cities that don't have a lot of transplants from other parts of the country, fans of other teams exist in large numbers here.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

I hate to say it but baseball is going extinct. With the short attention span generation, and banning of steroids leading to more pitcher dominant games, baseball is losing it's fanbase and not as many athletes are drawn to baseball as they used to be (just look at the number of African Americans in baseball today).

 

[ritari330]

I don't see the college basketball, I mean I'll take your word for it when it comes to talk radio, but I know more people who know nothing about college basketball than those who are fans. It seems like there are the die hard college B-ball fans and thats it. Very few casual college basketball fans

 

[johnnytata]

seems to me that sports talk here is 24/7 redskins with a sprinkling of other stuff depending on the host, and that's in the offseason. during the nfl season, it's more like redksins 30 hours per day.

also, if john beck wins 6 games as a starter this year, he will be the most popular athlete (and the most hated athlete) in dc.

 

[DChero]

You kidding? He's the #1 star in town by a mile, and that is saying a lot in a Redskins' first town. This is one article, people. Yeesh.

These days you see as many Caps shirts around town as you do Redskins shirt. The've sold out for 2+ seasons now in a town not known for it's hockey fans or as a sports town in general. That is an incredible accomplishment and a huge compliment to OV.

Fine, I take it back. But next time... :pops:

 

[elocomotive]

i suppose they should to some extent believe the world revolves around dc, but i think that mentality can be insulting to fans of other teams. we aren't that stupid, and unlike other cities that don't have a lot of transplants from other parts of the country, fans of other teams exist in large numbers here.

I don't agree with you on that one. If you think the pressure of being the Redskins coach is as high as it was in Denver though, you'd be mistaken. That's not because I think DC is "smarter" (though it is a pretty savvy town), but b/c there are more eyeballs and more media scrutiny here.

 

[elocomotive]

We also have to consider the fact that this is a hockey board so our perspectives are pretty skewed. I was born, grew up and have followed DC sports my whole life. The Caps are hot now, and that is great but it is not a hockey town.

Might be turning the corner on that one though. Its always hard for any team outside of the Skins because there are so many transplants right now.

But if we are talking right now, it's defiinitely (1) Skins and (2) Caps. Like most sports, fans are going to follow success more than failure. If anything, DC is an event-driving city, and winning creates "events."

 

[johnnytata]

I don't agree with you on that one. If you think the pressure of being the Redskins coach is as high as it was in Denver though, you'd be mistaken. That's not because I think DC is "smarter" (though it is a pretty savvy town), but b/c there are more eyeballs and more media scrutiny here.

i think we'll have to agree to disagree then, because i think the pressure of being an nfl coach is pretty similar everywhere. remember, denver has a pretty proud tradition as well, with more recent superbowl victories than the skins.

also, in this era of utter cynicism, complete (but not complicit) transparency, of everyone and their mother being a "reporter" and having numerous avenues to report, no coach anywhere can hide. josh mcdaniels only lasted two years in denver, and i bet the media there was pretty harsh on him.

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

hmmm....dc media is fairly fickle, very reactionary and "what have you done for me lately."

and, i think, egocentric.

they make comments such as "mike shannahan could get away with _______ in denver, but he can't get away with it here." i mentioned this in a thread on the general message board as well. it's a "we're smarter" way of thinking, and i think the fans in this city sometimes reflect this mentality.

i suppose they should to some extent believe the world revolves around dc, but i think that mentality can be insulting to fans of other teams. we aren't that stupid, and unlike other cities that don't have a lot of transplants from other parts of the country, fans of other teams exist in large numbers here.

Maybe hypersensitive fans of other teams should not be listening to sports radio catering to Washington fans. It's called Ituneradio or iheartradio and it's free. Give it a shot. :rollseyes:

We get it. Washington fans suck...you have made it clear to all of us. The thing is, we don't really care what outsiders think.

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

Also, if you think this is any different than every other fucking sports media outlet, you are seriously mistaken. It's called local sports radio. It caters to the HOME crowd. I'm not sure how this amazes you so much.

 

[ritari330]

Yeah we suck

 

[dare2be]

Maybe hypersensitive fans of other teams should not be listening to sports radio catering to Washington fans. It's called Ituneradio or iheartradio and it's free. Give it a shot. :rollseyes:

We get it. Washington fans suck...you have made it clear to all of us. The thing is, we don't really care what outsiders think.

Yeah, it's like when certain fans of certain teams quote what Mark Madden says...even though I wouldn't call him catering to the home fans, either.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

From what I hear the most pressure from the media is in Boston, with New York a close second.

 

[DChero]

From what I hear the most pressure from the media is in Boston, with New York a close second.

I can see it. Montreal is pretty close for the NHL.