Thank You, MASN ! Part Two

As expected, I was a bundle of nerves heading to Nationals Park. Traffic and public transport set up unnecessary delays and then when the inside of the stadium was closed off until 5:30 and I was supposed to be at the media entrance at 5:30, I was a pacing mess. Of course, there was no need to worry. as I made it there in plenty of time and had to wait for the other winners, but I am not the best with luck.

There were more people milling around than I had figured, and Mr. Rizzo was talking to the Marlins manager so we had to wait, but that was fine because Drew Storen was right there. Well, not as right there as the picture would make it seem- that's all zoom, but close enough to turn if someone were to call his name, which no one did. Opportunity missed.

 There are some nice heads of hair on the Nationals. I'm impressed.

 I didn't know Andre Dawson was a coach on the Marlins. Another winner was a huge Expos fan and was so eager to meet him.

A shot of me waiting to speak to Mike Rizzo. This would be the disastrous first time I did when he walked up to me shook my hand and said, "Hi, I'm Mike Rizzo." and I said, "Oh, I know." Thinking I'm an idiot, he moved on. Luckily I was able to redeem myself slightly.

Let me say right here, this is a charming man. He had the keen listening skills, staring in your eyes as you talk thing down. I may have gotten a little swoony as he rested his hand on my hip for our picture...

Right before this picture I was able to say that I admired the work he was doing and that I couldn't wait to see what he got for Ian Desmond in the off-season. He laughed loudly and said that was a trick question. Later I got him to sign my program as well- luckily I had a pen because my ever-present Sharpie was missing from my bag, and then it was time to head back off the field and to the seats.

I managed to vent my Desmond rant to the usher of the section, saying a yardstick had more range than him, etc. so that was out of my head, but then I saw that Michael Morse was out for the day. The left field seats were not completely wasted though because Roger Bernadina was there instead, so Reginald the Shark was not brought in vain.

Reginald is actually half shark and half puma- a long story of playing Frankenstein with beanie babies...

If asked, I think Screech is at the top of my list of Nationals I'd like to meet, but this was as close as he got.

The less said about the actual game, the better. A shut-out to the Marlins? Really? Still, it was a fantastic experience and great seats. I am very grateful for the opportunity.

Thank You, MASN! Part One

Yesterday I found out that I won the MASN social media weekend contest where I get to meet Nats GM Mike Rizzo before tonight's game. We have two of the best GMs around with him and GMGM, Caps man George McPhee, so I am completely excited. I am fluttery and nervous for who knows how long I am actually going to be able to speak to him, if I will at all. So I'm going to put it all down here so it can implant more firmly into my memory.

What I'd like to say:

Mr. Rizzo, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm a great admirer of what you've done for the team even though I haven't been a close observer for long. I love the park, I am here every chance I get. You seem to have assembled more talented young men than . I can't wait to see what you get for Ian Desmond. I believe a yardstick has more range and his questionable choices, poor fielding and outright errors have benefited the opposing teams more than his recent hitting surge has benefited the Nationals. As nice as a guy as Davey Johnson seems to be, I have not agreed with a lot of his lineup decisions especially when it comes to the bullpen. If he's up for managing next year, that's up to you, but I can't help but wonder how someone else would take on the logjam at first and the hopefully vacant shortstop position.

What I probably will say:

Hi, nice to meet you... <stare at ground and attempt to untie tongue>

We'll see how it turns out. Pics and stories to come after the meet-n-geet tonight and Strasmas tomorrow.

Caps Rookie Camp Day 4

I can say I've now been on the ice with Bruce Boudreau.

It's not something I'm going to have on my gravestone or even mention to many people, but I can say it and it won't be a lie.

The plan had been to catch a little practice, skate, then watch the scrimmage, but upon arriving at Kettler Capitals Iceplex, the rookies were on the "public" rink. It was a nice change, almost 360 degrees of right on the less-scuffed glass viewing. I found myself a spot and took a few shots.

As unexpected as that was, the real thrill was walking through and looking up and seeing Assistant Goalie Coach Olie Kolzig up on the balcony. If I had a better camera you'd know right away that's him to the left of the exit sign in the picture below, but in 2009 it was a nice model...

Since the scrimmage part of the camp wasn't scheduled until forty five minutes later and the team taking over the public rink meant that open skate was being held on the Capitals rink, I figured I had time to get my laps in before the day ended. So I laced up my pink laces on my ancient Bauer skates, while thinking I probably got them before Ovi even started school, and headed off to where the big boys skate.

Who knows how many laps I actually did because I was so distracted checking out everything from the new perspective, I know I lost count several times and picked the lower number every time I forgot. The ice felt nicer but it was good to see they also had a dark and bumpy patch right where the zamboni comes in just like on the other rink, so those of us on the other side aren't the only ones who have to deal with that. I was peeking in the press conference room, down the hall behind the bench, into the press room where Katie Carrera and Tarik El-Bashir of the Washington Post were working. I tweeted later that I wanted to wave to them but I felt like it would be too loserific, but Tarik actually answered and said I should have. Oh well.

At my 37th lap, I gave into my loser self though when Coach Kolzig walked down the bleachers right by me. He stared like I was an idiot, just as I figured, but I didn't care. Lap 38 and Coach Woods skated across to the door behind the bench. On lap 39, Coach Boudreau did the same. Just as well that we weren't intersecting because I've been feeling less than generous towards him lately.

Cameras and Cold Stone- Ballston must be Coach's favorite place to be.

Everyone seemed to be coming off the ice at the same time. I caught the players headed off as I was packing up my stuff.

I hung around a while to see if everything was truly over or if it was just a break, and found out that the scrimmage part of the day had been greatly reduced and tacked on to the end of practice. I had been too slow and missed it. However, on the elevator down, Coach Evason came in and then saw Boudreau again in the food court.

I had been prepared to watch and see if anyone was clearly breaking out from the others, but truthfully I didn't know any of them past Eakin and Orlov and Grubauer, so I probably would not have contributed much. Regular camp starts Saturday which will be jam packed so I will swing by and check it out on Monday with my trusty little red camera.

Washington Capitals Rookie Camp- Day Two

Monday marked the second day of the 2011 Washington Capitals Rookie Camp. The day before, captain Alex Ovechkin joined the team for drills. Monday, he was seen observing from the office windows above the rink with GM George McPhee, and other Caps, including Mike Green, DJ King and Mike Knuble, were seen on the far side of the bench speaking to those on the ice.

 -Mike Knuble watching practice

In a change from regular season practice, mainly because I'm sure you couldn't tell the players without a program, the skaters helpfully had their names on the backs of their jerseys.

I stayed on the close end of the rink, so I was not able to watch the other goalies. Phillip Grubauer, who stayed on the right side seemed to be impenetrable for the first third, had a weak glove side in the middle part but then came up strong again.

There will be a scrimmage Wednesday before the group travels to Philadelphia to play the Flyers rookies Thursday night. The main pre-season training camp begins on Saturday.

-Bruce Boudreau, preparing to half-assedly coach the next generation. No need to adjust on the fly during drills, so no worries today!

La La Lalalala

Apparently, the Nats rookies had to dress as smurfs on their way to New York Sunday afternoon.

Pics via Jesus Flores' Twitter 

Stephen Strasburg as Papa Smurf and Drew Storen via Natsgrl1's Twitter.

I find that they could get so many pairs of white crocs more disturbing than the smurfifying.

Single/Double/Single

I had bought my ticket to Thursday's game when it was just for one, got excited when it became a double-header, then went home after it had rained for two hours after the first one and the second was cancelled.

Best of both worlds:
John Carlson, awesome defenseman for the Washington Caps who I met once in the elevator at Kettler, threw out the first pitch and did very well, according to Collin Balester, who caught it, on Twitter.

Ahh, technology:
I have no idea why half my shots came out dark. I was using a borrowed camera. I think this one looks cool though, glow-in-the-dark outfielders.

Well, they got the "Clip" part right:
Not so much the "Store" afterward with my man Drew giving up three runs in the top of the ninth.

A meeting of the minds, and their beards:
Digital zoom is not so great, but hey, it was worth a shot.

Game two, not to be:
Just as well, Ian Desmond was going to play in that game, too...

Lokomotiv

Another sad day in a series of sad days this year for ice hockey.

 The plane carrying the KHL team Lokomotiv crashed in Russia today killing all but two.

 RT.com

Washington Times

NHL.com

Adding:

Russian Machine link of NHL tribute video

Update 9/12/11:
Alexander Galimov, the lone player to survive the initial crash, died from his injuries.

R.I.P.