The Name Sean Taylor will Echo...

Apparently for quite some time, a DC blogger has been biting his tongue, holding back the urge to tell the Redskins fans to get over the death of Sean Taylor. Now, some of what he is saying makes sense in the most general way. Sean Taylor should be remembered as a man who died protecting his family, not because of his skills on the football field. I humbly respect this man's opinion and more so, his right to express it. I'll express mine right here.

Sean Taylor will forever, and I do not exaggerate, forever be remembered as a great Redskin. Sean Taylor isn't the first professional football player to pass away during his prime. Pat Tillman has been mentioned as someone who should be remembered for giving his life in defense of this country and I absolutely agree. His name should be mentioned in the same breathe as Sean's for the fact that they died honorably. Sean Taylor died protecting those he loved most. He became known for his skills on the football field at Miami, made a name for himself as an elite safety as a Redskin, and will be remembered as a hero. Redskins fans won't forget it, and nor should they. Players like Santana Moss keep his memory alive by trying to play as Sean did. Fans remember Sean Taylor because he represented everything we want from a player; dedication, courage and excitement. Who is anyone to say when one should stop grieving or remembering someone who has passed.

Clinton Portis will never forget #21

 I know guys who still aren't over old girlfriends, let alone a fallen friend.
Sean Taylor was a man. On and off the football field, he proved that. As a fan, I will always remember how he played on the football field with passion and love for the game. I will always remember where I was and how I felt when I heard of his passing.

Someone who isn't a Redskins fan will remember Sean Taylor as a man who gave his life in the defense of his family, not for his skills on the football field. I couldn't care less if they remember him as one of the most athletes to ever play the game. Redskins fans will remember him for both, and they should.

Most professional athletes are looked up to as heroes, but Sean actually was one. For this reason, the name  Sean Taylor  will  always  be a name that  echos from  generation to generation. . .



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Hey Caps, Your D is Too Soft...(that's what she said)

Some may think that many of my posts are negative, but hey, that's what living in the DMV for 24 years will do to ya. But I really have a hard time keeping my mouth shut when I read articles like I just read about how the Capitals D-men will handle Cindy Crosby tomorrow night.
When asked if they will ease up on Crosby, since he is just coming off of a 10-month layoff from 2 concussions...the Caps D had this to say:

Karl Alzner: "I wouldn't want all of Canada to hate me," Alzner said with a chuckle

Dennis Wideman: "He's a guy that you want to be physical with but it's not that easy," he said. "If you try to take a run at him he's probably going to go around you and get a goal."

Roman Hamrlik: "I have so much respect for the guy," he said. "He's one of the best players in the league. I'm not going to try to run over him. I'm not the kind of guy to go and hit in the head. I would have to be really ticked off. You don't want to see the best player get hurt again, but it's a tough sport and it could happen to anybody." So would you take a shot at him? "I would think twice," he said. "You want to play tough against everybody, but I would think twice before I hit him."

We might as well give Cynthia a red carpet right down to Vokoun/Neuvirth. The only defender who has any fight in him this year has been John Erskine. Mike Green can be tough, but he needs to worry about just staying on the ice at this point. You don't have to fight to be a tough guy, just let them know who's side of the ice they're on!
I didn't even mention #55 Pillows Schultz. I'm 6'0 195lbs of pure musclely fat and can barely skate...but I bet I can still hit a guy harder than Jeff. Come on man! You're 6'6 250lbs..now use some of it! If you look around the league, the best teams have the toughest defenders. Whether it's Chara (BOS), Phaneuf (TOR), Pronger (PHI), Ohlund (TB), or Murray (SJ) just to name a few...the teams that are the most successful come June, are the teams who won't back down to anyone, injured or not.

Here's a question for you all: If Ovechkin or Green were just coming back from a serious injury..do you think Brooks Orpik or Deryk Engelland would think twice before sending a hit their way tomorrow? ...Hell no.





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Hall named NFC Defensive player of the week

Welcome DeAngelo Hall the cornerback. . .

I know we like to rag on DeAngelo Hall here at Fight on DMV, but the man had a stellar game this week in Seattle. Just one week after calling himself out for his low level of play, Hall, by my standards, had his best game as a Redskin (and yes I do remember his 4 interception game against the Bears). Hall is known better as a play maker than a cornerback. He'll get burned from time to time because he goes for the big play. Last Sunday against Seattle, it looked like DeAngelo went out to try to be the best cornerback he could be, and lets hope he continues to do so.

Here's the stat line from Sunday's game: 7 tackles, 7 passes deflected and one game ending interception. These are the stats you want from your number one corner. I have most definitely given Hall a ton of crap for calling out wide receivers and then subsequently getting lit up by them. For that reason, I commend D-Hall for his play this past week. He didn't say a word all week, and come Sunday, he spoke with his actions. If this is a sign of the future, I'm on board, because that was one hell of a cornerback I saw out there in Seattle.

Your thoughts?



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Welcome to the Dale Hunter Era

One day of practice and one game is not nearly enough to see a complete change as we enter the Dale Hunter era. The Caps players looked a little out of sync early and I attribute that to what I call the "post Boudreau hangover." These players are human after all and be it their fault or not, they have lost the coach they have played for the past 4 seasons. Dale Hunter is an unknown to most of these players, and it will take a few games for them to build a relationship of trust and respect for one another. I think Dale feels extremely fortunate to be the coach of the Washington Capitals, and he will be working hard to right the ship, but he's been thrown in the deep end of the pool by McPhee with the Penguins coming to town Thursday night.
It was good to see the fans react positively to Dale Hunter. I expected nothing less, but the positive reaction is some proof that the fan base was ready for a change. Whether or not this is the right change is yet to be seen, as I pointed out here.
Back to the game, I think in crunch time the Caps finally started to wake up and their minds were able to focus on just playing the game rather than the new face behind the bench. They started to hit, and win some 50-50 pucks. Against a stingy St. Louis Blues defense, the Caps just couldn't break through in the end and get the goal they needed. One thing to point out is Alex Ovechin's ice time went down even further to just over 16 minutes. I'm not sure if this was a deliberate move, or if coach is just playing with the lines, seeing what he has on the ice. Hunter pointed out after the game that he doesn't have a timeline for when he wants the Caps to be playing the way he wants, he just wants to "see improvement every game." I tend to agree with that statement because you can't make arbitrary benchmarks for a team to make. It will just take time for the Caps and their new coach to gel.
I'm a Dale Hunter fan, but it will definitely take some time for me to get used to seeing a new face behind the bench Rockin the Red. I definitely want to see the Caps play a grittier style of play, and I did notice John Erskine staying at home owning the space in front of the net.

How do you guys feel? Who stepped up last night? Who didn't? Share your opinions in the comment section.

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Shots for Beags!

"Shots for Beags!" is something Ben and I started after Jay Beagle got knocked out in Pittsburgh back in October. We decided that he sacrificed his face for the team, so we wanted to do the same. I like my "girl catcher" aka my face too much though. So we're going to let our livers take the hit.
Everytime a Caps player gets in a fight, we're going to take a shot in honor of Jay. We want the rest of the Red Nation to join us (over 21). We'll post a few pictures to let you know we're not pussing out. Feel free to send your pics in too, and we'll throw um up on the blog. This was our first shot for Beags about a month ago!

Fight on!

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The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly on TV Tonight

There's plenty to look forward to tonight in the DMV, and I've broken the most important events to watch into 3 categories.

First off, the ugly...

For some reason a genius at ESPN thought it would be a good idea to put this years Terps on national television @ 7:30pm/est vs. Illinois. Doesn't sound too promising...but may be a good way to kill the intermission time during the Caps game!

Prediction:     Maryland  55  -  Illinois  74

Now, the bad...

The reason this is considered "the bad" is because right now, well, the Caps suck. Pretty excited to see Dale Hunter behind the bench tonight though vs. St. Louis. Definitely worthy of my Tuesday evening.

Prediction:     Caps  4 - Blues  2

And finally, the good...

You can't go wrong with the 2011 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at 10pm/est on CBS. Just in time to flip over after watching my man Alan May break down the Caps first win with Coach Hunter in charge on CSN.

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Welcome Home Dale Hunter!

If anybody has to come in to fill the void at coach...I'm happy it's a hometown hero! He was hard-nosed, tough, and borderline dirty, but he knew what it took to win, and that's why his jersey is hanging at the phone booth! Hopefully he can inject that same style of play into these Caps. Here are my Top 5 favorite clips of Hunter back when he was playing with the Caps.

#5

#4

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New DC United Jerseys in 2012!

They don't blow me away, but I can dig it for next year. If only we had a decent stadium to rock these in...

Go to dcuteamstore.com and enter "2012" to get 30% off these new uni's today only!

Just Announced: DC United will open up the 2012 season at home March 10th...as part of MLS First Kick Weekend!

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Bruce, Thanks for the Last 4 "f*ckin" Years!

Here's a send off to the most successful coach in Caps history! He may cringe at this video clip, but I f*ckin love it! Good luck in the future coach, you won't be out of work for long.

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For Better or Worse: Boudreau Out, Hunter In

• Fastest coach to reach 200 wins in NHL history.
• Four consecutive Southeast Division titles.
• One President's Trophy
• One Jack Adams Trophy

Just a few of the things Bruce Boudreau accomplished in his four years as head coach of the Washington Capitals. Today's news is tough to swallow. The name Boudeau is closely associated with the resurgence of the Washington Capitals organization. Time will tell if this decision was the right one or not, but one thing is certain, Boudreau will be missed. Playoff woe's aside, "Gabby" was loved by the the District of Columbia. Like Ted Leonsis, he was honest, sometimes brutally so. If the team didn't play well, he said so during the press conference. For the most part he was able to correct problems with the team's play. After 2009 when the Caps were giving up too many goals, he changed the scheme, and made them more defensive minded, while still maintaining the success they had the past 2 seasons.
The move to fire Boudreau nearly exactly 4 years from his hiring is a desperate move by a club looking to take a team from regular season winners, to Stanley Cup winners. George McPhee thinks Dale Hunter can do better. Hunter played most of his career with the Washington Caps and his number is hanging in the rafters of the Verizon center. He is a former captain and instigator. He spent so many minutes in the penalty box, the Caps organization gave him one of the penalty boxes as a gift when the U.S. Air Arena was closed. The Caps are hoping he can use his energy to help light a fire under these players and get them to the next level. As far as I'm concerned, if Boudreau absolutely has to go, this is the guy I want behind the bench. Ironically enough however, Hunter has had trouble in the playoffs as well. Hunter has coached the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League since 2001, leading them to the playoffs every year. The irony is that since they won the Memorial Cup in 2005, and losing in the finals a year later, he hasn't been able to get past the third round of the playoffs.

Boudreau with the Jack Adams Trophy

George McPhee and the Capitals organization have made their move. They are hoping Dale Hunter can inspire this team and lead them into the playoffs and more. They had better be right, because if they're not, where do we go from here? Boudreau will most likely watch Tueday's game against the Blues on his couch. If this coaching change doesn't work, McPhee could be in the same position next year. In my opinion, this is a day to remember Bruce Boudreau. I am a Dale Hunter fan, and I wish him the best, but Boudreau will always, always have a place in my heart as the coach who brought back Caps hockey. I wish him the best of luck in his coaching career, because it's not over.

Current Caps coach Dale Hunter

Dale Hunter

- 12 years played for the Caps
- 3565 penalty minutes (2nd in NHL history)
- Served 21 game suspension for a hit (longest in NHL history)
- Only player in NHL with 1,000 points and 3,000 PIM
- Played for the 1998 Caps- lost in Stanley Cup

Impressive player stat line. However, he has never coached in the AHL, let alone the NHL. He has a huge amount of pressure on his shoulders, and as a Caps fan, I wish him the best. You have your work cut out for you.

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