Belanger Inks Deal with Phoenix, Gives Exclamation Point to Awful Offseason for the Caps

Heading into the trade deadline last season, Washington saw two weaknesses: defense and penalty killing. They needed defensemen and a center. They brought in defenseman Joe Corvo and center Eric Belanger (along with Scott Walker and Milan Jurcina, but neither made much of a contribution) to try and fix the problem. Yet, these two failed to completely fix the problem and as a result the Capitals were sent home in the first round in one of the biggest upsets in the history of the NHL. Rather than continue to address these needs in the offseason, the Capitals have sat back and now appear to be no closer to winning the Stanley Cup.

In the playoffs last season, the Caps dressed Joe Corvo, Mike Green, Jeff Schultz, Jon Carlson, Shaone Morrisonn, and Tom Poti. They also had Tyler Sloan, Karl Alzner, and Jon Erskine as backups. Joe Corvo went back to Carolina. Hard to fault the Caps for that one, there was no question he was leaving. Green, Schultz, and Poti are back. Carlson established himself as ready for a full time slot and he will be back. Despite being one of the best true defensive players on the team, for some reason the Caps let Morrisonn sign with the Islanders. Alzner will be brought onto the roster this season. This means that the Caps defense will be Green, Schultz, Carlson, Poti, Alzner, and Sloan and Erskine will battle for the last spot. I think Sloan has potential if he continues developing, but any system that promises Erskine extended playing time does not work. He is useless. As a fighter, he has become popular among some fans, but ask yourself if he would have a spot on this team if he could not fight. The answer is no. He either commits a penalty or gives up a big play every game. It is unacceptable. So compare the two lineups. Which one is better? Granted a lot of the players are young and will continue to develop, but the Caps are in desperate need of a DEFENSIVE star. Not a Mike Green, a Carlson, or a Corvo, but a DEFENSIVE defenseman. Instead of fixing that, the Caps have a lineup that will give Erskine playing time. Fail.

While the team has an abundance of offensive talent, they have few true centers. Centers are not only important in the offensive game, but they are VITAL on the penalty kill. For the playoffs the team had Nicklas Backstrom, Eric Belanger, Brendan Morrison, and David Steckle. Morrison is old and expensive. It is not surprise he was on his way out. Steckle is great on the faceoff, but he has fourth line talent at best. Now Belanger is gone. So the team has Backstrom and Steckle. They also have this fantasy of putting Marcus Johansson, a bright young prospect, on the second line. I've seen him play. He would be great on the third line, but he doesn't fit on the second line and this is simply way more playing than he's ready for.

Now the team is talking about how it shows the organization has faith in the team. Absolutely false. There have been rumors about trade talks throughout the offseason. The reason why Belanger is contemplating legal action against the team is because they agreed to a deal weeks ago, but the team said it was contingent on a trade the team was working out. The Capitals could not convince players to come to DC despite the incentives of playing for a contender AND playing with the best player in the world. When it comes to trades, George McPhee is like the cautious poker player. He can win a few chips here and there, but he will never win the pot without pushing more chips into the center. Unless he is willing to put real value on the table, the team will never be able to pick up the players they really need.

So here's the timeline. The team says they need defensemen and centers and bring in players at the deadline. The team enters into the offseason far too soon and lose all the players they brought in at the deadline. They also lose defenseman Shaone Morrisonn and center Brendan Morrison. They try to make deals to fix these problems, cannot make any, and then tell the team that it is because they have faith in them all. Now they are left with holes to fill and only prospects to fill them with. Oops.

Redskins Hold on Against Cowboys, Give Shanahan His First Win

The Mike Shanahan/Donovan McNabb era began last night with a 13-7 win over the Dallas Cowboys. It was a sloppy game that was more a Dallas loss than a Redskin win, but they are still 1-0.

It was a rather odd game for the Skins offensively. They never were able to get the running game going despite Shanahan's ability with the running game. McNabb's numbers look pretty average going 15/32 for 171 yards, but he managed the game very well. You watched the game and saw the offense keep making plays and then at half time you wondered how they had not managed to get it into the end zone. As he settles into this offense he will continue to improve.

One of the biggest improvements was the offensive line. They allowed a single sack all night and McNabb was able to scramble out of trouble on occasion, something Jason Campbell was certainly not able to do. Rookie Trent Williams played extremely well for his first game. There were a few rookie mistakes, but those were to be expected. There were other times when he literally blocked a defensive lineman 10 yards down the field.

Defensively the Redskins looked stout until the last almost game winning drive. This really was due to bad play calling from Dallas. They completely abandoned the run despite how well Marion Barber was running against the 3-4. Everytime they took out defensive linemen and brought on the blitz, Barber ran straight up the middle for 10-20 yards. Yet the Cowboys decided to force the pass. LeRon Landry had an incredible game with 17 tackles, but the Cowboys never challenged the Redskins deep which has been Landry's Achilles' heel. I am certainly thrilled with the game he had, but I worry what this means for Houston. Will he cheat up again to get high tackles and shut down the surprising Arian Foster who rushed for 231 yards and 3 touchdowns? If he does then Andre Johnson is going to embarrass him all day long.

What was encouraging about the defense was the outside rush. Brian Orakpo looked incredible. He was held all night long because they had no answer for him. This leads me to the minor controversy of the end. On the last play of the game, Tony Romo was forced out of the pocket and threw to Roy Williams for the game winning touchdown. The play, however, was negated by a holding penalty. Since there was no time left on the clock, the game was declared over. Yes, I understand the argument that referees should not decide a game, that on the last play the referees should put away their whistles. Very true. But there is a line that Alex Barron, the player who held Orakpo crossed. You cannot commit a blatant penalty and expect the referees not to call it. Watch it, Barron was strangling Orakpo. He held him by the neck because there was nothing else he could do. This is not controversy what so ever. It was the right call.

I thought all summer that Dallas was overrated, but I never really knew what we were going to get from the Redskins. In all probability Houston is a better team than what we saw against Dallas, so this Sunday will be a much bigger test for the Redskins. It will give everyone a much better idea of where this team stands.

Virigina Tech Falls Short Against Boise

Virginia Tech was not able to hold onto a late lead and fell to the Boise State Broncos Monday night 33-30. After falling behind 17-0 in the first quarter, Virginia Tech took complete control of the game roaring back to take a 30-26 lead late in the fourth quarter. The Hokies, however, just could not hold on, and quarterback Kellen Moore connected with Austin Pettis with only 1:09 left to go in the game.

The game has been analyzed repeatedly so I won't sit here and analyze the entire thing, but there are a few things I want to focus on. This is not the end of the season for Virginia Tech. Everyone seems to think it's all over now. Maybe I'm just an optimist, but Boise State is a great team and Virginia Tech easily could have won this game. The Hokies out scored the Broncos 30-16 for 3 quarters. If the Hokies had played as well in the first quarter as they did for the rest of the game, they win. Period. They clearly have coverage issues on defense, especially with linebackers covering wide receivers, but otherwise they looked good defensively. Ryan Williams picked up right where he left off last season with 3 touchdowns. Many have been critical of Tyrod Taylor's passing ability and he went 15/22 for 186 yards and 2 TDs. Darren Evans was used sparingly, but otherwise this offense looked very good. Boise State is the best team the Hokies will play all season, I think their chances for an 11-1 or 10-2 season and an ACC championship are very good. They obviously have challenges ahead, but don't count out the Hokies.

I am absolutely sick and tired of great games tarnished by referees. I was sad the Hokies lost, of course, but I was thrilled with how great a game it was...except I felt the referees had helped decide the game. At the beginning of Boise State's game winning drive, Virginia Tech punted and an obvious clipping penalty was called by a linesman 5 yards away. After the play, the referees huddled and then picked up the flag. It was an obvious call, but what really was infuriating about it was that the linesman who was right next to it and saw it clearly was somehow overruled. What was said during that conversation? "I know you were closer and had a better view, but I don't think that was clipping." It made no sense. Later on in the drive, Moore passed to Pettis who ran down the sideline. Tech's Bruce Taylor lunged after him and hit him just after he stepped out of bounds. He was flagged for a late hit and 15 more yards were tacked on. Was the play intentional? No. Was it malicious in any way? No. It is completely unreasonable for a referee to expect a player who is in midair to somehow stop himself from touching a receiver who stepped out of bounds. When Taylor jumped, Pettis was in bounds. When he hit him, Pettis was out. This was completely unfair.

I also have to bring up the glorious BCS. Virginia Tech was the best team on Boise State's schedule. The only other ranked opponent is Oregon State so there is a very good chance that the Broncos will yet again go undefeated. This will begin the debate again about whether they deserve a shot at the BCS. Can a team that is not in a BCS conference play for the National title? Obviously the BCS believes it is possible if they actually deserve it or the system would not make sense...well it would make less sense. There is of course the very legitimate argument that a team from the BCS conference has a much tougher schedule than Boise State. It is harder to play in a BCS conference than it is in the WAC. If two BCS teams go undefeated can you put Boise in the National Championship?

All that aside, you CANNOT deny Boise State their shot if they win out this season. Essentially they have done absolutely everything you've asked them to do. They have a weak conference so they fill their non conference schedule with power house teams. They do it every season. They even played Virginia Tech at an even bigger and louder venue than Lane Stadium. You cannot tell them they have not done enough after going undefeated for two straight seasons with wins over Oregon, TCU, Virginia Tech, and Oregon State. If that's the case, then they will never get their shot. They cannot do more than they have already. Unless Virginia Tech needs them to lose later on in the season, I hope they win out just to mess with the BCS. The idiots in charge of the BCS won't notice of course, but anything that might help bring a playoff would be great.

Even with the devastating loss, it was still a great game and it was only the first week of the season! There will be more great games to come.

Strasburg Out 12-18 Months, Needs Tommy John Surgery

Stephen Strasburg will be out a whopping 12 to 18 months with a torn ligament in his right arm. This means that not only is his rookie season over, but his sophomore season might be done as well. Strasburg will have Tommy John surgery on Friday after an MRI showed the extent of his injury.

Strasburg's diagnosis came under some scrutiny when Rob Dibble commented that he should just "suck it up" and play. 12 to 18 months seems a bit steep, but this is how long it takes to come back from this type of surgery. Nationals pitcher Jordan Zimmerman just came back from the same surgery which he had a year ago. This is not a case of the Nationals being over protective of their star, this was just a completely unfair comment from someone who has no idea what he's talking about.

Yes, the Nationals have been very cautious with him this season, but that's because it is very easy to mess up a future star pitcher. There are numerous examples of prospective star pitchers who amounted to little because of injury or because of teams asking too much too soon. The Nationals were determined not to let that happen, yet despite their precautions, injuries have been a problem. Strasburg was placed on the disabled list a month ago when he complained of tightness in his back and shoulder. Strasburg then tore his tendon in his third start back right when the team was debating whether they should shut him down for the rest of the season.

The short term affects of this are pretty bad. This is almost worst case scenario for the Nationals. After two straight 100 loss seasons, the Nationals finally began to convince some fans that they had the pieces in place to begin building this team, and Strasburg was an integral part of that. He has been the face of the franchise all season long and has taken attention away from what will most likely be the Nationals' fifth last place finish in the division in the last six seasons. The Nationals were even selling out games at home and on the road with people who wanted to see him pitch and he did not disappoint. Strasburg's rookie season stats are a 2.91 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 68 innings, the best strikeout rate in the Major League. After establishing Strasburg as their franchise player, the team has little to draw fans for the rest of the season and most of next season. The only hope is the quick development of number one pick Bryce Harper. The Nationals could really use a full time draw rather than a pitcher to bring the fans back in.

As bad as this may seem presently, the long term affects might actually not be too bad. Injuries are always serious when it comes to pitchers because there is the chance that they never fully recover to the pitcher they were or could have been. The good news is that around 90% of pitchers who undergo Tommy John surgery return to be just as good. While it is definitely something both Strasburg and the team need to keep an eye on, it is too early to worry that the future phenom's potential has already plummeted.

An interesting question that the team may have to ask themselves is whether they should bring Strasburg back at all next season. If Strasburg is ready to play by next September, will it be worth bringing him back? If the team is not in any sort of contention should they risk another injury for the valuable major league experience and fan draw or should they keep him back for the 2012 season? Something to keep an eye on.

For the near sighted this is pretty much the worst thing that could have happened. In reality, this may be the one long term injury that won't jeopardize his entire career. While I'm certainly disappointed that his season is already over, if the worst thing that happens from this is that Strasburg sits out a year, I'll be relieved.

McNabb's Ankle Still Sore, Cause for Concern?

Donovan McNabb will not play in the Redskins' final preseason game against Arizona the team has announced. There is no real reason to be concerned about his anlke at this point, however. Coach Mike Shanahan rarely plays his starting quarterback in the final preseason game and there is no real point in risking further injury to your starting quarterback. So this ankle injury is probably nothing to worry about, but it does bring into question what the Redskins will do if McNabb should go down sometime during the season.

Throughout his career, McNabb has had injury problems. McNabb has been a starter since 2000 and has only played 4 full seasons out of 10. He is also 33 years old, which is older for a quarterback. He will gradually become less mobile and more injury prone. The question is if the team is prepared to play 2, 3, 4, or even 5 or more games without him.

Along with McNabb, the team also acquired quarterback Rex Grossman as the backup in the offseason. Grossman used to start for the Chicago Bears and the team made it as far as the Super Bowl. He, however, was less than impressive. Most people thought Chicago made it in spite of Grossman, not because of him. While I feel very comfortable with Grossman as a backup, the question with McNabb starting is whether I am comfortable with Grossman starting 2-5 games a season. Backups can be tricky because a quarterback that you feel comfortable with playing several games usually leaves to start for another team. A good example is Matt Cassel. In 2008 Tom Brady was injured in the first game of the season and Cassel had to start for the Patriots the rest of the year. He led the team to 11 wins and was immediately traded to Kansas City the next season to be their starter. The Redskins used to have Todd Collins as a backup and he played extremely well every time Jason Campbell went down and more importantly he played well when he was needed to start, but he was released by the team in March. The reality is that Grossman will probably need to start 2 games this season at least and the team cannot afford to lose every game in which he plays. Judging by his preseason performance, however, he has yet to fill me with confidence.

So while McNabb's ankle is no reason for concern and Grossman appears to be an excellent backup quarterback, what I wonder is whether he is good enough to lead the team for an extended period of time. With McNabb as the starter, that is the role Grossman will have to fill as the backup.

Ravens Bring Redskins Back to Earth, Haynesworth Still Unhappy

The Redskins had a bit of a reality check Saturday night with a 23-3 preseason loss to the Balitmore Ravens. After their big win over Buffalo, fans began to raise their expectations dramatically and this loss may have brought them back down to Earth. The headlines have been stolen however by the latest bizarre chapter in the Albert Haynesworth saga, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

The way to evaluate a preseason game is to throw out the score, evaluate how the first team offense and defense played, and then look at the individual performances of the backups. The score is meaningless so despite how one-sided it was, it really is not a big deal. The first team offense did not look too bad, but they still need some work. Donovan McNabb looked good, but his timing was a bit off. He under threw several passes, but that is to be expected with all the different receivers the team is trying out and it is easily fixable when the roster gets set. Speaking of receivers, Anthony Armstrong had another strong performance. I would be surprised if he did not earn a roster spot at this point. Santana Moss also had a good game, but Devin Thomas still has failed to impress. The problem facing this team is that they have one solid starter in Moss, but no one has established themselves as the number 2. Joey Galloway and Malcolm Kelly have had injury problems in the offseason, but Shanahan knows what he gets in Galloway, where as Kelly has shown nothing since he was drafted. If I were to pick the top 4 receivers heading into the season I would say it would be Moss, Thomas, Galloway, and Armstrong.

Clinton Portis looked very good, but his spot is not in question. Larry Johnson may have left the door open for the previously thought "odd man out" Willie Parker after a lack luster performance. And then we come to the offensive line. First round pick Trent Williams had no answer for Terrell Suggs. The offensive line as a whole looked pretty weak. McNabb and Grossman were obviously briefed about it as they reacted to pressure by quickly getting rid of the ball. Still, with an older quarterback who has faced injury problems through out his career you would like to see better protection.

Defensively the team looked pretty solid. The starters only allowed one touchdown and that was after a fake punt that was taken 51 yards to the goal line. Brian Orakpo, who always seemed to be a defensive end/linebacker hybrid is now thriving in the new 3-4 defense. The team constantly pressured quarterback Joe Flacco who was only saved by multiple uncalled holding penalties. LaRon Landry has clearly worked on committing too early. He reacted well to the run, as he always has, but he also seemed more cautious. It is a good step forward. The secondary did take a hit, however, as the only true free safety on the team, Kareem Moore, suffered a knee injury that will keep him out 4-6 weeks.

And then we get to Haynesworth. After the game, Haynesworth let loose saying that he was angry about playing with the backups and then released the big bomb shell saying that the team intentionally underplayed his "condition" to make him look bad for not practicing. Haynesworth is claiming that last week he suffered a muscle condition called rhabdomyolysis. Haynesworth sat out of practice last week with what the team called dehydration and head aches. Before we get into exactly what this condition is, let's take Haynesworth at his word. Has the team done something wrong? No. NFL teams constantly underplay injuries. Teams want opponents to prepare for players who may or may not be playing. What's more, Hayneworth has been enough of a media headache. Why would the team come out and say he has some random muscle condition that would spark another media circus?

So did he have it? Well, there is some speculation. You have a player who does not want to practice who is now claiming he has a condition that will not allow him to practice and it clears up just in time for him to get angry about not starting. Sound suspicious? Sure. When I used to play football in high school you would constantly see magical injuries and illnesses that would last all week and disappear on game day so there is definitely some question as to whether he is telling the truth, especially when the team was completely unaware of what can be a serious condition.

Rhabdomyolysis is a muscle condition that causes an abnormal amount of muscle breakdown that releases a large amount of protein into the blood stream that can be very dangerous to the kidneys. It can be serious if not treated and it would certainly prevent a player from practicing or playing. Its symptoms include dehydration and headaches so they are consistent with what has kept Haynesworth out. The most important thing to know about this condition is who gets it. According to Dr. Michael Kaplan of ESPN, "Typically we see it more often in someone who's not as well conditioned and particularly if they have sudden and significant onset of exertion...." So Haynesworth refuses to work out with the team in the offseason saying he can get in better shape with his own personal trainer. He comes to camp and repeatedly fails the conditioning test. When he does begin to practice he gets a muscle condition that is brought on when someone that is "not as well conditioned" faces significant exertion. Essentially, if he had this condition, he got it because he is out of shape. Period. And, what is even more perplexing is that in his little temper tantrum he already said that he's not going to offseason work outs next year either. You have failed the conditioning test and faced a potentially serious condition because you are out of shape. This guy just doesn't get it.

At this point what can you do with him? He's getting paid too much money to simply cut unfortunately. I thought heading into the season that if both sides resigned themselves to working with each other they could make it work, but Haynesworth's immaturity will not allow for this to happen and his conditioning is so bad that he constantly needs to be subbed out. Best case scenario at this point would be for another team to lose their starting defensive tackle for the season with an injury that would force them to make a deal for Haynesworth. If we're lucky we could turn it into a 2nd round pick, but my guess is that at best we get a 3rd round pick. After all the money we've paid this guy, we are now keeping our fingers crossed for a 3rd round pick, that's sad.

This Week in Review: Bryce Harper, Brett Favre, and Roger Clemens

Bryce Harper Signed

For the second year in a row, the Washington Nationals signed the number one overall pick in the draft in an eleventh hour deal just beating the deadline. A lot was made out of this because of the similarities between Harper and Stephen Strasburg and because of Strasburg's comments, but I do not think there was any real doubt that Harper was going to sign. His entire amateur career has been sped up so that he could get into the majors. He completed his GRE after his sophomore year in high school, he signed with a college that plays in a wood-bat league; I really had a hard time believing he was going to let the deadline pass and sit out a full year for next year's draft. This is just how agent Scott Boras operates. He drags out these talks so that he can get the best deal possible for his players.

Any tension between Strasburg and Harper was purely a media concoction. Strasburg was badly misquoted earlier this week regarding Harper's negotiations. Far from being a negative comment, Strasburg was being very neutral and unconcerned saying that if he wanted to play in Washington then the deal would get done and if not he could go elsewhere. That's all. It was not a shot at his now teammate, it was just him being unconcerned.

Now the story will be whether Harper can behave himself. He will no doubt start out in the minors next season and if he doesn't climb the ladder as quickly as he thinks he should, then there may be some trouble.

Brett Favre Comes Back...Again

After all the debate, after all the "indecision" Brett Favre announced he would be joining the Minnesota Vikings for another season. What a shock. Before you listen to any of his press conferences or any statements by him or the team, there are a few things that you need to bear in mind. First, he came back on the Tuesday after the first preseason game. This matters because that is the exact time he came back last season. I have a very hard time believing this is a coincidence. That means all the apparent indecision, all the soul searching, all of that was a blatant lie. He was stalling just so he could miss camp just like last year. The second thing you need to keep in mind is that I predicted this. I'm not pointing this out to stroke my ego, I'm pointing it out because everything he did was completely predictable. Everyone knew he was coming back which he did, everyone knew he was just trying to avoid training camp which he did. All this talk about it being about the team, everything he says he thought about and all the reasons he gave for coming back are false. This is what he was planning all along and most people saw it coming.

Now some people may say that he really was on the fence until some of his teammates came to Mississippi to beg him to come back. I do not know exactly what happened here, but it just goes to show you how big his ego is. Some of the best players on the team had to miss practice to get on their knees and beg him to come back. This is ridiculous.

If Favre can still play, which he proved last season, good for him. The reason I hate Favre is not because I do not think he should play or that he's old and should step aside, it's because he has made it all about him. You cannot sit out of training camp just because you don't want to do it. You cannot handcuff an entire organization by not telling them what you're planning to do. If Favre went to camp, listened to his coaches and teammates, and decided quickly whether he was staying or retiring, he would still be a great quarterback. Aren't you curious why head coach Brad Childress is on the hot seat despite having a team most people would classify as a Super Bowl contender? It is because he has completely mishandled the situation. If Minnesota does not make a deep post season run, he may be out of a job. What's more is that he has been a terrible influence to the younger players. Adrian Peterson reportedly left practice early because he did not want to participate anymore that afternoon. When your team leader can do it, the whole team gets the message. This whole situation has shown how selfish and egotistical he really is.

Roger Clemens Indicted

Speaking of egotistical, it is hard to have any sympathy for cheating baseball players desperately trying to repair their legacies. Roger Clemens has apparently decided to take the Barry Bonds route of denying ever taking steroids despite the fact that everyone knows he did. Clemens was indicted this week for making false statements to congress for which he faces a maximum of 30 years. He was offered a plea bargain in which he would receive no jail time if he simply admitted to using steroids and he refused. Maybe Bonds and Clemens can share a cell.

Yes, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. I also think it is also worth mentioning that if I were charged of a crime I was innocent of, I would not admit to it just to avoid jail time either. But looking at the rampant cheating scandal through out baseball, Clemens' character, and the evidence against him it is hard to believe anything he says. The story began when the Mitchell report was released documenting the use of performance enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball. Clemens was mentioned 82 times in the report. He denied ever using steroids even while numerous other players in the report were coming clean. Then former trainer Brian McNamee came forward saying he personally injected Clemens with steroids numerous times and reportedly brought forward several syringes he used on him and bloody gauze (why he would keep it is a good question). Again, Clemens denied it and even tried to sue McNamee but the case was thrown out.

So, you have a player named mutiple times in a credible report, accused by a former trainer who has a box of evidence, and who now faces 30 years in jail and he refuses to admit that he's done anything wrong. If he is telling the truth, then good for him. If not, and it is hard to ignore the evidence against him, I do not know what he's trying to prove. His reputation is in the toilet, what is he holding on to? I do not understand what fantasy land these players like Clemens and Bonds are living in. Nobody believes them, their reputations are in shatters, and at this point neither will be getting into the hall of fame. Is it worth going to jail to protect a lie that no one believes?