William World News William F. Yurasko's blog v.14 – Nats, Penn State, Redskins, greater DC , travel, more

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Over the years, I have wondered out loud why the Washington Nationals marketing has been so bad. They have done a poor job putting their brand out there, I’m not saying the Nats need have co-branded sponsorships for EVERYTHING or that they need “The Toyota Scoreboard brought to you by Honda” like the Washington Redskins do, but you get the idea.

One of my specific observations was that every time I went to Harris Teeter, I was greeted by a sign that said it was the official grocery store of the Washington Redskins. I knew, mostly from going to the games, that Harris Teeter was the official grocery store of the Nats too and wondered why their wasn’t a sign out front like the Redskins one. This week, for the first time, I started seeing the familiar curly W whenever I have entered a Harris Teeter (Tysons Corner, Ballston, Alexandria). I don’t know why it wasn’t there before, whether it was Harris Teeter or the Nats that kept it from happening. Regardless of why, it apparently isn’t a reason any more. Progress!

PREVIOUSLY A minor marketing success: Nats pocket schedules at Harris Teeter – April 12, 2011

IN ROSTER NEWS

P Gio Gonzalez had his press conference yesterday and came off well, despite taking Matt Chico’s number #47.

Recaps

Nationals introduce Gio Gonzalez to Washington – The Post
Gio Gonzalez makes himself at home with D.C. blitz – The Wash. Times
Gonzalez understands his role in Nationals’ rotation – The Wash. Examiner

Brad Lidge is now a Nats setup man (Nationals Journal, The Post). Seems like a great low-risk/high reward signing. There is this:

“Brad is one of the more interesting teammates I’ve had,” said Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth, who played with Lidge in Philadelphia. “Not your average athlete. Very intelligent on and off the field. He will bring culture to our clubhouse, along with his nasty slider. Good guy, glad we got him. He will be a perfect fit for our young talented bullpen.”

Hey, why not?

Today is the 20th anniversary of the Washington Redskins last super bowl victory and the last D.C. championship in the four major sports (football, baseball, hockey, basketball). DC United has won several MLS championships since then.

I remember telling a friend that year that the NFC was the Redskins to lose — the Dallas Cowboys were a year away, the New York Football Giants lost Bill Parcells, the San Francisco 49ers were in transition and the NFC Central was the NFC Central, so no worries. Washington hosted the Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions the playoffs — there was no way either of those teams would come into RFK Stadium and win. Just impossible.

The Post has a big section about the Super Bowl XXVI team today that is full of excellent nostalgia, including Tony Kornheiser’s Bandwagon columns. Don’t take their word for it though, let Donald Sutherland (?!) narrate the whole season for you!

That was an episode of America’s Game the 1991 Washington Redskins from NFL Films (via Hulu). It is pretty good.

Here is the Super Bowl XXVI game highlights from NFL Films (via Hulu), but narrated by Jeff Kaye:

I also remember that the great Glenn Brenner died right after the NFC Championship — I forgot to acknowledge that here.

Board of Trustees Approves Pegula Ice Arena Design – Intercollegiate Athletics
More details about The Pegula Ice Arena were released at Friday’s Board of Trustees meeting. The future home of Penn State Nittany Lions ice hockey will have 6,000 seats, including 1,000 behind the opposition’s net.

The exterior is nothing special, likely the same brick as the Bryce Jordan Center with lots of glass on the north (or east according to the Penn State compass) side. The interior looks good, kind of intimate without being cramped. It should be fun going to games there. Opening is scheduled for Sept. 2013.

This is also a good reminder to Pat Chambers and the men’s basketball team — get respectable by 2013, you have winter sports competition coming!

The Hot Stove has gone cold for the Washington Nationals — Prince Fielder, the biggest free agent left, signed with the “mystery team” — the Detroit Tigers . The terms 9 years, $214 million for a player who weighs 275 lbs and has “early onset old player skills” written all over him. Good luck Tigers, at least you can make him a DH.

The Nationals likely would not have met Boras’s price, anyway. They were wary of offering more than six or seven years, according to one person familiar with the Nationals’ thinking, and Boras believed from the start he could get Fielder a contract of $200 million. – Prince Fielder chooses Detroit Tigers over Washington Nationals (The Post)

Fielder would have certainly made the Nats better for several years, but you have to wonder what happens after he hits the wall, a near certainty 4 or 5 years into the contract.

So, what are Nats fans going to tweet about now?

Now, the Nats focus can return to extending Ryan Zimmerman (Nationals Journal, The Post). I don’t expect anything to happen this offseason unless Zimmerman really wants to sign.

Sorry, Nats fans who wanted Fielder, it just wasn’t to be:

Paterno’s final days: no bitterness, just marveling at his fortunate life – Sports Illustrated

In the moments after Joe Paterno died, it became common for people to write and say that he died of a broken heart. He did not. Joe Paterno died of lung cancer and the complications it caused. He did not die a bitter or broken man.

Joe Posnanski spent the fall in State College preparing to write a book at Joe Paterno and Happy Valley. It was something that I looked forward to reading, even though I have read countless Paterno biographies. Posnanski is just such a good writer and I was sure he would come up with a great book that would provide additional illumination.

Paterno had said that he would not speak with Posnanski due to the commitments of running the program, but following the dark days that Jerry Sandusky brought to Penn State, Paterno had the time. Aware of his mortality facing lung cancer, Paterno changed his mind and spoke with Posnanski.

I am sure there will be more in Posnanski’s book, but this short article makes it pretty clear that the “died of broken heart” narrative is a false one. All of those books and all that I knew of Paterno suggested this would not be the case and this confirmed it. Cancer (especially diagnosed as late as Paterno’s was) and cancer treatments puts a tremendous toll on someone. I suspect the latter proved to be the specific cause of Paterno’s death.

I am still trying to piece together my thoughts on Paterno’s legacy and it may be a few days yet. I need to give the same consideration to that as I did my post-Sandusky posts that were critical of him. I stand by those, but they are not the whole story by a long shot.

Joe Paterno’s son Jay, talking to Tom Rinaldi, about his late father.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The second snowfall of 2012 is another small one and it came with ice. We have just about an inch of snow here in the West End.

Beautiful powder starting falling here around 10 p.m. last night. Sadly, by this morning, it was covered in a icy glaze. There is currently no precipitation here.

How much did you get?

The Northeast corridor is well represented in the NFL championship Sunday with 3 teams playing. At least one will move on to the Super Bowl. This is the best Sunday in pro football, better than the Super Bowl which is amateur night and about things like ads and half-time shows.

Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots
About 400 miles of Interstate 95 separate the two stadiums. I guess I’m grudgingly rooting for Baltimore because the thought of the Ravens going to Indianapolis for a Super Bowl is kind of funny. Oh and I like their marching band too.

I think the Patriots win though, because I’ll take the Pats offense can overcome the Ravens defense better than the Ravens offense can overcome the Pats defense. If Ray Rice has a big game, which he didn’t against the Houston Texas, Baltimore has a chance. I also think New England wins because it keeps Penn State from having a full time coach for another two weeks.

PATRIOTS 34 Ravens 24

New York Football Giants at San Francisco 49ers
The battle of I-80! Or the Lincoln Highway! I’m filled with nostalgia for the NFL I loved before I went to college. Two flagship teams wearing excellent old-school (for the most part) uniforms playing on a real grass field that will probably be coming up in clumps. Candlestick Park is one of the few NFL stadiums left that has any character for the television viewer. I cannot wait to watch this game.

The sloppy field probably favors the 49ers with their run gun and stout defense. However, San Francisco gave up over 30 points last week at home to the Saints. I picked the Giants to go to the Super Bowl, so I guess I have to keep picking them. I think Eli Manning is in the zone and the Giants defense knows it is time to play. They have been through this before with head coach Tom Coughlin. Either way, I’m rooting for the winner of this game to win the Super Bowl too. I always liked the NFC better anyway.

Giants 24 49ERS 20

The Nats’ (updated) all-time stat leaders – Nats Insider
Going all the way back to 2005, Mark Zuckerman compiled the Washington Nationals all-time statistical leaders. He provided this warning:

WARNING: Reading these lists will elicit a wide range of emotions, from smiles to frowns to laughter to tears to sheer dumbfoundedness (and yes, I know that’s not a real word, but trust me, it will apply to a few of these names)…

To qualify, a player needed at least a full season with the team.

• Perennially injured Nick Johnson has the third most games
• Michael Morse is already 3rd on the home run list
• Ryan Zimmerman has 283 more RBI than the next closest Nat — Johnson
• Zimmerman has 366 more hits than the next closest — Cristian Guzmán
• Dmitri Young is the only player with a batting average over .300. Morse is in second place with .295.
• Reliever Tyler Clippard has the 3rd most wins with 19
• Livan Hernandez and John Lannan are the only pitchers with more than 100 starts with 129 and 128, respectively
• Nyjer Morgan is the leader in stolen bases.
• Errors committed was not included
• Neither were managerial wins/winning percentage

The Nats really have been as awful as people said. Thanks to Zuckerman for compiling this it had to have been depressing.

I’d love to see the all-time D.C. stats with both incarnations of the Senators included as well.

UPDATE: Here they are from the blog D.C. Baseball History – D.C. Baseball Yesterday and Today Hitting | Pitching. Not a lot of modern Nats on those lists yet. Chad Cordero is the all-time saves leader though. It is safe to say most of the pitching records will never be broken.

Pitchers and catchers report one month from today.

Another casualty of the scandal? Other Penn State sports. People like me are so heartbroken we’re not giving them their due. It isn’t fair I suppose, but my motivation for the alma mater and everything about it is at an all-time low. Let me me correct that this morning — the Nittany Lions beat Illinois 54-52 at the Bryce Jordan Center. They did it wearing gray uniforms which were kind of dumb.

Beating Illinois is something the Nittany Lions do with regularity which is odd. We’ll take it. Tim Frazier made the game-winning layup. The Nits have beaten the Illini 3 out of the last 4 years in University Park on late shots.

Not a lot of people showed up, as usual, but it may have been snowing up there. The game was on ESPN2 as well. It is going to take time to wake
up the sleeping giant dude with a pituitary problem that is Penn State basketball. Coach Pat Chambers seems suited to the task.

Penn State is now 10-10 (2-5). I’m not going to start saying anything yet…

Recaps

Illinois at Penn State Recap – Black Shoe Diaries

Tim Frazier’s layup seals victory for the Nittany Lions – The Collegian