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DAILY 03-02-10 MD SU D1 CMYK
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tuesday, march 2, 2010 S
HOCKEY BLOGS, MULTIMEDIA AND CHATS washingtonpost.com/sports PRO BASKETBALL
Ovechkin returns
Alex Ovechkin was back at
D.C. Sports Bog
Transition game
Today, 11:30 a.m. Dan Steinberg discusses the Wizards, Capitals and college hoops.
Second-year center JaVale
Capitals practice, reflecting on
National gallery Check out the latest photos of D.C.’s boys of summer working out in Viera, Fla.
McGee is adapting to life as a starter
his Olympic experience. D2
following the Wizards’ trade deadline
AllMetSports.com See the photo gallery from last night’s Virginia AAA Northern Region basketball finals. roster overhaul. D3
PRO FOOTBALL
‘They want me back’
Defensive end Phillip Daniels
There’s no circus atmosphere. There’s no carnivals. It’s baseball like in 29
confirms he has an offer to
return to the Redskins. D3 other organizations.” Nats GM Mike Rizzo, comparing this year’s spring training to 2009. D4
“
Along line,
Hoyas are
Redskins
thin, and
have holes
to patch up
come up
short
Up front, offense could need
as many as three starters
from draft and free agency
With Freeman ill,
Georgetown keeps sliding
by Rick Maese
with 81-68 loss to W.Va.
With the imminent departure of six-
time Pro Bowl tackle Chris Samuels, Red- by Liz Clarke
skins Coach Mike Shanahan knows one
of his biggest offseason needs will center morgantown, w.va. — With Austin
on one of the biggest offensive positions. Freeman in the lineup, there has always
With just one sure starter under con- been a sense this season that George-
tract for 2010, the Redskins’ offensive town could spontaneously erupt in a
line could undergo a major facelift, but scoring barrage to erase any deficit, no
no spot on the line is more critical than matter how lopsided the score.
left tackle, which Samuels is vacating af- But Freeman was under a doctor’s care
ter 10 strong seasons, almost all of them Monday night, ailing with what ap-
spent protecting the blind side of Wash- peared to be a stomach virus, while his
ington quarterbacks. fellow Hoyas struggled to halt a late-
Risking potentially life-altering spinal season slide against 10th-ranked West
problems if he returns to the field, Samu- Virginia.
els is expected to make his retirement of- Taking on the Mountaineers at WVU
ficial at a news conference Thursday, 12 Coliseum represents a daunting task
hours before the free agency period offi- with a full complement of starters. But
cially begins at midnight. In the mean- without Freeman, Georgetown’s most ex-
time, Redskins coaches, who began their plosive scorer, the Hoyas had no shot, lit-
jobs realizing the 32-year-old Samuels erally and figuratively, and fell, 81-68.
wasn’t likely in their 2010 plans, will con- Georgetown, which started the season
tinue evaluating possible replacements, 11-1, has lost four of its last five and, this
in the free-agent market and in the draft. week, dropped from 11th to 19th in the
As the NFL Scouting Combine comes national rankings.
to a close Tuesday in Indianapolis, talent With one regular season game remain-
evaluators and league analysts agree that ing, Saturday against Cincinnati at Veri-
this year’s offensive linemen are an espe- zon Center, Georgetown (19-9, 9-8) now
cially deep and skilled group. Though the runs the risk of tumbling from the top
draft is still more than seven weeks away, eight in the Big East standings and los-
and the Redskins might be interested in a ing out on the conference tournament’s
quarterback with the fourth overall pick, first-round bye that until recently
no one denies the importance of a left seemed ensured.
tackle. West Virginia (23-6, 12-5), meantime,
“I’d take ’em as soon as I could get ’em,” clinched a double-bye and will sail di-
said Charley Casserly, the former Red- rectly into the tournament’s quarterfi-
skins general manager who’s now an ana- nals at New York’s Madison Square Gar-
lyst for CBS Sports and the NFL Network. den.
“History shows if you analyze Pro Bowl It wasn’t simply that Georgetown
rosters, most tackles in the Pro Bowl are
JEFF GROSS/GETTY IMAGES
missed Freeman’s offensive proficiency
left tackles and most came in the first against West Virginia. (Before falling ill,
round. If you’re getting one after that,
you’re more lucky than good.”
Sanctuary on the ice
hoyas continued on D5
A review of the past five Pro Bowls re-
veals that of the 22 offensive tackles
who’ve been named to the annual all-star
game, 14 had been first-round draft picks.
Speaking to reporters in Indianapolis
last week, Shanahan briefly assessed the
Capitals’ Theodore coping with pain of infant son’s death
state of the line, focusing on the injuries
that forced his predecessor to constantly
shuffle his starting five. But with Samu- by Tarik El-Bashir
els’s departure, it’s clear the Redskins’
depth problems aren’t something that
osé Theodore had managed to keep his personal tragedy as far from the ice as possible.
will simply heal with time.
“I don’t think anybody can protect a
quarterback when they lose an All-Pro
left tackle,” Shanahan said, “they lose one
of the best leaders, one of the better of-
fensive linemen at the [right] guard and
you have injuries throughout the offen-
sive line through the season. You’ve got to
be real lucky, too. You can’t have a rash of
injuries at any position. But we’re going
to try to get as much depth, try to get
quality players, to obviously try to protect
J
The Washington Capitals goalie didn’t want to make his teammates uncomfortable,
and the rink was a place where, for three hours a day, he could go to escape. ¶ But last
week, Theodore sat on the bench at Kettler Capitals Iceplex, took a deep breath and,
through tears, gave the first interview about his 2-month-old son Chace, who died in
August from respiratory complications related to a premature birth. ¶ “Obviously, it’s a
tough story for anybody,” he said. “It’s not something people are comfortable talking
about. People say to me, ‘I can’t imagine.’ To be honest, they can’t imagine. They can try
to imagine. But until you are there, you can’t put yourself in those people’s shoes.”
the quarterback.”
Currently, the Redskins can count on
DAVID SMITH/ASSOCIATED PRESS
theodore continued on D5
Derrick Dockery to start at left guard. Georgetown Coach John Thompson III
doesn’t look pleased with his team’s play
redskins continued on D4 in the second half in Morgantown.
A farewell to atrocious arms
viera, fla. four seasons, they are all, to varying
A
s you walk through the Nationals degrees, symbols of hope and a better
clubhouse in spring training, you future.
see an unexpected and novel sight Take a good look — the days when the
— real pitchers. Nats are last in the National League in
Some, like Scott Olsen, Chien-Ming ERA (5.00 last year) are about to end.
Wang, Matt Chico and Jordan The hallmark of normal teams is that, in
Zimmermann, are coming back from
injuries. Some, like Stephen Strasburg
THOMAS BOSWELL
March, you see waves of pitchers who
have “big league” written on them. You
and Drew Storen, are just rookies. Some, don’t know which kids will blossom,
like Jason Marquis and Matt Capps, are approaching his prime. which hurlers rehabbing after an elbow
free agents who have never worn a But they all have one thing in or shoulder surgery will make it all the
Washington uniform. common. They aren’t Daniel Cabrera or way back or which veterans will put
Some, like Liván Hernández, Miguel Logan Kensing, Micah Bowie or Mike together one last fine season. But, out of
Batista and Eddie Guardado, have a ton Bacsik, Levale Speigner or Jerome many, you know it’s reasonable to
of mileage on their tires. And several, Williams. They aren’t symbols of assume an actual pitching staff can be
like Garrett Mock, Craig Stammen, J.D. desperation and defeat. They are all assembled.
Martin, Shairon Martis and Collin pitchers with a proven past or obvious Finally, that is where the Nationals
Balester, look like fourth or fifth potential. And so, unlike the parade of are now. They have things they know,
TONI L. SANDYS/THE WASHINGTON POST
starters, at best. Only one, John Lannan, open-audition disasters who have
For a change, pitching coach Spin Williams is watching talented pitchers. is a young, established starter thrown the ball for the Nats over the last boswell continued on D4
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