ABCDE SPORTS friday, august 27, 2010 PROBASKETBALL
Do or die for Mystics After failing to adjust vs. Atlanta in its playoff opener, Washington must win on the road tonight to keep its season going. D3
BLOGS,MULTIMEDIAANDCHATS
washingtonpost.com/sports First Things First Today, 9:30 a.m. Tracee Hamilton gets your sports day started with a chat. Redskins Insider Get ready for tonight’s preseason game against the New York Jets. Nationals Journal Catch up on Jordan Zimmermann’s season debut last night vs St. Louis.
Doughty, Horton go way back
Redskins safeties share bond through personal, professional trials
BY BARRY SVRLUGA On the morning of Sept. 14,
2008, Reed Doughty found him- self in the emergency room, a troubling enough development even if he weren’t scheduled to play anNFLgame that afternoon. Doughty had spent much of the night throwing up, and it was clear he wasn’t going to be able to start at safety for theWashington Redskins against the New Or- leans Saints. So he sent a text message to his likely replace- ment, a seventh-round draft choice out of UCLA named Chris Horton. “Be ready,” it said. “You’re going
to get your chance.” That day, in his second NFL
game, Horton twice intercepted Drew Brees passes — both on tipped balls — and recovered a fumble in what was, at the time, a key Redskins’ victory. “Man,” Horton said this week.
“That seems like a loooooong time ago.” Two years later, the futures of
Doughty and Horton are still in- tertwined. The latest chapter be- gins Friday night, when the Red- skins play a preseason game against the New York Jets in East Rutherford, N.J. Doughty is scheduled to start at free safety. Horton will most likely relieve him. Either could end up the
redskins continued on D8 Redskins at Jets
When: 7 p.m. TV:WRC (Channel 4), Comcast SportsNet
l Some say four-game preseason needed. D7
JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST Present meets the future:Nationals third basemanRyan Zimmerman, left, has a hat, aNo. 34 jersey and a welcoming handshake forNo. 1 overall draft pick BryceHarper. Held underHarper’s spell L
ook at BryceHarper. Look directly at BryceHarper. Watch his batting-practice
home run land in the third deck inNationals Park. (You are getting drowsy. Keep watching the metronome that isHarper’s gorgeous swing. Back and forth, back and forth.) Scope out Bryce’s faux-
Mohawk hairdo, check out his black-on-black three-piece suit with the velvet lapels and the magenta-on-black tie. “The ladies like it.” (You are getting
THOMAS BOSWELL
very sleepy.) Do not look at Jordan Zimmermann in his first game back from Tommy John surgery. Do not watch Albert Pujols’s 430-foot, opposite-field home
run off him or four other Cardinals crossing the plate against him in just four innings. (Your eyelids are feeling heavy. You can barely watch the Nationals play baseball at all.) Just keep your eyes on
Harper. Listen toGeneral ManagerMike Rizzo as he says, “We are going to bring Bryce along quickly so he can maximize his impactability.” (You are almost asleep now. You have almost forgotten that the Nationals are 22 games under
.500.) Listen to 17-year-old Bryce as
he says: “I really don’t understandmy swing.Well, I do, but I don’t know where I get all that power from.” Join in his delight at seeing children in the Little LeagueWorld Series as they imitate his eye-black look. (You have almost lost consciousness now.) Above all, do not think about
Stephen Strasburg and the result of his forearm-elbow arthrogram that is due on
Friday morning. Remember, you are getting sleepy—such a thought would make you wake up screaming. Your mind is cloudy. Say slowly to yourself, “Jeezus will not require Tommy John surgery and miss 12 to 18 months.” Relax, breath deeply, think
only about Bryce. Focus on his easy grin, his ebullient confidence and his strong parents who seem to ground
boswell continued on D5 TENNIS
State of the game The U.S. Open draw is announced, but debate centers on injuries and inconsistency in the women’s game. D3
D EZ SU
HIGHSCHOOLKICKOFFWEEKEND
Ready or not, it’s opening night Backed by trusted staff, Coolidge’s Randolph makes her head coaching debut
Carroll at Coolidge BY ALAN GOLDENBACH C
oach the Coolidge foot- ball team?Not a chance, Natalie Randolph told the school administra- tion when the science
teacher was first asked last win- ter.
“I wasn’t ready to be a head
coach,” she said. When the school persisted, Randolph knew that if she was going to do what few women nationwide had ever tried, she would need plenty of help. While the 30-year-old Ran-
dolph will absorb the glare of the spotlight Friday when Coolidge opens its season at home against
When: Friday, 7 p.m. Where: Coolidge, 6315 5th St.,NW Tickets: $5 at the gate (no advance sales) Gates open: 6 p.m.
Carroll, standing in the shadows will be a staff of 10 assistants with varied backgrounds, ready to help the former wide receiver for the D.C. Divas women’s profes- sional team navigate a coaching playbook that extends far beyond post patterns and zone blitzes. “I chose people who I could
trust,” she said of her staff, which is typical in size for area teams. Aside from finding her comfort
zone in just her third season as a coach (she worked with the re-
ceivers in 2006 and 2007 at H.D. Woodson), Randolph has had plenty of off-the-field issues to tend to, including a media glare that has intensified over the past five months. The school has re- ceived credential requests for Fri- day’s game from all four local broadcast television stations, HBO, ESPN, theNewYork Times, Los Angeles Times and even Forbes magazine, among others. “It’s a billion times tougher
than what I had to go through,” said Coolidge offensive coordina- torTorranceDawkins, comparing Randolph’s job to his tenure as head coach at Theodore Roosevelt in 2006 and 2007. “But
randolph continued on D7
AllMetSports.com Follow every high school team in the area tonight and all season.
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