ABCDE SPORTS sunday, december 19, 2010 HORSERACING
The end at Laurel Park? Workers fear the track may have held its last race. A1
ON FOOTBALL Jason Reid
Quarterback situation is incomplete I
t took less than a full season for Washington Redskins CoachMike Shanahan to determine that Dono-
vanMcNabb is probably the wrong quarterback to build a team around. Now how long will it take Shanahan
to find the right one? McNabb, 34, is still on the 53-man
roster despite his demotion in favor of former backup Rex Grossman and third-stringer John Beck for the team’s final three games, beginning Sunday against Dallas at Cowboys Stadium. And he is under contract next season and beyond, if the Redskins choose to retain his rights. But Shanahan’s season-closing benching ofMcNabb has all but ended McNabb’s brief Redskins experience. Shanahan has publicly embarrassed the proud 12-year veteran, making it highly unlikelyMcNabb will be with
Redskins at Cowboys 1 p.m., Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, Tex. (WTTG-5)
the franchise for a second season. “Donovan is under contract, but we obviously have a lot to talk about” re- garding his future with the Redskins, saidMcNabb’s agent, Fletcher Smith. “The wayMike has handled Donovan is just . . . disrespectful, disgraceful—I don’t even know if those words are strong enough.” Although Grossman and Beck (who
will be Grossman’s backup for the final two games, essentially makingMc- Nabb inactive) are in the team’s plans at the moment, the Redskins’ next long-term starter probably is not on the roster. Or even in the NFL yet, for
on football continued onD5 JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST
l Grossman tasked with elevating not only his position. D5 l Wise: In McNabb, Dad picked wrong QB for his son. D3
Ralph Friedgenmay still coach in the Military Bowl, the seventh postseason bid his Terps have earned in 10 years.
COLLEGEBASKETBALL
Georgetown runs hot Hoyas miss one two-point shot in first half of rout of Loyola (Md.). D2
PROFOOTBALL
The doleful division The NFC West is threatening to produce a sub-.500 champ. D7
SALLYJENKINS
Cowboys’ Kitna takes reins A column on the QB can be found at
washingtonpost.com/nfl.
U-Md. tells Friedgen it’s time to go Football coach
is offered buyout after up-and-down decade
BY ERIC PRISBELL AND STEVE YANDA
The University of Maryland has in-
formed Ralph Friedgen that his 10-year tenure as head football coach is over and has asked him to accept a buyout of his contract, two people familiar with the situation said Saturday. The decision brings to an end Fried-
gen’s run at his alma mater in which he recorded 31 victories in his first three years, bringing Maryland football to national prominence, and led the team to seven bowl appearances. IfFriedgenrefuses to retire, the school
would have to pay him about $2 million to buy out the remaining year on his contract. Friedgen has not made a deci- sion on whether to accept the buyout offer, one individual close to Friedgen said, and no deadline has been estab-
friedgen continued onD2 Here’s the deal: Arenas moves on
ORLANDO GIVES UP LEWIS IN TRADE
MIKE WISE
Broken promise: Era of potential defined by errors
A
fter last Dec. 21, this is about as well as it could possibly end for all parties involved.
Gilbert Arenas, almost a year to the
day after he detonated his own career and the contending hopes of his franchise, gets to join a very good playoff team in Orlando. The Wizards maneuver out from under his albatross of a contract, clear future salary cap room for a genuine rebuild and finally move on from an era that never amounted to what team President Ernie Grunfeld envisioned. But Grunfeld will take that, given the perception that his own career in Washington was always going to be tethered to signing Arenas to a $111 million deal in the summer of 2008. That financial commitment was manifest in a litany of knee surgeries, and the single most damaging event in the modern era ofWashington pro basketball. When Arenas brought guns into
Verizon Center a year ago this month, in his mischievous, oddball mind, he thought he was settling a prank with mean-mugging teammate Javaris Crittenton; in reality, he had done something criminal and everything Grunfeld believed could happen in Washington went up in flames. Within months, what passed for a Big
TONI L. SANDYS/THE WASHINGTON POST wise continued onD9 Gilbert Arenas, shown being introduced before Tuesday’s game atVerizon Center, will get a fresh start with theMagic. Gilbert Arenas timeline Key dates in his Washington career
Aug.8,2003: Signs a six-year,$65million contract as a restricted free agentwith the Wizards. Feb.20,2005: Appears in his first all-star game, scoring seven points in 14minutes off the bench. May4,2005: Hits thewinning shot inGame 5of theWizards’ first-round series against the ChicagoBulls.Washington goes on to take its first playoff series in23years. Dec. 17,2006: Scores a franchise-record60 points in Los Angeles, his home town, against the Lakers.During the same trip, he scores
54against the Phoenix Suns. Jan. 1,2007:Named player of theweek, as well as player of themonth forDecember. Jan. 15,2007:With seconds left, sinks a three-pointer to beat theUtah Jazz, a game in which he sets a VerizonCenter recordwith51 points. Feb. 18,2007: Starts in the all-star game for the first time, scoring eight points. April5,2007:Undergoes surgery on his left knee to repairmeniscus torn in an on-court collision the previous day.Misses the final eight games of the season and four playoff
games. Nov.21,2007: AnMRI examleads to surgery to repair a partial tear of his leftmedial meniscus and amicrofracture on a non- weight-bearing surface defect on the side of his knee.Hemisses the next67 games. July 13,2008:Re-signs as an unrestricted free agent, agreeing to a six-year,$111million deal. Sept. 18,2008:Undergoes arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. March28,2009:Makes season debutwith eight games left in the regular season.
Dec.21,2009:Brings four guns to the team’s locker roomat VerizonCenter in a dispute with teammate JavarisCrittenton. Jan. 7,2010: Suspended indefinitely byNBA CommissionerDavid Stern after he pretended to shoot teammateswith his fingers before a game in Philadelphia. Jan. 15,2010: Pleads guilty to a felony gun count in a plea deal. Jan.27,2010: Suspended for remainder of season by Stern. March26,2010: Sentenced to two years probation and amonth in a halfway house.
Guard’s time in D.C. marked by brilliance, controversy
BY MICHAEL LEE He came to the Washington Wizards
more than seven years ago, a fresh-faced 21-year-old kid, flashing a smile connect- ed with braces, possessing an eccentric and gregarious personality and boasting about leading this moribund franchise back to prosperity. In his time in the District, Gilbert Are-
nas filled a void for a team that was attempting to overcome theMichael Jor- dan era, by providing entertainment on and off the court and giving fans a legiti- mate superstar to rally behind. But his legacy will also remain controversial and uneven, filledwithunfulfilledpromise, as injuries, and later an embarrassing gun incident, left the franchise in tatters and forced it to turn its attention to another fresh-faced kid. TheArenaseraofficiallycametoanend
on Saturday, as the Wizards shipped the former all-star guardto theOrlandoMag- ic inexchange forRashardLewis. “Gilbert was really the first player I
signedwhenI gothere andhedida lot for this organization, but I think it was time for a change,” Wizards President Ernie
arenas continued onD9 Meet Rashard Lewis
Ht.: 6-10 Wt.: 230 Age: 31 Nickname: Sweet Lew Career statistics:
Season Team PPG RPG APG FG% 1998-99 SEA 2.4 1999-00 SEA 8.2
1.3 4.1
2000-01 SEA 14.8 6.9 2001-02 SEA 16.8 7.0 2002-03 SEA 18.1 6.5 2003-04 SEA 17.8 6.5 2004-05 SEA 20.5 5.5 2005-06 SEA 20.1 5.0 2006-07 SEA 22.4 6.6 2007-08 ORL 18.2 5.4 2008-09 ORL 17.7 5.7 2009-10 ORL 14.1 4.4 2010-11 ORL 12.2 4.2
0.2 0.9 1.6 1.7 1.7 2.2 1.3 2.3 2.4 2.4 2.6 1.5 1.2
.365 .486 .480 .468 .452 .435 .462 .467 .461 .455 .439 .435 .419
Source:
nba.com
l Late collapse denies Wizards an upset of Heat. D9
After falling behind in Boston, Caps stay stuck behind eight ball in 3-2 loss BY KATIE CARRERA
boston —Two weeks ago, if the Wash- ington Capitals would have outshot an opponent 26-2 in the third period they’d likely havemore to showfor it than just a single goal. But now, mired in their longest losing streak since the 2006-07 season, nothing can be counted on the
same way. Despite that onslaught of chances in
the final frame on Saturday night, and despite that familiar old feeling among Capitals players that they could erase their opponents’ lead as easily as a dry-erase board, Washington couldn’t climb out of a three-goal deficit. Tim Thomas made 39 saves, including 25 in the concluding 20 minutes, to boost the
Boston Bruins over the struggling Capi- tals, 3-2, at TD Garden. The Capitals’ eighth straight loss
dropped them from first place in the SoutheastDivisionstandings for the first time since April 2008. The Atlanta Thrashers (41 points) now occupy that spot,having leapfroggedWashington(40 points)by virtue of a 7-1winover theNew Jersey Devils. The Tampa Bay Lightning
(40 points) also won, 3-1 over Buffalo, leaving the Capitals in third place. “When we got that second goal it kind
of felt like it used to on the bench.We felt likewewere going towin nomatterwhat and it didn’t work out,” said Matt Brad- ley, who recorded his third goal of the season for Washington’s first tally. “They’re too good of a teamto give them a 3-0 lead. . . . We played great for 40
minutes, but it’s a 60-minute game and it just wasn’t good enough.” As they prepared for the finalmeeting
between the teams in the regular season, players in both camps talked about the importance of a fast start. Only Boston heeded its own advice. The Capitalswere overeager, overplaying both the puck
capitals continued onD7 D EZ SU
lished for Friedgen tomake a decision. Kevin Anderson,Maryland’s first-year
Athletic Director, said to expect an announcement regarding the football program’s future early in the week. When asked Friday if Friedgen would
return, Anderson paused for a few sec- onds before saying: “I will sit down and everybodywill understandwherewe are going and how we are moving with the program. At this point in time, I am not going to answer that question.” The source close to Friedgen,who like
others contacted for this story insisted on anonymity because an official an- nouncement has yet to be made, said Maryland has asked Friedgen to coach in the Military Bowl at RFK Stadium on Dec.
29.Aschool spokesman said that, at the moment, Friedgen is expected to coach in the game, but the person close to Friedgen said that Friedgen remains undecided. Anderson addressed the Maryland
football team at a team meeting Friday night, the individual said. SeveralMary- land players asked the athletic director
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160