Search Results from Off Wing Opinion
Today in McLean's, Charlie Gillis and John Intini take a look at Jim Balsillie's failure to purchase the Nashville Predators and move them to Southern Ontario. Toward the end of the piece, Gillis and Intini trot out what's becoming an...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on July 23, 2007 07:06 AM
By now, many of you may already have read the story about how a reporter from the Louisville Courier-Journal was ejected from the press box yesterday when he attempted to live blog an NCAA regional baseball playoff game: "A Courier-Journal...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on June 11, 2007 05:26 PM
By the time I had reached the top of the escalator at the Stadium-Armory Metro stop on my way to D.C. United's CONCACAF Champions Cup match with C.D. Olimpia of Honduras last night, the first drops of a cold rain...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on March 2, 2007 12:34 PM
In today's edition of The Washington Post, Nationals beat writer Barry Svrluga introduces Washington to the growing number of blogs that cover the Washington Nationals. Front and center is an old friend, Chris Needham: The e-mail popped in, and Chris...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on February 6, 2007 05:23 AM
Was just watching Inter Milan playing Chievo when Hernan Crespo, currently on loan from Chelsea, score a brilliant goal to put Inter up, 4-0. Former D.C. United head coach Ray Hudson, now doing color commentary for GolTV, called the finish,...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on September 24, 2006 10:45 AM
Almost 18,000 fans showed up in Baltimore yesterday for a more or less meaningless regular season game between the Orioles and the Tigers. But what was surprising was that about 1,000 of those fans showed up at a day make...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on September 22, 2006 02:30 AM
The Mighty William F. Yurasko went to his first D.C. United match on Saturday night, and he had a number of interesting observations: Great atmosphere -- the crowd was into it and loud well into the second half even when...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on September 5, 2006 06:29 AM
Last night in Germantown, Maryland, D.C. United defeated the Columbus Crew 2-1 in a U.S. Open Cup match. But that wasn't the only number that caught my eye this morning in Steven Goff's story in today's Washington Post. The second...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on August 2, 2006 06:59 AM
After a lengthy exile at NFL.com, Gregg Easterbrook and his famed Tuesday Morning Quarterback column have made a triumphant return to Page 2 at ESPN.com. And there was much rejoicing in the land. For a moment, anyway. Like me, Easterbrook...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on April 25, 2006 11:17 PM
With D.C. United having been rudely dismissed from the MLS playoffs a couple of weeks ago, I only watched a few minutes of the first half of yesterday's MLS Cup, which means I didn't get to see the winning (and...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on November 14, 2005 04:25 PM
D.C. United took a step forward towards resolving the Freddie Adu kerfuffle as it lifted the kid's suspension so he'll be eligible to play in Sunday's match against the Chicago Fire at RFK. As for the team, they're saying everything...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on October 25, 2005 12:31 PM
Dwight Gooden turned himself in to Tampa police yesterday, and Eric Myerson, a Mets fan back in the 1980s, had some thoughts: It was in 1986, when Doc had just reached 21 and was the best pitcher in baseball, that...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on August 26, 2005 06:38 AM
GoonBlog says goodbye to PJ Stock: I heard a rumor that PJ Stock had to call it quits due to vision problems. It’s strange, because at the Crue, I was looking around scouting out some seats that might be good...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on August 24, 2005 12:05 AM
Looking to upgrade an offense that's scored the fewest runs in MLB, the Washington Nationals dealt pitcher Zach Day and outfielder J.J. Davis to the Colorado Rockies for Preston Wilson. And the reaction from the Nats bloggers has been from...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on July 14, 2005 06:19 AM
As Larry Brooks suspected a few weeks back, it looks like the NHL is going to take advantage of baseball's All-Star break to announce an end to the lockout: An extended session between the NHL and NHL Players' Association, which...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on July 13, 2005 12:23 PM
The worst kept secret in the NBA was revealed Sunday when Steve Nash was announced as NBA MVP. My buddy Steve Ovadia thinks he knows why: Steve Nash, a Canadian, is the NBA's MVP because he had no hockey to...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on May 9, 2005 12:45 PM
I don't know if it will ease the pain of seeing his baseball team age before his eyes, but a horse owned by George Steinbrenner is favored to win the Kentucky Derby. Don't want to know what happens if that...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on May 5, 2005 12:46 PM
Mental note to self: Stay away from MCI Center on June 11th. Check out 3Martini's take on my drug of choice. Chris Lynch had some recent takes on the NHL worth checking out: One on whether or not the Bain...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on April 12, 2005 12:50 PM
It's raining at the Masters. The current tee time is set for 1:30 p.m. U.S. EDT. As reader Marc Hoff reminded me this morning, we may not have playoff hockey this Spring, but we do have the NCAA Frozen Four....
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on April 7, 2005 12:26 PM
Start the week with the NCAA Men's Basketball Final . . . Cruise into MLB's Opening Day . . . And close out Sunday with the back nine at Augusta. It's one of the best sports weeks of the year....
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on April 7, 2005 12:20 AM
It's a new format for changing times. Let me know what you all think. New Year's Resolution 2006: Charles Austin fills out my NCAA brackets next year. And that's after I bagged three of the Final Four (except Michigan State,...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on April 4, 2005 01:16 PM
I can't say I'm terribly surprised at the recent actions of Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos and his, "What's mine is mine, and what's yours is ours," take on the way his team and the Washington Nationals should split up...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on March 17, 2005 12:12 AM
Off Wing reader and UMass-Darthmouth Masters candidate Patrick Gleason is writing a piece about sports blogging, and sent along some questions for me to answer. My responses are below. 1. How long has your blog been operational? Off Wing Opinion...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on March 16, 2005 12:04 AM
I guess the big story today has to be Murray Chass' column in the New York Times claiming that MLB scuttled a Sosa to Washington deal in order to placate Orioles owner Peter Angelos. Like Chris Needham, I think it...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on February 1, 2005 12:35 PM
Named in honor of the WTEM-AM radio personality who in the course of detailing the starting lineup of the Washington Nationals during a public rally in support of D.C. Baseball, forgot to include 1B/CF Brad Wilkerson in his rundown. And...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on January 27, 2005 12:45 PM
Yesterday at his blog, Hugh Hewitt listed a set of questions he'd like to see reporters answer so their readers/viewers know what sort of biases they bring to the table. In short, I think it's a good idea. So in...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on December 29, 2004 12:03 AM
For some time now, Soccer fans have been concerned over how D.C. United is going to cope with sharing RFK Stadium with the Washington Nationals next season. Already, we've found out that several bleacher sections that normally housed United's most...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on December 23, 2004 12:21 PM
Now that the Washington Nationals are a permanent part of the D.C. sports scene, I thought it was time to add a special section to the blogroll. So please welcome Distinguished Senators, Ball Wonk, Capitol Punishment, The Nats Blog, Nationals...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on December 22, 2004 03:54 PM
Winners 1) Major League Baseball -- I'm sure when it comes to the other 29 owners in MLB, it seems like decades since they engineered the Jeff Loria/John Henry/Expos/Marlins/Red Sox swap. Now that they've got a a city and a...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on December 21, 2004 04:17 PM
At least that's the word from the Washington Post at this late hour: Details are still emerging about the new agreement between Cropp and Williams, but the full 13-member council will be asked to vote on an amended plan today....
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on December 21, 2004 12:02 AM
Is MLB showing a little give in its dispute with the D.C. City Council? Maybe: Major League Baseball does not oppose involvement of private financing for Washington, D.C.'s proposed new $440 million stadium for the Nationals but is standing firm...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on December 20, 2004 06:46 AM
In a press conference yesterday, D.C. City Council Chairman Linda Cropp asked MLB for an extension of the December 31 deadline to pass a stadium financing bill, but it looks like the answer is going to be no. And just...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on December 17, 2004 10:29 AM
Over the past couple of hours I've gotten a number of notes from folks questioning the tack I took with yesterday's mega-post on the apparent foundering of the effort to bring baseball back to Washington. In particular, this comment left...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on December 16, 2004 12:53 PM
It looks like MLB has put an interesting cap on the events of the last 24 hours with this statement: "The legislation approved by the District of Columbia City Council last night does not reflect the agreement we signed and...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on December 15, 2004 08:46 PM
After months of negotiation, the D.C. City Council finally passed a stadium financing bill late Tuesday night by a vote of 7-6. Unfortunately, thanks to an amendment from D.C. City Council Chairman Linda Cropp, the stadium has to come with...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on December 15, 2004 12:30 AM
Yesterday, I gave my buddy Ben Wright a friendly nudge saying he had inadvertently made a case for adopting the shootout as a way to decide OT hockey games in the postseason. So he decided to think on it a...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on December 10, 2004 12:38 PM
Dodger Thoughts, which published the excellent, "The Disposable Baseball Blogger," a few weeks back, is at it again, this time interviewing LA Times Dodgers beat writer Bill Shaikin on the role of sports blogs: No one writer can think of...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on December 8, 2004 02:46 PM
That was the final vote today as Major League Baseball's owners approved the relocation of the Montreal Expos to Washington, D.C. The lone dissenting voice? According to confidential sources, it's Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, a man who has yet...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on December 3, 2004 03:43 PM
(CHECK THROUGHOUT THE DAY FOR UPDATES) From this morning's San Francisco Chronicle: Barry Bonds told a federal grand jury that he used a clear substance and a cream supplied by the Burlingame laboratory now enmeshed in a sports doping scandal,...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on December 3, 2004 06:49 AM
The big news this morning has to be the delay in the vote by MLB owners to approve the Expos move to Washington. This time, the hitch isn't the fact that the D.C. City Council still hasn't voted on the...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on November 19, 2004 06:49 AM
The news is looking good on the legal front when it comes to the Expos proposed move to Washington, D.C. With that hurdle out of the way, the league is expected to approve the transfer of the team from Montreal...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on November 16, 2004 06:35 AM
Sally Jenkins sums up the recent shenanigans around the D.C. ballpark financing plan in this morning's Washington Post: If you really want to define the mayor through baseball, look at his reaction when the Cato Institute published a briefing paper...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on November 12, 2004 06:13 AM
The Washington Times talked to super agent Scott Boras, who seems high on D.C. baseball in more ways than one: "In Los Angeles, we get Hugh Hefner and Pamela Anderson and people who know nothing about baseball who come to...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on November 11, 2004 11:35 AM
Supporters of D.C. baseball got a big surprise today, when D.C. City Council Chairman Linda Cropp delayed a vote on stadium financing legislation for two weeks, and announced that she had come up with a new plan to privately finance...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on November 9, 2004 12:53 PM
D.C. taxpayers got some interesting news this morning, as the city's Chief Financial Officer sent a letter to the Chairman of the D.C. City Council saying that the stadium is going to cost $91 million more than the original estimate:...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on October 28, 2004 06:27 AM
With D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams in the Far East, he sent one of his minions to confront an angry crowd in Captain Off Wing's old neighborhood that wasn't happy about the stadium plan: "I've never seen anything like this in...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on October 26, 2004 12:05 PM
Looks like I'll be rearranging the blogroll when it comes to D.C. baseball -- and I'll be adding Capitol Punishment to the list....
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on October 26, 2004 12:36 AM
Thanks to a case of bronchitis I can't seem to shake, I'm still knocking around awake, and tripped over a link-less headline at Drudge that says that the leaders of D.C.'s gay community are going to work together to defeat...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on October 4, 2004 02:53 AM
Over at Distinguished Senators, Ryan says he's not worried about pending lawsuits or the details over the financing package for the District's new stadium, but rather that it's time to start talking about the baseball team that he presumes will...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on October 1, 2004 12:25 PM
I had an interesting lunchtime conversation today with an old friend of mine. For sake of the converation, let's call him Don B. He's a typical D.C.-area resident, a transient from the Southwest who came to the city to pursue...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on September 30, 2004 12:58 PM
Another item lost in the hoopla over D.C. baseball is the fact that RFK Stadium already has another tenant -- D.C. United, the premier franchise in MLS. Here's what they're saying over at MLSNet: But the most crucial aspect of...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on September 30, 2004 07:51 AM
With the official announcement of the Expos move to D.C. out of the way, the hard work of getting the stadium financing package through the D.C. City Council, closing the deal on the appeasment of Orioles owners Peter Angelos and...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on September 30, 2004 06:52 AM
Here's one link I thought deserved some special attention -- a story from the Washington Post detailing what went wrong with the Virginia's apparently failed bid for the Expos: Gov. Mark R. Warner had joined key lawmakers in balking at...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on September 29, 2004 12:29 PM
As I first flashed last night, it looks like the Montreal Expos will be moving to Washington, D.C. in time for the start of the 2005 baseball season. A press conference, complete with former members of the Washington Senators, will...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on September 29, 2004 07:15 AM
As I've noted before, MLB's Bob DuPuy and Orioles owner Peter Angelos are in the midst of negotiating a financial settlement for the team as compensation if (when) the Expos move to Washington, D.C. Here's Thomas Heath in Saturday's Washington...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on September 28, 2004 12:02 PM
It looks as if after 33 years, the stars might be aligning to allow the return of Major League Baseball to Washington, D.C.: Several baseball officials said Monday that the most likely day for an announcement that Washington, D.C., has...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on September 28, 2004 06:24 AM
There's plenty of links to examine today, just pop over to William Yurasko's place, where he's got all the link you could want from the Post, Times and Baltimore Sun -- inlcuding this piece from Laura Vescey, who thinks the...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on September 24, 2004 07:14 AM
Things are developing rapidly in the effort to move the Montreal Expos to Washington -- check out Distinguished Senators for the details on site selection for a new ballpark in the District: District officials disclosed plans yesterday to build a...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on September 22, 2004 12:52 PM
Thanks to Distinguished Senators for the pointer to the news that MLB has informed a Miami District Court Judge of their intention to move the Expos next season. Also, take another look at this roundup piece from Wednesday recapping the...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on September 17, 2004 12:04 PM
I spent Friday night with an old friend at Camden Yards, and discovered just how vulnerable the Yankees really are. Could they have really given up 8 runs in the bottom of the third? While I'm sure the Yankees will...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on September 13, 2004 07:03 AM
Eric Fisher at the Washington Times is reporting that Major League Baseball will announce a decision on relocating the Montreal Expos sometime in the next two weeks, most likely the week of Labor Day, September 5. The news comes in...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on August 26, 2004 01:27 PM
Reporting from the basebal owners meetings in Philadelphia, USA Today, Hal Bodley says that the District bid is the front-runner to acquire the Expos, while Eric Fisher at the Washington Times reported that doubts are growing that the team will...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on August 19, 2004 07:15 AM
Last week, I told you that there would be no announcement regarding a move of the Montreal Expos to Washington, D.C. or its environs at today's baseball owners meeting in Philadelphia. Just a few minutes ago, the AP moved a...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on August 18, 2004 12:01 AM
Peter Angelos may have begun his final descent into madness. During an interview on WBAL radio yesterday, the Orioles owner brought out his strongest argument for keeping baseball out of D.C.: “There are no real baseball fans in D.C.—that’s a...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on July 28, 2004 10:19 AM
If we accept the ESPN report that MLB’s relocation committee will recommend moving the Expos to D.C., then the endgame has begun. But the committee’s word is hardly final. There’s still the matter of convincing the owners, including Peter Angelos,...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on July 24, 2004 08:49 PM
Thanks to Distinguished Senators for the link to a message board, where supporters of the Washington and Virginia bids for the Expos are duking it out. And for those of you convinced that public subsidies for stadiums are a good...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on July 20, 2004 12:16 PM
The fight over getting baseball to Washington, D.C. got a little ugly yesterday, but for once the mud slinging didn't get outside of the Baltimore Beltway. It all started yesterday morning when Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley had this to say...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on July 1, 2004 06:18 AM
USA Today is reporting that Major League Baseball's relocation committee is leaning toward sending the Expos to the Washington area, but can't decide whether to award the team to the group from the District or Northern Virginia. Here's what comissioner...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on June 30, 2004 12:00 PM
The Washington Post has just completed a three-part series on the way Major League Baseball works behind the scenes, and why the way they do business is conspiring against the Washington area ever getting another ball club of its own....
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on June 29, 2004 06:57 AM
Ryan at Distinguished Senators has posted a response to my last post about the relative benefits of the competing plans to bring the Expos to either Washington or Northern Virginia, and he's brought up some points that ought to be...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on June 24, 2004 12:21 PM
For some time now, I've been pretty conflicted over the issue of bringing the Expos to Washington. Sure, I'd love to see a baseball team in the Washington area, but we ought to be asking just what price we're willing...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on June 23, 2004 12:52 PM
One of the great strengths of the National Football League is its impeccable sense of timing. You can always expect the league's opening week sometime around Labor Day, and then leave the stage with an incredible bang around the end...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on June 15, 2004 12:05 PM
In a short interview with the AP, Baltimore Orioles owner said that he would "grudgingly" accept a move by the Montreal Expos to Washington, D.C. David Pinto thinks this is a significant concession, but as I've said before, I'll believe...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on June 12, 2004 01:00 PM
Distinguished Senators is a blog dedicated to following the travails of the Montreal Expos, and the possibility of their relocation to Washington, D.C. Check it out. UPDATE: Turns out the Expos are in Seattle to take on Peter White's beloved...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on June 11, 2004 11:50 AM
When it comes to following the continuing saga of Washington, D.C.'s quest to lure a Major League Baseball team to the nation's capital, the newspaper to read has to be the Washington Times. Led by sports business reporter Eric Fisher,...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on April 26, 2004 12:10 PM
Some days are better than others. And then there are days when you wish you had actually gone to grad school. I had one of those days earlier this week when JC at Sabernomics used his doctorate in Economics to...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on April 23, 2004 12:00 AM
Since I was out of town over the weekend, I missed the announcement first broken in the Washington Times on Friday, that Washington, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams was ready to forward a proposal to Major League Baseball that provided for...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on April 12, 2004 09:11 PM
With the Bertuzzi Affair and the NHL Playoffs dominating things around here for the past few weeks, I've gotten away from some of the other content my readers have come to expect -- that whole "free market sports fan" thing...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on April 7, 2004 12:59 PM
In the New York Times, Murray Chass says it's long past time for MLB to sell the Expos to an independent owner who will spend the money to keep the team competitive. Back here in D.C., Dick Heller at the...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on January 30, 2004 12:01 PM
All sorts of people are pointing to President Bush's statement about steroids and professional sports last night, but it's important to make a distinction between what he said and what he didn't say. From ESPN.com's account: Bush told Congress that...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on January 21, 2004 08:02 AM
It was election day in Northern Virginia yesterday, and in Arlington County, voters resoundingly returned Walter Ferguson and Walter Tejada to the County Board, despite heavy support given to opposition candidates by individuals in favor of building a stadium for...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on November 6, 2003 03:05 PM
That's the word from both the Montreal Expos and Major League Baseball -- that the vagabond ballclub will play another 22 games in San Juan, Puerto Rico next season. In addition, MLB has also announced that the oft-delayed relocation process...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on October 23, 2003 04:48 PM
Cato's Doug Bandow makes the case against D.C. Baseball: Franchise owners typically win taxpayer support only through threats: Pay us off, or we will leave, they say. Give us a new stadium, or we'll go someplace that will. Take the...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on October 20, 2003 11:24 AM
Like a lot of locals, I've given up on the idea of having the Montreal Expos move to Washington, D.C. I've gone over the reasons why for so long, that I'm quite frankly tired of the subject. I'll still revisit...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on October 9, 2003 05:58 AM
I'm sorry for the dearth of posts on Monday. You'd figure with a full weekend of playoff baseball, NFL football, the Women's World Cup, and another rousing victory for Tiger Woods on the PGA Tour (with a new Nike driver),...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on October 7, 2003 12:40 AM
ESPN's Page 2 has completed its tour of all the ballparks in Major League Baseball. The winner: Pittsburgh's PNC Park. ESPN's Jim Caple explains: The Pirates re-signed Andy Van Slyke instead of Barry Bonds. They signed Derek (Operation Shutdown) Bell...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on September 9, 2003 12:38 AM
We're coming up to the home stretch when it comes to Major League Baseball's charade that the Montreal Expos might actually find a permanent home next season. Sticking to all the details of the story until the bitter end is...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on August 18, 2003 06:42 AM
Eric Fisher at the Washington Times is on the case once more, with a story detailing the complex struggle over financing a Baseball stadium in the District of Columbia. The real problem, as relayed by one D.C. political insider: both...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on August 1, 2003 11:46 AM
A story is running on the AP wire quoting the Montreal Expos' union representative as well as an official of the Major League Baseball Players Association that the players are unlikely to approve playing home games in two cities again...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on July 31, 2003 12:55 AM
At a rally outside the Arlington County Courthouse, about 200 protesters shouted and stamped their feet in vain trying to convince the County Board to change their mind about building a Baseball stadium for the Montreal Expos somewhere inside the...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on July 30, 2003 11:35 AM
Representatives of the Major League Baseball Players Association will meet with the Montreal Expos to determine which city the players would like to be based in next season. The choices: Washington, D.C., San Juan, Montreal, or a modified schedule with...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on July 29, 2003 11:51 AM
Congratulations to Mets broadcaster Bob Murphy, who announced on Sunday that he would be retiring after 50 years as a Baseball broadcaster, the last 42 with my beloved hometown New York Mets. For many fans, Murphy will be best remembered...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on July 29, 2003 01:33 AM
Recognizing that a growing number of its residents are passionately opposed to hosting a baseball stadium, the Board of Arlington County, Virginia told the Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority that they would resist any attempt to place a stadium in the...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on July 18, 2003 11:37 AM
The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team will open defense of their World Cup title on September 21 in Washington, D.C. when they take on Sweden. Also in Group A with the Americans and the Swedes are Nigeria and North Korea....
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on July 18, 2003 12:08 AM
I was out at a work outing for most of the day, so I didn't have a chance to blog about Major League Baseball's announcement that the Montreal Expos might play their entire home schedule in San Juan next season....
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on July 17, 2003 07:11 AM
Remember that July 15th deadline that Major League Baseball (MLB) set to announce the decision on where the Montreal Expos will play in 2004? Nevermind: A decision on the future home of the Montreal Expos might not be made until...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on July 14, 2003 01:50 AM
Eric Fisher of the Washington Times has another great article on the prospects of putting a stadium in Northern Virginia to house the Montreal Expos. The owners of the land that contains one of the proposed stadium sites, The Morris...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on July 11, 2003 09:40 AM
When there is doubt, there is no doubt. Robert DeNiro in Ronin In the Washington Times, Eric Fisher is reporting that Major League Baseball will not meet its self-imposed deadline of July 15th to announce whether or not the Montreal...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on July 10, 2003 02:49 PM
D.C. City Councilman Jack Evans was scheduled to meet with a delegation from Major League Baseball concerning the potential move of the Montreal Expos to Washington. With only a few hours to go before the meeting, the folks at MLB...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on July 2, 2003 11:50 AM
D.C. City Councilman Jack Evans was scheduled to meet today with John McHale, Major League Baseball's Chief Administrative Officer, to discuss the possible move of the Montreal Expos to Washington. Evans last week significantly altered the District's bid for baseball...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on July 1, 2003 04:38 PM
Last week thousands of locals cheered as D.C. City Councilman Jack Evans essentially told Major League Baseball to "put up or shut up," when it came to moving the Expos here. Looks like Washington's only competition for the team, Portland,...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on June 30, 2003 03:01 PM
The Washington Post's Tom Boswell talks tough to Major League Baseball over the prospect of moving the Montreal Expos to Washington D.C.: Baseball needs to make up its mind about the Washington area -- and do so pretty quickly. The...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on June 27, 2003 06:56 AM
Jack Evans, chairman of the D.C. Council Finance Committee, is refusing to move the bill concerning financing a new baseball stadium out of his committee until Major League Baseball gives the city a firm commitment that the Expos are going...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on June 24, 2003 11:57 AM
Washington Baseball Club, the ownership group led by Republican political operative Fred Malek, has just hired Goldman Sachs for advice and financial services in their pursuit of the Montreal Expos. Malek's group, which includes Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines, is...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on June 23, 2003 04:06 PM
Today's big story concerns ex-Metrocall Chairman Bill Collins adding two retired Washington Redskins to his Virginia-based ownership group: defensive lineman Charles Mann and wide receiver Art Monk. It was up to Mann to provide the local media with the money...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on June 19, 2003 11:26 AM
With anti-tobacco legislation spelling the end to the sponsorship anyway, NASCAR's Winston Cup Series will get a new title sponsor: wireless communications company NEXTEL. Meanwhile, the ailing open wheeled racing series, CART, has announced it has hired investment banking firm...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on June 17, 2003 06:17 AM
Let's shout it from the rooftops -- the Montreal Expos aren't coming to Washington, D.C. Not next season, and unless something changes radically in the next few months, probably not ever. After last night, it's clear that the political support...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on June 13, 2003 10:20 AM
New York Islanders owner Charles Wang says he wants to buy the NBA Eastern Conference Champion New Jersey Nets, and move them back to Long Island where they played until 1977, presumably to share a new arena with his ice...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on June 11, 2003 04:44 PM
Eric Fisher, the crack sports business writer over at the Washington Times just delivered some more bad news for locals who are hankering for Major League Baseball to move a team to the D.C. area: As recently as last week,...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on May 22, 2003 04:10 PM
There are a variety of items that have cropped up over the past few weeks that deserve a look. Over at the Washington Times, Eric Fisher has two recent stories -- one on how District officials now favor a stadium...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on May 5, 2003 10:32 AM
The District made its pitch to Major League Baseball's Relocation Committee yesterday, with a $430 million stadium that was two-thirds publicly financed at the center of the deal. As it was put over in the Washington Times: "It was a...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on March 21, 2003 07:40 AM
The Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority meets with Major League Baseball's Relocation Committee tomorrow in Arizona, with Gabe Paul, head of the Authority, and Bill Collins, a potential owner, dropping some hints to the Washington Post on how they're going to...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on March 19, 2003 06:05 PM
John Perricone isn't happy that Bud Selig won't award the Major League All-Star Game to San Francisco's Pac Bell Park. And he thinks he knows why: Yeah, everybody in the Selig family was pretty happy when they got to host...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on March 19, 2003 02:28 AM
Via Ben Domenech, I found this AP story that has the folks at Major League Baseball saying that they'll have found a new home for the Montreal Expos before the All-Star Break. The Relocation Committee meets with reps from Washington,...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on March 17, 2003 11:59 AM
In the high stakes game to bring baseball back to Washington, D.C., one of the biggest players has just pushed himself away from the table: Black Entertainment Television founder Robert Johnson is effectively out as a serious ownership candidate for...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on March 13, 2003 11:40 PM
Just a few items to mention tonight. Mets catcher Mike Piazza charged Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Guillermo Mota after Mota struck him in the back with a pitch down in Florida today. To this day, I still contend that the...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on March 12, 2003 11:47 PM
As fellow New York Mets fan Jeff Cooper has duly noted, I spent this past weekend in Florida, including Saturday in Port St. Lucie watching the Mets crush the St. Louis Cardinals, 14-1. The Mets play at Thomas J. White...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on March 12, 2003 01:20 AM
Over at ESPN.com, Jim Caple and Rob Neyer are debating the proposition of whether or not Portland, Oregon could support the Montreal Expos, with Neyer taking the pro-side of the argument, and Caple taking the negative. It's an interesting debate,...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on February 17, 2003 01:56 PM
According to today's Washington Post, the Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority is considering four sites in Northern Virginia to build a new stadium for the Montreal Expos in case they move to Northern Virginia -- four sites that are sure to...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on February 16, 2003 10:29 PM
The past few days have seen a group of articles here in D.C. about the horrible legacy of Jim Crow in Washington baseball. First, earlier this week, long-time Washington hand Dick Heller wrote a piece about the Griffith family's despicable...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on February 16, 2003 05:39 PM
Earlier today it was announced that Alexandria, Virginia-based Metrocall, a wireless communications and paging company, had named Vincent D. Kelly as President and CEO. So why should sports fans care? Well, he replaces William Collins, who was terminated as President,...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on February 5, 2003 11:15 PM
Only a few hours after I posted a listing of the major players in the effort to bring the Montreal Expos to Washington, D.C., Newsday is reporting that there's a new player trying to fight his way to the table...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on February 3, 2003 11:30 AM
Both the Washington Post and the Washington Times are reporting that delegations from the District and Northern Virginia are scheduled to meet with Major League Baseball's relocation committee next week in New York to discuss the possibility of getting the...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on January 23, 2003 12:56 PM
Over at the Washington Times editorial page, somebody felt it was time to throw some cold water on the idea of bringing a baseball team back to Washington, D.C. -- and the target of their ire is Washington Post columnist...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on January 22, 2003 02:20 PM
Yesterday, I tried to do some tea leaf reading about the chances for the Montreal Expos to come to Washington, D.C. in time for the 2004 baseball season. 24 hours ago, the leafs told me the Expos were on their...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on January 17, 2003 12:52 PM
The latest from the AP on Orioles owner Peter Angelos' fight to keep the Montreal Expos from moving to Washington, D.C. has buried an important detail -- here's a passage from the story by Ron Blum: Baseball's committee on the...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on January 16, 2003 11:48 AM
Just as it was announced yesterday that Black Entertainment TV founder Bob Johnson had been awarded the Charlotte NBA expansion franchise, an anonymous source told the Washington Post that Johnson wouldn't be involved in any effort to bring the Montreal...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on December 19, 2002 12:57 PM
From this morning's Washington Times, an editorial warning the District government not to give away the store when it comes to attracting a baseball team to town: Of course, the various D.C.-area groups competing for the franchise know that the...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on December 18, 2002 05:04 PM
The big news in the sports world today is that the NBA has awarded the new Charlotte expansion franchise to a group headed by Black Entertainment Television founder Bob Johnson. This will make Johnson the first African-American to serve as...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on December 18, 2002 11:13 AM
In today's Washington Post, Tom Boswell divines the real meaning of the meetings that Major League Baseball officials will be holding with delegations from Portland, Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia in the next few months: Baseball doesn't want to talk...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on December 17, 2002 09:10 AM
The Washington Post had two stories on the possibility the Montreal Expos might move to Washington, D.C. over the weekend. The first concerning the fact that Major League Baseball (MLB) has contacted localities here and in Portland, Oregon about just...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on December 16, 2002 01:16 AM
Yesterday, we saw John Dowd, the Washington, D.C.-based lawyer who investigated Pete Rose for Major League Baseball (mlb) claimed that he had been closing to finding evidence that Pete Rose actually bet against the team he managed -- the Cincinnati...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on December 13, 2002 09:07 AM
From today's New York Post, in a story by Joel Sherman: John Dowd, who wrote the damning report that led to Pete Rose's expulsion from baseball 13 years ago, said the report was not as damning as it could have...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on December 12, 2002 12:36 PM
Even Though It's A Sunday In November. . . All Tom Boswell can think about is what it will be like to have a brand new baseball park in Washington, D.C. in 2005: Driving up Massachusetts Avenue from Union Station...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on November 24, 2002 02:58 AM
If Washington, D.C. Gets A Baseball Team. . . There's the still the question of where to put the new baseball stadium. Over at the Washington Post's Web site, they've posted maps of five possible sites: RFK Stadium; the Mount...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on November 20, 2002 05:11 PM
The Price Tag On A D.C. Baseball Stadium. . . Just got a lot higher, ">according to a study released last night by District of Columbia officials: Building a baseball stadium in Washington would cost $342 million to $542 million,...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on November 15, 2002 12:54 PM
MLB Close To Ok On Expos In Puerto Rico: Tell me how it's possible for the Expos to play 20 games in San Juan in a minor league stadium next year, but letting them play in RFK Stadium in D.C....
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on November 14, 2002 11:28 PM
In Its Continuing Series. . . On the figures attempting to bring baseball back to Washington, D.C., the Washington Post now turns its sights on politically connected financeer Fred Malek. Up next, Bill Collins, CEO of the bankrupt Metrocall, and...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on November 14, 2002 12:18 AM
The Washington Post Continues To Do Its Best. . . To beat the drums for baseball in D.C., this time by running a really, really, long profile on ">Black Entertainment Television's Bob Johnson -- one of the leading contenders to...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on November 6, 2002 12:56 PM
Cal Ripken. . . Just took himself out of the running for the General Manager's job in Baltimore -- a position that he had been publicly campaigning for. Syd Thrift, the current head of baseball operations, is known to be...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on November 6, 2002 09:36 AM
Orioles Owner Peter Angelos. . . Has fired the first shot in his fight to keep baseball out of the nation's capital in the pages of the Washington Post courtesy of a piece by staff writer Thomas Heath: "It's not...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on November 3, 2002 01:13 PM
Now The Talk Is The Expos. . . May play as many as 20 games in Puerto Rico next season: The commissioner's office operates the Expos on behalf of the other 29 teams, which bought the franchise earlier this year...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on October 25, 2002 10:44 AM
After Hiding In The Tall Grass For Months. . . Black Entertainment Television founder Bob Johnson and Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder finally came out and said what many had suspected -- that they want to buy a controlling interest...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on October 9, 2002 12:28 AM
In The Washington Times. . . The prolific Eric Fisher has not one, but two pieces concerning baseball in D.C. The first covers a public hearing where local resident expressed their opposition to building a baseball stadium anywhere but on...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on October 3, 2002 01:36 PM
Eric Fisher Of The Washington Times. . . Has another great piece on moving a baseball team to Washington, this time, outlining the challenges involved in putting together the sales, marketing and support organization needed to make a team successful....
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on September 29, 2002 02:20 PM
Major League Prices Just Too High? Then why not give minor league baseball a try? It looks like plenty of people already have, as the minor leagues recorded the third highest attendance in their history: The minor leagues, counting its...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on September 26, 2002 02:29 AM
It's Been Three Seasons. . . Since former MLS stalwart D.C. United made the playoffs -- and this after reaching the MLS Cup in each of the league's first four seasons, and winning the title three of those years. But...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on September 22, 2002 01:39 PM
No Hard Feelings About That Watergate Thing, Right Fred? AP's Matthew Barakat just pushed a neat little profile onto the wire of the rival ownership groups who are looking to bring a baseball team to Washington, D.C. In the process,...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on September 17, 2002 01:35 AM
D.C. Baseball Update: If you believe Peter Gammons, the folks inside Major League Baseball are content to leave the Expos in Montreal for another torturous season: The Expos are not moving to Washington or New Jersey for next season. On...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on September 16, 2002 02:01 AM
RFK Stadium: Ready For Baseball in D.C.? That's an open question for some, but not for Bobby Goldwater, president of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission The third-base dugout is gone from the field at RFK Stadium. "It's downstairs. In...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on September 11, 2002 12:08 AM
With Time Ticking Away On The 2002 Baseball Season. . . Bud Selig needs to do some hard thinking about what to do with the Montreal Expos. Rob Neyer thinks that the team should split it's 2003 schedule between the...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on September 9, 2002 01:26 AM
Jeff Cooper Is Right. . . To point out that yesterday's labor settlement in baseball seems to have opened the way for a franchise (most likely the Montreal Expos) to relocate to the Washington, D.C. area. I hinted at this...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on August 31, 2002 03:18 PM
Major League Doubletalk On Baseball In D.C.? While Bud Selig has called Washington, D.C. a prime candidate for the relocation of a Major League Baseball team, a leading candidate to purchase the Minnesota Twins has another story. Donald Watkins, an...
Posted in Off Wing Opinion on February 14, 2002 01:49 PM
