The Streak
Posted by:
Drakee
()
Date: August 22, 2014 11:14AM
The Nationals have won 10 straight games, as some of you may know right now. This is basically unprecedented in their history in the District, and they look like the best team in baseball. But, there's a much, much larger streak going on right now. This one hasn't been going on for a week and a half, but for over 22 years. That's how long we've been waiting for a major sports championship in this town (sorry bout it, DC United).
Redskins
22 years without a championship
4 playoff berths since Super Bowl XXVI
One, arguably two good starting quarterbacks in the past 20 years
Best season since the last championship (2012) ends with the second-worst loss in city history, blowing a 14-point lead at home and essentially losing our QB's effectiveness for the next year
Capitals
Zero titles in 38 years of competition
One Finals appearance, got swept
Made the playoffs from 2008-13, never advanced past the second round
Best season ever (2009-10) ends with blowing a 3-1 series lead to the lowest-seeded team, losing Game 7 at home due partially to a blown call.
Every other recent postseason loss has had its own uniquely painful circumstances.
Nationals
Zero titles in 9 years of competition (in DC)
One good season (2012) ended like this (http://grantland.com/the-triangle/we-went-there-nationals-cardinals-game-5/). Worst loss in city history.
Otherwise, they've been largely horrible until this year.
Wizards
36 years without a championship
14 playoffs berths since then. Not so bad, right?
Uh, no. Only made it out of the second round three times since then. Haven't won a home second round game since 1979.
Overall
22 years without a championship
76 seasons played by all 4 teams without a championship since the 1991 Redskins
But wait, there's more!
We haven't made the conference finals (or ALCS/NLCS) of any league since 1998. For comparison, here's some other cities and how many times they've gotten to that stage. Not only do we not win championships, we don't get close.
New York: 21
Philly: 13
Cleveland: 4
Seattle: 4
Buffalo: 3
San Diego: 2
Memphis: 1
Washington: 0
What I'm trying to say is that this is a great winning streak and a great time to be a baseball fan/sports fan in DC. But it won't mean a damn thing if they don't do something with it.