Who will become D.C.'s 2nd Most Popular Athlete? (poll)

[No_Pressure]

In terms of popularity everybody says Strasburg but honestly, when will baseball ever be more popular in D.C. than football? Sure you could have said that about the Capitals before we drafted the soon to be best player in the NHL, but I don't think a pitcher like Strasburg will have the affect on the Nationals in the next few years that some players may have in other sports. Sure he'll be good and hopefully become an all time great pitcher, and maybe he'll be very popular then, but the Nationals aren't going to contend soon and I think for the next two seasons fans will just get to say "Oh whats that Strasburg went 18-6 or something? wow thats great, but they only won 70-80 games..."

Due to blind faith I think the Redskins will be good in the next two years and I think that with the 3-4 system and the personnel we have here the 2nd most popular player in D.C. will end up being Brian Orakpo. We'll see about it, but it's happened before...this town went nuts for Arrington and he was never nearly as good as Orakpo can be.

[Sticksboi05]

In terms of popularity everybody says Strasburg but honestly, when will baseball ever be more popular in D.C. than football? Sure you could have said that about the Capitals before we drafted the soon to be best player in the NHL, but I don't think a pitcher like Strasburg will have the affect on the Nationals in the next few years that some players may have in other sports. Sure he'll be good and hopefully become an all time great pitcher, and maybe he'll be very popular then, but the Nationals aren't going to contend soon and I think for the next two seasons fans will just get to say "Oh whats that Strasburg went 18-6 or something? wow thats great, but they only won 70-80 games..."

.

Strasburg has been the talk of the town. He is selling out Nationals Park every start and the team keeps losing but people don't care because he's so good. Heck he's selling out opposing stadiums.

The Nationals have alot of young talent. They have a great middle lineup. They have Harper in a couple years. They can contend within a few seasons.

A few facts about Strasburg's impact already:

a. Strasburg's jersey is already the highest-selling jersey in Nationals history

b. His debut was the most watched program in MLB Network history

c. He ie expected to make the Nationals a $50 million franchise within a couple of years

d. Strasburg's jersey is the highest-selling in baseball already

Cool fact:

McNabb is currently #2 in NFL jersey sales, Strasburg is #1 and Ovechkin is top two. Pretty unprecedented for D.C., now if we can just get some championships...

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

At one point you saw a ton of Arenas jerseys around D.C. I'd say D.C. is really a basketball town more than any other sport. The Redskins are the most popular team but basketball is a more popular sport and when the Wizards were a playoff team Arenas was right up there in popularity. I think John Wall will recapture that and push it to Ovechkin like levels in the next few years.

[GoSkins561]

It doesn't matter if they are from the DC area. And this is Boston we are talking about. And you are talking about jerseys/jersey shirts. Cmon man...you probably don't completely understand that, but try to oh and what school is this...

Currently the first thread in "The Stadium" is called the "Sean Taylor Trial", but I guess I can't take part in that since it is a continuation thread from all the "RIP Taylor" threads...

Like I said...Ovechkin is popular now, but that is going to fade if he don't bring a championship on a team that is on championship level.

And I know the Caps are popular now, but i'm talkign about the crazy comments in this thread. People saying Wall going to leave this and NBA has like 8 champions in 30 years. I'm laughing at these guys especially if they are National fans, but you can say the samething about them, but worst we may be blessed with a great player like Stasburg, but only in the MLB can the best players in the league go to one team and that is what everyone is saying about our guy meaning if your name is not the Yankees then your wishful thinking when it comes to winning a championship...

Please dispute the fact with a link that there have been more than 8 different NBA champions over the past 30 years. Not to mention in MLB there has been 8 different champions since the year 2000 even with the Yankees grabbing all of the top free agents. The same goes with the NFL(1999)and hockey. Please prove me wrong, ill be waiting.

The NBA has zero, zilch, nada damn ounce of parody and yes, I hate to break it to you, the Wizards will not sniff a championship unless Wall gets some super star company to help. BTW if Wall really wants to win Championships, and he doesn't get his super stars in DC, he will go else where to get his championship.

Nice post about the jersey sales Stick. Without looking it up, I would have thought Cooley sold more in the DC area because of the chick factor.

[MattFancy]

I wanted to vote for Cooley, but I see Straburg becoming the #2. As long as he keeps the pace he is on, he shouldn't have any problems becoming #2.

[Forehead]

I'm going to go with Strasburg on this. Wall might very well get there, but unless he reaches Chris Paul level, I don't think he'd have a chance of unseating Ovechkin or any Redskins that contribute to a deep playoff run.

I went with Strasburg, for a few reasons. A, baseball is making a decent comeback, and it's been shown that D.C. will come out for his games. Two, the kid throws 100 miles an hour and has the potential to be a 20 game winner every season. This town will love him if he comes through.

[ACW]

Hell, Stras actually has me watching baseball on TV! That counts for SOMETHING

[GoSkins561]

I can agree with Strasburg after some great points, but Wall?

[dockeryfan]

I can agree with Strasburg after some great points, but Wall?

This town loves basketball about 1000x more than baseball.

[ATLredskin]

The fact of the matter is, Ovechkin is popular enough to warrant widespread representation an I-95's drive away. I'm sure those people are Skins fans also because all D.C. sports fans are but they choose Ovechkin to represent their D.C. fandom. In the end, their is proof all over the place that Ovechkin runs D.C. Not the most "recognized" but most "popular". They are from the D.C. area meaning they might be one of the many people you see wearing Ovechkin shirts when you walk through downtown D.C. on any given day.

Well, he's had three tries to to do it, really only once on a team that could've legitimately won a Stanley Cup. He has plenty of time. He's only 24.

I don't know who's saying that about Wall, that's a bit early to say he's going to leave I agree. I'm hoping they were joking.

As far as the NBA vs. MLB and superstars on one team...

Yeah, the MLB is devoid of a salary cap, yet it still has 10x the parity the NBA has even with the Yankees. How can you argue that? 8 teams in 30 years, that's not parity.

Can you imagine a recently created NBA team winning a championship? The Lightning and Hurricanes did it in the NHL. The Marlins did it in baseball (beating the Yankees to do it the second time). Now the Magic almost did it.

But still, I mean there are next to no Cinderella stories in the NBA. No 8 seeds beating a 1 seed (except I think GS vs. Dallas back in 06?). Has a team lower than #3 or #4 ever won the Finals? The Canadiens vs. Flyers would never happen in the NBA. A 7 seed vs. an 8 seed to determine the Conference Champions. A 7 seed who came back from a 3-0 series deficit to win and an 8 seed who beat the #1 seed Capitals and defending champions. I'll always watch basketball but with the acceptance that their is such a wide gap between the top and bottom of the league that you can rule out well over half the teams even in the playoffs before the Finals approaches.

And these people at your college campus should be labeled fair weather fans. If you are a fan of a team then wear their jersey proudly even if they are not doing good at the moment. He is wearing an Ovechkin jersey, because that is the only jersey he can wear without being teased (and this is assuming he is a fan of the home teams). I mean we are talking about a town with teams like the Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox. Let him wear a Wizards, Redskins, or Nationals jersey and watch him get heckled so he is going to safe, coward route by wearing that Cap jersey.

Oh and there is no Cinderella story in the MLB as well. People see the Yankees as such a great,great team that anybody who matches up with them is considered inferior team to them. You don't play 166 games, make the playoffs and not be good. There is no real CInderella story in the MLB, just teams that is currently great, but has a bad history.

[ATLredskin]

Please dispute the fact with a link that there have been more than 8 different NBA champions over the past 30 years. Not to mention in MLB there has been 8 different champions since the year 2000 even with the Yankees grabbing all of the top free agents. The same goes with the NFL(1999)and hockey. Please prove me wrong, ill be waiting.

The NBA has zero, zilch, nada damn ounce of parody and yes, I hate to break it to you, the Wizards will not sniff a championship unless Wall gets some super star company to help. BTW if Wall really wants to win Championships, and he doesn't get his super stars in DC, he will go else where to get his championship.

Nice post about the jersey sales Stick. Without looking it up, I would have thought Cooley sold more in the DC area because of the chick factor.

It is not going to be hard to build around Wall. Blatche has the potential to breakout into a NBA star this year and i'm sure he will. Basically all the Wizards need is one more star (Carmelo?) and we can honestly compete with Miami. Plus we have the bigs that will develop and Ernie is now noticing you need multiple bigs to be on championship level. The Heat don't have that yet and that is why the Celtics can still beat them. Wizard is not as hopeless as a National fan. Well...Nationals has yet to experience the warth of the Yankees yet, but in a few years when Strasburg and Bryce "I always wanted to play for the Yankees" Harper departs the team then you will see how it feels to NEVER have a chance to...make it to the playoffs (couldn't even put WS there, because just getting to the playoffs is tough already)

[GoSkins561]

Carmello and Paul will go to the Knicks.

[Drop]

If the kid lives up to the hype, then it's easily Strasburg.

Cooley is already as popular as he's going to get here. Donovan's success will depend on his W-L record. And while i think John Wall will be great, the Wizards will need to become serious contenders for him to compete with Ovie, The Redskins, and the Strasburg/Harper combo the Nats are selling.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

In terms of just athletes, Arenas at his peak was a nationwide figure. Jersey sales, shoe sales, national prime-time game appearances.... Arenas was killing every other DC star athlete.

No chance...not here in this area. Arenas was probably more popular nationally, but wasn't he doing those things around the same time Portis was rushing for 1,000 yards and we were in the playoff picture (2005-2007)??

If there's a contending Redskin team, 5 Redskins are more popular than any other DC athlete in this area. At the time Arenas was still loved by DC fans, Portis (and probably one or two other Redskins) were more popular in this town. That's how it ALWAYS will be.

Just as someone mentioned that Boston will always be a Red Sox town no matter how many Super Bowls or NBA championships they win.

[No Excuses]

No chance...not here in this area. Arenas was probably more popular nationally, but wasn't he doing those things around the same time Portis was rushing for 1,000 yards and we were in the playoff picture (2005-2007)??

If there's a contending Redskin team, 5 Redskins are more popular than any other DC athlete in this area. At the time Arenas was still loved by DC fans, Portis (and probably one or two other Redskins) were more popular in this town. That's how it ALWAYS will be.

Just as someone mentioned that Boston will always be a Red Sox town no matter how many Super Bowls or NBA championships they win.

Arenas was at his peak post 2004 when we beat the Bulls 4-2 in the playoffs and 2006 when the Wizards for a good portion of the season were the best team in the Eastern Conference. During that time span, the only time the Redskins peaked at their popularity was for a span of 4 weeks when we started the improbable run to the playoffs. Even after our few initial wins after being 5-6, people didn't really get on board until we embarrassed Dallas 35-7.

But during that span, their was no one more popular than Gilbert. Portis might have had more local popularity (which is debatable) but Gilbert was the face of DC sports from 2004-2007. Those of you who are laughing and saying that Wall won't be a hit unless he has monumental success have short term memory. This town literally embraces any form of winning. A 4th seed Wizards team will no doubt be more popular than a Redskins team that fails to live up to expectations or a Nationals team that puts out one Strasburg game out of every five. Same goes for the Skins and Nationals. They win, they get the fan base. This town bandwagons anything that wins.

[greenspandan]

god, what a joke dc sports are when the poll includes 2 guys who have yet to play a single second for their teams and another who has played a total of 7 career baseball games.

cooley by default.

[Sticksboi05]

god, what a joke dc sports are when the poll includes 2 guys who have yet to play a single second for their teams and another who has played a total of 7 career baseball games.

cooley by default.

View Poll Results: Who will become D.C.'s second most popular athlete in the next few years?

Reading is fundamental. :cool:

A joke? for once we have stars or should-be stars on all of our teams and you want to criticize that? We should be ecstatic.

[greenspandan]

we have ALWAYS had "should-be" stars. :|

and why does the thread title contradict the poll title? the thread title says "is". can you edit it?

[ACW]

View Poll Results: Who will become D.C.'s second most popular athlete in the next few years?

Reading is fundamental. :cool:

A joke? for once we have stars or should-be stars on all of our teams and you want to criticize that? We should be ecstatic.

[dockeryfan]

god, what a joke dc sports are when the poll includes 2 guys who have yet to play a single second for their teams and another who has played a total of 7 career baseball games.

cooley by default.

lol, you truly are clueless.

[greenspandan]

lol, you truly are clueless.

i read the thread title not the poll title. bad wording on the OP's part. :shrug:

why the personal attack?

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Arenas was at his peak post 2004 when we beat the Bulls 4-2 in the playoffs and 2006 when the Wizards for a good portion of the season were the best team in the Eastern Conference. During that time span, the only time the Redskins peaked at their popularity was for a span of 4 weeks when we started the improbable run to the playoffs. Even after our few initial wins after being 5-6, people didn't really get on board until we embarrassed Dallas 35-7.

But during that span, their was no one more popular than Gilbert. Portis might have had more local popularity (which is debatable) but Gilbert was the face of DC sports from 2004-2007.

I just don't agree. In this area, the 2005 season (from about Thanksgiving until the loss in Seattle in mid-Januray) felt like a 1980s Joe Gibbs season. The Redskins were the talk of the town. Gilbert was the face of the Wizards, no doubt about it. But it ends right there. Again, the Skins could go 9-7 while the Wizards could be the 2 seed, and this area will always notice the Skins.

Those of you who are laughing and saying that Wall won't be a hit unless he has monumental success have short term memory. This town literally embraces any form of winning. A 4th seed Wizards team will no doubt be more popular than a Redskins team that fails to live up to expectations or a Nationals team that puts out one Strasburg game out of every five. Same goes for the Skins and Nationals. They win, they get the fan base. This town bandwagons anything that wins.

If the Wiz are a 4 seed and the Skins are 3-13, you're right. But if the Skins show even a glimpse of competing, game over.

The Caps (best record in hockey) took a backseat locally when January and February brought us OFF-SEASON news of Vinny resigning, Allen being hired, Shanahan being hired, etc.

Wall will be popular here, but he, Ovie, and Strasburg will always be fighting for second billing in the DC sports landscape.

[Drop]

I just don't agree. In this area, the 2005 season (from about Thanksgiving until the loss in Seattle in mid-Januray) felt like a 1980s Joe Gibbs season. The Redskins were the talk of the town. Gilbert was the face of the Wizards, no doubt about it. But it ends right there. Again, the Skins could go 9-7 while the Wizards could be the 2 seed, and this area will always notice the Skins.

If the Wiz are a 4 seed and the Skins are 3-13, you're right. But if the Skins show even a glimpse of competing, game over.

The Caps (best record in hockey) took a backseat locally when January and February brought us OFF-SEASON news of Vinny resigning, Allen being hired, Shanahan being hired, etc.

Wall will be popular here, but he, Ovie, and Strasburg will always be fighting for second billing in the DC sports landscape.

I know a lot of DC fans thought the additions of Shanny, Allen, and McNabb were bigger than what the Caps were doing...but not me. And not my circle of friends.

At that point, in all honesty to me and most of my peoples.....Caps were 1A, and all the Skins news was 1B. But still, the Caps had more of my attention, and i think it's partly because i just wasn't in "football mode" yet.

But all the same....the Caps don't teeter off to 2nd for me until they're done playing, regardless of what the Skins do. And i'm probably in the minority, but we do exist. And our numbers will grow if the Caps success continues while the Redskins futility does likewise.

[Sticksboi05]

The Caps (best record in hockey) took a backseat locally when January and February brought us OFF-SEASON news of Vinny resigning, Allen being hired, Shanahan being hired, etc.

To be fair, when you win so much, all that matters is the playoffs so it's not a surprise that the regular season was getting a bit old for Caps fans.

[GoSkins561]

Arenas was at his peak post 2004 when we beat the Bulls 4-2 in the playoffs and 2006 when the Wizards for a good portion of the season were the best team in the Eastern Conference. During that time span, the only time the Redskins peaked at their popularity was for a span of 4 weeks when we started the improbable run to the playoffs. Even after our few initial wins after being 5-6, people didn't really get on board until we embarrassed Dallas 35-7.

But during that span, their was no one more popular than Gilbert. Portis might have had more local popularity (which is debatable) but Gilbert was the face of DC sports from 2004-2007. Those of you who are laughing and saying that Wall won't be a hit unless he has monumental success have short term memory. This town literally embraces any form of winning. A 4th seed Wizards team will no doubt be more popular than a Redskins team that fails to live up to expectations or a Nationals team that puts out one Strasburg game out of every five. Same goes for the Skins and Nationals. They win, they get the fan base. This town bandwagons anything that wins.

there is no way a 4th place Wizards team will ever be more popular than a Redskins team. A first place Wizards team might draw a buzz but still will never be more popular than the Redskins. DC does love it's basketball, but at a college level with the Terps and the Hoyas, either one of those teams is more popular than the Wizards.