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

[TD_washingtonredskins]

People always get mad when I say that in DC the Wizards are already more popular than the Caps. Now as far as the Washington Metro Area, it is the Caps of course.

I'm not even sure if that's the case.

All things being equal...meaning if both teams had similar success...the Wiz would be much more popular. The Caps gained a following due to success. That's it. Basketball is much more popular than hockey in this area (even in the suburbs).

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Within two years, Strasburg will be the most popular athlete in DC and possibly up there with Sonny and Riggins in the all-time discussion.

DC hasn't had a universally beloved baseball player since the pre-radio days. So, this is going to be a new experience.

A beloved baseball player can own a town like no other athlete - You actually can see his face. He is in your life practically daily for 6 months. I'm in Houston now, and Nolan Ryan could probably run for mayor and win - even though he was only here for a few years and wasn't even that good when he was here. They are currently treating the return of Jeff Bagwell as a hitting coach with a level of excitement that is really disturbing.

Ovechkin will always be extremely popular, but he is ultimately a Russian playing hockey.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I'm not even sure if that's the case.

All things being equal...meaning if both teams had similar success...the Wiz would be much more popular. The Caps gained a following due to success. That's it. Basketball is much more popular than hockey in this area (even in the suburbs).

I sometimes forget the Wizards exist. And I don't know how good Wall is going to be. If he's good, he'll be second behind Strasburg. If he is great, he might give Strasburg a run for his money. DC is a great basketball town. Its team has not been worthy of its city for - oh - 30 years or so.

If the Wizards ever got consistently above average, they could own the city.

If I may indulge my own argument for a moment: DC is 55 percent black. Just knowing that...what sport is more popular: Hockey or Basketball?

[skinfan2k]

The Redskins have been a laughing stock but ratings of their games are still sky-high. What is the talk about on Monday Mornings in DC still? Newspaper, Sports Radio, and around the office cooler, its Redskins

[GhostofSparta]

I hate to be the one to ask, but I'm curious on the opinions of some in here...

What happens if Strasburg isn't the next Randy Johnson, but instead in the next Pryor/Wood? You know, the 2 hard-throwing, young guns that were going to take the Cubs all the way...until they threw out their arms after a couple of years? If Strasburg gets hurt, what happens to the Nats and their following/attendance?

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

The Redskins have been a laughing stock but ratings of their games are still sky-high. What is the talk about on Monday Mornings in DC still? Newspaper, Sports Radio, and around the office cooler, its Redskins

I haven't read every post on the thread? Are people actually arguing that any other team would be more popular than the Skins? Well...that's just dumb.

The Skins will always be the most popular team. But you can be the most popular team in the universe and an individual player in another sport will stand out. In Pittsburgh in the 70s...the most beloved athlete was Willie Stargell - even though the Pirates never sold out Three Rivers - even in the playoffs. (Right now, it's likely Crosby - especially after the Roethlisberger problems).

The best bet for any major city is that the most popular single athlete is probably a baseball player while the most popular team is the football team.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I hate to be the one to ask, but I'm curious on the opinions of some in here...

What happens if Strasburg isn't the next Randy Johnson, but instead in the next Pryor/Wood? You know, the 2 hard-throwing, young guns that were going to take the Cubs all the way...until they threw out their arms after a couple of years? If Strasburg gets hurt, what happens to the Nats and their following/attendance?

I will yell at them that hiring Dusty Baker was a bad idea.

9 times out of 10, phenoms like Strasburg throw out their arms in the low minors. It's rare to get a pitcher to the majors and then see them fall apart physically. Pryor/Wood were exceptions involving mechanics and criminal overuse by an organization that has never known what it was doing.

[GhostofSparta]

I haven't read every post on the thread? Are people actually arguing that any other team would be more popular than the Skins? Well...that's just dumb.

Mostly it's Vishal. He keeps implying that if the 'Skins have another losing year the city will abandon them for the Wiz.

[endzone_dave]

I'm not even sure if that's the case.

All things being equal...meaning if both teams had similar success...the Wiz would be much more popular.

That's the problem, the Wiz are one of the biggest jokes in sports.

When you talk Caps, you talk about it they can put it all together and win the SC. When you talk Wiz, you talk about if they can even be functional.

[GhostofSparta]

I will yell at them that hiring Dusty Baker was a bad idea.

9 times out of 10' date=' phenoms like Strasburg throw out their arms in the low minors. It's rare to get a pitcher to the majors and then see them fall apart physically. Pryor/Wood were exceptions involving mechanics and criminal overuse by an organization that has never known what it was doing.[/quote']

That's a fair explanation. I haven't really followed baseball since I was about 14 (around the time I stopped playing). I'm not wishing ill on him or anything, just curious what the odds were if anybody knew. I figured it had to be odd that 2 guys on the same team had the same issues, but if they were overused (maybe the only 2 good pitchers on the team, going too often and throwing too many pitches) then it's a good cautionary tale.

[Sticksboi05]

Wood and Prior got screwed because they weren't protected like they should have been.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

you're killing me.

Do the Wizards have a message board similar to ES?

Actually, they have a few.

[Sticksboi05]

Looks like Strasburg it is!

[Kosher Ham]

Boston will always be a Red Sox city but I've lived there and Big Papi and Pedroia ain't the most popular athletes. That'd probably go to Paul Pierce or Garnett (yes in that short an amount of time).

During the 3 years I lived there the Celtics were an afterthought. Sox fan are like Redskins, Steelers, Packers, and Bears fans. Through and through. The Celtics were the oddest to me, being a Lakers fan, but they simply did not care. The Pats fans haha. Not there when I lived there until they won their first championship. (Check my history about that one)

For at least half a decade, when you go to Nats games, there will be "other" jerseys, and then there will be Stephen Strasburg.

I don't think the same will hold true for John Wall unless Leonsis puts a remarkably unique team around him that can contend for a title, but doesn't feature any other real stars. Wall will probably be a great player, but he's not a once-in-a-generation talent like Ovechkin and Strasburg. If the Wiz are successful, you'll see Wall jerseys mixed pretty evenly with the jerseys of one or two other big-time players.

Cooley, I love the guy, but tight ends just don't reach that level. If any Redskin has a shot, it's Orakpo, but he's only going into his second year.

Strasburg it is.

Agreed. Thus the reason I quoted you and voted for him. Even as an Orioles fan.

Let's look at it this way. If you owned a marketing company in DC and you had a choice to sell one players jersey, assuming all things stayed the same, would you pick Wall, Strasburg, McNugget or Cooley?

Ill take Cooley.

Strasburg. Hate to say it but Cooley is on the verge of getting cut.

Besides Boston, Orlando, Chicago and Miami, who are these other great Eastern conference teams that can keep us out of the playoffs?

Besides the Bucks and Atlanta ?

Arenas at one time was the most popular athlete in DC.

What time was that ?

There have been Wizards teams in the last decade that have been more popular than the Redskins.

It has not happened. Sorry but it has not.

Looks like Strasburg it is!

Someone changed the thread title but the answer is the same.

Side note: How many colleges in the DC area have hockey programs ?

[Sticksboi05]

GoSkins - Stephen Strasburg would make far more money then Chris Cooley. He already has MLB's highest-selling jersey. He sold 78,000 I believe in less than a month after his debut.

Kosher - There are ACHA teams. I don't know about NCAA teams.

[Spartacus87]

Where as our fan base, and I only speak of this as a young fan, that my generation has VERY few Redskins fans. Literally everyone I went to middle school or high school with either doesn't care about football or roots for a team that is not the Redskins. Within our younger generation, their is definitely more Wizards and Capitals fans with these same folks liking either the Ravens or other NFC East teams for football.

Not really true.

At my high school, everyone whose family was from this area was a Redskins fan. I went to a fairly large private school in Northern VA, and during Homecoming Week when we had a spirit day involving jerseys or sports team gear, the school was basically filled with Redskins jerseys (Cooley, Moss, Taylor, Arrington, etc.).

[Sticksboi05]

Yeah Vish the Redskins dominated our high school jerseys.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

That's the problem, the Wiz are one of the biggest jokes in sports.

When you talk Caps, you talk about it they can put it all together and win the SC. When you talk Wiz, you talk about if they can even be functional.

Well, that's true right now. But, a few short years ago the Caps were even more of a joke than the Wizards and the Wizards were making consistent trips to the playoffs. It's not to imply that is going to change, but let's not talk about the Caps as though they've been perennial contenders for a decade.

I'm AT MOST a casual fan of the hockey and basketball teams in this area (I follow NFL, MLB, and college basketball mostly), so it's simply my unbiased opinion that, all things being equal, the Wizards would dominate this town compared to the Caps. There are just so many more people interested in basketball than hockey.

And even though it seems silly to think the Wizards could get there, it was equally ridiculous to think the Caps would be where they are now the year before they drafted AO. Things can change quickly...

[ACW]

Well, that's true right now. But, a few short years ago the Caps were even more of a joke than the Wizards and the Wizards were making consistent trips to the playoffs. It's not to imply that is going to change, but let's not talk about the Caps as though they've been perennial contenders for a decade.

I'm AT MOST a casual fan of the hockey and basketball teams in this area (I follow NFL, MLB, and college basketball mostly), so it's simply my unbiased opinion that, all things being equal, the Wizards would dominate this town compared to the Caps. There are just so many more people interested in basketball than hockey.

And even though it seems silly to think the Wizards could get there, it was equally ridiculous to think the Caps would be where they are now the year before they drafted AO. Things can change quickly...

Hell, it was ridiculous to think that the first half of the season they made the playoffs. Worst record in the league, hire Gabby, playoffs.

[Sticksboi05]

Well, that's true right now. But, a few short years ago the Caps were even more of a joke than the Wizards and the Wizards were making consistent trips to the playoffs. It's not to imply that is going to change, but let's not talk about the Caps as though they've been perennial contenders for a decade.

I'm AT MOST a casual fan of the hockey and basketball teams in this area (I follow NFL, MLB, and college basketball mostly), so it's simply my unbiased opinion that, all things being equal, the Wizards would dominate this town compared to the Caps. There are just so many more people interested in basketball than hockey.

And even though it seems silly to think the Wizards could get there, it was equally ridiculous to think the Caps would be where they are now the year before they drafted AO. Things can change quickly...

Yup, but again the NHL is a real league where anything can literally happen unlike the absurdly top heavy NBA.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Yup, but again the NHL is a real league where anything can literally happen unlike the absurdly top heavy NBA.

OK...but that's not really the point. Just like in the NHL, if the Wizards were to get 2 difference-makers, they are playoff-bound for the foreseeable future. Unlike football/baseball, 1 or 2 players go a long way hockey and basketball.

So, just like the Caps are probably not #1 in the league without AO, the Wiz could become a perennial playoff team if they get a couple studs. So, it's not really ridiculous to think that in the next couple years that happens.

It seems like every post from Caps/NHL fans is dripping with an inferiority complex. No one is disputing that the Caps are EASILY the best DC team right now...it's just that the sport itself is by far the least popular, so if another team in this area steps up, the Caps are bumped off their throne. That's all.

[Spartacus87]

It seems like every post from Caps/NHL fans is dripping with an inferiority complex. No one is disputing that the Caps are EASILY the best DC team right now...it's just that the sport itself is by far the least popular, so if another team in this area steps up, the Caps are bumped off their throne. That's all.

I think this point gets overlooked or missed or whatever pretty frequently in these discussions.

The Caps are really hot right now, but it's a pretty niche sport and it's also at a time when the Wizards and Redskins have both been really mediocre, or just plain sucking. The Caps' ceiling of popularity is only so high, and that includes Ovie by extension. Like LKB said earlier in the thread, ultimately, Ovie's a hockey player from Russia.

If the Wizards got another excellent piece to complement Wall and became a playoff team, then forget it.

I also slightly disagree about your comment that "unlike football, 1 or 2 players go a long way." If the Redskins finally had their own franchise QB to build around, something they haven't had in roughly 25 years, that would really be game over for all the other sports/athletes in the area.

[No Excuses]

Not really true.

At my high school, everyone whose family was from this area was a Redskins fan. I went to a fairly large private school in Northern VA, and during Homecoming Week when we had a spirit day involving jerseys or sports team gear, the school was basically filled with Redskins jerseys (Cooley, Moss, Taylor, Arrington, etc.).

Yeah Vish the Redskins dominated our high school jerseys.

Odd... I went to school in both Loudon and Fairfax county and in all three schools I was in, we had a HUGE following for the Cowboys and the Eagles. I have to say the Eagles and Cowboys fans outnumbered the Redskins fans at least 2:1.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

I also slightly disagree about your comment that "unlike football, 1 or 2 players go a long way." If the Redskins finally had their own franchise QB to build around, something they haven't had in roughly 25 years, that would really be game over for all the other sports/athletes in the area.

Good points overall.

On the quoted text above, I must have done a bad job of explaining (I do that a lot). What I meant was that 1 or 2 players (without much else) can make you a contender in basketball and hockey. That's not the case in baseball or football. It really didn't have anything to do with popularity...

I agree though...if the Skins ever got a face-of-the-franchise guy like Tom Brady or Mark Sanchez, they would be more popular in this area than the other 3 DC teams put together.

[GhostofSparta]

Odd... I went to school in both Loudon and Fairfax county and in all three schools I was in, we had a HUGE following for the Cowboys and the Eagles. I have to say the Eagles and Cowboys fans outnumbered the Redskins fans at least 2:1.

Oh, your school was just full of *******s who liked being different just to piss people off. My HS principal was a Cowboys fan (despite growing up in MD), and he told us one day he became a Cowboys fan in the 80's because he saw everybody wearing Redskins gear after their 1st SB win (again, in MD). He thought that was a stupid reason to become a fan of a team, so he decided to become a Cowboys fan just to be different.

So your school was just full of these kinds of kids. :dallasuck