Sunday Smorgasbord 1-28

• Well Caps fans, get ready for a ticket price increase. Though, don't blame Ted, blame everybody's least favorite ex-owner of the Caps for the increase. Why you may ask? Well Dishonest-Abe want to renovate the Phone Booth. Sure the headline says he's asking the D.C. government for the $$$$$ but read closer, he's asking that the tax that the District charges on tickets to events at the Phone Booth be raised from 5.75% to 10%. Nats and Skins fans already pay a 10% tax to the District and P.G. County respectively. However, unlike Nats fans whose excise taxes are being used to fund the entirely new stadium being built, the Dishonest-Abe increase is being ticketed to upgrading the luxury boxes and replacing the "outdated" scoreboard. So the only benefit that the common fan will get out of the increased cost is a brand spankin' new scoreboard that is too busy as far as I am concerned and, considering low quality products currently being used in the Phone Booth, will be on fritz half the time. Nice to know that Dishonest-Abe still looks for ways to stick it to us.
• I also noticed in that article that Dishonest-Abe and his trusty lackey La Sooze O'Malley are having trouble making the mortgage payments on the Phone Booth. This does not come as much of a shock to me as the mortgage on the building is paid directly by the revenue generated by the luxury boxes and club seats. No wonder Dishonest-Abe wants to renovate the luxury boxes so he can jack the rent up on them. However I wonder why Dishonest-Abe insists on leaving the club seats empty for Caps games? Dishonest-Abe controls those seats though Washington Sports and Entertainment and WSE refuses to put those seats up for public sale until the Caps are able to completely sell out the upper and lower bowls. WSE then does the Caps another favor by pulling their old "dump the tickets on tour companies" trick which brings in busloads of fans for the other team. That is of course, when WSE even bothers to sell the club seats for a Caps game. How about putting more of an effort into selling those club seats Dishonest-Abe? Maybe then you won't have to ask the local government to jack up the ticket prices for you.
• I just got back from the Cable Box where I was attending the Maryland-North Carolina Women's Basketball Game. It was officiated in the typical fashion of your regular All Carolina Conference game. While 21 Terp turnovers did not help, I'm still trying to figure out how a coach can get a technical foul for arguing with a referee right in front of them from a referee at the other end of the court? I need that one explained to me. Though one thing that does not bode well for the Terps is that this was the second home sellout crowd in the history of Maryland Women's Basketball and so far, the Terps have lost both games. The Maryland-Duke rematch on February 18th is already sold out.
• Because it is slow time of year right now, I thought I would share with you the players featured in the Washington Nationals 2007 calendar I bought when I finally got back from my Christmas and New Year's vacation. Livan Hernandez, Jose Guillen, Nick Johnson, John Patterson, Ryan Church, Jose Vidro, Tony Armas, Marlon Byrd, Brian Schneider, Marlon Anderson, Ryan Zimmerman, Chad Cordero. Of course, I know that four of those guys are long gone. Two aren't very likely to last very long this season and who knows about the rest expect of course for Zimmerman. No wonder everybody is getting so upset over the lack of player acquisitions this off season. At least they didn't put Frank Robinson in the calendar.
• How bad is the boosterism for the Canadian Diving Team Captain, Secondary Assist Cindy Crosby? While watching a bit of the Atlanta-Philadelphia game today, the color commentator was talking about how seven of the Top 10 NHL goal scorers were from the much maligned Southeast Division. Of course Darren Ping-Pong-Pang felt the need to chime in from his seat between the benches at ice level that the Canadian Diving Team Captain, Secondary Assist Cindy Crosby, was up there too. However if you look at the list you'll notice that the Canadian Diving Team Captain, Secondary Assist Cindy Crosby, is not in the Top Ten in goals scored. Furthermore, Pittsburgh does not play in the much maligned Southeast Division so there was no reason other than boosterism to even mention the Canadian Diving Team Captain, Secondary Assist Cindy Crosby, in that conversation. I was somewhat surprised that when Gary Bettman was in the booth during the second period that he mentioned A.O. first before of course getting in the obligatory plug for the Canadian Diving Team Captain, Secondary Assist Cindy Crosby, but hey, accidents happen.
• Ok, this week, the Caps take off on a three game road trip. First they head back to Ottawa to play the Senators for the final time this season on Tuesday night at 7 pm. They then head back down to Florida for only one game this time with just the Florida Panthers on Thursday night at 7:30 pm. The Caps are in Pittsburgh on Saturday to face the Canadian Diving Team Captain, Secondary Assist Cindy Crosby, and his Penguin Scum teammates for a 1 pm matinee. The Caps are then home next Sunday for another 1 pm matinee as old Caps Brendan Witt and Chris Simon come in with the New York Islanders for the first time this season. The Terps Men's Basketball team hits the road for two ACC games, they'll be in Tallahassee on Tuesday night playing F$U and then head to Winston-Salem to face Wake Forest, both games are at 8 pm.
• As always, please send all comments, criticisms, questions, corrections, suggestions, and insults that only a third grader would use to "capsnut" over at gmail dot cot.