Sunday Smorgasbord 9-2

Looks like I didn't hit the publish button last night...

• Amazing what the threat of Congressional action can do huh? That's the real story behind the WWE's suspension of 10 of its wrestlers. Of course, the WWE isn't releasing the names, for now, but speculation is rampant as to who the 10 are. Quite frankly, I don't think you could swing a dead cat in a professional wrestling locker room without hitting a steroid user. The 10 wrestlers are the fall guys here intended to make the WWE look good in front of Congress. With any luck Congress will only come down harder on the WWE instead of easier, but considering the show trial that MLB got, odds are that Vince McMahon will get a pat on the back. Congress however should grill him and blast his "sports entertainment" equivocation. Because if Pro Wrestling is "sports entertainment" and not a real athletic competition, why do the various state athletic commissions sanction WWE events?
• Thankfully the NFL Preseason is finally over and now we can get onto the games that really matter. And if there were some of you who still had any doubt, the cancellation of the Redskins-Ratbirds game shows just how unimportant NFL Preseason games are. I don't blame the Redskins and the game officials for clearing the stadium twice due to severe thunderstorms. In today's litigious society, you have to take every reasonable precaution. But had the Redskins-Ratbirds game been a Monday Night Football game, does anybody doubt for a second that they would have not resumed the game at some point even if it meant that the game was still going at 3 am local time? The big news for the Redskins is that they got through the preseason without any major injuries this year. I'm sure they would like to see a hack like Chris Samuels back and Clinton Portis actually work out but not losing key players for the season is a higher priority. And 8-8 record is very doable for the Redskins and if things fall into place, they could be better.
• Tough news for the Terps last night before their 31-14 win over Villanova with the loss of Josh Portis for the season because of academic issues. You have to wonder just what is going on in the football program because this is at least the third player lost for this season because of academic issues. The Terps are now razor thin at quarterback with a true freshman, Jamarr Robinson, the third string quarterback instead of redshirting him. Here's again an example of just how different NCAA football is from the pros because Maryland has to make due with this situation instead of just scanning the waiver wire for a replacement.
• Heading into the home stretch, the Nats have a real shot of finishing in fourth place in the NL East after taking 2 of 3 from the Giants but will have a hard time matching last year's win total of 71. One thing I was glad to see was Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* got booed louder than Teddy not winning the President's race on his bobblehead night (did you honestly think he would win?) and that there were only 4 BALCO Bonds shirts left on the East Capitol Street after Big Head BALCO Barry Bonds* went 0-4 on Saturday night. Now at 60-77, the Nats are tied with Florida for fourth in the NL East, 16.5 games back of the New York Mets for first place. The Nats elimination number from the NL East title is now down to 10. The Nats are 15.5 back of San Diego and Arizona for the NL Wild Card with an elimination number of 10.
• D.C. United continued their strong league play of late and overwhelmed Dallas 4-0 on the road last night. United is putting together a very strong run and in now in complete control of their own destiny. At 13-6-3, D.C. is alone in first in the Eastern Conference and overall with games in hand on their near competitors. Their magic number for a playoff spot is 7 and 14 for the Eastern Conference and the Supporter's Shield.
• This week, the Nats can put some distance between themselves and the Florida Marlins when the fish come to RFK for a three game series starting tomorrow. After taking Thursday off, they head down to Atlanta to play the Braves in a three game series. The Nats have nothing but divisional games for the remainder of their season. The Terps hit the road to play Florida International at the Miami Orange Bowl available only over the internet. The Redskins play a game for real on Sunday when they host the Miami Dolphins. D.C. United heads out to L.A. to play the other team in L.A. (the one that doesn't have David Beckham), Chivas on Thursday night and then for some reason will try to compete with the Redskins by hosting New England on Sunday a couple of hours after the Redskins kick off.
• As always, please send all comments, questions, suggestions, corrections, criticisms, and car repair estimates to "capsnut" over at gmail dot com.