Sunday Smorgasbord 9-12

• Well, only the 2008 Washington Nationals could find a way to score 18 runs over the course two games and lose both of them. The current losing streak has now reached five games as the Nats were swept by the Marlins earlier today. The good news is that they're honing on the first overall pick in next year's draft, the better news is that there's only two more weeks of misery left.
• Well, the Caps training camp is around the corner and not only are the players starting to get ready for the season; so are Caps fans who are already freaking out over Nicklas Backstrom spraining his ankle and Alexander Semin's travel plans. Also our friends in Pittsburgh are getting into mid-season whining shape as well. Soon enough, real hockey will be played and there will be real things to talk about.
• One thing a sports team in this area is constantly looking for is redemption and Maryland a little bit of it yesterday with a 35-27 victory over the 23rd ranked Commies...er...Cal. We say a little bit because despite carrying a 22 point lead into the fourth quarter and winning the game, many Maryland fans were upset over the lack of a "killer instinct." No longer is simple winning acceptable to Maryland fans, they now expect blowout victories every time.
• Of course, leave it to Maryland fans to boo the Dook kid in the ACC Sportsmanship message...
• Finally, we would be remiss if we didn't provide a link from yesterday of Jahvid Best "playing his guts out," literally. While we were happy to see the win yesterday after the poor performance last week; we have to wonder what the time difference did to Cal who arrived in College Park at 4 pm Eastern Time on Friday and had to play a game in hot and humid conditions at 9 am Eastern Time on Saturday. I guess Jeff Tedford's plan to get his players on East Coast time on the West Coast didn't quite work out the way he planned.
• Speaking of redemption, the Redskins got a measure of it today as they came from behind to down the New Orleans Saints 29-24. However it was far from a perfect game with the Redskins missing two field goals, turning the ball over twice (the interception on the inexplicable two point conversion try in the third quarter counts), a poor punting performance, and questionable play calling (despite what some Obamessiah disciples were trying to claim on the Post Game Show). The most encouraging thing that emerged today however was Jason Campbell finally getting in sync with his receivers on deep balls as his 67 yard touchdown pass to Santana Moss showed. The Redskins called that play often early last season but Campbell's consistently overthrowing the pass got the Redskins away from it. For the "chicks dig the long ball" crowd, we could be seeing more of that in the future as long as it works out.
• This week, the Caps rookies are on ice all week before playing the Flyers on Thursday while we still await the introduction of the Ice Girls...er...Spirit Squad. The Nats are home with a four game series starting tomorrow against the Mets and the San Diego Padres are in next weekend for the NL Pillow Fight for last place. D.C. United (sorry guys, we didn't watch the game last night) opens CONACAF Champions League on Wednesday night and then heads out to play the train wreck that is the L.A. Galaxy on Saturday. The Terps host Eastern Michigan next Saturday at 1 pm in a game only available on TerpVision in Byrd Stadium. The Redskins play host to Arizona at 1 pm next Sunday.
• As always folks, please send all comments, criticisms, corrections, questions, suggestions, and compliments on our 10 year old "FEAR THE TURTLE" T-Shirt to "capsnut" over at gmail dot com.