Winning Drought in DC

In my 18 years of living, all 18 being in the DC area, I have yet to see a Washington sports team win a championship. In the four big pro sports (MLB,NFL,NBA,NHL) the last title a DC team has won, came in 1992, I was -4 years old. Growing up as a Redskins fan, I always have to recall championships that I never witnessed. The Capitals have never won a Stanley Cup, and the last time the Wizards won anything other than the draft lottery, they were the Bullets. The Nationals have started brand new, hit rock bottom, and rebuilt themselves to be an elite team in just nine years, that is the lone bright spot for the DC faithful.

So what is the reason for such a prolonged failure? Well, there are way too many reasons to explain but I'll start with the awful draft choices. Two words come to mind when any DC fan thinks of terrible draft picks: "Kwame Brown." We can thank Michael Jordan for screwing the entire Wizards organization for the years that followed the 2001 draft, because who really wants Pau Gasol or Tony Parker on their team anyways?! It's not all the Wizards fault, DC has stood for "Disastrous Choices" since the Skins took Heath Shuler. It is natural for teams to have draft picks that don't pan out but it seems like we are the capital of picking a "high upside" guy who is a knucklehead and causes numerous problems. Even the recent years have been filled with some interesting draft picks. Who trades two years of first round picks to move up and draft a "franchise QB" then draft a backup a few rounds later? Instead of committing to RGIII and drafting a talented O-lineman or a shutdown corner, the management selects another QB. Dan Snyder is too concerned about what to call the team, and not with the fact that the Redskins are awful.

It seems like every year DC fans come in with overly optimistic expectations. Hearing people talk of the Redskins going from 3-13 last year, to 16-0 is ridiculous. Of course it is okay to see the glass half full but that's like seeing the Atlantic Ocean in a shot glass. The fans in Washington get their hopes up very easily, just to be let down very badly by their teams. Not only do the fans expect too much, they also know very little about their "teams." Listening to sports radio everyday makes me realize that there are people that know absolutely nothing about the teams they claim to be fans of. The people that call in to shows and say extreme things and constantly revert to the past are not good fans. The past is over, it has been for a while. It is time for the fans in this area to lower our expectations until the teams we support can actually prove that they deserve our attention.

I will be a DC sports fan for life, it is just frustrating to have so many years of losing, in seemingly the worst ways possible. Hopefully we can bounce back in the years to come, can I please just witness at least one DC championship in my lifetime? That would be great.