D.C.: Anti-Title Town U.S.A.

| Print Post This | Like (0) | Comments (1)

WATCHING THE SCENES in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles this week, I was left wondering: "Where's our parade?"

It seems like other major pro sports cities get championships; we get Barack Obama's inauguration.

For the purposes of this column, D.C. United will be ignored, for while soccer's popularity has grown in this country, it is related to international competitions and not Major League Soccer. Sorry, but as they say, them's the facts.

Not only does it feel like an eternity since a Washington team won the championship in a top-tier sport, but it has been. How long ago was it? I was in middle school when the Redskins beat the Bills in the 1992 Super Bowl.

Not only don't we win titles; we rarely play for them. The last team to do so was the Capitals, who were swept by the Red Wings in the 1998 Stanley Cup finals.

Not only is this bad, but the closest comparison in the top 15 U.S. markets is Minnesota, which hasn't seen a team in a finals series since 1991.

Dallas, Houston and San Francisco also are 0-for championships this century, but at least the Stars reached the Stanley Cup in 2000 and the Astros and Giants made the World Series this decade.

Back to our original question: The Caps seem like our best hope, but can they ever get past the Penguins? Dan Snyder is the constant problem with the Redskins, while we know the curse that hangs over the Wizards. Oh, and then there's the Nationals, who are at least the best at being the worst.

Photo by John McDonnell/The Washington Post