OF MANY THINGS ... LIKE CAPS, WIZARDS NOT GOING ANYWHERE

 

The highly-controversial (to say the least) plan to move 

Washington’s NHL Capitals and NBA Wizards to Alexandria 

has been on life support almost from the beginning. Wednesday 

it died a merciful death … when TED LEONSIS, who owns 

both franchises, agreed to a deal to keep them in exciting, 

downtown D.C. Like he had any other choice … well, short of 

the longest of long shots. More on that in a moment … 

Yesterday morning District mayor MURIEL BOWSER told 

cable TV’s “The Sports Junkies” that she considered telling 

Leonsis, in effect, to take a hike … after it became apparent the 

Virginia General Assembly wasn’t buying the $2.2 billion 

boondoggle … but that wasn’t what her constituents/voters 

living in the area wanted … so she came up with more than 

$500 million to help renovate Capital One Arena and guarantee 

the teams would remain for a long time (2050, at the very least) 

… Asked about a high crime rate in the area, Bowser rattled off 

alleged percentage decreases in the past year and said she was 

working with the police department to assure visitors they 

would go even lower. None of The Junkies bothered to 

challenge the numbers … even though, according to published 

reports, homicides in 2023 were highest there since 1997. 

Question: Was the 17,000-seat arena scheduled to be built in 

Henrico by 2026 considered a possible alternative? The Caps 

couldn’t be moved until then anyway.

Since Richmond’s ZAC JONES rejoined the lineup after being 

a healthy scratch for 10 straight games, the New York Rangers 

have won eight of ten to maintain their precarious lead in the 

NHL’s Metropolitan Division. And coach PETER 

LAVIOLETTE told reporters after Saturday’s 4-3 overtime 

thriller over Florida that Jones, 23 year old defenseman, “has 

been rock-solid for us for quite a while.” … Rangers returned 

to Madison Square Garden ice Tuesday night (March 26) and 

defeated Philadelphia 6-5 in overtime … without three of their 

top six defensemen. ERIC GUSTAFSSON suffered an 

apparent concussion against the Panthers, joining captain

 JACOB TROUBA and RYAN LINDGREN on the sidelines 

... For the first time this season, Jones skated with ADAM FOX 

on the No. 1 pairing ... with BRADEN SCHNEIDER and

 D’ANDRE MILLER and newcomer (from the Penguins)

 CHAD RUHWEDEL and BRANDON SCANLIN (from 

AHL Hartford) at No. 3 … Fox scored the game-winner with 

36 seconds elapsed in the scheduled five-minute OT as New 

York became the first NHL team to qualify for the Stanley Cup 

playoffs that get under way April 22.

Typical ESPN … talking heads BETH MOWINS and

 STEPHANIE WHITE ignoring network cameras zeroing in 

on Iowa All-American CAITLIN CLARK who is seen telling 

someone in the crowd (possibly her father) to … “SHUT THE 

F—K UP! SHUT THE F—K UP!!” during Monday’s slugfest 

with West Virginia. BRENT CLARK made headlines earlier in 

the NCAA tournament by telling his daughter to stop 

complaining so much to officials … After winning Sunday, 

Clark was seen via ESPN snapping a pass towards the area 

where B. Clark, her first coach, was sitting … Of course, she 

could have been responding to remarks from the West Virginia 

crowd, which undoubtedly was on C. Clark from the outset, 

trying (with some success, obviously) to distract her from the 

job at hand.

All in all, there was nothing pretty about the women’s game 

over the weekend and thereafter … Stanford’s All-American

 CAMERON BRINK was caught saying “F—K YOU!” after 

fouling out in overtime against Iowa State Sunday … Stanford 

won 87-81 … and afterwards, Brink was accused of directing 

her epithet at one of the game officials … when, checking the 

replay, it appeared she cussed the ISU bench. The official never 

reacted.

Then, away from the court, LSU coach KIM MULKEY called 

out a Washington Post writer for being sleazy in an article she’s 

been told about … but hasn’t been published yet. If anyone 

knows sleaze, it’s Mulkey … who, nevertheless, got a thumbs 

up from Fox News because she’s allegedly conservative and 

likes DONALD TRUMP.

Los Angeles Dodgers radio voice CHARLEY STEINER is 

MIA … with a serious back injury suffered this winter … and 

won’t return for a while – whatever that means … We met (sort 

of) Steiner long ago when he was working for ESPN. There we 

were, all of us … covering Virginia football, waiting – it 

seemed like hours – for the elevator that would take us from the 

press box to field level … to be followed by a mad dash to see 

coach GEORGE WELSH and players for post-game 

interviews. And here comes good, old Charley, pushing his way 

to the front of the line … and meeting resistance which he had 

some difficulty understanding.”Don’t you know who I am?” 

Steiner said. “I’m with E-S-P-N. I’ve got to get to the locker 

room.” … Sorry, Charley. Wait your turn … And he did, thank 

goodness. No telling what some clown among us might have 

done had Steiner not listened and, better yet, obeyed. 

Until next time ...