Caps defeat the Rangers, 2-1 in OT ~ Caps lead the series 1-0

Mike Green was back in action, as the Washington Capitals took a 1-0 lead in the 1st round playoff series v the New York Rangers.  The Caps goals were scored by Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin.  ****  Matt Gilroy had the goal for the Rangers.  It took overtime, but the Caps were victorious at the Verizon Center.

Incidentally, I watched the game on TV and saw Wheel of Fortune's own, Pat Sajak, at the game.  A Tweep told me that Sajak is from Maryland and might even be a season ticket holder.  That's semi-correct.  I checked his bio, and he was born and raised in Chicago, IL.  He splits time between Maryland and California.  Who knew?

Game 2 of the series is in Washington, DC on Friday at 7:30.


THE WIRK

Akron defeated Kent State for the MAC Championship ~ Go Zips!

I tweeted this last night, but I should do a post because it's worthy.  I only watched the last couple of minutes of regulation and the entire overtime, but I want to say congratulations to my Akron Zips on defeating the Kent State University Golden Flashes for the 2011 MAC Championship.  As a result of winning the MAC Championship, the Zips punched their tickets to the Big Dance... 

March Madness is a rarity for my alma mater compared to my brother's school (i.e. Duke) so I'll take the victories I can.  ****  Don't get it twisted.  I was accepted into a number of other schools but my dad wanted me to become a doctor and sent me a school where I could complete an accelerated BS/MD program and become a doctor in 6 years instead of 8.  I'm starting to digress and this has nothing to do with sports ~ but let's make it clear...  I'm SMART.  I went to medical school ~ I just didn't want to stay, once I got there.

For those of you that don't know, Akron and Kent State are close to each other.  Most nights you can find students from either school out and about in the other city.  I found the match-up interesting because of the degree program I was in.   ****  Three schools:  Youngstown State University, Kent State, and the University of Akron were a consortium that fed into one medical school.  When I attended the school, it was named: Northeastern Universities College of Medicine.  Incidentally, I think they've renamed it recently.  But I digress again....

Final score of the game was 66-65.  Akron won, and I took $20 from a Kent State alumnus.  It was a good night!

****  Here's some trivia: Jason Taylor, the football player went to Akron when I was there.  Yes, that really good basketball player was born in Akron also...  Who am I talking about?  Stephen Curry of course.  Who were you thinking of?


THE WIRK

St. Joseph's defeats George Washington in OT

Last night, I went to the Charles E. Smith Center to watch St. Joseph's take on George Washington University.  I figured I needed to get into college basketball mode, and when my friend, Teri, mentioned the game I wanted to go too.  As the starting line-up was announced, I noticed the international and diverse starting 5 for GW.  There was a Canadian, Serbian, Nigerian, a Californian, and a New Yorker ~ all of them representing DC.  Cliche, yet very appropriate.

At the game, the crowd was supportive of the Colonials and the students stood for the 2nd half, if not the entire game.  I know they stood for the 2nd half, because I could barely see the half of the court in front of St. Joe's bench as the Colonials rallied to tie up the game and send it into overtime.



Coach Hobbs talking over GWU's final play, before OT

 Once the game went into overtime, it appeared that GW ran out of gas.  If you live by the 3, you can also die by the 3 and the 3s weren't falling for the Colonials in overtime.  Now, GW's season is over, but from what I could tell, no one was crying.  ****  Sorry, that was a jab at the Miami Heat.  I couldn't resist.  As Teri and I left the game, there was a father-son combo talking.  The boy had to be about 5 years old.  The father was telling his son, that the GW coach (i.e. Karl Hobbs) and assistant coaches may be gone next year, and asked his son what he'd do if that was the case.  "I'll watch Texas games," the kid replied matter of factly.  Well at least the little boy knows what he's doing next season.

Final score: St. Joseph's 71, George Washington 59.  Langston Galloway led the Hawks with 15 points, and Tony Taylor had 22 points in a losing effort for the Colonials.


THE WIRK

Millsap drops 46 and the Jazz defeat the Heat in OT

Do you see #24 in the picture to the left? That's Paul Millsap.  ****  I snapped the picture in April 2009, when the Utah Jazz were playing the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center.

Does Millsap look lethal to you? Me neither, but today he was on fire against the Miami Heat. I logged into my Twitter account and noticed that Paul Millsap dropped a career-high 46 points tonight.

The Utah Jazz defeated the Miami Heat (i.e. in Miami) in overtime. The final score was 116-114. Hmmmm, I didn't watch the game but I can only assume that Chris Bosh couldn't play any defense... Well, it looks like this girl is going to sleep happy after all.

For kicks, you should log into Twitter if you have an account and search "Chris Bosh sucks".  I did it and have been laughing my cares away...

If Bosh couldn't handle Millsap, what would he have done if Carlos Boozer was healthy and played?

Boozer with 2 good hands, in April 2009, against the Lakers

I was asked earlier today how many losses the Miami Heat would have this season.  I said at least 30.  Looks like there are at least 27 more to go...


THE WIRK

Washington Capitals defeat the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-2 in OT

Today the Philadelphia Flyers were in town to take on the Washington Capitals at the Verizon Center, and guess who was sitting pretty 2 rows behind the Caps bench...  Yep, this girl.  My friend (i.e. who my brother and I have known since we were maybe 6 years old and moved to the DC area about a year ago), Scott, told me (i.e. and another childhood friend who was in town) at dinner last night, that he had never been to a Caps game before.  I couldn't believe it.  It's been about a year since he moved to the DC area and he hadn't seen the Caps in action?!?!  Well, that's just unacceptable, so I took it upon myself to rectify the situation.

Before the game, I told him that I thought the final score would be 3-2, and that the Caps would win.  YES, I was right.  Don't believe me?  Why would I lie?!?!  I told you I was somewhat psychic...

I decided that for this game, I wanted to sit at center ice near the Capitals bench.  Normally I like to sit towards the side that the Caps shoot twice, but since this was my first game of the season I just wanted to focus on taking some good shots of the players.  Plus, since it was my friend's first time at the game, I wanted to make sure he got a good look at Alexander Ovechkin.  Ovechkin was relatively quiet during the game, but I managed to get some great shots.

Ovechkin up close

 Eric Fehr scord a goal in the 1st period to tie the game at 1.  It was Fehr's third goal for the season. 

Alexander Semin scored in the 2nd period to tie the game at 2. 

 Fehr and Semin sitting on the bench, taking a breather.

Up close, near the action

Sure enough, Mike Green came to the rescue in overtime and scored to give the Caps the win. 

My first hockey game for the season is now "in the books".  The Caps now have a record of 10-4, and continue to lead the Southeast Division.  GO CAPS!!!!

THE WIRK

Redskins defeat the Packers in OT ~ Hail!

I'm not sure when it happened, but my friend, Kanak, has become a football fan.  She had tickets to the Green Bay Packers v Washington Redskins game on Sunday, and when I offered to sell them for her, she refused.  She said she wanted to go to the game.  When I picked myself off of the floor, I knew I was going to have to rally "early" (i.e. wake up in the AM) on Sunday and go with her.

****  Incidentally, the night before some guy took my cell phone home with him.  He said I dropped it.  I think he stole it.  Regardless, I offered him $100, if he brought my phone back to me before 10AM (i.e. he called me around 9AM).  For those of you that think that's a bit much, you have no idea what it's like to explain the situation to AT&T that your phone has been stolen and you want to replace it.  The amount of time and energy I'd waste to discuss this issue with those people, is far less than $100.

Kanak picked me up for the game, and we drove to her work and then walked to our friend JV's place.  The few blocks might as well have been a few miles, because I was in no mood for a Sunday morning stroll.  JV's sister drove us to FedEx Field.  I slept in the car on the way. 

View from the seats

Entering the stadium with the game underway, I just wanted to sit and enjoy the game.  I honestly couldn't have cared less about the outcome.  It was a gorgeous day, and I was just excited to be around friends. 

Our friend, Erin, "Don't Stop Believin'"

With Ari and Rod (aka "the Donkey")

With my girls: Kanak, Taters, Marin, and Jena

Kanak was asking questions throughout the game and following the action.  I haven't had to explain penalties (e.g. holding, offsides), football basics (e.g. downs, offense, defense), or that they're yelling "Coooooley" instead of "boo" (i.e. when Chris Cooley does something good) in a long time.  However, I couldn't help but notice that she's definitely been learning the game the past few weeks.  ****  Yes, Kanak, I was impressed.

The game turned out to be a good one!  It went into overtime.  When Green Bay won the coin toss, I assumed that the Packers would win.  When I watched them miss the field goal, I was shocked.  Overtime was stressful, but ultimately the Washington Redskins defeated the Green Bay Packers 16-13, thanks to Graham Gano's field goal... 

Sorry Packers fans.  You lose, and Aaron Rodgers has a concussion and may not play on Sunday. 

I'll admit, I'm not really Redskins fan, but after that performance ~ Hail to the Redskins! 

****  If you ask me, Redskins' fans should buy my tickets to go to all the games for the rest of the season, since the 2 games I've attended they've won.  If you don't remember, I was in Philadelphia last weekend.

Question:  Stadium dog for $6 or two hotdogs for $10?  Which would you choose?


THE WIRK