Super Bowl XXVI Washington Redskins 37, Buffalo Bills 24. It was the third Super Bowl championship in a decade, but who knew the 1992 Super Bowl would be the last DC championship? In fact, the 24 year drought is second among cities with three or more teams (NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL), and Minneapolis, Minnesota beats us by three months. The Minnesota Twins 1991 World Series Champions in October 1991 to our January 1992 Super Bowl. If you include cities with two teams, Washington DC ranks seventh. This includes cities like San Diego (53 years), Buffalo (51), Milwaukee (45), Charlotte (28 – when they first received a team), and Cincinnati (26). However, we have four teams and therefore twice as many chances as these cities, so where is our next championship? Even Cleveland got a championship, so what gives?
In a city starved with political turmoil - divided by blue donkeys and red elephants - our sports teams sure know how to replicate this. From the constant Redskins quarterback, coach, and owner drama that makes even the Kardashians look normal. The Gilbert Arenas gun saga made the Washington Wizards look more like their old name: the Washington Bullets. (Hey, at least the Bullets won a championship, the Wizards can’t say that right?) Then there are the Nationals and Capitals, probably the two most successful teams of recent time whose playoff disappointments get DC fans just close enough to taste it only to be thrown out of one season into another, hoping for change (i.e. 2012 NLDS Game 5 Meltdown). The Capitals have only had four losing seasons of the past 24, but only one trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1998, which they lost. Of the 83 sports seasons that have happened since the last championship there have been 38 losing seasons and 23 last place finishes.
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The constant losing has given us 22 top five draft picks and five number one picks. Four of these have given us hope for the future: Alexander Ovechkin, Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, and John Wall. If you go to a game or walk around the city you will find their gear all over. However, their hype has shown promise, but has fallen short of the ultimate goal. Harper’s 2015 MVP season found the Nationals without a playoff berth. Strasburg has performed less than spectacular in big game spots. Ovechkin has been near the top in scoring in the NHL, led the team to playoffs for years, and still found a way to fall apart in the playoffs. At what point is enough, enough?
The fans are here, the fans are passionate, so give us something to be passionate about. No more excuses, no more drama... just go play ball. The future is too long to wait for us fans, the time is now for DC. The time has come and gone for other cities. In a city that has gone through political turmoil for years, let our sports teams bring us all together and maybe, just maybe, the rest of the city will fall into place. So as I sign off, I challenge our teams to unite and bring us home a championship.
