In2Caps

As of November 13, 2011, In2Caps’ blog is moving to http://in2caps.blogspot.com/.

I always had a soft spot for Theo Fleury when he played. A little guy with a big heart, who played hard and above what should have been his natural ability. As his career waned, earlier than it should have, in part due to long-term and progressively worse behavioral issues fueled by alcoholism, long-term rumors about whether he (along with Sheldon Kennedy) had in fact been sexually abused by former coach (and predator) Graham James as a kid. Such abuse is hard to admit in the tough manly world of professional hockey and that misplaced shame does perhaps as much damage as the abuse itself.

In 2009, Theo’s autobiography, Playing with Fire, was released. In it, he talked about being abused by James, and his life-long struggles to come to terms with what had happened to him. I’ve read the book. It made me angry and it made me cry. Renewed interest in holding James responsible led to his arrest in Canada in October 25. Now sober, Theo has become an advocate for sexual abuse victims and has a new career as a public speaker.

A few days ago, another professional athlete went on Twitter, shortly after the Penn State abuse scandal blew up, and downplayed the actions (or, more accurately, non-action)  of Joe Paterno. “If Paterno had seen it happen with his own eyes he should report it but he didn’t! He received info from someone who say(s) he did! What to do?” Canadian professional quarterback Henry Burris tweeted.

Not good enough, Theo quickly responded (also on Twitter). “ok so they talked covered it up and allowed (Jerry) Sandusky to keep molesting boys. Come on Hank. (You’re) better than that.” Later, he posted on his website about the exchange, “Recently I’ve been going back and forth with Henry Burris on this disgusting Penn State debacle. I have one stand. If an adult has even the slightest suspicion that a child is being abused, it is your duty as an adult to stand up for that child and do something now.”

My guess is what happened to Theo Fleury as a kid is similar in some ways to the Penn State victims. People saw. People suspected. People turn their backs and pretended they didn’t. If anyone knows what that does, how that makes a kid think they don’t matter, he does. His “one stand” needs to be our one stand, too.

I didn’t know Derek Boogaard, nor did I have any particularly in-depth knowledge of him (beyond his reputation as a hell of a fighter and getting one of his rare goals against the Caps last year), but his sudden death last week took my breath away.  The reasons behind this were complicated, and it took me a while to figure them out.

In recent days, hockey fans have posted tributes to Boogaard along the lines of “God must have needed an enforcer,” at the same time that his friends and fellow players have talked about how his kind and gentle nature off the ice was so dramatically different than his tough-guy image on it.

There was a recent Washington Post magazine article about Matt Hendricks, realizing at some point that in order to get paid to play hockey, he had to fight. And, there was something so sad about that, even in the “humor” of a story about going to the grocery store with his wife shortly after a particularly brutal on-ice fight and the stares he got from kids.

I don’t think Derek Boogaard wanted to make a living hitting people, and getting hit in return. It’s an awful way to earn a dollar–even a lot of them–particularly now when sports may finally be catching up to science when it comes to the damage caused by even a few “minor” head injuries during a career on the football field or the ice. Former NFL player Dave Duerson committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest after years of steadily declining mental and emotional health–asking in the letter he left to have his brain studied after his death.

There is a lot of speculation about how “Boogey” died–and the incomplete autopsy report pending toxicology results (and Larry Brooks’ NY Post column disclosing that he was in the NHL’s substance abuse/behavioral health program) seems to indicate it is likely drug related, accidentally or deliberate. He had suffered from debilitating headaches since the December 9 fight (during which he suffered a shoulder injury and a concussion) and had been unable to play for the rest of the season.

Fighting killed Derek Boogaard. Maybe because of a long-delayed physical event or perhaps because the devastating injury caused too much reliance on pills or too much emotional pain. If a one-dimensional player like Derek Boogaard can’t fight anymore, it’s likely the end of his career.

So, I’m struggling with this. I, the bleeding heart, can’t kill a fly pacifist, rises to my feet during hockey games and cheers fighters on. What responsibility do I have when one of those fights–even months later–causes the death of one of the fighters? There is so much being done about “hits to the head” in hockey–or at least some lip-service about it, but “fights” are exempt? Hockey fighters don’t focus on body blows–they trade shots to the head (helmeted or not) and, as a means to win, slam their opponent (including their head) to the ice. Aren’t we being hypocritical here? A hit to the head in the middle of play is a no-no, but a boxing match between players is okay?

I don’t know what the answer is. All I know is after Derek Boogaard’s death, something has changed in how I view fighting in hockey and the ultimate sacrifices that may be made by those who have to fight to put food on the table.

RIP, Derek Boogaard.

Update: On May 21, the Hennepin (Minnesota) County Medical Examiner’s office ruled Derek Boogaard died from an accidental lethal combination of alcohol and the powerful painkiller Oxycodone. In their statement, his family reported that Boogaard had struggled for some time with drug and alcohol addiction and had been voluntarily enrolled in the NHL/NHLPA substance abuse program three times since 2009.

Also posted on the Caps’ message boards at http://fans.capitals.nhl.com/community/topic/57854-caps-might-just-be-ok/page__st__20__gopid__1543494

Fair warning. This is going to be a bit of a rant/vent.

I’m a “medium” length fan. About 15 years. Enough to have gone through some really good and some really bad seasons. A STH for 12 years.

This season is the first one that isn’t fun. And, fun doesn’t necessarily mean winning. One of the most personally enjoyable seasons was one of the worse, when winning was a rarity and maybe 5,000 fans were showing up.

I can hardly get through a game now. Trying to pump myself up for the home games, and finding myself pausing away games for 30 minutes or so at the start so I can fast forward through this mind-numgingly boring crap.

Don’t give me the “this is playoff hockey” spiel. Not a single playoff game has ever been won by a team that doesn’t score a goal. Perhaps we are more defensibly “responsible,” but the cost has been too high. We’be got the best offensive team in the world completely lost and demoralized. To a man, our “young guns” are mired in droughts of epic proportions. And, I’d argue it isn’t a drought. The new “system” allows no room for the offense. It’s specifically designed, it appears, to consider 1-0 a success, but we don’t have any means to ensure we are the 1 in the equation.

I hope they signed Semin specifically to make him more appealing to other teams, because he will NOT succeed in this system, even less than our other offensive players. He will stew and pout and curl into a ball about it.

I’ll agree that we can’t be all or nothing (an offensive firepower and a defensive nightmare), but we have gone too far to the other side. I loved the exuberance of this team. Their over the top joy and playfulness. The life has been sucked out of this team and it is painful to watch.

Remember when we could fall behind three goals going into the third and it was just a “blip”? When every Caps fan in the place knew that we were still in it? Now, if the other team scores a goal first, it feels like it’s a done deal. We’ve gone from having the best offense in the league and a mediocre defense to having a mediocre offense AND defense. I’m not sure how that’s progress.

Look, I don’t want another President’s trophy and early round playoff exit any more than anyone else. But, the only difference THIS year is the President’s trophy. Anyone who things this team is going to have any playoff success is in a fantasy world.

Succeed or fail, this new system won’t fill the arena either. It’s begin to be obvious that others share my difficulty in building up any enthusiasm for watching what is going on. There are a lot of empty seats these days . . .

Well, here we go again. The Capitals can’t seem to find their groove of winning consecutive games again. They played a great game though.

What about Holtby? Another great performance for the rookie. Allowing only one goal in sixty minutes of play isn’t to shabby for the rookie netminder. Although he seemed off during the shootout, leaving the crease in two of the shots, he stick checked a Ranger stopping him point blank.

Capitals fall in the shootout for their ninth overtime/shootout loss of the season. More to come tomorrow.

The Capitals are not the most consistent team in league. I think we can all agree on that. As they seem to crack out of their shell in the third period. Many are becoming tired of this. I would, and I am. It’s not much fun dropping $120 to watch a game and get one period of good hockey.

The Islander game was pretty good. Although being a number one goal scoring team, we need more than two goals against the Isles. They will go hot for about 5 games, and go cold for about 7. So I hope tonight, they BLOW the Leafs out of the water.

Neuvirth will not be dressing tonight as Holtby is getting the start. Varlamov will be backing him up.

Game time is 7:00 P.M. EST.

Notable Injuries:

Alexander Semin (questionable), Tom Poti (questionable), Micheal Neuvirth

Tonight the Washington Capitals Tampa Bay Lighting in Florida tonight.

Last game Knuble and MJo had the goals. MJo netted two. After losing 3-0 in the second, the Caps came back to 3-3 score at the end of the 3rd.

They lost in OT as Denis Wideman scored for the Panthers on the PP.

Just two games ago the Caps played Tampa Bay and lost 1-0 in OT.

Varlamov is expected to start in net tonight as Neuvirth played last night in Florida.

Varlamov is 7-4-2 this season.

Be sure to check out Caps Chat tonight!

~ovie.8

Well…I thought they looked pretty good the first period. Now it’s 2nd period, and they aren’t looking too good.

I hope they shape it up…

I became a Caps fan on May 25, 1998. It was both a long time coming . . . and like a lightning strike.

My sister, Lisa, had been a Capitals fan for as long as I could remember. I just didn’t “get” it. Back then, televised games weren’t all that common, and as much as she tried to explain it to me, the game was just too difficult to learn or follow listening to it over a radio broadcast.  Lisa was a diehard fan—with her personalized Virginia license plates reading IAFRATE.

Then, for my birthday that year, she bought me a ticket. I remember being both flabbergasted (after all, it was a $120 ticket!) and disappointed (why on earth would I want a ticket to a hockey game for my birthday?). But, I didn’t let the disappointment show (it’s the thought that counts, right?) and gamely tagged along. I wore white, as instructed (those were the days of “white outs”).

The Caps beat Buffalo, 3-2, in overtime that day. I walked out, with no voice left, flat out in love with Joe Juneau, and wondering exactly why I hadn’t listened to my older sister years before. That year didn’t end up exactly as we hoped. The Caps were swept by Detroit in the Stanley Cup finals. I managed to get a ticket to the final game (the first of many games where Caps fans were outnumbered in our own arena—that particular day by Detroit fans carrying brooms).

The following year, my sister and I became season ticket holders—on the aisle in section 411, row C.

A year or so later, Lisa moved to upstate New York—and I decided to keep both seats just in case she ever came “back home.”

There have been good times, and there have been bad times. I was over the moon when Jagr came to town—and would have held the door when he left. I’ve bought tickets for friends out of fear that the franchise would fail–when the Caps had to give away tickets through grocery store promotions in order to claim 7,000 in attendance. I sent blistering messages to Ted Leonsis when Peter Bondra was traded to Ottawa. (I still occasionally send nicer ones, reminding him that it’s time to retire #12—and #37.) I’ve got a closet full of jerseys—the “stars” like Bondra, Kolzig, and Ovechkin, but also the ones that held down the fort during the lean years, like Stephen Peat, Matt Pettinger, and Jason Doig. I’ve been to Pittsburgh, Carolina, and New Jersey with the Caps Road Crew (a finer bunch of fans, no franchise could ask for), and a few other enemy arenas on my own. I have a website, www.In2Caps.com. I now own the old 1999-2000 Southeast Division banner that used to hang in the rafters. Ideas about what to do with it are welcomed (it’s much larger than I expected).

These days, 11 years later, I’m still in 411, row C—and somehow this “rookie fan” has become a veteran season ticket holder. Lisa still comes down for a game here or there—she sits in her old seat and wears her old Iafrate jersey. If by chance I win one of those “jerseys off our backs” on April 11, I know exactly who I’m giving it to. It’s a long-overdue thank you to Lisa for “giving” me the Washington Capitals.

Go Caps!