Author Archive for Dave McKenna

D.C.’s Own Lamont Peterson to Fight for Title Here and on HBO

I first met Lamont Peterson about a decade ago. He and his younger brother Anthony were pounding the crap out of each other in the furnace room of a school in Columbia Heights.
They had boxing gloves on. The Petersons were both teenagers at the time and the star pugs of the Headbangers, a fight club [...]

Ex-GW Footballer Gets Real at RFK’s 50th B-Day Kickoff

The unquestioned star of today's press conference to announce various commemorations of the 50th Birthday of RFK Stadium was a football player, but not a Redskin.
No, the real ear-turner of the many speakers to take the podium on the field and share memories of the old building was Norm Neverson, a kid from Roosevelt High [...]

King Leatherbury and Ben’s Cat Keep Their Storybook Story Alive

 
Ben's Cat, an under-bred five-year-old gelding, won the Maryland Million Turf Sprint on Saturday at Laurel Park.
That leaves King Leatherbury, his under-appreciated 78-year-old trainer, with 6,326 career wins, third most of any trainer in the history of horse racing, but still no Hall of Fame induction.
Ben's Cat, shown above in orange, broke a pelvis as [...]

Friday Night Knights (Cont.): Friendship Collegiate Halfway to Undefeated Season!

Friendship Collegiate's done with the nail-biters. After winning their first three games on the last possession, the Knights went the suspenseless route for the second week in a row with a 26-6 rout of P.G. County's Gwynn Park Yellow Jackets.
The win leaves Friendship undefeated at 5-0, and only enhances the Knights' rep as not only [...]

Hey, Hollywood: Have You Heard About King Leatherbury and Ben’s Cat?

I wrote a column this week about legendary Maryland trainer King Leatherbury. I realized years ago that there are good stories, and then there are horse racing stories.
Leatherbury's got a horse racing story.
Leatherbury is currently looking for somebody to put up $100,000 so his over-achieving gelding, Ben's Cat, can run against the best-bred [...]

Redskins Offer New, Less Gougy Lottery Ticket!

The devaluation of all things Washington Redskins continues.
The latest evidence: "Hail the the Redskins," a new, cheaper scatch ticket coming out of the partnership between the team and the Virginia Lottery.
Hail to the Redskins is the third Redskins scratch game in as many years.
The original Redskins scratcher, Redskins Mania, debuted in 2009. In keeping with [...]

Faces and Heels: Would a Man Take His Shoes Off for Santana Moss?

Fox-5 aired its own post-game show following the Redskins loss to Dallas.
As host Dave Feldman spoke in the bowels of Cowboys Stadium, you could see Comcast sportscaster Kelli Johnson over his shoulder interviewing Skins receiver Santana Moss down the hall. Johnson and Moss stood more or less eye to eye just outside an entrance to [...]

Friday Night Knights (Cont.): Friendship Collegiate Routs Chicago Squad That Was Big Deal in the 1920s, Stays Unbeaten!

 
Friendship Collegiate strengthened its status as the Nation's Best Football Team That Uses a Storage Bin as a Locker Room by dispensing of St. Leo of Chicago on Friday, 38-17.
The game was played at Anacostia, because along with being locker-roomless, the Knights are also a Football Team Without a Football Field.
The lopsided win leaves Friendship [...]

More DCIAA Buffoonery On View as Dunbar Hosts DeMatha

I wrote lots of words for this week's print edition of Washington City Paper about the sorry hand DC Public Schools football players have been dealt.
The adults who run athletics for DC's high schools do the poorest job of running a league that I've ever seen. Nobody comes close.
Forfeits come in bunches in the city's [...]

Non-Breaking News: New Washington Post Poll Confirmed Old City Paper Poll!

The Great Dan Steinberg was on the Lavar and Dukes Show on WJFK-FM on Tuesday afternoon still talking up the Washington Post's poll of area sports fans.
TGDS™ sounded surprised at the number of folks who told the surveyors that they don't like the Washington Redskins more than they don't like other pro franchises in the [...]

Promoting Self-Promotion of Myself

Sources close to Dave McKenna say I, or, um, he will be on "The Mike Wise Show" in studio on WJFK-106.7 FM at 11:30 a.m. today. That's in like 15 minutes. Hang up and listen.

Demand for Skins/Cardinals Tickets Soft as a Baby’s Behind

The value of a Redskins ticket is apparently continuing to plummet even after the team's thrashing of the New York Giants in Sunday's opener.
In a column published in early June, I observed that, "Supply is kicking demand's ass at FedExField."
The ass-kicking continues, despite the Redskins' fabulous start to the 2011 season.
At the time that [...]

“Friday Night Knights”(Cont.): Friendship Collegiate Strikes Blow Against the Privileged Class, Whups Prep

 
Georgetown Prep's a private school that has an indoor track and golf course on campus and overall athletic facilities so fabulous that professional teams rent 'em. Friendship Collegiate Academy's a public charter school with no home football field and a place where the athletes are forced to use a storage bin as a locker room.
But [...]

We Can Now Confirm the News Biz Was Incredibly Damaged on 9/11

Actual headline from CNN.com this morning:
Officials confirm 'credible but unconfirmed' 9/11 threat
 
The only good news, far as I can tell, is that these officials haven't uncovered an unconfirmed incredible but confirmed threat.

Yes, I’m Ready for Some Football

The only thing Hunter S. Thompson ever wrote that I got was his suicide note.
He titled it "Football Season Is Over" and began with "No more games." Then he blew his head off.
I'm not in his league, but I look forward to the NFL season to an unhealthy degree, and the illness gets [...]