Wake up, Metro. It's morning time! Also: Two of your employees are telling WJLA-TV that they not only knew about the circuit problem that likely caused the June 22 crash five days before it happened, but that they reported the problem to their supervisors. This seemingly contradicts GM John Catoe's statement yesterday, in which he assured the public the circuit's intermittent inability to detect trains on tracks was "not an issue that would have been easily detectable to controllers in our operations control center." Metro had no comment on the unnamed technicians' allegations, citing the ongoing investigation.

In case you missed it: City Desk reported last night that one of the crash victims' families lawyered up with local institution the Cochran Firm, which won the business over another firm based, partially, on its willingness to file suit before the investigation's over. Attorney David Haynes called today to correct my mistake. The family of Veronica DuBose actually has two law firms lined up, one from Florida already familiar to the family, as well as the Cochran Firm, which was brought in as lead counsel by the Florida lawyers. Haynes also notes that his firm is representing five people injured in the crash.

City Paper's fresh online and in the stands. Of note: Carman on Breadline's closing and reopening, Graham on The Year of Magical Thinking, Olszewski on the new Transformers, Leitko on Meow vs. Meow, and West on the theory of everything.

Elsewhere in D.C. Blogolands:

* Borderstan's reporting that actor and Obama up-and-comer Kal Penn, better known as Kumar going to the White Castle, is moving into the neighborhood. But no dice on exactly where.

* Molly, the pure-bred Viszla brazenly stolen from in front of the Whole Foods in Logan Circle, is still lost. Bloggers are on it.

* Congress Heights on the Rise has some news found newsworthy by the Examiner: Congress Heights is NOT Anacostia.

* We Love DC chimes in on the Caps signing winger Mike Knuble away from the Flyers. The Post says he'll be the net presence we lack. We're comin' for you, Pittsburgh. Grrrrr!

Photograph by City Paper Staff Photographer Darrow Montgomery

That's essentially what Pro Football Talk is saying. According to the site, La Canfora has been hired away from the Washington Post by the NFL Network, the future cable powerhouse owned by the NFL, which is run by the NFL owners, none brasher than Snyder.

On some levels, the departure was inevitable. La Canfora was good enough at his job, as the Post's Skins beat writer and the force behind Redskins Insider, the paper's most popular sports blog, to cause the Skins organization to launch a campaign against him. Snyder's message board, extremeskins.com, his media mouthpiece, Larry Michael, and his, well, everything else, Vinny Cerrato, all went crazy trying to attack La Canfora.

Michael had "The Sourcerer," a silly feature used on a Skins cable TV show to belittle everything La Canfora wrote. And then things got really ugly when Snyder gave Cerrato, who would "no comment" every question from La Canfora for his Post stories, a radio show on the sports station he owns, WTEM. Cerrato railed against the beat writer as soon as he got on the air.

The lowpoint of the feud came with Cerrato and Michael accusing La Canfora of tattling to the NFL in hopes of getting the league to launch a tampering investigation of the Redskins. (Tampering? Snyder?)

La Canfora fought ugliness with ugliness, calling Cerrato a liar and mocking the organization in emails to detractors. As predicted in this space many times, the beat wasn't big enough for both Cerrato and La Canfora to stay on another season.

Cerrato kept his football job, though the radio gig was such a disaster it can't come back. So it's La Canfora heading off, leaving writing for talking, as all typists aspire to do.

But, working for Snyder?

Aw, what the heck? That's the eventual fate of us all.

***

Speaking of tampering: An odd story out of Nashville holds that the Titans ARE NOT behind the much-discussed tampering investigation of the Redskins.

Ever since Snyder signed Albert Haynesworth, there's been grumbling from the Titans that the Redskins had opened negotiations with the run-stopping, pass-rushing behemoth before the free agent signing period opened on Feb. 27.

That's a no-no, punishable by the loss of draft picks. But now, amid all sorts of talk that the NFL is interviewing suspected tamperers at Redskins Park, the Nashville City Paper is reporting that the Titans never "filed a written formal complaint," and that the team doesn't want to be seen as vindictive after losing Haynesworth.

So, if nobody from the Titans kickstarted this whole Redskins inquiry, who did? Who would have enough animus against Snyder's organization to try to cause big trouble for the burgundy and gold?

Hmmmm. Let's pin it on Jason La Canfora!

***

Yesterday, the Dallas Cowboys had a ribbon cutting ceremony for their new billion-dollar-plus stadium yesterday.

At least $350 million of the stadium's cost came from public moneys.

Your move, Dan Snyder!

(If I had the funds lying around, I'd chip in another $350 million for the Cowboys new home so long as they promised that the move meant we'd never again have to watch Clint Longley highlights on Thanksgiving from the old place.)

***

Here's what big talk gets you: Bigger bond!

The guy who allegedly told investigators in Florida that he'd sold steroids to Caps and Nats, Richard "Andy" Thomas, found out yesterday that his bond had been nearly doubled, up to $425,000.

(It's great to see bonds and steroids discussed in the same paragraphs again, ain't it? Just like old times!)

Apparently, Thomas has said he was drawn to PEDs so he could "be like Arnold" Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger doesn't get enough credit for being the godfather of steroid abuse in this country.

Other than from the White House and City Paper, anyway.

No names of Caps or Nats players that Thomas allegedly sold the drugs to have yet been released.

Speaking of names: How do you get "Andy" out of Richard? Sounds totally like a "Don't call me 'Dick!'" move. Dick's totally out of vogue, you know.

***

Joe Biden is the Anti-Arnold Schwarzenegger!

Vice presidents get accused of falsely taking credit for big things even when they don't.

Maybe that's why, hot as the topic is these days, Biden never mentions that he led the way to having steroids made illegal in this country.

But, hell if he didn't: In May 1989, back when he chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee, Biden called a hearing about the use of steroids in the NFL. According to a Washington Post report on the hearing, Atlanta Falcons guard Bill Fralic told the committee that "approximately 75 percent" of all "linemen, linebackers and tight ends" in the league used steroids. NFL czar Pete Rozelle testified at the same hearing that random testing detected that only "6 to 7 percent" of players were juiced, but Biden said he "would have trouble not believing Fralic."

Biden had sponsored S.1829, a Senate bill making steroids a controlled substance, in the 100th congress, and, according to the vice president's office, later wrote the Senate version of a House bill that outlawed possession of the drugs.

Again: Biden is the anti-Arnold!

(Full disclosure: I occasionally play in a really bad band with people who work for the vice president. We could use some performance enhancers.)

***

Because polls are the future, the folks at wizardsextreme.com, a fan site for our Wiz, are asking readers to vote on their all-time favorite Wizards/Bullets player for every jersey number. Though participation has been less than spotty, and current team members are doing far too well in the votes, it's a fun concept and a good excuse for a trip down memory lane. Currently, #5 is up, and Juwan Howard, who was basically run out of town, is winning big. Kwame Brown, also run out of town, has zero votes.

The first poll, over #0, of course went to Gilbert Arenas in a romp. Kevin Duckworth, despite his recent death, got zero votes.

***

Few things make me madder than a spelling bee being treated like a sport. But that's our lot, now that software has rendered the required skill less useful than Betamax repair. Even the best sports blogger of our age has fallen for this scam.

Obviously, spelling's only been given sports status to provide cheap programming for ESPN.

Step up and pay the athletes, ESPN!

Out of protest, I'm canceling my regular Friday lunch with the best sports blogger of our age today. Well, out of protest and because I'm going away for a while...

***

Story tips? Wanna Play the Feud? Tube amps for sale? Send to: cheapseats@washingtoncitypaper.com.

That leaves anyone the Washington Times has so far got on the horn to speculate. Officially, of course, there's no comment other than, "We'll get to the bottom of this."

But Caps enforcer Donald Brashear has weighed in: "We get tested two, three times a year and there's never been anybody who's tested positive....Was [Thomas] supplying this year? Was it a few years ago when there was no testing...to tell you the truth, if there was, I didn't know. There's no sign of anybody I know who used steroids."

Former Cap and current Panther Steve Eminger is similarly incredulous his former teammates doped up. "No, never, not once---[steroids were] never talked about once...I don't know, you see guys. Guys aren't extremely ripped or anything."

So who's got the Florida hookup then?

In what the Post this morning says "will likely go down as one of the best playoff games in Capitals franchise history," D.C.'s scrappy hockey team went up 2 games to none in their playoff series against Pittsburgh. That means they've won their last five playoff games, their longest post-season streak to date. It took the Verizon Center staff three minutes to clear the ice of another sort of caps---the hats kept coming after Alex Ovechkin's third goal of the night, his first hat trick in in the playoffs. The Pens' Crosby got one of those, too (and a lone hat thrown onto the ice), but in this chapter of the "showdown for the ages," Sidney went home a loser. Final score: 4-3. Money quote from Ovechkin: "If I was a Capitals fan, I'd be really happy right now."

Crosby, of course, not a Caps fan. What a player. But what a whiner. Last night it was about the hats: "I was just asking if he could make an announcement to ask them to stop," Crosby said of the fans. "I mean, the first wave came, and then I think they were all pretty much picked up, and then more started coming." Earlier this season, he piled on the chastisement for Ovechkin's 50-goal celebration/failed joke. And even this pro-Pens blog thinks Crosby's bellyaching about a hit he took from Ovechkin in January is just a bit much. But trust a CBCer for a measured response: Let's not debate who's a better player. Let's like them both! Whatever, Elliotte Friedman with your extra letters in your name.

The must-read, as McKenna pointed out in this space yesterday, is Mike Wise's A1 Sunday profile on Caps enforcer Donald Brashear. Does his sad life excuse breaking a guy's orbital bone? No. But is it sad? Oof.

Lest one think Ovechkin and Brashear are the only Caps worth writing about, Canada's National Post has a rundown on the rationale to give goaltender Simeon Varlamov his shot after Jose Theodore's implosion. Seems like a no-brainer now, but Bruce Boudreau says he "lost hair" over the decision. Who knew hockey coaches could be so funny? But can you sportswriter-types please stop writing about how to pronounce Varlamov's name? Yeah, we get it. Sim-YON Var-LAHM-ov.

Game 3's in Pittsburgh tomorrow. The Philadelphia Inquirer says, "historians of the Pittsburgh-Washington rivalry will say the Penguins have the Capitals right where they want them."

Flickr photo by Wyfurasko.