The great Charlie Slowes' early home run call — "Bang! Zoom! go the fireworks!" — was rendered obsolete  by the Washington Nationals management this year.
Could his glorious winning-game-ending catchphrase — "Another Curly W goes in the record books!" — and the logo that engendered it be endangered, also?
Well, Walgreens is clearly out to stake [...]

This is the Bread of Election: The upcoming special election for the D.C. Council, by law, falls on April 26. By a somewhat older law, so does the last day of Passover. Which means observant Jews aren't supposed to write, or use the electronic voting machines, until 8:40 p.m. Polls are scheduled to close at 8 [...]

One more reason Opening Day in Baltimore beat the crap outta Opening Day in D.C.: Kegasus went to Camden Yards!
More photos after the jump!
(Shots of Kegasus courtesy of the Maryland Jockey Club)

For the four-bagger print edition of Washington City Paper, I wrote this week about Opening Day. I'm old enough to know that Opening Day around here, like everything else everywhere else, used to be better.
I got the sense that nobody in D.C. cared about Opening Day this year.
Nationals brass I spoke with say my perception [...]

There is Power in a Union: For months, workers have been protesting outside the Madison Hotel on 15th Street NW, clamoring about a labor dispute in which the hotel laid off workers and refused to recognize a contract with UNITE HERE Local 25. And, incidentally, making things rather noisy for executives at The Washington Post, [...]

Fully Loaded: D.C. government offices were closed today for President's Day, which most years is a holiday, but this year is an unpaid furlough for city employees. On his day off, though, D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown had his choice of not one, but two, "fully loaded" Lincoln Navigators to ride around town—one with a [...]

Winter Storm Washed: The first time snow was forecast for D.C. after Vince Gray was sworn in as mayor, it missed the city. The District's luck changed last week, but now it looks like the Gray administration's snow plan—don't let it snow—is working again, as an ice storm that was originally projected for the region [...]

Opening of new Nationals moneyballer Jayson Werth's interview yesterday afternoon on sportstalker WJFK:
LaVar Arrington: "One thing that people might not know about you: You were a track star!"
Jayson Werth: "I think you're talking about my sister."

Is it too late for a telethon? A car wash? A blood drive? A war? Anything to save Rob Dibble from getting run out of town?
Yeah, it's probably too late.
Dibble has been away from the Nats broadcasting booth since shortly after Stephen Strasburg screwed up the commentator's counsel — basically "suck it up!" and play [...]

Yesterday on "The Sports Reporters," the great Steve Czaban and Andy Pollin discussed the sudden dropoff in attendance for games when Stephen Strasburg pitches. Only 21,695, which the Washington Post called "the smallest crowd to watch Strasburg pitch in the majors," showed up at Nationals Park on Sunday for his latest appearance. This following a [...]

Everything I need to know about D.C. sports in the summer of 2010 I learned from "Tortoise and the Hare."
The lead players in the two biggest sports dramas in the market are exchanging roles.
Stephen Strasburg's physical condition became a big question mark out of nowhere. Now he's leaving games early, and leaving fans to wonder [...]

Woman Locked in Metro Station: Not only did a sign on the platform at the Virginia Square-GMU Station incorrectly display a notice that a District-bound Blue Line train would arrive in 9 minutes, but when the station manager locked up for the night earlier this week, he didn't seem to notice Chrissy Shugars sitting there. It [...]

Fans booed at Nationals Park when the curtain went up and they learned that Miguel Batista would be playing the role of Stephen Strasburg for last night's performance against the Braves.
Batista delivered a line as well as Strasburg would have: Five innings, no runs, three hits, six Ks.
I wasn't there in person and hadn't paid [...]

For the One Armed Bandit that is the print platform of Washington City Paper, I wrote this week about Rob Dibble. Pick up a copy, read the column, drink at every bar that advertises with us, feed the beast.
I visited with Dibble a few weeks ago at Nationals Park, hours before Stephen Strasburg faced the [...]

"Darn you, Cal Ripken!"
How often do you get to say that? I'm saying it a lot lately.
To wit: For the current print edition of Washington City Paper, which, coincidentally or not, is made of the very same material as the $100 bill, while the internet version is made of nothingness, I wrote about the disappearance [...]