Washington City Paper: Contents for May. 2

Virginia Is for Sluggers
The Old Dominion wants a major-league stadium. If you build it in Arlington, we will come.

Cover Story

Ever since Virginia lost its ABA basketball franchise in 1976, the state hasn't had a big-league team, in any major sport, to call its own. The closest it gets is AAA baseball clubs in Richmond and Norfolk, which groom prospects for the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets.

The problem is that the state's money and power are concentrated in Northern Virginia, an overgrown suburb of Washington, D.C., a world-class city that hosts a complement of sports teams. Teams with a "Washington" appellation.

Within Virginia, Northern Virginia suffers from an acute identity crisis. It's a job machine for the Washington area and a revenue generator for Richmond coffers. But it doesn't get much love from D.C. residents, for whom it is merely a suburb with good shopping malls. Nor does it get the love from down-staters, for whom it might as well be Massachusetts.

Now comes baseball with the promise of a cultural anchor for Northern Virginia. Major League Baseball is trying to find a new home for the Montreal Expos, a team that plays to sparse crowds at its current home, Olympic Stadium. Along with D.C. and Portland, Ore., Virginia is lobbying the big leagues for the right to give shelter to the underappreciated Expos.

If baseball behaved rationally, the Expos would already be playing in the Washington area, the eighth-largest media market in America. Instead, Major League officials have the Expos playing some "home" games before less-than-capacity crowds in a 19,000-seat stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and dropping hints that they may stay there.... Continued

Issue of May. 2 - 8, 2003

News and Features

Virginia Is for Sluggers
The Old Dominion wants a major-league stadium. If you build it in Arlington, we will come.
Cover Story By David Morton
No Free Ride
AU drinkers think twice about calling an ambulance.
The City By Holly Bailey
Firefighters Overpower Garage Blaze
803 Rittenhouse St. NW, April 22, 7:05 p.m.
The City By John Metcalfe
Hammer Time
Brightwood burglaries take the direct approach.
The City By John Metcalfe
Raising the Bar
In the District, getting a liquor license can get personal.
The City By Josh Levin
Rubbers Hit the Road
McDonald's pulls out of the condom business.
The City By Eli Kintisch
Second Reading
The Mail By Mary Fitch
Memory Failure?
The Mail By Jon Yoder
Eat the Rich
The Mail By Patrick O'Donnell
Various and Sundry Goods
The Mail By Stephen G. Callas
Skins Game
The Mail By Ray Richards

Columns

Beer, Wine, Win, Place, Show
Cheap Seats By Dave McKenna
Adding Insult To Injury
Loose Lips By Elissa Silverman
Repeat Performance
Dept. of Media By Erik Wemple
Head of Homeland Security
City Desk By Chris Shott
Tenants of Justice
City Desk By Annys Shin

Eats

Movies

Russian Arcs
Film Review By Mark Jenkins
X Hits the Spot
Film Review By Tricia Olszewski
The Real Cancun
Film Review By Tricia Olszewski
It Runs in the Family
Film Review By Josh Levin

Music

'Water Under the Bridge
Music Review By Shannon Zimmerman
The Grate Brain
Music Review By Sean Daly
Send
Music Review By Brent Burton
Up the Bracket
Music Review By Todd Hitchcock
Quicksand/Cradlesnakes
A few of the things we're listening to this week, in no particular order
Music Review By Jason Cherkis
Seamonsters
A few of the things we're listening to this week, in no particular order
Music Review By Leonard Roberge
DJ Drank's Greatest Malt Liquor Hits
A few of the things we're listening to this week, in no particular order
Music Review By Joe Warminsky
Untitled EP
A few of the things we're listening to this week, in no particular order
Music Review By Brent Burton
Bizarre Ride II
A few of the things we're listening to this week, in no particular order
Music Review By Mike Kanin
Our Constant Concern
A few of the things we're listening to this week, in no particular order
Music Review By Anne Marson
Luminescence
A few of the things we're listening to this week, in no particular order
Music Review By Brent Burton

Theater

Death and the Maidens
Theater Review By Robert Lalasz
El Loco y la Triste (Soulmates of the Fringe)
Theater Review By Pamela Murray Winters
Cheap Laughs
Theater Review By Trey Graham

Arts and Events

Out of the Gray
Art Review By Glenn Dixon
Brave Old World
To its critics, Potomac Place Apartments is a monument to the failure of urban renewal. Richard Westbrook wants to keep it that way.
Arts By Annys Shin
Sea-Dogged
Artifacts By Louis Jacobson
Songs in the Key of Peace
Artifacts By Joe Dempsey

City Lights

This week's best in Arts and Entertainment.

Daniel Bernard Roumain
City Lights By Sarah Godfrey
Azar Nafisi
City Lights By Janet Hopf
Carl Reiner
City Lights By Sean Daly
The Beauty of Phenomena: Art in the Communication of Science
City Lights By Louis Jacobson
Pre-Code Cinema
City Lights By Mark Jenkins
Best of Young British Novelists
City Lights By Josh Levin
Horns and Halos
City Lights By Matthew Borlik
Thomas Filippi
City Lights By Felix Gillette
Dorkestra
City Lights By Jacob Long
Nick Merrick
City Lights By Louis Jacobson
Measles Mumps Rubella
City Lights By David Dunlap Jr.
Through the Olive Trees
City Lights By Mark Jenkins
Sherry Austin
City Lights By Arion Berger