The Nats Thread (old thread link inside, too many load issues)

[OU_skins]

Guys, this team was one strike away from winning 4 or 5 times tonight. Your comparison to losing to the Giants in the 1st round after a great year is not valid. This is the most brutal loss of my life. Sports has never made me cry and I'm pretty sure I did a little bit tonight.

[stevemcqueen1]

Its not the loss itself, its how it happened

1 more strike. Thats it. 1 more.

I don't even know how to describe this. Such a gut punch

They kicked us in the nuts.

It was a nut kick.

[thebluefood]

They kicked us in the nuts.

It was a nut kick.

With steel toed ****ing boots.

[stevemcqueen1]

You guys are pretty funny. Young team puts its first good season together, finishes with the highest record in baseball, and suffers a disappointing elimination game loss to the defending champs... and a lot of you are crying about it (in an extreme sounding kind of way).

If the Redskins miraculously finished 12-4 and lost to the Giants in the divisional round this year, I'd be awfully ****ing happy about the state of the team once the short-term disappointment wore off. There's always next year.

You simply don't understand.

You won't understand unless you felt it for yourself.

[Warhead36]

I'm replaying all those close strikes in my mind. It just won't go away. That and Desmond failing to make a play on that hard hit ball. There was a play at 2nd that would have ended the game. God damn this is torture.

---------- Post added October-13th-2012 at 01:36 AM ----------

Guys, this team was one strike away from winning 4 or 5 times tonight. Your comparison to losing to the Giants in the 1st round after a great year is not valid. This is the most brutal loss of my life. Sports has never made me cry and I'm pretty sure I did a little bit tonight.

It'd be more like we have it 1st and goal at the 1 in a tie game with a chance to win, but fail to get a yard. Then we miss the chip shot FG. Then the Giants get a 99 yard TD.

[SkinsHokieFan]

I'm replaying all those close strikes in my mind. It just won't go away. That and Desmond failing to make a play on that hard hit ball. There was a play at 2nd that would have ended the game. God damn this is torture.

Couldn't get a damn outside strike called there.

I understand the sentiment of some of the posters in this thread, but expectations are transient. When you are up 6-0, 6-3, and 7-5 in the bottom of the ninth, 2 outs, 2 strikes, and LOSE, you aren't thinking "gee, what a great year we had"

All of that goes out the window. This sucks

[visionary]

For me, I'm mostly over the pain because I didn't invest too much in the Nats, and haven't since their first season when they started out the best in the league and fell apart in the second half of the season after that crazy extra-inning game against...the Cubs...I think.
But it just adds to the area suckitude aura in my mind, to reassure me that in DC sports expect bad and anything good comes with bad strings attached.

[SkinsHokieFan]

For me, I'm mostly over the pain because I didn't invest too much in the Nats, and haven't since their first season when they started out the best in the league and fell apart in the second half of the season after that crazy extra-inning game against...the Cubs...I think.
But it just adds to the area suckitude aura in my mind, to reassure me that in DC sports expect bad and anything good comes with bad strings attached.

Thats part of it, I have invested in this team since 2005, and in particular in 2009 once Strasburg was drafted.

Dynasties get started by winning a first unexpected title during a breakthrough season. This is devastating for the best team in baseball in 2012. Just terrible

Will Drew Storen ever be the same?

[Enter Apotheosis]

Problem here is this is like being up 35-7 in a playoff game and pulling a Romo level choke and end up losing 38 - 35.

Everyone would be furious.

I suppose. There's a certain point where you just have to put things into perspective and let it go. A few of the posts in this thread are sorely lacking that. Granted, it may take a few days for that to happen

And that's what DC fans say...every year.

If you can't be optimistic about the future, what's the point in being a DC sports fan? The present usually sucks (for most cities, in fact... only one team can win it all in any given season in any given sport so things HAVE to go wrong for everyone else) and clinging to decades old glory is kind of sad if you have no confidence in your ability to get back there.

Tell me about it. When did a city that hadn't had a playoff baseball team in 8 decades become so entitled that it turns its collective nose up at 98 wins and a division title? Sign me up for your Redskin stepping stone year!

The funny thing is that anyone who knows me will tell you that I am somewhat of a pessimistic, worst-case-scenario type by nature (with a sense of humor about it, of course). This thread has me looking like Mary ****ing Poppins in comparison to the doom and gloomers.

[Warhead36]

Couldn't get a damn outside strike called there.

I understand the sentiment of some of the posters in this thread, but expectations are transient. When you are up 6-0, 6-3, and 7-5 in the bottom of the ninth, 2 outs, 2 strikes, and LOSE, you aren't thinking "gee, what a great year we had"

All of that goes out the window. This sucks

EXACTLY. Thank you.

Of course if you were to ask any of us this time last year: "The Nats will win 98 games, but lose in Game 5 of the NLDS to the defending champs" but not mention the gory details, we would have taken it and ran.

But the fact is, in the heat of the moment, you want to WIN. And when you're ONE ****ING STRIKE from advancing to the NLCS and don't do it, damn right you're gonna be pissed/upset.

It'll pass in a day or two, sure, but right now let those of us who want to vent and rant do it. You didn't see me in the O's thread trying to be all reassuring, I let you guys vent/rant because you deserve that.

[visionary]

If you can't be optimistic about the future, what's the point in being a DC sports fan? The present usually sucks (for most cities, in fact... only one team can win it all in any given season in any given sport) and clinging to decades old glory is kind of sad if you have no confidence in your ability to get back there.

Good question, that's why I generally don't pay attention to DC sports other than the Redskins these days. There's only so much depressing heart-rending losing I can take.

[Zazzaro703]

So any team that came up short while it was learning to win is relegated to being losers? I suppose the 100-win, top-seeded Cardinal team from 2005 should be ashamed of themselves for falling short in the LCS. It's not like they gained any experience that year that might have served them well and led to 2 titles starting in 2006.

Honestly, yes they should. Then maybe they will win. It's that crappy "oh hoe hum we won a division title and the best record in baseball, let's have a round of grab ass in the showers" attitude that accepts losing is why DC never wins anything. Exhibit A, Washigton Capitals. If the Nationals goals are to win more games that last year instead of World Title, they should come out and just tell us so we can go about our business in peace. The winners like Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Jeter, Brady, even our own Robert Griffin III..... They expect to win. You never hear that loser talk come out of their mouths. When they lose a game, they are angry and disgusted, the way it should be at the professional level. The talk should be that they failed their ultimate goal and it's time to get to work, not bask in ultimately worthless division titles. People that are used to losing talk like that. Winners don't, because they mostly dont lose. It's rather simple.

[Joe_328]

This thread has me looking like Mary ****ing Poppins in comparison to the doom and gloomers.

Yeah, it's 1 AM after a weekend playoff game 5 loss in the NLDS to get knocked out of the post season. These people being all upset are weird-o's, huh?

Get the **** out of here.

[stevemcqueen1]

This day woke up ****ty for me. I lost my last contact this morning and have to go one eyed this weekend. How could the Nats win on such a day?

[RySkins]

30 years from now I will still think about this loss. I'm so tired, heck, I couldn't sleep from excitement last night after the win, but I have no chance of falling asleep in the next few hours. Just crushing. To wait a whole lifetime to see my team play in this game and then to lose in this fashion!?! Words cant even describe how I feel.