Michael Wilbon can KMA

[spjunkies]

Has anyone seen this nonsense?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...a-sports-town/

“It doesn’t compare,” Wilbon says of Washington. “No, it’s terrible. It’s not even close to New York, Philly, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, LA. It’s last….It’s because people don’t call this home, really. They still call somewhere else home. I’ve been here 32 years, and I still barely call it home….

“Beyond [the Redskins]? Politics makes sports here No. 2. I’m from Chicago, the place that produced the most recent president of the United States. Sports is still No. 1 there. They’ll never, ever make the mistake of thinking that politics or something else is No. 1….Only on Monday mornings, 16 times a year, is sports the No. 1 conversation [in Washington]….

“If you’re going to really look at the DC sports scene, what’s more important than the Wizards and Capitals to people are Maryland and Georgetown. But think about this: When’s the last time you’ve seen anything that happened in DC lead SportsCenter? RG3 is the first time that’s happened in years. So DC, the center of the sports universe? Never, never.”

I'm not going to sit here and say that we are the best sports town in America, but when you have to put up with **** teams that haven't won anything important in 20+ years it makes it just a little tough to stick by your team.

And oh yeah, when watching Yankee highlights on ESPN I saw thousands of empty seats in their stadium.

He tried to back off today but I'd prefer if he just moved his ass back to Chicago and never came back.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...d-sports-town/

Yeah, I'm mad

[Warhead36]

I agree with him, to an extent. He was on 980 yesterday and clarified some of what he said.

D.C. is a good sports town. It's not great. It's not New York, Boston, Chicago, or Philly. I think we're better than LA and on par with cities like Detroit and Dallas.

Combination of lot of transients, mostly losing history with our franchises, and politics always being #1.

[Ellis]

Wilbon has got a good point.

Let's just remember that success will change everything, including his opinion.

In the words of Saul Goodman, "It's the way of the world, kid. Stick with the winner."

[Forehead]

Yeah I mean, on the surface, he's not far off. Politics is #1 in this town unless the Skins happen to be doing well (or really poorly). So many people move here that the population is mixed; there are many competing loyalties. Fans are more diehard in blue collar places like Philly, Cleveland, Detroit, etc. because they grow up there and never leave, there isn't as much going on so sports mean more, etc.

Blue collar places dump on DC as a sports town, we turn around and dump on glamor places like LA and Miami, where they care even less. Hell, if I lived in Miami and it was sunny with 1,000 women in bikinis outside my door each day, I might be a little bit more distracted from football myself.

[spjunkies]

Didn't this area that he doesn't call home make his career? the guy is a joke.

[Dan T.]

Please, Michael, do us a favor. Catch on with the Chicago Tribune or WGN or the Skokie Times-Picayune. Then we don't have to consider you a Washinton sports reporter any longer.

[renaissance]

I’ve been here 32 years, and I still barely call it home….

I've been here a total of just 5 years and I call it home.

[spjunkies]

I've been here a total of just 5 years and I call it home.

[MLSKINS]

He's right, kind of, but you are right too SP. When the teams have been losing for so long, it's really hard to cheer for them. Let's take Cleveland for example, yeah they got the Browns and the dawg pound, but everybody cheers for their Football team. Nobody cares about the Cavs and the Indians when they are not winning. So yes, we do have a lot of transplants, but I just sat in traffic for an hour and a half after the Nats game yesterday. When your teams are losing nobody cars, but when those wins start rolling in, it is on.

[D'Pablo]

I seriously doubt Wilbon mingles with real fans in DC. Seriously, the only time he isn't in a studio is when he's at a game. How can he claim to have the pulse of the average DC fan?

[MattFancy]

He has a point. There are so many transplants from other areas in the region that its hard for a sports team to really take over the area, outside of the Skins of course.

Can DC become a good sports town? Sure winning will definitely help that. But I don't think sports will be the #1 thing ever talked about here unfortunately.

[skinsfan_1215]

DC hasn't had a winning sports team in so long it's impossible to judge. And even if he had a point, **** Wilbon.


Remember this:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...112702680.html


Here's a response to Wilbon from Bram Weinstein. http://metalkathlete.blogspot.com/20...-response.html

[grego]

i remember reading wilbons columns when i was in high school. he couldnt write a column that didnt contain some kind of 'race' angle.

i thought he was a douche then. i'm not sure anythings changed.

i'm convinced he either has an axe to grind with DC (and has since he's been here) or he just purposefully writes crap that he knows will get attention. honestly, i believe he believes what he writes.

of course DC isnt the sports town that some other places are. nothing new there. his justifications for some of his comments, though. are questionable, to say the least.

[Dictator]

If there's anything Wilbon likes above all else, it's people talking about him.

[D'Pablo]

Do you think Wilbon knows that DC extends beyond NW?