More people are catching Caps fever than swine flu
by chockster on May 3, 2009 12:08 AM EDT
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PrintYet they’re getting the same press coverage though only 100 and some out of how many millions people have this mild flu.
Fortunately the prescription for Caps fever is a cheap cowbell and not a $75 flu shot.
Anyway, as thousands of fans walked outside of Verizon Center Saturday after the Capitals’ 3-2 win, you could feel and hear the excitement in the air. People still cheering, honks blaring in the beat of ‘Let’s Go Caps!’
All this for a Game 1 win for the Semi-Finals. Not too shabby.
I decided to take a walk around the block, grab an overpriced cupcake, and chill to avoid the sardined subway. Random people asked me ‘Did the Caps win?’ ‘How’d they do?’ as I sported my freshly bought jersey (long overdue to upgrade my red rocking and the classic white jersey wasn’t on the memo).
I’d expect the homeless to ask what’s going on, and know what’s going on. Shit, they seem to pay attention to news more than most families, and give excellent directions for a nominal fee. But the average city dweller and suburbanite popped the questions Saturday in addition to the teenager waiting for his friend near Metro Center.
That is what makes the District, Hockey City.
The sheer glee in the streets for a playoff win is something to be proud of. Saturday reminded me when I was in Toronto on Easter Weekend in 2001. The Maple Leafs beat the second-seeded Ottawa Senators on the road for either Game 1 or 2 and you would have thought the Leafs won the Cup.
My sisters and I heard all this screaming and cheering and honking out on the streets while we were in our hotel room. We looked out the window and Leafs paraphernalia everywhere.
Saturday was not at Toronto-level excitement, but you can tell it’s growing and will only do so the farther we go.
I’m not sure how post-Game 7 was last week outside Verizon Center, or Game 5 for that matter, as I was unable to attend the first round this year, and had a superstitious promise to not attend a first-round game. I’d wait for the second round. Seems to turn out OK.
The excitement of today went beyond D.C.
I stopped off at the Frederick Best Buy to buy a CD for the rest of my ride home back to Hagerstown.
First a floor salesman: “Nice jersey, man.” Then the cashier: “How’d the game go?”
No more than a second later a mom pushing a cart with her son by her side: “Did the Caps win?”
It’s nice to be the bearer of good news (which I get paid to do for my real job … and the bad news, too.)
I never had this many people ask me about the Caps in a day. No passerby during last year’s playoffs inquired.
Ted is right: you have to win to get more people to notice the team.
Let's hope the wins keep coming this playoffs and the rounds go deeper for Caps fever to reach a pandemic level.
I'll never get sick of it.
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But the cupcakes and frozen yogurt are good. The cupcake store and the frozen yogurt store are owned by brothers. I went into the frozen yogurt store before the game and the owner was manning the cashier. He saw my jersey and he stated talking about the game. He knew about the Caps’ playoff history with the Pens so it looks like the owner is a Caps fan.
I noticed too
As my girlfriend & I were waiting for the Verizon Center crowds to die down as well, we grabbed a burger & fries @ Five Guys in China Town, then walked down to the National Archives to do a little touristy excursion. I was sporting my Feds jersey & she, her new Rock the Red shirt, standing out in the crowded tourist line. We were drawing some interesting responses & looks.
While waiting in line to get into the building, the vendors that sell ice cream, sodas, & other novelties were shouting from their stands/trucks, “How’d the game go man?!” With which I replied, “We won 3-2!” They pumped their fists in revelry.
As we approached the entrance of the building, some security guards even approached me and inquired about the game. Now those were some excited security guards when I told them the outcome. One even remarked “What a wonderful job the Caps have done, and to that extent Mr. Ted. He has done wondrous things for the city and we are proud to cheer for the Caps! Go Get those Pens!”
Once inside, countless others inquired about the game. Even a shy Jr. High tourist inquired about it, who informed me she was a die hard Ducks fan from California visiting for some touring in the District. I wished her team well in their 2nd round quest against the Red Wings.
It indeed was a day for celebration. I too have witnessed the Caps fever & optimism spreading more rapidly than any influenza in this City. Keep it up boys! Let’s Go Caps!
While we are becoming a hockey town, I won’t concede that we are a full fledged hockey town until people say: “Hell yeah, nice going last night Caps!” instead of asking how they did.
I wore my Ovechkin tee around yesterday and got a lot of: “Love your shirt, man!”s, but one lady who almost hit me while I was crossing the street started yelling at me. She said something about how she has my name and number now…I can only assume she thought my name was “Ovechkin” and my number was 8…running with that assumption she’s probably far from even a passing hockey fan, maybe more of a nascar fan.
I love the Caps just as much as the next, but...
DC will never be a hockey town, its a winner’s town and the city and its fan are beyond hungry for a winner like the Caps. The Skins, Nats, and Wiz would get just as much if not more support, which is awesome and says a great deal about the city.
804 Nats Fan
By that logic, DC will be (is?) a hockey town if the hockey team is the winner, no?
People call Detroit “Hockeytown,” but they’ve been in the playoffs the past 18 (!) years and have won 4 Cups and 13 division titles in that span. I’m not so sure the fans were as passionate there when they were horrible in the pre-Yzerman days, and they’re an Original Six team.
Excepting perhaps the teams in Canada, you gotta win to get fan support, and you have to win consistently to get support consistently. If the Caps have another good year next year in front of an every-night sellout, I’m not sure how easy it will be to say that DC will never be a hockey town.
Hockey town implies it is the most beloved and passionately followed sport in the city. In Detroit there is not a citizen that doesn’t know what the wings are up to.
Now do you think the Caps are ever going to take over the Skins as the District’s most beloved team?
All I’m saying is that DC is a great sports town and is always hungry to passionately support a winner. I’m not putting down any one, but DC is not a hockey town. But its absolutely awesome to see the whole city get behind them. But if the Wiz were a #2 seed in the playoffs this year then the Caps would be playing second fiddel in Chinatown
804 Nats Fan
I think if we win a cup or two people will definitely follow the Caps more for a few years. But yes, if the Caps turn into the ‘Skins, people won’t stick with them like they have the ’Skins aside from the long-timers.
It is kind of strange how much coverage the Nats have had considering how bad they are and how proportionally disinterested the population is in them…By that I mean, they struggle to fill the stands, when they do most of the seats are filled by different fans (I can’t tell you how much Mets and Yankees and even Steelers gear I saw at completely unrelated games last year). Also ratings are low and dropping for TV and radio and they still get preferential treatment in most media outlets.
I don’t think the Caps will ever surpass the Skins (though ask me again a few years from now if the Caps win a cup and the Skins continue to embarass themselves), but I still think this is a relatively easy phenomenon to explain in the case of the Red Wings. They have been a very good team for almost 20 years, have won 4 championships in that span, and share a hometown with the worst franchise in the entire NFL. Apart from a few years where the Pistons were good, every other team in town has been mediocre to awful over that timespan. Of course they’re the most popular compared to that.
I’m not buying “more popular than any other pro team in town” as the true/only definition of a hockey town. If the team is popular and gets huge fan support, that’s good enough for me no matter what the Skins are doing. I think DC is getting there (and it’s hard to argue the Caps are the 2nd most popular team in town right now). I’ve been following the Caps for 15 years and I’ve never seen anything like the kind of support they are getting right now. Maybe DC won’t be “Hockeytown” but it can certainly be a hockey town.
It was my understanding that last year Detroit was having trouble filling the arena. Probably more economic than fan excitement, but I’d think people would be more into it.
I love the Caps and Skins both. However, lately, with the way Snyder is handling the team, it is disgusting to me. I don’t hold it against the players, though. They continue to give it their all despite Snyder.
As far as becoming a hockeytown -- I don’t think DC’s there yet. I agree with pas493 that most, if not all, people in Detroit knows whats happening with the Wings. The same can’t be said for the Caps.
People go where the winners consistently are (case in point, Red Wings, Steelers, Cowboys, Redskins, Yankees, etc.). For DC to become a hockeytown, need to have a consistent winner with a consistent fan base.
by RedskinFan4Life on May 6, 2009 2:56 PM EDT up reply actions
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Southeast Standings
| GP | W | L | OTL | PT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Florida
|
53 | 25 | 17 | 11 | 61 |
|
Washington
|
54 | 28 | 21 | 5 | 61 |
|
Winnipeg
|
56 | 26 | 24 | 6 | 58 |
|
Tampa Bay
|
53 | 23 | 24 | 6 | 52 |
|
Carolina
|
55 | 20 | 25 | 10 | 50 |
(updated 2.10.2012 at 9:27 AM EST)
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