At 6:30 this morning, Tony Romo, inexplicably at Tiger Woods' invitation, joined the world's best player in the AT&T National pro-am at Congressional Country Club, some 20 miles west of FedEx Field, home of the Washington Redskins.
On Tuesday, Tiger said that, "...It's just going to be a fun round," before adding, "...but also an interesting one. Granted, he's used to getting booed, and it is what it is. It comes with being, I guess team sport, away from home."
WASHINGTON -- When Capitals owner Ted Leonsis learned that Game 5 of his team's second-round Stanley Cup playoff series against Pittsburgh would have to be played 24 hours after Game 4 in Pittsburgh because of a Yanni concert scheduled at the Penguins' arena, he complained that the back-to-back games were bad for the league, bad for the teams and bad for the fans.
Personally, I was more concerned to learn that there were enough fans of the Greek crooner to fill a major sports arena. But I digress. Leonsis was right. Yanni shouldn't have been allowed to have any influence on one of our major sport's postseasons, any more than he does on music in this country.
Who could blame him? Washington, a team that got two goals from the best player in the world, Alex Ovechkin, had played its most complete game of the series, yet still couldn't find a way to win.
In the end, this game turned on two sequences on either end of the ice in the overtime period. The first came early in the period when Washington center Dave Steckel, one of his team's more consistent performers, couldn't put the puck into an open net early. The second came just a few minutes later, as an Evgeni Malkin pass intended for Sidney Crosby deflected off the stick of sprawling Capitals defenseman Tom Poti and through the legs of a stunned Simeon Varlamov.
Wednesday night was great theater for NHL fans. In Pittsburgh, the Penguins kept hope alive with a stirring 3-2 overtime win over Washington. Shortly after that game ended, the Carolina Hurricanes needed less than three minutes of overtime to finish off Boston, 3-2.
The Penguins' huge win was not without at least some controversy. The Capitals were fuming afterward about a 7-2 disparity in power plays that worked in Pittsburgh's favor.
It's the series everybody is talking about, as Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin prepare to hit the ice in a one-on-one, steel cage battle for NHL supremacy. Wait. What's that? There's actually other players involved in this series? We take a look at the series after the jump.
One week ago, after the Washington Capitals ended their regular season with a desultory 7-4 loss to the Florida Panthers, things couldn't have looked better.
Thanks to a late season slump on the part of the New Jersey Devils, the Caps had slipped into second place overall in the Eastern Conference. Their opponent: the New York Rangers, a team that the Caps had dealt with rather easily, posting a 3-0-1 record against them during the regular season.
But if one thing is clear after the Rangers have taken a 2-0 lead in this playoff series, it's that these are not the same New York Rangers that the Capitals faced during the regular season -- not by a long shot.
After Game One of his team's series Wednesday, there was much speculation surrounding Capitals goalie Jose Theodore. He was simply not good in the 4-3 loss to the underdog New York Rangers, leaving his team without momentum and without home-ice advantage in the series. Suddenly, all the work Washington had done to earn the second seed in the East was up in smoke.
On February 20, the St. Louis Blues were an afterthought in the Western Conference playoff race. They sat in 15th place out of 15 teams in the conference, five points behind eighth-place Edmonton. It appeared to be just another non-playoff year for the Blues, who hadn't been to the postseason since before the lockout.
What has happened to St. Louis since then is nothing short of incredible. They went on a 16-5-3 tear to end the regular season, and the Blues climbed nine spots in the Western Conference, finishing in sixth place.
The defending champs claim the top spot in this week's power rankings, while the Anaheim Ducks and Carolina Hurricanes make jumps of their own as they look to earn playoff berths in their respective conferences.
There's also a new team taking over the basement, thanks to a pair of blowout losses on home ice in the past week.
With the Tampa Bay Lightning set to arrive in Washington tomorrow to play the Capitals for the first time since Alex Ovechkin's much-discussed celebration of his 50th goal of the season, the media pack that arrived at Caps practice facility in Virginia earlier today was a little larger than usual.
And while the players in the locker room were saying all the right things to send the message that the story was dead and buried, Washington head coach Bruce Boudreau, who seems to be thoroughly sick of the story, decided it was time to speak his mind when a TSN reporter broached the subject. Credit DC Sports Bog's Dan Steinberg for being on the scene when Boudreau -- who eventually would channel the spirit of Allen Iverson in his rant -- turned on the fire hose.
To watch the actual video -- which is set to take its place in the press tirade Hall of Fame over the next few days -- click here.
At 6:30 this morning, Tony Romo, inexplicably at Tiger Woods' invitation, joined the world's best player in the AT&T National pro-am at Congressional Country Club, some 20 miles west of FedEx Field, home of the Washington Redskins. 
Just a few minutes ago as he sat at a podium following his team's 
Wednesday night was great theater for NHL fans. In Pittsburgh, the Penguins kept hope alive with a 
WASHINGTON -- What a difference a week makes.
After Game One of his team's series Wednesday, there was much speculation surrounding Capitals goalie 
On February 20, the St. Louis Blues were an afterthought in the Western Conference playoff race. They sat in 15th place out of 15 teams in the conference, five points behind eighth-place Edmonton. It appeared to be just another non-playoff year for the Blues, who hadn't been to the postseason since before the lockout.
The defending champs claim the top spot in this week's power rankings, while the Anaheim Ducks and Carolina Hurricanes make jumps of their own as they look to earn playoff berths in their respective conferences.
With the Tampa Bay Lightning set to arrive in Washington tomorrow to play the Capitals for the first time since 
