Posts under ‘Washington Life’

Ironically, just minutes after writing my previous post on the Preakness infield, the phone rang with news Chick Lang died.
Mister Preakness is gone. What a shame.
I first met Lang in 1983 as a young reporter. He always treated me well. Lang could be an intense person who fiercely protected Pimlico. In the ’80s, the racing [...]

Pimlico officials released details for the infield for the Preakness on May 15 and it’s bad news for all the drunks who love an open air frat house.
You can’t bring your own beer again this year. You can buy beer for $1 so really, getting blotto for $10 doesn’t seem like a bad trade. The [...]

I was driving along last night when a Boston number came up on my cell. Figured it was a radio station wanting an interview. Instead, it was a telemarketer.
Normally, I’d give them one second before hanging up, but I guess I was tired and heard her say Ford’s Theater was fundraising and I could put [...]

Baltimore Sun sports writer Bill Free died on Friday at age 66. I’ll really miss him. “The Thrill” was always a lot of fun.
Bill was a character. He didn’t take things too seriously. He enjoyed people and could talk the ears off a mule. We still laugh over him once asking Redskins coach [...]

Actually, it’s the dirtiest sport of all — politics. I always laugh that we take covering the Redskins so seriously, but we’re children compared to political writers. These guys would devour us.
Game Change is a behind-the-scenes look at the 2008 presidential election following Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, John McCain and Sarah Palin.
Lots of [...]

I stayed away for a few months, but I found myself walking in the Waldorf bakery yesterday looking for an eclair.
The large glass case that holds probably 100 was empty.
Son of a ^^%$%^$#.
Then I saw someone buy one. Wait a minute. Are they now sold under the counter? Actually, there were more in the back. [...]

Sometimes we learn more over what’s happening from tourists. I learned a few things.

What’s this doing on my Washington-centric blog? As you see from the blog entry below, Harry Covert and his Alexandria charity group sponsor a school in Port-au-Prince and have been desperately trying to send more aid to the group. Harry relayed these photos received from the school’s director today. There are 2,000 people living on [...]

I’ve known Harry Covert for a couple years. He’s a spokesman for the Alexandria Sheriff’s Dept. and on the board of an international relief group.
What I didn’t know is Harry also sponsors 150 kids at a Haitian school for just $650 per month. It literally keeps them from eating dirt to survive.
Naturally, Harry is very [...]

The fans won. Redskins owner Dan Snyder gave them a new GM and coach.
So do fans return next season? Will they renew their season tickets?
My Washington Examiner column explores five die-hard fans who say they’re not. Kinda surprised me. I think they’re just still mad and will come back.
It might take until spring to show [...]

No.
OK, to avoid making this the world’s shortest post, my Washington Examiner column runs down the reasons why Mike Shanahan may change some things around Redskins Park, but owner Dan Snyder is who he is, just more in the backroom for now.
When it comes to Snyder backing down, don’t believe the hype

I wish I could play poker with the Redskins because you rarely see someone’s hand tipped so obviously.
Mike Shanahan got off Dan Snyder’s plane at Dulles and into Snyder’s limo. Uh, gee, I don’t know, maybe Shanny is the next coach.
My Washington Examiner column tells why both sides wanted each other so badly and how [...]

Sean Taylor’s murder. Not even a close call.
My Washington Examiner column recalls my top 5 choices for biggest stories of the decade. Hint — not a lot of wins on the list.
For local teams, a decade of hoping for better days
By the way, Sunday’s column will mark my fifth decade in the business. Man, does [...]

There are a lot of great sports writers who spent 20-plus years at The Washington Times who are losing their jobs. The Times is ending its sports coverage and becoming a political paper to survive after 26 years of hard work by a lot of people.
I spent 20 years at the Times before leaving [...]

Legendary TV sportscaster George Michael died this morning of cancer. He was 70.
What awful news on Christmas Eve.
George and I competed over Redskins news for many years. There were many days he personally said I was wrong on the air. I never was, but I forgave him because I knew George was so damn competitive [...]

The NFC East was supposed to be the best division. And, it may in the end. But it’s at least the most interesting race remaining.
My Washington Examiner column discusses how it will shake out between New York, Dallas and Philadelphia while Washington can have something to say over who wins the division.
NFC East is still [...]

Ironically, this is also the fifth anniversary since getting my dog Rudy from the rescue league.
Originally a companion for my older dog Roxie, who passed away two years ago, Rudy has grown from 44 pounds and timid as a baby deer to 90 pounds and my bodyguard. If a donut comes near me, the chow [...]

The lineup is nearly set. Washington’s very own second annual EagleBank Bowl game on Dec. 29 at RFK Stadium is Temple versus Army or UCLA.
It has some sexiness to it and the date is a whole lot better than last year. Temple went 9-3 to send the Owls to their first bowl game in 30 [...]

The panda was born in America so how come he has to leave the National Zoo to go to China? How can he be on loan when he was born here?
OK, I’m steamed. Everybody loves that panda. What’s it going to take to keep him here? We can’t pay the Chinese government given we already [...]