From Russia With Love
There is something electric about the lobby of a box office the night of a big game. The old Madison Square Garden had it when boxing mattered and the NBA played doubleheaders there. If my friend Red Auerbach had his way, he'd still have his Boston Celtics playing at Boston Garden, not TD Banknorth Garden. The Garden smelled of Cousy, Russell, Bird and Auerbach's cigars. Canadian hockey fans remember the old Montreal Forum where Les Habs skated faster than any other team in the NHL. And I can't forget the aroma of the hot dogs nearly 50 years after I'd seen my last fight at Chris Dundee's Miami Beach Auditorium.
So on Thursday night, when 20-year-old rookie phenom Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals returned home three days after scoring the greatest goal in the history of hockey (okay, I tend to exaggerate), I went into the MCI Center lobby on F Street looking for buzz and the smell of a big game.
  Three nights after scoring his incredible goal, Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals returned home to MCI Center, where they drew one of their biggest crowds of the season. (By Joel Richardson -- The Washington Post) |
Found it, too, despite the Capitals and their opponent, the St. Louis Blues, having losing records with little chance at the playoffs. On the night the Capitals chose to honor the U.S. military, fans waited in line four and five deep to buy tickets to see a hockey player from Moscow (funny, huh?), who with his 33 goals and 60 points has excited fans in town and throughout the NHL.
"He's a great individual player, and a team guy," said Andrew Urben of Woodbridge. Urben, one of 16,721 fans comprising one of the Caps' best crowds of the season, wore a sweater from Ovechkin's Russian team, Moscow Dynamo, that he said he bought on eBay for $100. "The price goes up every day," Urben said.
Nearby, a group of six professors from the Naval Academy examined their $35 tickets, noting they went above their usual $10 fare to see what Bryan "I teach wires and cables" Burke called "an awesome, exciting player."
Ovechkin gave Burke and his friends value for their $35 investments, scoring a beautiful goal in the first period -- the fifth straight game in which he has scored a goal -- and again in the shootout won by the Capitals. "He makes the fans happy," Caps owner Ted Leonsis said. "It was a great atmosphere tonight," said goalie Olie Kolzig, who stopped a penalty shot in overtime and prevailed, 2-1, in the shootout. "I can't compare Alex to anyone I've ever seen," Caps GM George McPhee marveled.
Good enough, said Slava Malamud of Moscow's Sport-Express, to be his newspaper's "athlete of the month." But, Leonsis, cautioned: "Hockey is not an individual game; it can't be like Michael Jordan and the Jordannaires. We have to build a team around him."
Still, athlete of the month? Go with it, Slava.
All in the Family
Two days later, MCI Center had a different feel: No. 1 Duke (17-0) in town for a matinee against a Georgetown team that had an 11-4 record but no place in the national rankings. A sellout crowd of 20,035 was on hand, including a number of old Georgetown hands such as retired athletic director Frank Rienzo and former basketball coach John Thompson Jr.
After Thompson retired in the middle of the season seven years ago, he would slip into the arena, sit alone in a corner and watch the games. But last season, things began to change: His son, John Thompson III, took over as coach and his father, a broadcaster, began watching practices, "trying to be helpful but often ignored," he said.
Yesterday, Thompson Jr. was on the floor greeting old friends and sitting at the media table because, as the son said, "He's media, like you."
"He needs my support now," Thompson said of his son, whose wife is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. In the final moments of the game, Thompson's large hands gripped the table, watching his son's team upset Duke, 87-84, his eyes tearing. When it was over, he hugged every Georgetown player and fan who wanted to be hugged. "He needed this win," the father said of the son, "because of what the family has been going through."
People mellow with age, even the toughest of coaches. When the father drove out of the arena garage he waved at fans, smiled and reminded them that a final free throw by Jonathan Wallace would have given the Hoyas a four-point lead with seven seconds left and eliminated the possibility of a tying three-pointer. "I'm going to Mass now," he said.
No Hiring Freeze
Question time: What do George Bush, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Jack Abramoff, John Feinstein and Sam Alito have in common?
They're among the select few who in the past five months have not gone to work for area mogul (Redskins, Six Flags, Red Zebra, Spanish radio) Daniel Snyder.
Talk about the "Contract With America." Here are some of the big hitters Snyder has recently hired: Mark Shapiro, former boss of ESPN to Six Flags; Clear Channel Regional VP Bennett Zier, Clear Channel and WTEM programming director Tod Castleberry; Clear Channel FM boss Jeff Wyatt to his Red Zebra Broadcasting conglomerate; and on Thursday, Kansas City offensive coordinator Al Saunders. He also bought three Spanish-language radio stations on Friday.
Saunders, 58, hired here for a salary of more than $2 million a year, had the Chiefs' offense at the top of the NFL for the past two years and likely will have similar duties to Gregg Williams -- the assistant head coach-defense. Don't know where that leaves Joe Bugel, who is assistant head coach-offense, and the other members of the offensive staff other than everyone received contract extensions this week. Stay tuned for some creative job descriptions, keeping in mind Snyder still holds the local Arena Football League franchise.
· Final Jimmy Farris update: Farris was activated for last Saturday's playoff game at Seattle, replacing the injured James Thrash after being deactivated the previous three games. He didn't catch a pass, but was called for offensive pass interference, which he made up for by causing a fumble on a kickoff in the fourth quarter. Farris, 27, is signed for 2006, "but I'm no lock; I have to keep proving myself." Since being signed off his couch in Atlanta eight weeks ago, Farris earned $171,000 from six regular season games (third-year scale: $22,500 per game) plus two playoff games ($36,000).
Have a comment or question? Reach me at talkback@washpost.com.
