Nationals Park Is Top Notch; the Team Eventually Needs to Follow Suit

Mark Lerner, right, one of the Nationals' primary owners, shares in the excitement of Nationals Park opening, pointing out some of the highlights to Manager Manny Acta. (By Preston Keres -- The Washington Post)
Buy Photo

Said Acta: "We're not the '27 Yankees, but we're better than last year. The offseason additions give us more depth and that's progress. We're shooting to play over .500."

What will Nick Johnson, one of the few four-year Nats, remember about his RFK experience? "The way the stands moved when the fans behind third base jumped up and down."

"How cold our bullpen was in April and May," replied Chad Cordero when asked the same question. "Now we have heaters in the bullpen. And a steam room and two hot tubs in our clubhouse."

Ah, to be young, in "The Show," and playing in a five-star ball park.

A Few Blogs Worth Your Time

Not big on reading blogs, except for the lively Dan Steinberg on http://www.washingtonpost.com, Gilbert Arenas's "Agent Zero: The Blog File," and Caps owner Ted Leonsis's "Ted's Take."

Arenas's ramblings about his future (he can opt out of his contract at the end of the season), his own daily medical assessments and mood swings are worth reading.

Just as engaging are Leonsis's blurbs that bounce from cheering his rejuvenated hockey team in a style worthy of a Chinese propaganda minister to responding cleverly to readers and gloomy predictions on the future of the newspaper industry (forecasts so dire at least one aging scribe is considering learning to drive a Zamboni, in case his company pension fund dries up).

Last Standing: Area Women

Who would have thought that the two local college basketball teams left standing when the weekend began would be the Maryland and George Washington women. The Terrapins, a top-five team all season, figured to get through to the round of 16. But GW (27-6) took a tougher road beating California, 55-53, at the buzzer in Stanford, Calif., on Monday.

"Go figure: We're behind the whole game and a bad pass by Kimberly Beck turns into what I called an alley-oop to Sarah-Jo Lawrence, who scored," said veteran GW coach Joe McKeown.

The Colonials play Rutgers in the Greensboro Region today.

Golden Memories

I know I'm way behind the times when it comes to recognizing Mixed Martial Arts Cage Fighting as something more than alley brawls or slugfests in a cage. If someone wants to pay $28.50 to $128.50 for a ticket to the April 26 Ultimate Warrior Challenge (UWC) -- Invasion at Patriot Center, be my guest (though I question George Mason's involvement).

But for anyone to compare this lunacy to boxing, well, they never read A.J. Liebling's "The Sweet Science" or any of the dozens of other wonderful writers covering a sport that, while risky and at times lethal, is a sport once dominated by skilled professionals.