By: Joe Pohoryles With the NHL well underway and this being the first “eighth” of the season, the Chasing Gretzky series is finally back. Before the pandemic hit, Alex Ovechkin was a month removed from arguably the greatest scoring stretch of his career, and was contending with Boston’s David Pastrnak and Toronto’s Auston Matthews forContinue reading “Chasing Gretzky IV: The Road Gets Bumpier”
Author Archives: Joe Pohoryles
With Stafford off the table, is it ‘Watson or bust’?
By: Joe Pohoryles The LA Rams went big when acquiring longtime Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, sending away two first-round picks, a third-rounder and former first overall pick Jared Goff in return for Stafford, who turns 33 on Sunday. The Washington Football Team was reportedly in the mix to gain his services, apparently offering theContinue reading “With Stafford off the table, is it ‘Watson or bust’?”
Nats add helping Hand to bullpen, make other roster moves
This is somewhat old news, but I haven’t had the time to address the few significant signings the Nationals have made over the past week or so. Until now. On Jan. 18, three-time World Series champion Jon Lester agreed to a one-year deal to join the Nationals rotation. The 37-year-old pitcher was an All-Star asContinue reading “Nats add helping Hand to bullpen, make other roster moves”
Washed-ington DC: How the nation’s capital became the retirement home for America’s best athletes (Part II)
You can find Part I here. We left off in 2010, so here is how the next decade shaped up when it came to aging athletes arriving in the district: 2011-2015: Quantity over Quality After seeing three Hall of Famers come to Washington, the next period saw just one potential HoFer among a wave ofContinue reading “Washed-ington DC: How the nation’s capital became the retirement home for America’s best athletes (Part II)”
Washed-ington DC: How the nation’s capital became the retirement home for America’s best athletes (Part I)
Major League Soccer has long attracted aging world-class superstars such as David Beckham, Kaká, David Villa and plenty others to spend the twilight years of their careers in the United States. Their best years are behind them, but name recognition alone makes them valuable commodities to their new clubs from a business standpoint. Wayne Rooney,Continue reading “Washed-ington DC: How the nation’s capital became the retirement home for America’s best athletes (Part I)”
First impressions from the Caps’ opening back-to-back
Capitals hockey is finally back, and the team now sits 2-0-0 after a back-to-back with the Buffalo Sabres to open the season. This was the team’s first action since getting bounced by the New York Islanders in the 2020 postseason. A sluggish, frustrating performance in the NHL bubble led to a lot of questions surroundingContinue reading “First impressions from the Caps’ opening back-to-back”
Nats add big bat Kyle Schwarber to outfield
With the Washington Football Team competing in the NFL Wild Card round, this news got slightly buried in the DC area, but we can finally address it: The Nats signed former Cub Kyle Schwarber to a one-year/$10 million deal. This move marks the second major signing of the offseason, as the Nats are clearly hopingContinue reading “Nats add big bat Kyle Schwarber to outfield”
Taylor ‘Lamar’ Heinicke nearly beats ‘Tompa Bay’ in Wild Card round
From XFL backup to NFL playoff starter, Taylor Heinicke shocked the world by bringing the Washington Football Team to the brink of an upset over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tampa ended up winning 31-23, but Heinicke was far from the reason Washington came up short. In just his second career NFL start, Heinicke delivered theContinue reading “Taylor ‘Lamar’ Heinicke nearly beats ‘Tompa Bay’ in Wild Card round”
The Pohory-list: 2021 Top 25 under 25
A year ago, in one of the first dozen posts in The Wildcard’s history, I listed my Top 25 DC sports players under the age of 25. In what I am now establishing as a new annual tradition, this list will provide a glimpse at where the young talent among the four major DC sportsContinue reading “The Pohory-list: 2021 Top 25 under 25”
Assessing the Wizards rough start to 2020-21
Nothing sums up the Wizards season so far quite like last night’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers, where Bradley Beal scored a career-high 60 points but the Wizards still lost 141-136. The team was down by as much as 21 points during the third quarter, but couldn’t come back despite a run early in theContinue reading “Assessing the Wizards rough start to 2020-21”
The Wildcard 