Sports in Washington, D.C.
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Washington, D.C.-area athletes and sports teams participate in all levels of sports competition. The region is home to several major sports venues including the Verizon Center, RFK Stadium, FedExField and the recently opened Nationals Park. The area is also home to one regional sports television network, Comcast SportsNet, which is based in Bethesda, Maryland.
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[edit] Football
The Washington Redskins are the second-most valuable professional sports team in the United States (behind NFL rivals the Dallas Cowboys) according to Forbes magazine[1]. The football team is enormously popular in the area and regularly sells out the largest stadium in the National Football League, FedExField, located in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland[2]. The team has also been successful on the field. In its first season in Washington after relocating from Boston in 1937, the Redskins won the NFL championship. They won again in 1942 and later played in five Super Bowls, winning three times[3].
[edit] Baseball
Washington's first professional baseball team was the Washington Olympics who played in 1871 and 1872. Several more teams played in the 19th century including the first incarnation of the Washington Senators (1891–99). A different Washington Senators team began play in 1901. The Senators played most of their home games at Griffith Stadium and won the 1924 World Series and three American League pennants. This team moved away in 1960 and became the Minnesota Twins. This team was replaced next season by a new Senators team which played Griffith Stadium and then at D.C. Stadium (later, RFK Stadium) in 1969 until 1971 when it was relocated and became the Texas Rangers.
The ceremonial first pitch got its start in D.C. in 1910 when President William Howard Taft threw out the first pitch at the Senators' Opening Day game. Every president since Taft has thrown out the first pitch in at least one important game, usually in Washington, D.C.
Several Negro league baseball teams played in Washington including the Black Senators and the Elite Giants. The longest lasting was the Homestead Grays. Though officially being based outside Pittsburgh, the Grays played a number of home games at their "home away from home", Griffith Stadium in Washington. The Grays won the Negro League World Series in 1943, 1944, and 1948.
Washington was then without a professional baseball team for over three decades until Major League Baseball relocated the Montreal Expos to the city for the 2005 season. In the interim, the Baltimore Orioles served as Washington's home team. Orioles ownership marketed the team heavily to Washington baseball fans, even removing "Baltimore" from the team's uniform. The Orioles' reliance on the Washington market became a hindrance to Washington's efforts to gain their own baseball team as Orioles ownership lobbied Major League Baseball to stymie such plans. Eventually, baseball's owners, stuck with a poorly performing Montreal franchise were convinced to move the team to Washington with a promise of a brand new stadium fully financed by the D.C. government. Orioles' owner, Peter Angelos, cast the lone dissenting vote in the 28-1 decision. After spending their first three seasons at RFK Stadium, the Nationals began playing at Nationals Park in 2008.
The 50 year drought of a World Series crown for Washington, D.C. is the second longest current drought second only to Cleveland. The city has the longest pennant drought, 41 years.
[edit] Basketball
Washington's first professional basketball team was the Washington Capitols who played in the inaugural season of the Basketball Association of America (precursor to the National Basketball Association) at Uline Arena. That first year, the Capitols had a 0.817 winning percentage including a 17-game winning streak. The team began the 1948–49 season with a 15-game winning streak which is still an NBA record. The Capitols folded on January 9, 1951.
An ABA team, the Washington Caps, played one season at Uline Arena (then known as Washington Coliseum) in 1969–70 and finished with a 44-40 record. The following year the team moved south and became the Virginia Squires.
On December 2, 1973, the NBA's Baltimore Bullets played their first home game at the newly built Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland and became the Washington Bullets. Despite the name change, the team continued to play many of their home games in Baltimore. The Bullets went to the NBA Finals in 1975 where they were swept in four games by the Golden State Warriors.
The Bullets' next appearance in the NBA Finals happened in 1978 when they beat the heavily favored Seattle Supersonics in seven games. To date, this is the franchise's only league title. The two teams rematched in the 1979 NBA Finals, the Sonics won 4 games to 1.
In 1995, team owner, Abe Pollin, announced the Bullets would change their name out of sensitivity to the high rate of gun violence in Washington, D.C. Following a fan vote, the team became known as the Washington Wizards on May 15, 1997. Later that year, the Wizards moved into D.C. to play in the newly constructed MCI Center, now known as the Verizon Center. This new arena was constructed by Abe Pollin. The Wizards have recently turned around a culture of losing, winning their first playoff series in 23 years in 2005 and making the playoffs the past four years.
The new MCI center soon became the home court for an expansion Women's National Basketball Association team, the Washington Mystics. Despite having only two winning seasons and a mere four playoff wins, the Mystics excelled in another way by leading the league in attendance from 1998 through 2000 and 2002 through 2004. The team hung six banners in the Verizon Center touting themselves as "Attendance Champions" angering some who believe that such honors should be reserved for players' achievements on the court.
[edit] Georgetown Hoyas
Georgetown University began fielding a basketball team in 1907. The Georgetown Hoyas have won ten Big East tournament championships and three Big East regular season championships. They have appeared the NCAA Final Four five times winning the national championship in 1984.
Many talented NBA players got their start playing for Georgetown including Patrick Ewing, Allan Iverson, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, and Reggie Williams. The Hoyas play their home games at the Verizon Center.
[edit] Ice hockey
Starting with the National Hockey League's 1974 expansion, the Capitals have been Washington's professional hockey team. That first season the Capitals only won eight games earning an NHL-record low .131 winning percentage. After spending their first 23 seasons playing in the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, the Caps moved into D.C. to play in the newly constructed Verizon Center (then known as the MCI Center) in 1997. Though the Capitals have never won a league title, their competitive high point came in their first season in the new arena when they won the Eastern Conference championship earning a trip to the Stanley Cup finals where they were swept in four games by the Detroit Red Wings. Four Capitals players have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame: Mike Gartner, Rod Langway, Larry Murphy, and Scott Stevens.
[edit] Soccer
Washington is home to an original Major League Soccer club, D.C. United, which began play at RFK Stadium in 1996. One of the most popular and successful teams in the league, United has won four MLS Cups including three of the first four played. They also won the U.S. Open Cup in their first year. D.C. United's 1997 MLS Cup victory at RFK Stadium was the only time a Washington team has won a championship within the District[4].
RFK Stadium has hosted two more MLS Cup championships. In 2000, the Kansas City Wizards won their only championship with a 1–0 win over Chicago Fire. In the 2007 MLS Cup, the Houston Dynamo defeated the New England Revolution 2–1.
The Washington Freedom were a professional women's soccer team that was part of the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA). The Freedom also played at RFK for the three years of the league's existence and won the league championship in 2003, the WUSA's final year. Following the WUSA's demise, the team relaunched as an associate member of the W-League playing their home games at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Germantown. The Washington Freedom have been designated as part of the planned Women's Professional Soccer in 2009.
Washington's team in the NASL, the Washington Diplomats, also played at RFK from 1974 to 1981.
RFK Memorial Stadium also served as a soccer venue in the 1994 FIFA World Cup and the 1996 Summer Olympics. FedExField has also hosted several prominent soccer games including six matches in the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup.
D.C. United have proposed constructing a new stadium in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, D.C., across the Anacostia River from Nationals Park. The team is also considering sites for a new stadium in suburban Maryland.
[edit] Lacrosse
Fairfax, Virginia in the Washington suburbs is home to the Washington Bayhawks[5] of Major League Lacrosse[6]. The Bayhawks moved to George Mason Stadium, after playing one season at Georgetown University and six seasons in Baltimore. The Bayhawks are one of Major League Lacrosse's original six teams, created in 2001 the same year the league started. The Bayhawks have twice won championships in the MLL in 2002 and 2005. The Bayhawks have had a number of all-stars on their team throughout the years including Gary Gait, Tom Marachek, and Mikey Powell as well as current all-stars Kyle Dixon, Matt Ward, and Conor Gill.
[edit] Running
Washington is home to two annual marathon races: the Marine Corps Marathon which is held every autumn and the National Marathon held in the spring. The Marine Corps Marathon begun in 1976 is sometimes called "The People's Marathon" because it is the largest marathon without prize money.[7] The Cherry Blossom 10-Mile Run is another annual race that began in 1973 and is conducted as part of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. The Army Ten-Miler, started in 1985, is the country's largest ten-mile race with over 26,000 participants; it is held each October and its course runs through Washington, D.C. and finishes at the Pentagon.[8]
[edit] Tennis
Washington hosts an annual ATP Tour men's tennis event, the Legg Mason Tennis Classic at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park.
[edit] Professional teams
| Club | Sport | League | Founded | Venue | Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D.C. United | Soccer | Major League Soccer (Eastern Conference) | 1996 | RFK Stadium | 1996, 1997, 1999, 2004 |
| Washington Bayhawks | Lacrosse | Major League Lacrosse | 2007* | George Mason Stadium | 2002, 2005 |
| Washington Capitals | Hockey | NHL (Eastern Conference, Southeast Division) | 1974 | Verizon Center | none |
| Washington Mystics | Basketball | WNBA (Eastern Conference) | 1997 | Verizon Center | none |
| Washington Nationals | Baseball | Major League Baseball (NL, East Division) | 2005* | Nationals Park | none |
| Washington Redskins | Football | National Football League (NFC, East Division) | 1937* | FedExField (Landover, Maryland) | 1937, 1942, 1982, 1987, 1991 |
| Washington Wizards | Basketball | NBA (Eastern Conference, Southeast Division) | 1973* | Verizon Center | 1978 |
- All years shown under "founded" do not count years spent in another city. Teams with an asterisk next to the year moved to Washington from another city
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] Notes
- ^ NFL Team Valuations: #2 Washington Redskins. Forbes. September 13, 2007.
- ^ Stadiums of the NFL: FedEx Field
- ^ History by Decades. Washington Redskins.
- ^ "United have RFK all to themselves". MLSnet.com. 2007-09-25.
- ^ http://www.washingtonbayhawks.com/
- ^ http://www.majorleaguelacrosse.com/
- ^ "MCM Story", Marine Corps Marathon.
- ^ "Army Ten-Miler Complete 10 Miler Race History"
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