00:00The one thing I will say about the Nats, though, is you see, and again, winning four out of five
00:03in 162-game schedule in baseball, that's a long season to go.
00:07But if you look at where the Wizards are in their rebuild, where the Commanders are in their rebuild, and
00:12now where the Nats are in their rebuild,
00:13my thing has been, and I've talked about this on other shows before, it's kind of felt like Wizards and
00:17Commanders in like a back-and-forth, Nationals way below them.
00:21It's starting to feel like if this trajectory continues with the Nationals, they might be a team that we can
00:28start looking at as climbing the ladder where the rebuild is maybe a little bit farther along,
00:33they're winning more games than we expected, they're a little more prepared, maybe not a playoff team yet, but if
00:38we look at DC Sports, I've got a framed, I don't know if you call it a poster or whatever
00:43it is,
00:43a banner, remember we were District of Champions, remember that whole branding for a short period of time here?
00:482018, 2019, I've got one and I put it in like a frame and like my whole backdrop for my
00:55home studio set.
00:56Just winning two of the four counted us as District of Champions?
00:59Listen, we were deprived the Mystics won then too, you throw the Mystics in, so you've got 2018, 2019, three
01:04different champions,
01:05but the bigger thing was, it felt like once we had broke the DC Sports curse with the caps, and
01:12then you're getting a World Series,
01:13and we're going, oh, something's happening here, and then it all comes to an end.
01:18Now granted, the pandemic changed sports, the pandemic changed everything, a lot of things have changed since then,
01:24but it's felt like just from a sports town, DC's been trying to rebuild for so many years,
01:30and if I look at the Nats with an arrow trending up, especially recently,
01:34I look at the Commanders with an arrow trending up, and I look at the Wizards with an arrow trending
01:37up right now,
01:38and the way they're approaching these things, the Capitals are in a different thing,
01:41because obviously you've got Alex Ovechkin, his future, so I put them in a separate bucket.
01:45But they're actually best positioned to hit the gas again, sooner than maybe others.
01:50But I would argue that's not a rebuild right now, when it's Alex Ovechkin,
01:53you're thinking differently as an organization.
01:56So I put the caps in a separate bucket, but those other three teams,
02:00we have a chance over the next three years or so, where we've got legitimate playoff teams
02:04in all the major sports, once again, if these rebuilds are built the right way.
02:08Now again, there's a lot to still do.
02:10The Wizards have to hit it in the lottery, that's going to be a massive help.
02:13They've got to figure out Anthony Davis' situation.
02:15The Commanders have got to have a defense that isn't atrocious.
02:18I think it's better than where it was last year.
02:20Jane Daniels has to stay healthy.
02:21But now watching the Nationals, even in the short time, you're going,
02:25okay, the expectations were nothing for them,
02:28but maybe they're a little farther along than we expected,
02:31where we're starting to look at D.C. sports in general over the next few years
02:35and going, we're in a much better spot than where it's been over the last few years.
02:40You know what you sound like right now?
02:41What do I sound like?
02:42You sound like the girl three months into dating who asks,
02:48you know what I'm going to say right now?
02:49What are you going to say?
02:50What are we?
02:52What are we?
02:52Am I wrong?
02:53You're not wrong.
02:54You're asking right now about the Nationals.
02:57Yes.
02:57Like a woman three months into a relationship.
03:00I see potential down the road in this relationship.
03:04Right.
03:04But women always want to have some definition of what are we?
03:10Like, you know, are we actually boyfriend, girlfriend?
03:13Are we partners?
03:15Dudes want titles too sometimes.
03:16They want direction.
03:18Do they?
03:18Yes, they do.
03:19Yes, they do.
03:20Yeah, they do.
03:21Maybe not everybody.
03:22Dude should be smart enough to know that whatever your woman tells you
03:25could change whether she's hungry or not.
03:27Unless you're on the same page.
03:29Well, you're right.
03:30Okay, fair enough.
03:31So the question is, and this is a good question,
03:35as we now open the month of May, it's been a month,
03:39no one who has any brain whatsoever who's watched Major League Baseball
03:43makes big extrapolations on a single month of the season.
03:46Absolutely not.
03:47The Nats are 15 and 17.
03:50They're absolutely raking at the plate.
03:53Still, I think the top scoring team in Major League Baseball,
03:56I'd have to go check that.
03:57But they're hitting.
03:58Pitching?
03:59Ugh.
04:00I mean, if they could just get a little dollop of pitching,
04:02it would be great.
04:03I miss Max Scherzer.
04:04They're 15 and 17, which is currently tied for second,
04:10half game back of Miami, in the division.
04:13Here's the question.
04:14Are we having a season?
04:17I always joke with Sheehan about the Redskins commanders.
04:20Let's go have a season.
04:21Let's go have a season.
04:24Right?
04:25And in the NFL, if you don't have a quarterback,
04:27you kind of know we're not having a season.
04:28We will play all 17 games, but we're not having a season
04:32because we don't have a quarterback.
04:33Okay?
04:34Are the Nats having a season?
04:36It's starting to feel that way.
04:37They've got four players with on-base percentages over 370.
04:40They're top five in the majors in run score.
04:42James Wood is having a season right now.
04:44We're talking top of the NL in terms of home runs.
04:46Great glove last night as well.
04:48And not that anybody thought James Wood wouldn't be that,
04:51but it's that you're starting to see other things around that click.
04:53Like, listen, last year there were a lot of people going,
04:56I don't see it anymore with him.
04:58I think that was a little too soon to start.
05:00Well, I do too.
05:01But you're right.
05:01But yes.
05:02I've heard people here say they took a lot of calls last year.
05:05But if I were to be the one in the relationship, save, to say,
05:09What are we?
05:10What are we?
05:10It makes me think of Zoolander, remember?
05:12Who am I when he looks in the puddle?
05:14That's an old reference for you.
05:15That's a classic movie right there.
05:17Can't go right.
05:18Can't turn left.
05:19Look, I think...
05:20Blue steel.
05:21Give him the blue steel.
05:24Oh, they didn't...
05:25Yeah.
05:25Just one.
05:26Just one quick one.
05:26One quick boost deal.
05:28One more side rant.
05:29All right, fine.
05:30On Zoolander, I'd never seen it.
05:32The guy who loved that movie more than life itself was one Christopher Cooley,
05:37old number 47 for the Washington Redskins.
05:38Yes.
05:39And so when we were doing a show together,
05:41Cooley would be like,
05:41Oh my God, you've got to watch it.
05:43It's the best show I've ever watched, Steve.
05:46Oh my God, Steve.
05:46You should watch it.
05:48You've got to see it.
05:48It's the best.
05:50He said,
05:50If my house were on fire,
05:52I could run in through the flames and find my copy of Zoolander and rescue it.
05:57That's how much I love the movie.
05:59So sure enough, he brought me the DVD in.
06:01And of course, I had to, for the bit, for the show, watch it.
06:04Right.
06:04And I did find it amusing.
06:06Yeah, it's stupid.
06:07It's stupid funny, which is okay.
06:09But he loved Zoolander so much.
06:11So that's what we are now.
06:11I like being able to quote it going,
06:13Can't go left.
06:13Yeah.
06:14Give him the blue steel.
06:16I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
06:18That's a great soundbite.
06:20Oh, it is.
06:20It still works to this day.
06:22And listen, maybe I am.
06:23And maybe in a week or two, we're going to look at each other going,
06:25What the hell was I saying about the Nats?
06:27But it's a long season and they're young.
06:29Get that.
06:29But you just look at where, at least it feels like there's direction.
06:33Because think of, again, the past years of Redskins years,
06:36where it's just like, let's go pay money for free agents and it doesn't work.
06:39There's no real rebuild plan.
06:41The Wizards, it was like fight for the eight seed, fight for the play in tournament.
06:44Now there's a real rebuild with a real blueprint, a real plan.
06:48The Nationals, I know it's a rebuild after a rebuild technically,
06:51but they've had a lot of turnover in the front office.
06:54A lot of that's changed.
06:55But it just feels like all of those three teams have a level of direction.
06:59It still has to be executed, but it's at least moving in a direction
07:03that gives you a feeling of promise.
07:05I know.
07:05Generally speaking, there are no pop-up seasons in baseball,
07:09meaning like a pop-up flash mob.
07:12Oh my God, this team is actually good and nobody saw it coming.
07:16There's too many games that evens out things.
07:19There is too much known in terms of, okay, here's who you really have,
07:24both hitting and pitching-wise.
07:26But there are exceptions.
07:28Maybe this year could be a bit of an exception.
07:30And now with the expanded playoffs, playoffs, it's more sneak-in-able than ever.
07:38So as we turn the page into May at 15 and 17, thank God the Mets suck like they do
07:44and they must be apoplectic up there.
07:45That's 17 out of 20 losses right there.
07:48We might be having a season.
07:50And I'm here for it.
07:51And listen, it's going to make May a lot better, right?
07:54Have some meaningful baseball if they start winning some games.
07:56I know it's early in the season.
07:57No, if it gets above 70, May will be better.
08:00It's going to get above 70.
08:01Will you stop complaining?
08:02Yeah, I got all summer for it to be 95 and a billion percent humidity.
08:08We had snow encased in ice and you're complaining about it not being 70.
08:12I'll take what we got outside.
08:14Give me the 50.
08:14I'm not complaining.
08:15I feel like there's a little bit of a complaint here.
08:17You're yelling at clouds a little bit.
08:19I'm nagging.
08:20A minute.
08:20I'm nagging the weather.
08:21You are nagging.
08:22Just a little nag.
08:23What are we, Dave?
08:25Just tell me.
08:25I just want to know what we are.
