The Prologue...

First point of emphasis with this blog is that I should divulge that I am not a Washington Nationals fan. I am, in fact, a die hard Oakland Athletics fan, as well as an accomplished Yankee-hater. I have also invaded, raped, and pillaged the countryside of Red Sox Nation.

My reason for blogging the Nationals, amongst other outlets, is several-fold. First and foremost, baseball is my vice. I love college basketball and football (both varieties- let’s not get into that) as well, but baseball can be followed in so many different ways. Piles upon piles of Baseball Weekly would find their way stuffed into my room; when I moved away for school, they were the first to make their way to the recycling, followed shortly thereafter by Sport Illustrated 1987 through 1996. USA Today was readily available in college, and box scores would often be trimmed and pasted all over the place for no reason whatsoever. Fortunately, the Internet was invented, allowing me to wash the print from my hands and occasionally talk to a girl. Usually, it would be brief.

Second, it is almost impossible for me to effectively offer thoughtful and original analysis on the A’s, as all of my information comes from Susan Slusser, box scores at 7 am, and the occasional highlight off ESPN. The Nationals are here, their games are televised, and they even have uniforms and everything… it’s really neat. And apparently there are plenty of good seats available.

Next, my fiancé no longer likes being at the end of all my jokes, and the Nats are fairly easy targets… uh, let’s just move on.

Finally, it would be nice to be a part of their success. Right now, the Nats bandwagon looks like it just made a detour through Mexico. Sure, people “support” the team, but since the new stadium opened, so many of the casual fans were priced out the door, and the honeymoon looks over. I was excited when Washington was able to outbid premium franchise destinations such as San Juan, Monterrey, Las Vegas, and Branson Missouri, and even organized the legendary “F- the French, We Are Taking the Expos Back” bar crawl that may or may not have forced the rebranding of Biddy Mulligan’s as Bar Dupont. There were a lot of excited folks, and when they raced out of the gates in 2005, I suddenly felt dirty, as if I had stolen someone else’s prized pig and won the County Fair. The bandwagon mentality wasn’t for me or my Hubie Brooks Expos jersey. Then, Jim Bowden and the Lerners struck. You have thought that they would have been able to improve the condition of the franchise and its major league product over its previous owners, NOBODY. However, 59-102 apparently wasn’t rock-bottom enough, so they came back with an encore. At 4-15 last week, I felt that it was time to intervene.

Basically, the Nats need a bailout in the worst way, and here is my bucket. Actually, we’ll probably need that bucket temporarily as 1-3 inches more of rain is in the forecast. Use of the bucket comes with a few provisions and disclaimers:

1. No one is off limits. This includes Zimmerman (both of em), Dukes, Manny, Stan, the batboy, Teddy, and yes, even all those fans disguised as empty seats.
2. For every ill-fated barb or attempt at humor, some sort of constructive criticism or praise will be provided.
3. I will not be made fun of for applying for the open General Manager position.
4. Not all posts will pertain strictly to National’s baseball. Some will be in regards to Natinals baseball.
5. Most posts will be written sans pants.

That is all I ask in return for this bucket.