The Winter Classic In Washington DC

Written by West Coast Caps BBall Writer:  FCKendrick

     Washington DC will play host to a Winter Classic at some point sooner rather than later.  Nationals Park has seemingly been given the thumbs up as the-would be venue for the outdoor spectacle, but as beautiful as the new baseball stadium in downtown Washington is, it is very much lacking in one thing—memories.  When the Blackhawks took on the Red Wings at Wrigley Field, or when the Bruins faced the Flyers in Fenway, there was a sense of nostalgia in the air, that the ghosts of both ballparks were watching and nodding in approval at what was going on.  Even Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park, which is no Wrigley, has a short history that has probably seen more success and more meaningful games than Wrigley has had in the past fifty years. 

     The Nationals meanwhile have played a grand total of zero meaningful games in their ballpark.  A Winter Classic played at Nats Park would be an empty shell of an event with no soul.  And hey speaking of stadiums with no souls—the other option would be to play it at Fed-Ex Field.  No one thinks that this would be a good idea even with the perk of selling 50,000 extra tickets (except maybe for Gary Bettman’s wallet). 
    
     If Nats Park has no memories good or bad; then the current Redskins stadium is nothing but a house of horrors for Washington fans.  The good vibe abundance of past Winter Classics would be nonexistent at Fed-Ex, and the nostalgia factor would be the angry memories of Redskins fans.

    So if you haven’t figured it out; There is only one place a winter classic in Washington DC should be played (and I couldn’t care less about the “armed forced bowl”).  It’s a place filled with nothing but memories, and championships, lots of championships. RFK stadium.  Imagine the stands shaking as Alex Ovechkin takes the ice, or when Erskine lays someone out like Charles Mann.  Fans old enough to remember the “seat cushion” game are already giddy at the thought of cheering in those rickety old stands one last time.  Let’s give the closest thing we have to “hallowed grounds,” a proper send-off.  Let Joe Gibbs drop the first puck. Let the best owner in dc sit in jack Kent Cooke’s old box. Ban Dan Snyder from the stadium, and let’s see those grandstands shake “for olde DC” one more time.

Also the top places that no matter how kickass would never host the winter classic

1.       RFK stadium, because we have soo many great memories at nationals park

2.      The LA Coliseum—if gary bettman wants to show that his game is popular not just in the big cities in the northeast, he should play the winter classic in the warm California sun, have the kings and the ducks play, have the USC marching band on the field… plus I could drive to the game

3.      On an actual frozen lake or pond—duh how cool would that be

4.      Red rocks in denver—if the avs are ever to play host, anyone who has seen a concert at the natural ampitheatre would be like—thatd be far out dude totally radical, also theyd be from Colorado

5.      Las Vegas Nevada on the strip… doenst matter the teams just play it in vegas


Editors Note:  In 2000, Caps Basketball played at RFK stadium in high school as the PVI Panthers upset the unbeatable Dematha to win the WCAC Championship!  0 Tackles.