Much has been made of the DC sports 'curse' in regards to the Caps and Nats.
After several years of watching this melodrama playing out, my observation is that it was all predictable.
Why?
Because you had two talented teams in the Caps and Nats that had consistently underachieved in the postseason and the response of BOTH management groups was to bring in Managers and Coaches that had themselves consistently failed to get their competitive teams to advance in the postseason.
Barry Trotz had been a plus .550 coach in Nashville but never got beyond the second round of the playoffs.
Dusty Baker in over 20 years as Manager in the majors, only ONCE has taken a team to the World Series, in 2002, losing to the Anaheim Angles.
His 97 win Reds team a couple of years ago was an early flameout in the postseason.
So, we bring coaches that have had trouble climbing the mountain together with players that have had trouble climbing the mountain and we somehow expect that combination to result in end game success?
It just doesn't make any sense.
The last two Nationals managers were Williams and Baker.
The last two Capitals coaches were Oates and Trotz.
What do they ALL have in common?
Not a championship won by anyone in the group.
Williams and Oates were rookie coaches that were clearly in over their heads and were soon gone as marquee players ended up going to management to complain about them.
Want to change the trend and put these teams on the right course while the core players are still here and young enough to compete?
Get better leadership. Be willing to pay for it too.
Paying the players but going cheap on the 'head' of the team (ie the coaches) is not a smart move.
In today's sports leagues, you get 1 or 2 star players and a star manager and that together with merely solid supporting players is often enough to win a championship.
If the Nationals don't come back from the current 1-2 deficit and win this series, Baker needs to go.
I already thought Trotz needed to go after the Caps had rebounded from 3-1 to force a Game 7 at home against Pittsburgh only to lay a very ugly egg on home ice.
After several years of watching this melodrama playing out, my observation is that it was all predictable.
Why?
Because you had two talented teams in the Caps and Nats that had consistently underachieved in the postseason and the response of BOTH management groups was to bring in Managers and Coaches that had themselves consistently failed to get their competitive teams to advance in the postseason.
Barry Trotz had been a plus .550 coach in Nashville but never got beyond the second round of the playoffs.
Dusty Baker in over 20 years as Manager in the majors, only ONCE has taken a team to the World Series, in 2002, losing to the Anaheim Angles.
His 97 win Reds team a couple of years ago was an early flameout in the postseason.
So, we bring coaches that have had trouble climbing the mountain together with players that have had trouble climbing the mountain and we somehow expect that combination to result in end game success?
It just doesn't make any sense.
The last two Nationals managers were Williams and Baker.
The last two Capitals coaches were Oates and Trotz.
What do they ALL have in common?
Not a championship won by anyone in the group.
Williams and Oates were rookie coaches that were clearly in over their heads and were soon gone as marquee players ended up going to management to complain about them.
Want to change the trend and put these teams on the right course while the core players are still here and young enough to compete?
Get better leadership. Be willing to pay for it too.
Paying the players but going cheap on the 'head' of the team (ie the coaches) is not a smart move.
In today's sports leagues, you get 1 or 2 star players and a star manager and that together with merely solid supporting players is often enough to win a championship.
If the Nationals don't come back from the current 1-2 deficit and win this series, Baker needs to go.
I already thought Trotz needed to go after the Caps had rebounded from 3-1 to force a Game 7 at home against Pittsburgh only to lay a very ugly egg on home ice.