D.C. is a proud sports town, even given the fact they haven’t won anything of significance since the ‘Skins 1991 Superbowl. This summer, however, has allowed the residents and the surrounding areas of Chocolate City to build some sense of hope. They’ve still got the best hockey player on the planet in Alex Ovechkin. Mike Shanahan and Donovan McNabb are allegedly going to lead the Redskins to the promised land. Steven Strasburg is hands down the hottest ticket in town. Ted Leonsis is one of the best owners in sports while recently assuming control of the downtrodden Wizards. And the arrival of John Wall make those Gilbert Arenas/John Wayne days seem like a thing of the (distant) past.

I’m still kicking myself for not having NBA TV. Even though all the games look like high school all-star contests, I still like keeping myself abreast on who the rookies and sleepers (Reggie Williams – Golden State) are to look out for during the upcoming season. As a person who has stamped Wall on TSS for nearly a year now, it’s good to see the young fella have a good first outing as a professional.

Having a stat line of 24-8-2 in your debut is impressive, albeit against not exactly the top talent the league has to offer. He also has to learn how to take better care of the ball (eight turnovers), but in the eternal words of Jay Bilas, “he’ll grow into that.” I think that’s how he said it. Will the Wizards be a title contender this year? Not even, but they will be more exciting to watch that’s for damn sure. Especially with the addition of Kirk Hinrich and the apparent emergence of Javel McGee and Andre Blatche. Keyword: “apparent.” I’m even contemplating buying a partial season ticket plan that’ll get me into the “best” 13 games of the season.

I just hope ol’ Johnny boy doesn’t decide to play cards with Gilbert. That never ends well.