Not Just the Nats having a Cruel Summer...Just Ask D.C. United

ALEXANDRIA, VA. -  It's not just the Washington Nationals that are having a tough summer. Have you seen the performance of D.C. United, the men's professional team in the Major League Soccer league? They're continue to have a difficult season as well..

Currently, D.C. United mans the eighth spot in the eight team Eastern Conference Standings - with an overall record of three wins, 12 losses and three ties.

DCU has only scored 12 goals thus far this season which is dead last in the entire 16-team league. In addition, DCU has given up 31 goals which is also dead last in the entire 16-team league (eight teams in the Eastern Conference as well as the Western Conference).

If the season were to end today, Columbus, New York, Toronto FC, Los Angeles, Real Salt Lake, Dallas, Seattle and either Colorado or San Jose would punch their tickets to the post-season quarterfinal round.

D.C. United visits the New England Revolution on Aug. 7th (7:30 pm) in a virtual must-win situation if DCU has any ambitions of turning the current season around (approximately 35% of the regular season still remains).
 
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The hometown Nats are not doing much better. Wiith 106 games of the 162 game season in the "proverbial books," the Washington Nationals weigh-in at 47-59 overall and fifth-place in the National League East standings.

NL East "polesetter" Atlanta leads the five team division at 60-45 overall (.571) and has a three game lead over second-place Philadelphia 57-48 (.543).

Third-place Florida and fourth-place New York have virtually identical records - the Marlins at 53-52 (.505) - (seven games behind Atlanta), and the Mets 53-53 (.500) - (seven 1/2 games behind Atlanta).

The hometown Nats weigh-in at .443 and are 13 1/2 games behind Atlanta and are six games behind New York for the fourth spot.

In the Nats just-concluded six game home stand, they finished 4-2 overall - including a two games to one series sweep with Atlanta and an identical two games to one series sweep with Philadelphia.

Upcoming games include: Aug. 3, 4 and 5 - at the Arizona Diamondbacks and Aug. 6, 7 and 8 - at the Los Angeles Dodgers - before their next home stand which will feature the Florida Marlins on Aug. 10, 11 and 12 (all scheduled for 7:05 pm) and finally the Arizona Diamondbacks on Aug. 13, 14 (both 7:05 pm) and 15 (1:35 pm) - at Nats Park S.E. D.C.

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The Washington Freedom, the women's professional soccer team in Women's Professional Soccer has dropped from the mid-tier of the standings in recent weeks to the bottom tier.

In the seven-team league, Washington weighs-in at four wins, eight losses and five ties - which puts the Freedom at sixth-place overall (just ahead of the Atlanta Beat).

The Freedom is only "minus-five" in goal differential - having scored 24 goals and having given up 29.

Nonetheless, it has not translated into a more respectable record at this juncture.

(The 29 goals allowed is also dead last in the league. The bright news is that the 24 goals scored is actually third best in the league).

The Freedom will host Philadelphia Aug. 4th (7:30 pm) at the Soccer-plex in Germantown, Md.

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In women's professional basketball, the Washington Mystics of the WNBA are currently third-place in the six-team Eastern Conference Standings.

The Mystics weigh-in at 15 wins versus 10 losses (.600), which puts them behind Atlanta (18-9/.667) and Indiana (16-9/.640) in the Eastern Conference Standings.

Rounding out the East: New York (14-11/.560), Connecticut (13-12/.520) and Chicago (12-15/.444).

If the season were to end today, the top-four teams from the East as well as the top-four teams from the West (Seattle, Phoenix, San Antonio and Minnesota) would all punch their tickets to the postseason quarterfinal round.

The Mystics will visit Atlanta Aug. 3rd - too late for this edition.

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The Washington Redskins will attempt to make last seasons 4-12 overall mark a distant memory as they have 40 days remaining before the 2010 opening game versus the Dallas Cowboys at FED-EX Field.

In the meantime, the Skins have been conducting summer workouts at Redskin Park (Ashburn, Va.) and will commence their four game preseason schedule on Aug. 13th - when they host the Buffalo Bills.

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The high school sports season will commence in a number of weeks when golf will be the first sport to initiate action. Following golf will be a full array of: cross country, field hockey, football, soccer, volleyball and more.