The Nationals Snap Out of a Funk

ALEXANDRIA, VA. - The Washington Nationals snapped out of their recent funk with a 2-1 victory at home vs. the Kansas City Royals (June 21st) to improve to 32-39 on the season.

Compared to the Nationals 59-102 finish in 2008 and their 59-103 finish in 2009 (one game was rained out and not made up in 2008), the Nats current 32-39 record perhaps looks reasonable.

That fact notwithstanding, the 2010 Nats find themselves in the cellar of the National League East as of this writing on June 22nd.

The red hot Atlanta Braves (winners of their past five and eight of their last 10) weigh-in at 42-28 and are currently in the "pole position" in the National League East.

The New York Mets (also winners of eight of their past 10 contests) weigh-in at second place in the Division with a record of 39-30. (They trail Atlanta by 2 1/2 games).

The Philadelphia Phillies (which have only won four of their past 10 contests) weigh-in at third place in the Division with a record of 35-32. (They trail Atlanta by 5 1/2 games).

The Florida Marlins (which have won five of their past 10 games) weigh-in at fourth place in the Division with a record of 33-36. (They trail Atlanta by 8 1/2 games).

Washington is now 10 1/2 games in back of Atlanta (their furthest from the Division lead all season) - having only won two of their past 10 games.

Which pitcher is responsible for those two most recent wins ?? If you guessed rookie right handed sensation Stephen Strasburg - you are correct.

The Nats hope to get things headed in the correct direction when they host the Kansas City Royals (June 22nd - 7:05 p.m. and June 23rd - 4:35 p.m.). Following that they head up the highway for a three game set with the Baltimore Orioles (June 24th - 7:05 p.m.; June 25th - 4:05 p.m. and June 26th - 1:35 p.m.).

Speaking of Baltimore, the Orioles are mired in last place in the American League East with an overall record of 19-50. Baltimore is merely 24 games behind the first-place New York Yankees and is also merely 18 1/2 games behind the fourth-place Toronto Blue Jays).

Compared to the Orioles 19-50 overall record at this juncture of the '10 season, the Nats 59-103 record from a year ago looks quite respectable.

High School Sports Wrap up a Season

The high school sports season has recently wrapped up for the '09/'10 school year.

This time last year, Hayfield was reassigned from the Patriot District to the National District. In addition, W.T. Woodson was reassigned from the Liberty District to the Patriot District and Fairfax was reassigned from the Concorde District to the Liberty District.

The three moves proved fortuitous to all three of the above mentioned schools.

Hayfield made new acquaintances on the fields and courts...with veteran National District members: Edison, Mount Vernon, Falls Church, JEB Stuart, Wakefield, Washington-Lee and Yorktown.

W.T. Woodson made new acquaintances on the fields and courts...with veteran Patriot District members: T.C. Williams, West Potomac, Annandale, Lake Braddock, R.E. Lee, South County and West Springfield.

Fairfax made new acquaintances on the fields and courts...with veteran Liberty District members: Jefferson, Langley, Madison, G.C. Marshall, McLean, South Lakes and Stone Bridge.

The Hawks of Hayfield won the National District football title going away and were competitive in virtually every other sport the entire school year.

The Cavaliers of W.T. Woodson finished as Northern Region baseball runners-ups to West Springfield and were also competitive in virtually every other sport the entire school year.

The Rebels of Fairfax were very strong in both boys and girls swimming and also held their own in the majority of the Liberty District competitions.

In roughly seven weeks from todays writing (June 22nd), the fall practices will have commenced or will have just about commenced (cross country, field hockey, football, golf, volleyball...) to usher in the '10/'11 school year.

College Baseball

In the Division One College Baseball World Series, both Virginia Commonwealth and Virginia Tech bowed out in the "round of 64" (as written about two weeks ago).

In addition, the University of Virginia bowed out in the "round of 16" (as written about last week).

Consequently, the annual prestigious tournament is in the final turn with eight teams having qualified for the Championship bracket at Omaha, Neb.

In the double elimination tournament, Florida State defeated the University of Florida 8-5 (June 21st) which sent the Gators home with their second Omaha loss.

Also, from June 21st, Clemson defeated Arizona State 6-3 in the Husker State.

Games scheduled for June 22nd, include: South Carolina vs. Arizona State and Oklahoma vs. Clemson.

The seven remaining teams: Arizona State, Clemson, Florida State, Oklahoma, South Carolina, TCU and UCLA will continue play until late June. (Once a team has lost two contests, prior to the very final round - the Championship round, they officially commence their summer vacation).

The World Cup

Regarding the World Cup in South Africa, all of the 32 teams have played two games in "pool play" thus far (as of June 22nd).

The United States weighs-in with a record of 0-0-2 (two draws) and to definitely advance to the "round of 16", the USA needs to defeat Algeria (June 23rd - 10 a.m. local time - "EST").

The Group "C" standings as of June 22nd are as follows: Slovenia (one win and one draw), USA (two draws), England (two draws) and Algeria (one draw and one loss).

The USA has tied England 1-1 and has tied Slovenia 2-2 and consequently their aggregate three goals may prove fortuitous.

In the event that the USA and England both finish with three draws apiece in "pool play", the team with the higher number of total goals scored would be in the most advantageous position.

Since England has only one goal scored after their first two contests (a 1-1 draw with the USA and a 0-0 draw with Algeria), the USA obviously leads 3-1 in head:head aggregate goals with England.

At approximately 12 noon "EST" on June 23rd, the soccer fans in the USA will have a better sense of whether the USA has advanced to the prestigious "Round of 16".