Washington Freedom Fights its Way to 4th Place

Photo Courtesy of Washington Freedom Chicago Fire forward Megan Rapinoe (8) heads the ball over Washington Freedom midfielder Rebecca Moros (19).

ALEXANDRIA, VA. - The 2010-2011 high school summer practices have started in earnest and the upcoming months should be an exciting time for sports fans in Greater Alexandria.

Regarding the T.C. Williams Titans Football Team, the "Red, White and Blue" will kick off their upcoming campaign with two home games.

The first will take place September 2 (a Thursday) when the Robinson Rams (of the Concorde District) visit Alexandria.

The second will take place September 11th (a Saturday) when the Mount Vernon Majors (of the National District) visit Alexandria.

T.C. (of the Patriot District) boasts of one of the top two-way lineman in the entire Northern Region: senior Jay Whitmire.

The 6'5" 260 pounder has been a starter since sophomore season and is expected to open holes for the Titan running backs on offense as well as stop the run from his defensive tackle position.

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The Washington Nationals currently weigh-in at 51-67 overall and are in last place in the National League East Standings.

First-place Atlanta weighs-in at 69-49 (.585) and maintains a 2 1/2 game lead over second-place 66-51Philadelphia (.564).

Further back in third-place are the New York Mets with a break-even 59-59 record (.500) - slightly ahead of  fourth-place 57-60 Florida (.487).

The .432 Nats trail fourth-place Florida by 6 1/2 games and trail first-place Atlanta by 18 games.

With 118 games in the books, there are only 44 more games this season for the Nationals - 22 at home and 22 on the road.

In the near-term, the Nats will visit Atlanta: Aug. 17 and 18 (both at 7:10) and Aug. 19 (1:05); will visit: Philadelphia: Aug. 20 and 21 (7:05) and Aug. 22 (1:35) and then will return to D.C. for a series with the Chicago Cubs: Aug. 23, 24 and 25 (all at 7:05).

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The Washington Redskins, fresh off of a 42-17 preseason home victory versus Buffalo, are preparing for preseason game number two.

That will take place at FED-EX Field (Aug. 21) when the Skins host the Baltimore Ravens (7 pm).

There will be two more preseason games thereafter (both on the road), before the regular season opens in September.

The Skins, in head coach Mike Shanahan's first season, will attempt to make last season's disappointing 4-12 mark a distant memory.

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Regarding Men's Professional Soccer, D.C. United is mired in last place in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS) with a very disappointing record of three wins, 14 losses and three ties.

D.C. United has changed coaches over the past several weeks (going from Curth Onalfo to Ben Olsen) but the results haven't been a whole lot different.

D.C. United, four-time league Champion in its early days, will host Philadelphia on Aug. 22nd at spacious RFK Stadium, and will attempt to break out of its funk.

Currently, DCU has scored only 13 goals and has given up 35 during the current campaign - both the worst marks in the league.

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Regarding Women's Professional Soccer, the Washington Freedom has fought their way up to fourth-place overall in the seven team league - not so coincidentally named Women's Professional Soccer.

The Freedom currently weigh-in with an overall record of five wins, eight losses and seven ties and have scored 27 goals on the season (fourth best) and have given up 30 goals on the season (unfortunately seventh best).

Abby Wambach of the Freedom is fourth in the league in scoring with nine goals on the season.

Washington is scheduled to host Chicago (Aug. 19th) at the Montgomery Soccer-Plex (7:30 pm).

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Regarding Womens Professional Basketball, the Washington Mystics are currently in third-place in the six team Eastern Conference with an overall record of 19 wins versus 12 losses.

The top four teams in the East are bunched very tightly: first-place Indiana weighs-in at 21-10, second-place New York weighs-in at 19-11 and fourth-place Atlanta weighs-in at 19-13.

The top four teams from the East and the top four teams from the West will qualify for the upcoming playoffs.

Washington is scheduled to visit San Antonio (Aug. 17th) - too late for this edition.