For years — decades even — Washington fans had little to brag about but old Redskins memories. Boasting? That was for championship cities like Los Angeles or Boston. And people from those towns made sure you knew it, too.
But the District is no longer a bridesmaid. Not with three titles in the last two years.
And it turns out, Washington has become one of the winningest towns in America. No, really.
Over the last five years, the District has the fifth-most wins among cities that feature at least one team from the four major leagues (NBA, NHL, MLB and NFL), according to a new survey. The Online Betting Guide (OBLG) found that teams in the District have racked up 948 wins in that span. That trails only New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area.
But the District has a winning percentage of .554 — topping places like New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago.
Fans can thank the Washington Nationals and the Washington Capitals primarily for that success. They not only won championships in the past two seasons, but the Capitals and Nationals have been consistent contenders in almost each of the last five years (save for a down Nationals year here and there).
The Nationals, for instance, have gone 450-360 since 2015, good for the seventh-best record in baseball. The Capitals were even better in their sport, posting the second-best record in all of hockey: 253-115-42.
Heck, even the Washington Wizards have a record that’s not entirely embarrassing. They’re 211-199 since the 2014-15 season, the 13th-best mark in the league. That’d qualify for the playoffs in a 16-team field.
The Washington Redskins?
Moving on.
(OK, they’re 34-45-1 in the last five seasons, which ranks 24th in the NFL. But you can’t win ’em all, as the old saying goes. Or most of them, apparently.)
On one hand, the District’s success shouldn’t come as a surprise. There’s actual talent in this town. Capitals star Alex Ovechkin is perhaps the greatest goal scorer of his generation. Juan Soto is viewed as one of MLB’s brightest young stars. Bradley Beal was on his way to a historic season before the pandemic halted everything, and he makes a formidable duo with John Wall. The Redskins, jokes aside, have had some Pro Bowlers, too.
Despite the victories, the District still can’t entirely shed its reputation as “minor league sports town,” something Michael Wilbon famously declared during the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The ESPN commentator made that remark on “Pardon the Interruption” and doubled down days later on a Washington Post podcast.
“I ask people all the time: Why don’t you go to the Caps? Why don’t you support the Wizards? ’Well, because I’m a Redskins fan,’” Wilbon said. “Well, see, that’s not the case in New England, and in Chicago, the upper Midwest, in Detroit, in New York. It’s not the case in Philly. People don’t say, ’Well, I can’t go to the Sixers, because I follow the Eagles.’ See, that’s D.C., and if all you can do is follow one thing, you’re minor league.”
Even after the Capitals’ Stanley Cup parade, that perception didn’t go away. In 2019, former Yankees slugger and current ESPN commentator Alex Rodriguez shared a similar opinion about the city when calling one of Bryce Harper’s first games with the Philadelphia Phillies.
To prop Philadelphia up as a “sports town,” Rodriguez was more than willing to take a shot at the District.
“D.C. is about 130 miles down the road, but let’s make it clear, it’s a world of difference between markets,” Rodriguez said. “If you’re over there, you’re thinking about politics and what happens in the White House. If you’re here, this is a sports town and they love their Phillies.”
By the way, you want to know what’s Philadelphia’s number of total wins within the last five years? Seven hundred and fifty-seven.
That’s 191 less than the District.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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