Let’s be frank: the Capitals had not been scoring very well at home by the time the boo birds came out during the Islanders game. Some numbers: MoJo’s shorty against Pittsburgh came at 3:56 of the 2nd period on February 6th. Not counting an insurance empty-netter in that game, it would be another 77:10 before the Caps got the puck by an opposing goalie. That was Ovechkin’s quick strike against LA, 1:06 into the first. The next time the Caps scored on an opposing goalie was 178:06 later, which was the equalizer against the Islanders. All told, between the Penguins game on February 6th and the Islanders game on March 1st–nearly a full calendar month–the Capitals had gone an aggregate stretch of 255:16 at home–the equivalent of FOUR GAMES AND CHANGE–while getting exactly one puck by the other team’s netminder, and even THAT was in a horrific 4-1 defeat.

To say that doesn’t cut it…doesn’t cut it. And fans have really only one way to make that point emphatically clear: booing. And I will ABSOLUTELY boo the Caps if they earn it. Shut out by San Jose…gave away 4 unanswered to Los Angeles…shut out by the Rangers…and now struggling against the ISLANDERS, for the love of Langway?! Oh, no. HECK, no. I’m voicing my displeasure, loudly, and with a squeaky-clean conscience.

I don’t know about you, but I’m living and dying on every possession when I’m watching a Caps game in person. And some of the Caps’ home losses in February were, literally, painful to watch. To see this team that I love playing that badly, at home, is just depressing. Sometimes, it felt like the crowd cared more than the players did. And we’re the ones who are paying to get in–we’re not getting paid to be there.

So, yeah, I think some of the booing was deserved, and I also don’t think that was entirely the behavior of fair weather fans. I would submit, rather, the opposite: that when the fans think (correctly or not) that they care more than the players they’re paying money to see, they NEED to be able to show their displeasure at that.

You don’t boo your own team because you hate them: you boo them because they’re not playing like the team you still love. If that makes ANY sense…

They actively ignored and didn’t have to sit through some of the teams that preceeded the “rock the red” era in Washington. Their booing isn’t driven by the frustrations of the long time hockey fan, but the self entitled nature of the fair weather fan who wants to be a part of Caps hockey since it’s the “in” thing right now in DC, and need to root for a winning team in order to make it worth their while.

Not that there’s anyway to control this, but the unofficial rule should be that long time fans can boo all they want, post 2008 fans should kindly STHU and be grateful they found a good team to watch after they quit being Redskins fans.

But on Tuesday when the boos started raining down during the INSANELY inept PP in the 3rd (it was oddly spontaneous, wasn’t it?) I just laughed. The Caps had prior to that actually played a pretty darn good game. What no one has yet mentioned is that the crowd gave the team a standing round of applause during the middle of the first because they played inspired hockey. There was no goal, just a solid team effort that we haven’t seen much around these parts lately. And people liked it.

It’s been especially frustrating the last few months watching this team play. From early Dec. thru Tuesday, when my fanny has been in a Verizon seat, I had been treated to a 2-6-6 Caps record. (I was out of town for a couple of games and missed 3 wins and a loss. I’m unlucky that way.) There have been some bad bounces, some streaky goalies and a whole lotta Caps low energy suck. So when my team doesn’t seem to be putting forth much effort for weeks on end?

I understand where it comes from but, I won’t boo. It did result in me leaving a hockey game early for the first time (Friday after two and being surrounded by gleeful Blueshirts) and I’m betting there is going to be a much lower renewal rate for this year’s STH.

Girl, keep drinking Ted’s Kool Aid.

Ted posts something on booing the very same day you do and he gets ONE response (it’s positive/pro Ted, shocker!!) while you get MORE THAN TWENTY?

I’m sure Puck Buddys is growing in popularity, especially after today. But Ted has a much larger audience (ask him, he’ll tell you) and he gets a single response on a hot button issue? And, funny how “Don’t Boo Angie” had her comment listed at Ted’s Take and NOBODY representing the “Pro Boo Community” makes it to Ted’s blog. I sure don’t see anything I sent.

If you think Transparency Ted includes ALL responses he gets (like you do at your site), you’re the last girl at the club when the lights come on.

What struck us most on Tuesday was the spontaneity of the outburst (as if we’ve never seen a crappy PP before), out of nowhere it filled the arena. We were more surprised than anything else because it seemed so out of character. I stand by the characterization as ‘classless’ given the circumstances of Tuesday’s game.

Givens: We all pay dearly for those seats. We all want to see the Caps crush the opposition.

Some have said booing is the only way to let management/ownership know we’re not happy with the team’s performance. I don’t agree. There are plenty of avenues for that, as evidenced here: http://www.tedstake.com/2011/03/03/boooo-2/

@Dave: Do credentialed journalists who cover the game have special considerations showing approval/disapproval? There’s that SI NASCAR story that’s making the rounds… It makes me wonder. I worked in a racetrack pressbox, and turf writers, as McKenna and Perrone can testify, are an especially prickly bunch. Then again, you guys covering the Caps on 5 haven’t just dropped a week’s take home pay on bad Pick-6 tickets.

@Nova: If a health issue dictates an early departure, no one would argue with that. And no, we don’t feel ‘superior’ to anyone.

@Jeremy: Go ahead and call us girls. We want the Cup every bit as much as you do.

Another thing I don’t get: all the love for Ted Leonsis as “arguably the best owner in sports”… Nobody’s said that here, but that sentiment is hardly uncommon. And it’s relative to my frustration.

Why is this man called by so many as the “best owner in sports”? Because he emails fans and has a blog (which he censors all of the responses, posts what he chooses, and writes about being “transparent”)? Ted has owned the team since 1999-2000. He’s owned the Mystics since 2005-2006. And he has owned the Wizards since last year. All time, here’s his record for the first two teams since his Wizards are still mid-season his first year:

CAPITALS: 10 seasons, 5 playoff appearances, 1 series win in 6 attempts
MYSTICS: 6 seasons, 3 playoff appearances, 0 series wins in 3 attempts

That’s 16 seasons of play, 8 playoff appearances, 1 for 9 in series attempts. Said more succinctly:

1 playoff series win in SIXTEEN seasons of professional sports competition. A .006 percentage.

THIS is “arguably one of the best owners in sports?”

Ted has received far more credit than he deserves. I’m sorry, having the lottery ball go your way and drafting a generational player (Ovechkin — this Floatvechkin year aside) is not a “strategy.” How many new fans know of Ted’s infamous “five-year” plan for the Capitals? That went kaboom right about the time he wrestled the fan on the concourse.

So the frustration I feel, the emotion behind the Islander “game” booing, is real and deeply rooted. To see THESE PLAYERS skate around as if they couldn’t care — just after losing a guy like Steckel — as their hapless coach watches the TV screen and the don’t-do-anything-but-blog-about-yourself owner sits in his box is too much.

Losing? Fine. 1-0 or 5-4. Fine. Skating around like you can’t be bothered between TV shoots and radio appearances? Sorry.

BTW, the jury is still out but here’s Ted’s 3/4ths of a year as owner of the Wizards:

WIZARDS: 1 season (15-45 to date).