The Capitals became the first D.C. major pro sports team since 1998 to reach the conference finals after beating the Penguins 2-1 in overtime in Game 6 of their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series.
While fans reveled in the end of a citywide sports curse that had affected the region for two decades, Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon took some time on ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption” to admonish them for enjoying the moment.
MORE: Lazy Alex Ovechkin narratives can finally be laid to rest
Kornheiser: “People here in DC are parading around like they won the Stanley Cup last night...I think people are happy”
— Rudy Gersten (@DCBarno) May 9, 2018
Wilbon: “What I used to say & get in trouble for it locally, Washington DC is a minor league sports town. It’s because of opinions & attitudes like THAT.” pic.twitter.com/nnH3fYb2U6
There’s a lot to unpack from two former Washington Post writers belittling the city that helped launch their respective careers to the heights they're at now. In 32 seconds, they present a strawman argument, insult three cities' worth of fans and continue their lifelong diatribes to disparage the "everyday" sports fan.
But the standout issue is how these longtime members of the sports media world have somehow forgotten the layers of context that came with this game.
Prior to Monday, there had been 78 champions crowned, 78 runners-up and 156 losing semifinalists in MLB, the NFL, the NBA and the NHL, and not a single one of those teams represented Washington. The four major teams were 0-15 when they were one round away from the conference finals, and 0-13 when they were one game away.
MORE: On Tom Wilson and becoming an NHL villain
D.C. fans are a broken bunch who have seen talented team after talented team fall by the wayside, which can sour the appeal of annual postseason appearances. Perhaps no better team exemplifies this sour taste of playoff failure than the Capitals.
Watching the Caps is a debilitating experience. Every fan has found a different breaking point with the team over the years where the postseason represents hopelessness and anguish instead of optimism.
For many, it’s likely 2009, when Alex Ovechkin had a breakaway chance to open the scoring in Game 7 against the Penguins. He was unable to score. The Penguins won the decisive game 6-2.
For my junior-year roommate in college, it was 2016. Nick Bonino — then on the Penguins — scored in overtime to end the Capitals’ season in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference second-round series. After about five minutes of silence, my roommate at the time said, "Life would be so much easier if I didn't care about sports" right before he dejectedly walked to his room.
TIMELINE: Controversial Tom Wilson has built career on blurring lines
It’s safe to say the loss haunts him, because this was his first thought after Evgeny Kuznetsov’s winning goal:
They are gonna wave it off.... goalie interference.... just wait
— Obi Jon Kenobi (@0ff_and_Away) May 8, 2018
It’s a cloud of hopelessness that hangs over the city and even the star athletes feel it to the point where it has created interleague solidarity.
Per The Washington Post:
“In recent years, players from all four D.C. teams have attended each other’s games and worn their gear. It’s been a conscious bonding effort to 'get over the hump' as Nats Manager Dave Martinez underlined this spring by having coaches ride camels into training camp on a Wednesday (hump day). And it’s the reason Martinez wore Caps gear, head-to-head before their last two Pens games.”
Even though "the demons have been exorcised," as Capitals radio voice John Walton put it, for the team and the city, players have made it clear the Penguins win is not enough.
MORE: F-bombs, Kuznetsov fly after Capitals overcome Penguins, themselves
"As a group, we wanted to give our city more, but more doesn’t mean a conference final. More is a Stanley Cup," Caps goalie Braden Holtby said.
Fans feel the same way. Regardless of the admittedly hilarious jokes that Twitter has gotten off over the last week, nobody really believes this series win is the same as bringing a Stanley Cup to D.C.
Still, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Capitals fans are celebrating. The Penguins have outright owned this team throughout its most talented generation, and even though there are more postseason challenges ahead, this moment feels great.
Besides, it’s likely that D.C. fans are taking their inspiration from an old Wilbon column from the last time the Capitals made it to the Eastern Conference finals.
“To win the Stanley Cup, [the Capitals] have to beat the favored Boston Bruins, then Edmonton or Chicago or St. Louis in another series,” Wilbon wrote. "That’s how far the Capitals are from winning the whole thing. But for right now, it simply doesn’t matter. This whole franchise has been judged on its inability to get out of the division in the playoffs. Capitals teams — several better than this one — have never, not once, won a second-round playoff series until Friday night when newfound hero John Druce tipped in Geoff Courtnall’s pass nearly seven minutes into overtime to end this maddening game."
You could easily switch out the teams Wilbon listed to reflect the current situation and that excerpt would still work. History is repeating itself, and people should be allowed to enjoy it.