why.i.hate.dc

Speaking of the Orioles

I like Camden Yards, the first in a wave of fan-friendly, architecturally impressive ballparks that have swept baseball over the past decade. Boog Powell's BBQ is not bad (it's no Fat Matt's, but still fun to eat at a game).

The team itself is awful. Worst... farm system... ever. They got nuthin'... and they've done nuthin' since 1997. It's funny to see the O's website describe their 1998 season as a "transition year" (the transition being from "good" to "awfulness"). Last year they went 4-32 at the end of the season. Wow.

Maybe if they keep sucking, and people stay away from the ballpark, owner Peter Angelos can cry poverty and keep a team away from Washington. Or, maybe nobody buys that.

Either way, it looks like the wet blankets in Arlington will whine and whine about putting something fun and/or interesting here:

"I challenge anyone to tell me what the true benefits for Arlington are," said Sarah Summerville, the director of Arlingtonians for Baseball in D.C., a group that has rallied to stop the ballpark's construction.

Gee, I don't know Sarah... maybe so there's something to F***ING DO HERE? Heaven forbid we should build something INTERESTING that people who live here will USE and ENJOY! Not that I don't love hanging around outside the Pentagon, or checking out the sewage station on Four Mile Run Creek. And wow, that Teddy Roosevelt island... with the giant statue of Teddy Roosevelt, scarily extending his arms in some kind of faux hug... well, frankly I could spend every WAKING HOUR looking at that.

No, in Arlington we apparently cannot handle the breakneck excitement that is baseball. A shock to many of you, I'm sure.