Jaybird's Jottings

The Yards Lands Harris Teeter, Craft Brewery and Five New Restaurants

The Washington Nationals are hoping 2012 is a breakthrough year for the team.   For “The Yards,” their neighbors to the east, 2012 will be.  

JD has the rundown on an impressive list of retail scheduled to arrive there next year.

The lineup include Harris Teeter, the popular grocery store chain based in North Carolina, a craft brewery, Potbelly, Kruba Thai and Sushi,  Austin Grill Express, BRB (Be Right Burger) and Huey’s 24/7 Diner. 

The Yards is a public-private partnership on 42 riverside acres.  5.5M SF of mixed-use is planned with 2,800 residents, 1.8M SF of office space and 400,000 SF of retail.  The public park opened last year.

 

Catching Hell: The Steve Bartman Story

The better half and I went to see “Catching Hell” yesterday at the AFI Theater in Silver Spring.   The movie is part of SilverDocs, the theater’s seven-day international event which is in its ninth year.    We love going to AFI because it has that classic feel of going to the movies, and spares the viewers the long string of previews.

“Catching Hell” was directed and produced by Alex Gibney, who has examined the worst side of humanity in films such as “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” and “Taxi to the Dark Side.”

Baseball fans know the gist of the Bartman story but it’s worth recounting what happened that night, Game Six of the 2003 NLCS.

In the top of the eighth, Chicago led Florida 3 to 0 at Wrigley Field and were leading 3 games to 2.    The Cubs, one of the original 1876 franchises, had last won a World Series in 1908.    Excitement and anticipation filled the ballpark.    Mark Prior, their ace who had won 18 games with a 2.43 ERA (6.2 WAR), was tossing a shutout.   

With one out and Juan Pierre on second, Luis Castillo hit a foul ball down the left field line.    Bartman and a few other spectators reached for the ball.    Bartman touched the ball, which kept left fielder Moises Alou from making the potential catch.  The Cubs asked for fan interference but the umpire ruled the ball had crossed the imaginary line between the playing field and the stands.

After the incident, the Cubs imploded, giving up eight runs.   In Game Seven at Wrigley, the Cubs were leading 5 to 3 with Kerry Wood on the mound, but lost 9 to 6.   

The movie is excellent.   I hadn’t known just how hateful the fans became to Bartman, a dedicated fan and Little League coach.   The media also needs to take a long sober look at their role in stoking fan reaction.

Gibney frames his story with what happened to Bill Buckner and the psychological effects he went through after making that costly error in Game Six of the ’86 World Series.   Fortunately,  his story has a good ending.   22 years later, the BoSox fans gave him a warm welcome on Opening Day in 2008 and he threw out the ceremonial first pitch (Fred Merkle received a similar day from the Giants). 

One hopes the Cubs will one day win the World Series, and in similar fashion, welcome Steve Bartman back to Wrigley Field.   

Better yet, why wait?     This man has suffered enough.

 

Potomac Yard: Home Construction Begins

“The Place To-Be-In Metro DC.”

That’s a bold statement put out by the developers of Potomac Yard, a redevelopment project that will transform 167 acres just south of National Airport into a new urban neighborhood on Alexandria’s eastern fringe.   Residents in District neighborhoods such as DuPont Circle and the Penn Quarter would, of course, challenge the claim.

In this case, however, the boast holds a lot of weight, especially among inner suburb locations.   Let’s not forget that urban living is no longer something found only in cities, and as much as I love you DC, sometimes your island mentality is a bit too much for those of us across the river.   

Earlier this year Pulte Homes, one of two developers for Potomac Yard, opened their spiffy new sales center on the construction site’s west side, just off Route 1 and a Beach Boys’ song away from the heart of Old Town.   Curious to see inside, I visited the premises the other day.  Grace Strothers, Sales Consultant for Pulte Homes, greeted me with a smile and showed me around.

“These homes will be unique,” she said, pointing to the models.

Strothers showed me a list of the first available townhomes, indicating brisk sales.   Pulte plans to build 571 units over the next several years.

In the middle of the dusty construction site, the first of these homes are seeing their foundations poured.   The grid pattern of the streets is beginning to take shape.    The models show new names such as Annie Rose and McKenzie Avenue, which will dissect the main north to south avenues of Potomac and Main Line Boulevard.   Sidewalks will be made of pervious concrete, a new earth-friendly technology that recharges groundwater and reduces stormwater runoff.

In this brightly lit room Pulte has pulled out all the stops to impress prospective buyers.   One wall features “20 Great Accessories.”   My favorite is one of the first - “You may never join a crew team, or sail around the world, but with the Potomac River and so many marinas nearby, isn’t it nice to know you could.”

Strothers walks over to the middle of the room and points out the City’s model of “Potomac Yard Park,” a new park that promises to be one of the best in the area.    Uniquely shaped by the mile and a half long ribbon of land squeezed in between the Metro tracks and the new community, its 21 acres will include playgrounds, a performance stage, athletic courts, a canal and large fountain, and my favorite, nods to the history of the land as a train station.    

The park will also feature a multi-use trail, which should thrill area bikers and outdoor enthusiasts longing for a refreshing change to the Mount Vernon Trail.    The City hopes to break ground later this month with a late Fall 2012 completion date.

The sales center has one other feature that will capture your attention as soon as you enter, a large map of the area around Potomac Yards transposed on to the floor.  The visual makes quite a statement about Potomac Yard’s proximity to Old Town, Del Ray, Crystal City, National Airport, the Potomac River and the District.

In a glossy brochure available at the Pulte Homes Sales Center, a line says,

“It would be difficult to imagine a better location to call home in all of Metro DC.”

Once again, that’s saying a lot, but Potomac Yard holds a lot of promise.   In the coming years, it will be one of the best places to be in Metro DC.

 

Additional Reading

A New Day Dawns at Potomac Yard

 

 

 

 

 

Harper to Skip Potomac?

Speculation on when the Nationals will promote Bryce Harper has centered on the assumption the hot-hitting 18-year-old will soon be sent to Potomac, the team’s Class A-Advanced in Woodbridge (about 20 miles southwest of DC).   

It now appears that may not be the case.  Washington Post sports writer Dave Sheinin has an update:

One Nationals official said this week that the notion of moving Harper straight to Class AA Harrisburg – and skipping Potomac – is more than media speculation. Under such a scenario, Harper could essentially pull a double-shift at Hagerstown, remaining there through the period during which he would otherwise play at Potomac, before moving to Harrisburg in late summer.

Sheinen noted that the poor condition of right field in Woodbridge (Pfitzner Field), worries them, and is the main reason to move Harper to Harrisburg.  Others have noted that it will keep the Washington media away from the phenom.  

Such a move would be disappointing to Harper fans here, but quite frankly, you haven’t missed a thing if you haven’t been to the P-Nats stadium.   We went there several years ago and decided it was constructed as a tribute to aluminum.   Even the box seats were awful.  Throw in the slow-going on I-95 and the non-descript area around the ballpark and you’ve got one of the worst places I have ever been to for baseball (Way to endear your readers in Prince William County Jay)

If and when Harper does get to Harrisburg, fans in Washington will have their first opportunity to see the 2010 No. 1 overall draft pick here when the Senators come to Bowie, MD (about 15 miles east of downtown DC) on July 25, 26, and 27.   Bowie is Bird Country so Harper will no doubt hear the same boos he got from the home fans at Delmarva during the All-Star Game there last week.

Of course, he’ll hear some cheers too…     

Note: Photo by Don Pollins.

Mariners at Nationals: The Broom, then Boom

What’s that old saying?  Stick around long enough and you’ll see everything.

Well folks, what the better half and I experienced this afternoon ranks right up there.   We went to see the surging Nats take on the Mariners.  Winners of 10 of 11, the team finally reached .500 last night, that line of respectability they’ve been working so hard to get to.

Got to the ballpark, got us a burger and fries at the new Shake Shack, kicked back on the new lounge chairs at the new Boardwalk, moseyed over to the right field bleachers and took some photos of Ichiro, walked down and sat along the third base line, and watched a great pitching duel between Seattle’s flame throwing rookie Michael Pineda and veteran Jason Marquis who took a no-hitter into the sixth.

The Nats kept the mojo going by squeezing across the winning run in the bottom of the ninth, a sweet sweep of the Mariners, 11 of 12, sails full of wind, life is good.

On the ride home, we’re listening to the post-game show on the radio.  The Nats announcer drops the bombshell.   Skipper Jim Riggleman resigned after the game.

Don’t know the full story, but my initial feeling is disappointment with Riggleman.  He has left the players and the franchise in the lurch.   

What a day.  The Nats walk off with another win, then have to deal with their manager walking away from them.   

 

 

 

Military Intelligence in the Civil War

With scant knowledge on the subject, I attended a discussion last night at the International Spy Museum in downtown DC.    In front of a crowd of about 75, three speakers spoke in a program titled, “A Spy’s View of the Civil War.”

Museum historian Mark Stout led off and gave an overview.   In the years leading up to the war, the authority on military intelligence was Antoine Jomini (1779-1869).   In the “Art of War,” he layed out five areas – espionage, reconnaissance, questioning POWs, forming hypothesis and signals.  

While Civil War leaders had access to this book, intelligence gathering was still in its rudimentary stages.  Spies such as Samuel Roth were more reliable, while others, including untrained civilians, provided murky and incomplete information.   Even with first-rate intelligence, commanders were not always sure what to do with the reports, and they themselves learned on the job. 

The second speaker, William B. Feis talked about Grant.   In the beginning, he did not much care for intelligence.  After Shiloh, however, Grant took it serious, and even found the gathered information helpful at Vicksburg.

After Feis finished, James A. Davis walked to podium.  The info sheet indicated was a Director of Musicology, so I’m guessing the vast majority of us were wondering how this would play into the spy business.

Turns out Davis stole the show, receiving the first three questions during Q&A.    He fascinated the crowd with the ways in which divisions could fool the enemy with music and the role of bands and drum and fife corps.    In one case at Corinth, Mississippi, one band’s continuing performance tricked the Union into thinking the Confederate forces were still there.     While the troops escaped to the south, the band played on.

Most spies were considered low class citizens and did not always receive monies due them.    Some of the best were unsuccessful in trying to get a pension and died destitute.  Sometimes, however, they made a difference, and are worthy of being remembered. 

 

 

 

Lights Out

Apologies for being away.    Last Friday evening a thunderstorm took down some lines and trees in our neighborhood.   Got power back on Saturday, but cable and phone took much longer.   Those hard-hat crews work hard and risk their life and limb, but the communication process between them and dispatch, and the customer and central leaves a lot to be desired.  There was one crewman with Verizon who went the extra mile, so thanks to him.   

One thing that I believe would help is for these companies (Cable, Phone and Power) to establish a policy whereby the service person would leave a note on the door knob, explaining what they did.   That would not only keep the customer informed, it would cut down on the number of phone calls they have to deal with.   

On Sunday we hopped over to National Harbor to watch the final round of the U.S. Open at the National Pastime Sports Bar and Grill.   They have two big screens and showed both the Nats-O’s game and the Open.

This sports bar is not like a traditional one, and in fact it’s an odd pairing.   Convention goers and out-of-towners outnumber the locals.   The large room had plenty of patrons, but most were not attuned to the sports action, much less 106.1 FM’s live broadcast of the post-game show.   One wonders if Nats fans will eventually congregate here, but give them credit for trying to find new fans.   The food and service are good, and having such a large screen is not something you get at a place like the one at Crystal City.   

When we went to Congressional on Tuesday, one of the players we saw briefly was Rory McIlroy.   The photo I took of him wasn’t very good, but now that he has won the Open, I’ve picked it for usage here.

Having the U.S. Open here for the whole week has been great for the area.   Sports fans here no doubt covet a Super Bowl or Stanley Cup more, but in its own unique way, golf’s national championship brings something mighty special.   

The head of the USGA gave a thumbs-up for the running of this one and even said that 2026 is a possibility.   That’s a long wait and would correspond with our nation’s 250^th anniversary.    Golf’s governing body, who always tries to protect par, also said it would not ding Congressional because of the low scores.   The thunderstorms produced rain, which kept the greens from drying out and becoming slick and fast.   

Anyway, congrats to young Rory McIlroy.    Unlike what happened to us, his lights-out performance was a great thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

US Open at Congressional: TV Coverage

Get those chores done today golf fans, the tournament starts tomorrow, and if you’re watching on TV, you’ll have a lot of coverage to choose from.

From TV By the Numbers: 

“Golf Channel on NBC” will present 16 hours of live coverage this Thursday-Sunday, making the U.S. Open the only tournament with weekday network-television coverage.

Golf Channel will provide nearly 50 hours of news coverage on site from Congressional throughout the week.

Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic will be at the course providing robust coverage to its local viewers.

NBCSports.com and GolfChannel.com are teaming up to provide the most comprehensive digital coverage of the championship in their respective histories, including a simulcast of NBC’s weekday coverage.

ACTIONCAM: For the first time in its history, NBC will utilize Actioncam, an overhead cable-suspended aerial camera system, to cover the U.S. Open. It will ‘fly’ over the small lake that separates the 18th and 10th holes, providing unique, first-of-its-kind images.

 

 

The US Open at Congressional: Practice Rounds and The Golf Boys

In March 1975, a couple of friends and I were among the 5,000 or so basketball fans who piled into the Greensboro Coliseum to watch NC State, UCLA, Marquette and Kansas, the four teams to make the Final Four for the NCAA Championship.    That figure sounds paltry, but this was just to watch them practice.   Such is the vigor fans can have, the desire to see the best in action, even if it is just warming up.    

These thoughts came to me yesterday when the better half and I took in Tuesday’s practice round at Congressional.   There was no drama or roars from the galleries, but that didn’t mean no one had fun.

Because the crowds are thinner, you can get rope-side views much easier, and getting autographs and taking photos are permitted.   And unlike regular play, the players are more relaxed and engaging with the galleries.

We took Metro, hopped on the shuttle, and were let off at the number five hole.   This is not the grand, feel-the-aura, entrance I had on Sunday, but we wanted to get over to the practice range, so the walk was about ten minutes less.    (The main entrance was moved from number five, which is the shuttle drop off point for AT&T National and location of merchandise tent, due to the lack of the space there).

Guy Scheipers, a very good friend of mine, is the man in a suit who stands in front of the media tent or at other points at PGA tournaments and makes sure only those with the appropriate badge gets in.   Missed out seeing him, so thanks Bubba, and we’ll catch you next time.    

The better half loves Sergio so we walked over to 18 to see him finish up his rounds.   18 is one tough hole.    Playing from the tips, the tee box has been moved all the way back to Persimmon Tree Road, playing 525 or so.   That second shot is treacherous with water on the left and back, and bunkers on the right.   If someone has to make par to win on Sunday, it will be one tough deal.

Walking around the course, I couldn’t help but make the inevitable comparison that every golf fan is making right now.   In Tiger’s absence, what players have the magnetism?

In a way, the answer came when we got back home.   Not getting my fill from the practice round, I turned on The Golf Channel’s coverage.   They debuted "Oh, Oh, Oh," the new song from the “Golf Boys.”  The fab four are Ben Crane, Hunter Mahan, Ricky Fowler and Bubba Watson.   The video is a bit hokey, but give these guys credit for letting their hair down and reaching out to the wider audience (and proceeds go to charity).

Things will get serious on Thursday, but for these practice days, golf can be fun.

 

 

 

 

US Open at Congressional: Monday Mood

As the news that Tiger won’t be here fades away, the scribes are waiting for a new story to emerge.  The biggest story line right now is that with no favorite, it is wide open.    Barry Svrluga of the Post riffed on that last week, going as far to say that some of the top-ranked players are not very well known here in the States.      

It’s slow news Monday, so cut me slack when I observe that the two top stories for today are the gorgeous weather and Rickie Fowler, who made an unbelievable hole in one in Georgetown today.

Ok, let’s test Svrluga’s theory.

How many of the Top Ten ranked players in the world can you name?

I’ll give you a hint.  TW is not one of them.