Photo: CBS News
March 26, 2012
Ceci Ferrara
Sports Writer
Sports Insider
This season has been up and down, not only for the Caps as a whole but for their star player, Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin’s leadership capabilities came under fire earlier in the season, and he was fingered as a contributing factor to former coach Bruce Boudreau’s release. Teammate and Capitals goalie Olie Kolzig told the Washington Post in February that his captain had lost some of his work ethic and needed to work on it if he hoped to be his old self again. “He just has to get back to being the way he was in his younger days and maybe not get wrapped up too much in the rock star status that comes with being Alex Ovechkin,” said Kolzig.
And it seems, in recent days, he has gotten back there. Ovechkin has single handily produced nine goals in seven games, which is almost half of the entire team’s offensive output. His resurgence has coincided nicely with the team’s desperate hunt for a playoff spot. Unfortunately, despite their star player’s welcome return to form, the rest of the team has not caught up yet, winning just three of their last seven games and unable to move past second place in their division.
With just six regular season games left, the Caps will face the surging Sabres Tuesday night in a key showdown. Both teams are vying for the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot, and Buffalo will be a tough opponent, having gone 6-2 in their last eight games. But it seems as though Ovechkin has his eyes on the prize. In an interview with ESPN’s Lindsay Czarniak, Ovechkin said all he cares about is winning the Stanley Cup – something that has evaded him in his almost 10-year career with the Capitals. “For me, the most important thing right now is to win the Stanley Cup,” Ovechkin said. “It’s not to score 60 goals; it’s not to score 100 points. The only thing is the Cup.”
The first step is making the playoffs – so let’s hope old Ovie is here to stay.
PGA Tour
It’s been 923 days, or 30 months, or two and a half years since Tiger Woods has won a PGA Tour event. Over two years since we have seen him first pump in his signature red polo and hold a trophy above his head. For those that may never win a PGA tour event, that may not seem that long, but for the previous No. 1 golfer in the world and his fans, it seems like an eternity.
On Sunday, Woods finally looked like his old self throughout the entire tournament, not just parts of it. He led entering the final round and held off challengers over the final 18 holes to win the by five strokes. There was no last minute choke that plagued him at events, nor was there a sidelining injury. He was simply good again.
He described his win simply as “pure joy,” words we haven’t heard uttered from the golfer in a long, long time. Some of his contenders believe he’s the same as before. “To me, it was the old Tiger back, the guy I remember,” fellow golfer Ernie Els said. Yet one win does not a champion golfer make. Woods did not get famous because he won one event on the PGA tour. He became famous because he won again and again and again.
Of course, the hype now is that Woods is the favorite to win the Masters that begins next week, an event he’s won four times before. There’s no doubt that his win at Arnold Palmer has boosted his confidence and comfort level, but it seems premature to name him the favorite (or anyone really), as there hasn’t been a definitive leading force on the tour all year.
What matters right now isn’t if Woods will win or not, but whether he’s a serious contender once again.
