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Just wondering. Do people talk hockey at the water cooler there? Are there rinks and leagues at all around town? Do the schools have teams? Where do the Capitals rank in terms of following with the other DC sports teams? Thanks!
Caps have a pretty good fanbase, especially since they're a good team. They might be second most popular after the Skins, at least in the white community. DC is an awful sports town because it's so transient but the Caps have a decent fan base. If you just talked to someone on the street, most likely they could care less about the Capitols but they can at least fill an arena, mostly because the Washington-Baltimore area is so populous. I don't know that any public school in the area has a hockey team and only one kid in my whole high school that I knew of played youth hockey, compared to lots of kids playing football, baseball, basketball and soccer. Also the DC area is only about half white and the climate is a bit too mild for people to go skating on frozen ponds. There are not many ice rinks serving the area either.
Last edited by PhenomenalAJ; 05-07-2012 at 01:06 AM..
With Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins and all the Canadian teams elimiated from the Stanley Cup playoffs...and only 7 teams left....the Washington Capitals have a good shot at winning it all this year!
Caps have a pretty good fanbase, especially since they're a good team. They might be second most popular after the Skins, at least in the white community. DC is an awful sports town because it's so transient but the Caps have a decent fan base. If you just talked to someone on the street, most likely they could care less about the Capitols but they can at least fill an arena, mostly because the Washington-Baltimore area is so populous. I don't know that any public school in the area has a hockey team and only one kid in my whole high school that I knew of played youth hockey, compared to lots of kids playing football, baseball, basketball and soccer. Also the DC area is only about half white and the climate is a bit too mild for people to go skating on frozen ponds. There are not many ice rinks serving the area either.
Perspective is everything. Compared to Georgia DC is very much a hockey town. My hometown has a good minor league hockey team but there's no "hockey moms" in Georgia and only occasional is the Civic Center open for ice skating. Building a ice skating rink is one of those things that people talk about like a mythical metro line extenstion.
Whereas here there are actual ice skating rinks. Which I realize doesn't seem like much but that's a lot compared to Columbus, GA. Shucks there's even a gay skating meetup club in Arlington. So while DC doesn't hold a candle to other more northernly cities or Canada I still say its a hockey town. Also private schools do play hockey. From my understanding hockey is not a cheap sport. I know this for sure because a former coworker was a coach at Paul VI high school in Fairfax.
With that said hockey does appear to be getting more popular down south. So perhaps Georgia gals will be calling themselves hockey moms 20 years from now.
Definitely a good base.. just depends on where you go and who you talk to. There are some leagues for kids and young adults to play in.. just gotta search for them. I believe there are some in fredricksburg... but not I don't believe there is anything more than a few clubs in the schools.
But... C-A-P-S CAPS CAPS CAPS..... is all I have to say.. :-)
I only knew a couple kids who played youth hockey, both were very rich. It's definitely not a sport that everyone does like you find in the far North and in places like Michigan and Canada.
Other than the Redskins, I think Washington is a bandwagon sports town. The Capitals are popular because they're actually good. It's always easy to root for the winning team. Now the the Nationals are doing well, people in DC are cheering "Natitude!" 2 years ago when the nationals were dead last in the division people only went to their games to watch the Redsox and Yankees play against them
Other than the Redskins, I think Washington is a bandwagon sports town. The Capitals are popular because they're actually good. It's always easy to root for the winning team. Now the the Nationals are doing well, people in DC are cheering "Natitude!" 2 years ago when the nationals were dead last in the division people only went to their games to watch the Redsox and Yankees play against them
Well you have to remember too.. there are probably an abnormally large number of "transplants" in DC. Tons of people come to DC from other places for work etc... so I very often see fans of many other teams. I think for those of us born and raised... many are die hard... but it also depends on the sports you like.. because like you mentioned hockey probably isn't as popular here than it is up north.
Every city has their "bandwagon" jumpers.... true fans frown upon the "jumpers" haha.
I've always been a passive Caps fan... I never cared much for any sports until last year haha. I do recognize the sudden massive bandwagoning for the Caps though. I remember one year in high school I never saw ANYONE wearing Caps jerseys. Then they did the gigantic roster change, remade the logo and shirts and whatnot, and the next year you always saw people "rockin the red" after victories. I'm a bit more of a Caps fan now than before, and I'll admit that part of it is due to the fact that they're a lot better now and there's more of a community around them than before.
The most complex one for me has been the Nats. I never cared much for baseball but I moved here when we only had the Orioles. That was the only baseball we knew until the Nats came to town. Looking up to Cal Ripken Jr and what not haha.
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