A repeat

We all have movies and episodes of favorite television shows we've seen too many times. We have them memorized. We say the lines before they say them. Sadly, that's kind of how I've become with the Nats.

I met an old friend at the ballpark who was there with his girlfriend. I'd not met her before. After gathering at The Bullpen, we headed over. I gave them a nickel tour and then we settled in for some baseball. They're Cubs fans by the way. That's normally a deal-breaker but I'll let it slide with these two.

During the game, I correctly predicted way too many things. I was even humming the at-bat music before it started (I'm kind of a freak about at-bat music). I just wish I'd been wrong. Up 4-0? Not enough. The Nats never seem to take advantage of their chances. The Cubs get two gift-wrapped runners and Soriano hits one that bounces off my car. The Nats load the bases in back-to-back innings and get one run. Story of our lives.

Here's the problem. I hate, hate, hate to just sit and rant without offering some smidge of a suggestion. Don't complain if you don't have a solution and all that. I just don't know what to suggest. What else can be done? I'm real eager to see what Rizzo comes up with in the next few weeks. What is fair value for some of these guys?

I haven't voted yet in my current poll but I'm leaning toward blow it all up and start over. There's a handful of players I'd like to keep around - two of them have last names that start with Z, one with F for example - but I'm at the point where I'll keep an open mind about almost anything.

Five years in. Five years in, I repeat. And this team is a very real threat not to win 50 games. Is anyone confident there are 24 wins left in that bunch?

Has Strasburg been signed yet?

A couple of other things:

*The "new" intro video isn't bad. My friend was quite right. If you never saw the old one, this one is just fine. But if you did? Old one was much better. They managed to get Nyjer Morgan in there and a reliever I assume is Sean Burnett. So let's get Riggleman involved. He IS the manager, though after this start he may prefer that very few people know that. Brooks and Dunn sing about working on my next broken heart. You think IJ is already scanning the standings to see where he can go next year to manage for half a season?

*Tried one of the Freddy Flintstone ribs again last night. Are they supposed to be cold? Overall, it was much better. Huge and mostly meat, little fat. One side was overcooked to the point of crispiness. The other side was a lot bigger and a lot better.

*Took forever to get out of the stadium and out of the lot last night, the worst I've experienced. I've been there with bigger crowds and breezed. Not sure what was going on.