[tws]

This is a special one, since they just announce the schedule for Insubordination Fest! I'm excited to finally get to it this year after being out of the country one year, and out of the loop another. First things first; here are The Leftovers, possibly the best band to ever emerge from the great state of Maine, playing "Dance with Me" at the Fest in '08.

Yeah, I would call The Leftovers more power-pop before pop-punk, but I think they fall in with that crowd because they act goofy and wear Chucks. Whatever works for them.

Here are some of the highlights coming to Insub Fest next month, by stage and time, as far as I'm concerned. If I'd be stupid to miss any of the bands I didn't highlight, feel free to tell me bluntly.

Insubordination Fest 2010 (Day 1)

[tws]



Note: I wrote this while on borrowed computer time in Austria a day or two after hearing about the Caps' game 7 loss, so it's slightly outdated, but all of the points I make here are still relevant. For the record, seeing the Penguins go down in flames against the Canadiens was pretty sweet, and watching the Bruins completely choke against the Flyers put our loss into perspective, but I didn't want to go back and rewrite anything. Hope you like it, and if you agree or disagree with me, let me know in the comments!

To be clear, Im not HAPPY that the Caps blew it against a fairly meager Canadiens squad. But in honor of the mighty quest for the Holy Grail that is a silver lining, i felt compelled to sit down and write why, when we look back at all of this, the combination of horrible letdowns that led to this major one isn't going to kill us, and provided that upper management learns from this properly, ultimately be a great thing.

As a disclaimer, I'm not one of these lifelong Caps fans who yelled at Dale Hunter, Rod Langway, Dennis Maruk, and other 'stached heroes of the cocaine era. But, I'm also not on of these fairweather, ignorant Caps fans that our GED-holding buddies over at the Pensblog keep claiming to meet over and over randomly. I became a fan right after moving to DC in 2005, when pundit after pundit flapped their gums about how a young Russian named Alex Ovechkin was the only reason to watch this team. On certain nights, it was. But the team, despite finishing in the cellar both that year and the year that followed, won my heart through a fun style of play and a genuine, unique base of hockey fans in what most said "just wasn't a hockey town." My main thought was 'who gives a sh#t?' One of things I always loved about being a hockey fan in America is because one has to MAKE it their game, because we have baseball and American Football shoved down our throats by every mainstream sports outlet from the moment we're old enough to sit up to watch either on TV.

Within a couple of years, however, the Caps were no longer also-rans. In fact, combined with the somehow-simultaneous internal combustion of the Nationals, the Wizards, and the Redskins, the Caps became the hottest ticket in town. I'll never forget the intense surge of pride I felt in 2008 during that cinderella run to the playoffs that culminated with what I feel was the only good first-round series the Caps have played since I've been a fan (More on that later).



Now, my coworkers were all asking me about the Caps and looking up Ovi's stats on their own. They still had a place in their heart for the Redskins, but Dan Snyder's bullshit had just reached a fever pitch and it looked like a lot of their battered-wife-like fans were finding solace in the arms of a new man or something like that bizarre analogy.

Now, here is the crossroads that we as Caps nation are standing facing. Despite being ridiculously dominant in the regular season, we have yet to prove on any level that we can make it work in the post-season. The Rangers basically spoon-fed us that comeback victory last year due to incompetant play from a number of their top forwards and hilariously inept coaching from John Tortorella (how the hell that guy has a cup - with the Bolts, no less - is beyond me). Observe. (Also, I fucking love Matt Bradley).

The only time the Caps really played to their potential during the postseason was during that series against the Flyers, and I feel like it was because nobody was expecting us to excel that year. But, if Joffrey Lupul hadn't potted that OT goal in game 7, who knows how far we could have gone. Same thing with Tom Poti basically scoring two OT goals (for the Pens against his own goalie) in round 2 last year. I've never looked at any team the Caps have faced, playoffs or regular season, as someone we couldn't have beaten, but they've still found ways to mess it up.

But, I'm never going to give up on this team, unless they give me a legitimate reason to. Plenty of "fans" may jump ship, and I say do it, do it, do it. We don't need you. Sure, Ted Leonsis may need your dollars and season ticket packages, but I'd rather watch the team win triumphantly in front of 20,000 than lose in heartbreaking fashion in front of 27,000. I love you for taking your time off of reading your 829th analysis of the pros and cons of the Skins keeping Jason Campbell around for yet another year, but it does lend credence to so many other fanbases' (both those who do and don't have a right to talk shit) claims that the Caps have a huge fairweather fanbase who will drop the team the second the Redskins complete a hail-mary pass.

DC isn't known as a town of Champions. In fact, it's known as quite the opposite. Think Philadelphia or Cleveland, but with more of a white collar, "the man" stereotype about it. But, DC fans do devote themselves with unfettered passion to these teams, no matter how well they do in the standings or the postseason (if any are lucky to make it that far). That makes no difference to the ownership, however, who get away with murder because their fans let them. Given the way the last few years have been for the Caps, I'm terrified that Ted will take a page from the Dan Snyder playbook of horrible team management and begin placing profits before the fans. We are already seeing this manifested in the 80 billion Ovechkin jerseys at every game, a DVD box set of the Caps' 10 greatest games, and bestselling books by both Leonsis and Bruce Boudreau.

Like a lot of concerned Caps fans on here, I didn't support (and still don't) that box set, for reasons relevant to my main argument. We don't have a Cup. That Box Set was the organization taking advantage of the fans' fever pitch after nearly beating the Penguins last year. Never mind the fact that we let ourselves get embarrassed in game 7 by Whiny McFuckface and his goalie pal, Dave Grohl. Caps fans, much like Redskins fans, are proving the adage that BS sells; and we're buying.

As atrocious and obnoxious as Pittsburgh fans can be, they have earned the right to talk shit, as hard as that was for me to type now. Pens fans, Steelers fans, and even Pirates fans, don't let their organizations get away with it when they try to pull wool over their eyes. That is why, to put the Redskins comparisons to rest, DC will play second fiddle until we start treating our teams similarly and holding them to task. Many of the top Caps blogs have been doing a good job of that, but it isn't enough. If anyone is willing to pass this along, now that we've taken the Sharks' "Presidents' Trophy Curse" away from them (much like when OJ took Ike Turner's title of King of the Woman Beaters... thanks Chris Rock!), I have just a few simple thoughts.

Tone down this 'Rock the Red' bullshit. Yes, it's a mantra that was fun to get behind when the Caps got rid of those godawful Gold and Navy Blue and Christwhatterribledesigns jerseys, but now whenever I hear somebody say 'Rock the Red,' it either makes me slightly cringe, or it makes me angry because it's someone who doesn't like the Caps saying it ironically, making fun of what they perceive as a sheepish fanbase.

We need to stop giving Ovie passes when he acts out. I'm not going to sit here and write about how he's the best professional athlete alive (which he is), but just like anywhere in the world, being a prima donna for 5 minutes get as much attention as scoring 100 points in a season. And as a Caps fan who constantly has to look at Cindy Crapsby's smarmy, unlikeable face and listen to how he's a better player because he's won a couple more things than Ovechkin, all I want is for Alex to take the high road, stop retreating into the Semin-like cocoon, and be the superstar he was a year and a half ago when pundits and more pundits were flapping their gums about how much better he was than Crosby. Because there can be no doubt about that.

Speaking of Semin, I'm really skeptical that this dude will ever play a key role in bring a Cup to this organization. He and his boy Ilya Kovalchuk both appear doomed to be spectacular, 40-goal scorers who fade as soon as the trees budding outside. These last two playoff years have been completely unacceptable for both Sasha and Mike Green, for reasons I'm sure people on the interwebs have been speculating about endlessly. Watching the 'Other Alex' making some of the NHL's top defenders look like they don't BELONG in the NHL will never get old, but come trade time next year, Jizz may just have to be that big weight that gets weeded out and traded for solid defense.

When the writers at Pensblog take a long enough break from inhaling Cheez Whiz and watching Priya Rai videos long enough to write something this nice about anyone on the Caps, you can't not take it seriously... 'Dude's a Machine. The Caps should trade Semin and sign him to an unlimited contract.' Seriously. People asked when they saw my Backström T-Shirt why they didn't know much about him. Simple, I said, it's because Nicky's the thinking fans favorite kind of player: he shuts the fuck up and gets pucks in the net. And watching his performance in game 2 of the Montreal series, there could be little doubt that he has become the 3rd best player in the league behind Ovechkin and Crosby. Resigning him and treating him like a franchise player should be a major priority, but George McPhee and Ted Leonsis both knew that, inking him to a long-ass deal yesterday.

If this organization fails to take advantage to the ridiculously great core of young players they've amassed as a byproduct of righting the miserable failures of Ted's first five years in charge, then I won't know what to think. But like every other blog admits, the Caps aren't going anywhere. This isn't a team that arbitrarily decides to have a good season or not ('Canes) or a flash in the pan (I hate to say it, but Coyotes). They're still a young, fairly consistent team that is being forced to be patient and learn from their mistakes. Truth be told, there are only two guys on the team older than me (27) who I would be crushed to see depart (Bradley and Mike Knuble).

Clearly, to have greatness expected of you isn't the best thing come playoff time. I had that bad gut feeling going into that series with Montreal. But, this team still manages to constantly amaze me, and I still feel like they're the best team I've ever rooted for in any sport (short of possibly the Orange in 2003, for obvious reasons).

Alright, that's about all I have to say about that. Go Hawks, I guess (though I'll be so hair-rippingly jealous if Kane n' Toews get the cup before Ovi and Backs), and let's move on.

Pop-Punk Tuesday! Sorry I didn't keep my promise to do this every week (I never do, on the internet at least). But what better way to reinaugurate PPT with the founders of the feast? We saw them in DC with the Dollyrots opening for them last week, and I must say, those 50-somethings can still rock it out. Here's a great clip of them shortly after they invented pop-punk in the mid-70's. Hope you like it! Because you probably should.