WASHINGTON—If there was ever a spot for a good conspiracy theory, why not start it in Washington, D.C.? After all, this is the city where they eat a good conspiracy theory for breakfast. They invented all that stuff here, for crying out loud.
Better yet, Washington and conspiracy theories are a cottage industry within itself. How many books or movies have been produced about the shadowy elements of our government? Washington and conspiracies go hand in hand.
So while standing in line to wait for the Secret Service to search through my belongings, I broached the subject of the timing of the announcement of the Eagles’ trade of Donovan McNabb to the Redskins with a few employees of the Phillies, who will remain nameless. No, they didn’t believe it was a conspiracy, per se, but the timing was questionable.
Why else would the Eagles announce the biggest trade in their history at 8:30 p.m. on Easter Sunday the day before the Phillies were to begin their season with the pitcher acquired in the biggest trade in recent team history on the mound?
And oh yeah, the President of the United States was also going to be at the Phillies’ game, too.
Still, the idea that the Eagles would release huge news just so it would trump the Phillies seems silly. It’s like a petty stunt a fifth-grader would pull if he found out a classmate had the coolest Power Ranger or something. Besides, don’t the Eagles come out of that situation looking worse if it were the case?
“They’ll say otherwise, but there is no question they did this on purpose,” said a Phillies’ employee.
The Eagles’ brass on declared themselves the, “gold standard” amongst franchises in sports, which is curious thing considering they are now in their 50th season without a championship. To make such a proclamation doesn’t team have to win it all at least once?
Better yet, shouldn’t the so-called “gold standard” be above such petty jealousies?
“It killed them when we won it,” a Phillies employee said. “They thought it was going to be them, but we got it done first.”
Coincidentally, some of the sports fans in D.C. suggested that the timing of the trade was the Redskins’ attempt to steal some of the spotlight away from the Capitals, who had just set the franchise for wins a few hours earlier. The Caps also are running away with the Eastern Conference title and appear to be poised to make a legit run at the Stanley Cup, which is a big deal around these parts.
However, the thing about the sports scene in D.C. is that if a player for the Redskins stubs a toe, it’s big news. Still, that doesn’t remove notion that the ‘Skins aren’t above upstaging the other teams in the city. In fact, the day that the Nationals signed top draft pick Stephen Strasburg, the Redskins felt as if that was the perfect time to release some minor quarterback news.
The funny part about it all is that apparently some believe sports fans have the time and appetite for just one sports story a day. Given the landscape of the digital news world, nothing could be further from the truth. Just because the Eagles made a trade with the Redskins it does not mean the Phillies’ Opening Day game will go unnoticed.
Just look at the media landscape as if it were the most opulent buffet in Las Vegas—you can have as much as whatever you want.
Or you could just choose to ignore it all… especially the part about there being some sort of a conspiracy.