Living in the Washington, DC sports community has its triumphs and tragedies. For every Verizon Center, as wonderful a city arena-going experience as you'll find in America, there's FedEx Field, an elephantine calamity with a postgame traffic tangle that resembles a Pennsylvania interstate following an all-night ice storm.

For every sold out Saturday night between the Capitals and Rangers, there are those mid-week ghost towns between the Capitals and Panthers where the usher to fan ratio is 2-to-1.

Like I said, there's good and bad. Take The Washington Post. On Friday, at least in my edition, it offered a firebrand column by Michael Wilbon on the NBA All-Star Game and a very good article by Barry Svrluga on the new Washington Nationals manager, Manny Acta. But the biggest sports news of the previous night was the trade of Peter Forsberg to, of all places, Nashville. This potentially historic power grab could be found in the second paragraph of a 50-word box score summary that detailed the Philadelphia Flyers' loss to Toronto. That was on Page 5; on Page 2, there was a story twice as large about a father who assaulted a youth wrestler in Illinois. I guess if the Forsberg trade had been captured on a camcorder and shown during the 11 o'clock news three nights ago, it would have earned a more prominent position in the section.

Triumphs and tragedies, fulfillment and frustration. It's all found here in D.C. sports. Please consider the following items...



ITEM: GILBERT ARENAS, EGO ZERO - Gilbert Arenas is one of these athletes whose irreverent spirit has captured the imagination of the local media; and unlike a certain Redskins running back, he hasn't had to raid a costume shop to do it.

His banter has the right doses of self-promotion and trash talk. (How can you not love a guy whose been quoted as saying "My swag was phenomenal" after a big night?) He's referred to himself as everything from an assassin to a hibachi to Agent Zero, which has become his nickname this season. He's predicted game-winning shots, called out opponents, had a public sparring session with his coach after a recent Wizards' losing streak and thrown himself a million-dollar birthday party. He goes to Las Vegas as an All-Star Game starter armed with 100 jerseys he's created that have "Agent" and his number "0" on the back. He's going to toss them into the crowd, the same way he tosses his Wizards jerseys into the crowd during the regular season. He's second in the league in scoring, and has blossomed into a true superstar this season.

But for all the hype, for all the quotes, for all the big buckets, for all the accolades, the most lasting image of Gilbert Arenas is from Game 6 of the 2006 Eastern Conference quarterfinals against Cleveland - standing at the free-throw line in overtime on his home court, with a chance to extend a 113-112 lead with 15 seconds left to play. It's an image of LeBron James walking over to Arenas before his first attempt, whispering, "If you miss these, the game's over." Two bricks and a Damon Jones basket later, and the Cavaliers had sent the Wizards out of the playoffs.

None of these trappings of fame matter if Arenas can't replace that image with a more favorable one in the playoffs this season.

Save your arm on those jerseys, Gil. Make the damn free-throws this time.

ITEM: ABE POLLIN WANTS CHARITY - Abe Pollin deserves respect and credit for funding and building the Verizon Center for $220 million about 10 years ago. Its presence has completely changed the Chinatown area of D.C., turning it into a financial engine for restaurants, bars, museums, a movie theater and an upscale bowling alley. Without the arena he built, there's no telling how dilapidated and unsafe this area still might be.

Now he's asking for $50 million of taxpayer money to renovate the arena's luxury suites and replace its scoreboard, and many fans and residents are eager to give it to him.

Nonsense, I say. Pollin took a financial risk that's paid off handsomely, because he owns the building. The Capitals games, Wizards games, college teams and concerts that fill the arena do so because of its location next to a subway station and in the heart of the city; these same events would draw significantly less had they remained in Pollin's outdated arena in the Maryland suburb of Landover.

He wants this corporate welfare for two reasons. First, because he feels having put up the money to build the arena, and with the arena having drawn so many businesses to the several blocks surrounding it, he's owed a reward from the city's taxpayers. Second, he's witnessed the city bending over backwards for the Washington Nationals to the tune of over $600 million in public funds for a new stadium in another dilapidated area of the city.

First, the city doesn't owe Pollin any more than it owes the thousands of other businesses who have helped revitalize parts of the city. There may come a time when the arena needs serious upgrades, and that's when the city should offer financial support, because there's no question that Pollin's arena has made a positive difference in D.C. But Pollin is asking for cosmetic changes to a still-new arena that will primarily serve his big-ticket clients. It's akin to a steakhouse near the Verizon Center asking the city to pay for Egyptian cotton tablecloths.

Second, the city's decision to publicly fund the Nationals' stadium was an awful one, too. What is it they say about two wrongs?

Pollin's charity work and commitment to the city are legendary. His decision to bring his arena to Chinatown has forever changed it for the better. But these are things that beg for a golden key from the mayor's office - not a blank check from taxpayers, when there are so many other ills facing the community.

And what's Pollin going to do if he doesn't get the money? Move to Virginia?



ITEM: THE EXPANSION WASHINGTON NATIONALS - Can they be considered anything else?

A team that went 71-91 last season saw Alfonso Soriano - who, at one point, was touted as the face of the franchise for years to come - leave for Chicago during the off-season. It enters spring training with one pitcher locked for the starting rotation: John Patterson, who is coming off an injury-plagued season.

He goes down, and the Nationals have about as many quality arms as the Venus de Milo.

The Nationals' new state-of-the-art ballpark in D.C. will open in 2008. They will enter it as the worst team in baseball, based on what I believe will be the final 2007 standings, thanks to an apathetic off-season that left the team with some quality bats - especially Ryan Zimmerman at third base - but little else.

I'm not sure what the franchise slogan is for this season.

May I suggest, "Everyone Gets a Mulligan"?

Or perhaps, "See You Next Spring"?

I got it: "The Expansion Nationals...Losing Baseball, Without The Added Frustration Of Peter Angelos As Your Owner."



Published on the web and www.SportsFanMagazine.com since 1997, "The Jester's Quart" is a weekly satirical look at sports, pop culture and why NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is a jackass. Columnist Greg Wyshynski is the Senior Editor for SportsFan Magazine in Washington DC, and the Senior Sports Editor for The Connection Newspapers of Northern Virginia. His book "Glow Pucks and 10-Cent Beer: The 101 Worst Ideas in Sports History" can be ordered now. Email Wyshynski at jestersquart@hotmail.com.