Washington

Perspective | Sean Doolittle and Eireann Dolan are living their D.C. statehood advocacy

Published

2 years ago

August 27, 2022

Perspective | Sean Doolittle and Eireann Dolan are living their D.C. statehood advocacy

Remark

Sean Doolittle is from New Jersey and Eireann Dolan, his spouse, grew up exterior Chicago. However don’t get them going about the truth that the 689,000 or so residents of the District of Columbia haven’t any voting illustration in Congress.

“It’s a life and dying difficulty,” Dolan mentioned. “I do know that sounds dramatic, however …”

“Once I discuss to my household and buddies or whoever about it — people who aren’t from right here — it’s like typically the voting half doesn’t totally hit, proper?” Doolittle mentioned. “As a result of of their heads, individuals are like, ‘Okay, what are the implications of that?’”

This isn’t manufactured emotion. They’re dwelling it. Doolittle is eternally a member of the 2019 World Collection champion Washington Nationals. However the baseball life is nomadic, and he doesn’t know the place he’ll pitch subsequent season after he recovers from the elbow surgical procedure that shut down his 2022.

However that is now about their dwelling metropolis — and a charity occasion to assist help its individuals, which we’ll get to. Doolittle mentioned all this Friday, sitting on the sofa adjoining to Dolan, who folded her ft underneath herself in a chair in the lounge of the Capitol Hill rowhouse that they had moved into solely earlier that week. Their rescue canines Fiadh — an Irish phrase meaning wild deer — and Rooney scuttled about, making themselves obtainable for scratches. For a lot of the Nationals, a few of September shall be spent packing rented residences and homes to maneuver again to wherever they name dwelling. Doolittle and Dolan are dwelling, as a result of no matter occurs with Sean’s baseball profession, they’re householders who will spend their offseasons in Washington, D.C., for the foreseeable future.

“We simply fell in love with town,” Doolittle mentioned.

How would Ted Leonsis run the Nationals? Let’s have a look at his observe document.

That affection grew earlier than the midseason 2017 commerce that made him a Nationwide. It developed throughout offseason trip visits right here, again when Doolittle was an Oakland Athletic, earlier than he had any concept he would turn out to be an all-star for Washington, earlier than he might envision posting a 1.74 ERA over 9 appearances within the 2019 postseason, together with the 4 outs that closed out Recreation 1 of the World Collection and the 2 outs that buttoned up Recreation 6.

“Any time we did enterprise exterior of the Nationwide Mall and the Smithsonian, we had been like, ‘That is superb,’” Dolan mentioned. “It’s a kind of issues the place individuals go to on their eighth-grade journey or no matter, they usually see what we noticed, which is the Nationwide Mall and the monuments and the Smithsonian museums. However there’s a lot extra to town.”

Thus, their choice to promote their place exterior Chicago and purchase within the District, the place they eloped on the Mall on the day after the 2017 season. As a result of they’re civic minded, Dolan and Doolittle have adopted not solely town, however the metropolis’s points. Statehood — or at the least voting illustration in Congress — is among the many most necessary. Their curiosity isn’t performative. It’s passionate.

“It’s a human rights difficulty,” Dolan mentioned. “It’s about environmental justice. It’s about racial justice.”

An hour-long dialog lined the District of Columbia Natural Act of 1801, which positioned D.C. underneath the management of Congress. It lined Washington’s uniqueness amongst different capitals of democratic international locations; the residents of London, Paris and Brussels all have voting rights, due to course they do. It lined the issue of getting individuals from different states to first perceive, after which to care, that almost 700,000 of their fellow residents don’t have the identical governmental illustration as the remainder of the nation. It lined the concept it was simpler to suppress a metropolis that was, till a decade in the past, majority Black.

“For a very long time, at the least previously 50, 60 years in all probability, the demographics of town had been a motive that they had been — not thinly veiled — saying, ‘That’s why they’re not getting statehood,’” Doolittle mentioned. “Whether or not they thought that the Black inhabitants and the residents right here couldn’t deal with working the District, or that they had been like, ‘That’s mechanically going to be two electoral votes to the Democrats.’

“Whichever manner that they wished to go, the demographics of town had been completely a motive — and it’s racism — why they didn’t wish to entertain statehood.”

They communicate the language. They dwell the language. And so when DC Vote, a corporation that promotes voting illustration and statehood for the District, reached out to the Nationals to get in contact with Doolittle, he and Dolan had been thrilled. Monday night time, they’ll host an occasion known as “Artwork Drives Statehood” on the Atlas Theater on H Road NE, supporting each DC Vote and a studio known as Artwork Permits, which offers alternatives for artists with disabilities to make, market and promote their very own work. (Tickets are $51. Get it?)

The occasion is an ideal match for Doolittle and Dolan not solely as a result of it helps statehood, however as a result of Dolan’s older brother is autistic. Drawing — elaborate, intricately detailed portraits of all the things from Buddha to a baseball stadium — is therapeutic for him.

“That is such a great connection for us,” Dolan mentioned.

Will D.C. turn out to be a state? Explaining the hurdles to statehood.

Anybody from the District, Maryland or Virginia is acquainted with D.C.’s license plates, which now are adorned with the slogan “Finish Taxation with out Illustration,” an replace from the older “Taxation with out Illustration.” At Monday’s occasion, artists with disabilities will unveil their interpretations for a brand new “Statehood” license plate.

“Artwork is storytelling,” Dolan mentioned. “It’s telling a private story, a private historical past and expertise. I believe that’s why it’s a really cool alternative to share the story for the disabled artists of D.C. to inform their story. I believe the license plate artwork will replicate their expertise of dwelling right here.”

Sean Doolittle’s left arm continues to be in a brace, and his contributions to the Nationals for the remainder of the season shall be restricted to entering into for rehab when the workforce is dwelling, maybe sharing some knowledge gained from 11 huge league seasons and 463 huge league appearances. He turns 36 subsequent month, and regardless of the baseball future holds, he definitely has extra video games behind him than forward.

However even when his contributions to the Nationals are over, it seems like his contributions to Washington are simply starting.

“We’re making an attempt to humanize it to attach with individuals so it may be considerably relatable,” Doolittle mentioned. “You’re not going to promote individuals by speaking about lobbyists. I believe the factor that we related with town a lot is individuals have a lot satisfaction — civic satisfaction — about dwelling in D.C.”

Welcome dwelling, Eireann and Sean. Let’s go get the vote.

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Washington

What Gonzaga’s Mark Few said after win vs. Washington State

Published

4 hours ago

January 12, 2025

Press Room

What Gonzaga’s Mark Few said after win vs. Washington State

The Gonzaga men’s basketball team pulled away from Washington State for an 88-75 victory in the first meeting between the in-state rivals in over a decade.

Graham Ike led the way with 21 points on 8-for-11 from the field, Nolan Hickman added 19 points and the Bulldogs (14-4, 5-0 WCC) earned their fifth straight win to open league play by putting the Cougars (13-5, 3-2 WCC) away early in the second half. After ending the first half on an 8-2 scoring run, the Zags came out of the second half with a sense of urgency on both ends, sparking a 15-5 scoring run to make it a double-digit margin.

Here’s what Gonzaga head coach Mark Few had to say after the game.

On what he told the team at halftime that led to the strong start to the second half:

“I just told them, ‘hey, we’re in a we’re in a battle. It’s a great game. Both teams are competing really hard, and we’re at our best when we’re in attack mode.’ And they did a great job of taking the message and I thought we really went out and turned defense into offense, and we knew that was going to be a big key for us. [The Cougars] are hard to guard, they’re big and they’re physical, and [WSU coach David Riley] does a really lot of nice stuff on on offense that exploits mismatches. But our guys battled tonight, so I was really proud of them.”

On the team’s performance while Ryan Nembhard was on the bench for the final 9 minutes of the first half:

“They played great. I told them that in the locker room that that was huge. We haven’t really had to do that all year. And this guy [Nolan Hickman] stepped up. He was amazing tonight. I mean, seven boards … defensively in there, battling in the post. I mean, he did a lot of stuff that, as I said, he’s now, he set a high standard, so kind of be counting on that moving forward, but he and Dusty [Stromer] both really helped during that stretch and [Khalif Battle] and obviously having Ben [Gregg] and then Graham was rock solid all night.”

On the team’s effort on the defensive end of the floor in the second half:

“I thought our effort and our making plays, I thought it was definitely up there [with the best of the season], and just the physicality that it took. Because, again, they’re so much bigger than us at several of those spots. And again, you just don’t see the post-up thing like this, where your guards are getting constantly posted. But so in that way, we fought, we were physical and kind of had to navigate our way through a lot of different actions. There’s staggers and some curls and some switches and all that. For the most part, we did pretty good.”

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Washington

Washington Nationals Agree to Terms With Former All-Star Reliever

Published

12 hours ago

January 11, 2025

Press Room

Washington Nationals Agree to Terms With Former All-Star Reliever

The Washington Nationals have continued to invest into the pitching staff with another free agency move on Saturday.

Shared on social media, the Nationals announced that they had agreed to terms with relief pitcher Jorge Lopez on a one-year contract. That deal will be worth $3 million plus incentives per Jon Heyman.

This is the third pitcher that Washington has signed this offseason, with Michael Soroka brought in as a free agent and Trevor Williams receiving a new deal to say.

They also added another reliever, Evan Reifert, as a Rule 5 draft pick from the Tampa Bay Rays.

Lopez made headlines last year with his infamous exit from the New York Mets. He caused a stir after a loss when he referred to himself as ‘the worst teammate on the worst team in baseball.’

For a lot of players, that might spell an end to the season. The fastball-heavy reliever was able to bounce back. He was released and then signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs.

The 31-year-old came back from controversy as strong as ever, posting a 2.03 ERA over the final 26.2 innings of work.

With the loss of Kyle Finnegan, Lopez makes sense as a potential replacement at closer. He does have some closing experience, but has not been his main role for much of his career.

That season, 2022, was the year he made his first and only All-Star team.

He is a ground ball machine that loves to force bad contact. Keeping him in a situational role could also be a smart idea, given that he struggles against lefties.

No matter how he is used, this is another good signal that the Nationals don’t want to throw any season away.

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Washington

Michigan basketball vs. Washington prediction: Can U-M stay undefeated in Big Ten?

Published

22 hours ago

January 11, 2025

Press Room

Michigan basketball vs. Washington prediction: Can U-M stay undefeated in Big Ten?

For Michigan basketball, the recent West Coast trip went about as well as hoped.

The No. 24 Wolverines (12-3, 4-0 Big Ten) picked up a pair of double-digit wins against the Big Ten’s Los Angeles-based teams — topping USC, 85-74, last Saturday and then defeating No. 21 UCLA, 94-75, Tuesday night as wildfires raged a few miles away — and now return home looking to make it three consecutive wins against league newcomers, welcoming Washington (10-6, 1-4) to Ann Arbor on Sunday afternoon (2 p.m., Big Ten Network).

The Huskies’ first trip to the Midwest hasn’t started well; they were dog-walked by Michigan State in East Lansing, 88-54, on Thursday. U-W trailed by 29 points at the half (42-13) and by more than 40 points in the second half (82-41 with less than five minutes to play) in an utter annihilation.

After two tight wins in conference play — by three points over Wisconsin and two over Iowa — U-M has won four games in a row by double digits and could make it five straight, with one of the bottom teams in the Big Ten coming to town.

Great Osobor with not-so-great help

U-Dub forward Great Osobor made headlines this offseason when he transferred from Utah State to Washington (following head coach Danny Sprinkle) for a then-record NIL deal worth $2 million.

Apparently, money doesn’t buy wins, because while Osobor has been decent, it hasn’t been nearly enough for the Huskies.

The senior leads the Huskies in scoring (13.8 points per game) and rebounding (8.4) but his efficiency has taken a large drop, as he has shot just 45% from the floor on 3s after hitting at least 57.7% in each of his first three college seasons. Some of that might be attributable to his increased 3-point tries — after attempting just 18 3s (and making four, for a 22.2% success rate) in his first 104 games, he has 14 3-point tries in 16 games this season (with only two makes, a 15.3% rate). More concerning is his 2-point shooting percentage: After hitting 59.1% last season, he’s at 47.7% inside the arc this season.

He has scored in double figures in 11 games with the Huskies, though much of his success came in a weak nonconference schedule. Though he put up 20 points and 14 rebounds vs. Maryland, he had just nine points and three boards vs. USC and a combined 15 points and eight rebounds vs. Illinois and MSU.

Sophomore guard Tyler Harris (Portland) is next at 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while freshman point guard Zoom Diallo, a top-50 recruit according to 247 Sports’ composite rankings, averages 10.8 points per contest for Sprinkle’s team.

Overall, U-Dub is simply not up to Big Ten standard. On defense, the Huskies are No. 7 nationally in limiting 3-pointers (28%) and No. 69 in efficiency (99.9), per KenPom, but on offense, the Huskies are No. 149 in efficiency (107.4), No. 201 in 2-point shooting (50.1%) and No. 240 on 3s (32%).

Depth on display

The Wolverines, meanwhile, continue to flex their depth and balance with each passing game.

Michigan just defeated UCLA by 19 on the road and did so by scoring 94 points (the most a Mick Cronin team has ever allowed at home) without perhaps its most proven guard: Roddy Gayle Jr. (knee bruise) missed Tuesday’s game vs. the Bruins. U-M coach Dusty May said then it was too early to say if he’d play Sunday.

“Long-term health is priority No. 1 for us,” May said. “But I would say he’ll be back relatively soon.”

Gayle is one of five U-M players scoring in double figures for May in his first season in Ann Arbor. After putting up a career-high 36 points vs. the Bruins, center Vlad Goldin now leads the Wolverines at 15.8 points per game. Point guard Tre Donaldson (13.1 points) is next while Danny Wolf, Goldin’s frontcourt partner, averages a double-double at 12.5 points and 10.2 rebounds per game.

All three had standout games on the trip; Wolf started the L.A. double-dip becoming just the third NCAA player in more than 20 years with at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and six blocks, and Donaldson made a career-high four 3-pointers vs. USC, then topped it with six vs. UCLA.

And then there’s Gayle (12.4 points) and Nimari Burnett (10.5 points), who are both shooting better than 50% from the floor. Every starter has led the team in scoring at least once this season, a major reason U-M leads the country in 2-point shooting (62%) and effective field goal percentage (60.2%).

“I mean numbers don’t lie,” Donaldson said. “We’re shooting over 60% inside the arc, I mean just continuing to do that. We got big guys out here … with Danny doing what he does in and out. It’s hard to guard. Nobody’s seen nothing like that before.”

Prediction for Michigan basketball vs. Washington

The Wolverines’ outlook is worlds away from a year ago, when it was often U-M on the wrong side of the talent and coaching ledger. U-M is better than Washington in every facet. As long as the Wolverines don’t have a horrendous shooting night, or commit an egregious number of turnovers (they’re 16th nationally, at 15.2 per game), they just have too much talent and depth for U-Dub to slow down. The pick: U-M 88, Washington 68.

Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

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