Good practice for trivia night

So this quiz was pretty fun and very informative - I'll admit I didn't do too spectacularly, although I was able to correctly match the list of famous memorials to their criticisms.
Enjoy!

DC History quiz

Fight for Ol' DC!

The beloved Redskins currently stand at 1-2 after a defeat to the abysmal Lions…. Oh the Humanity! How can it be that a once dominant team has fallen so far? For me there is just one team and that is the Chicago Bears because they are the greatest and T formation and 1985 and Ditka and Monsters of the Midway. I need no elaboration. With that caveat, if there is one thing a Bears fan respects it is tradition—something that struggling Skins have aplenty.



Owner George Preston Marshall moved the team to Washington in 1937 after failing to draw fans in Boston. Head coach Ray Flaherty set out for Texas to recruit a young rookie quarterback out of TCU, Sammy Baugh for $8,000. In a time when the forward pass was used infrequently, Baugh was an odd choice for a quarterback, but his arm would change the way football was played, and he became known as Slingin’ Sammy. When the Redskins attended their first practice in Fairlawn Park in Anacostia, over a 1,000 fans showed up to cheer on their powerful linesmen. By August of 1937, the Redskins had their own volunteer marching band and even a fight song, “Hail to the Redskins” written by Marshall’s second wife and silent film star Corinne Griffith. Yet, Flaherty knew that the Redskin’s welcome would soon ware thin if they could not deliver out on the gridiron. Before the first game he told his team that if they wanted to keep their jobs they had to go out there and win.

And win they did, earning their first championship that season defeating the Bears at Wrigley Field 28-21. George “Papa Bear” Halas’s team did not take well to losing at home, and before long one the first NFL rivalries ignited. For the Redskins the success ’37 meant that Flaherty and his team had found a home.

As for the rivalry, payback came the following year later, when the Bears smashed the Redskins 31-7. After the game Halas commented to the Redskins, “That’s too bad, girlies…What say we all go down to the corner for a double banana split and a fistful of chocolate éclairs?” Ouch. That’s harsh, Papa Bear.

The Redskins let their hatred simmer until they teams met again in 1940. Both teams struggled back and forth, when finally the Redskins claimed a 7-3 victory, won by an ankle tackle by running back Dick Todd, stopping the Bears at the one yard line. It was three weeks until the Championship game. Marshall predicted that should the Bears play the Redskins for the championship, they’d have to win big or not win at all. As if fated, the teams would indeed meet for the championship at Griffith Stadium (at Georgia Ave and W Street, NW). Taking Marshall’s words to heart the Bears unleashed a fury, ending the game with a 73-0 victory over the Redskins (who unlike the current Lions, were playing in the championship—the Redskins were no shabby team). The score still stands as the largest margin of victory in NFL history.

Admittedly, this has turned out to be biased posting on the prowess of the Chicago Bears, but I find myself incapable of singing the praises of another team. But cheer up Redskins fans you still have: 5 championships, 3 Superbowl titles, the NFL first marching band, and the first NFL fight song. So when times get tough, think about Slingin’ Sammy and the championship in 1937, and the later days with Coach Gibbs. You have tradition! Now get out there and beat your current rival the Cowboys, whom you play in seven weeks!

Sources: Redskins: A History of Washington’s Team.

Redskin’s Homepage.

Sports Encyclopedia.

Washington Senators: Die Hard

Ah, baseball in DC. The Nationals open their beautiful stadium for the season on Monday. However, at 0-5, the Nats are the only team in the National League without a win, and look to be working on another hard-to-watch season. So, that makes this the perfect time to write about a team that isn't terrible, because they no longer exist: The Washington Senators.

Several incarnations of the Senators have come and gone in the last 130 years. Originally, the Senators (known alternately as the Nationals or Statesmen) were a National League team from 1891-1899, playing at Boundary Field. The Senators had an appropriately miserable winning percentage (the team to beat of the era: The Boston Beaneaters) and when the NL cut four teams at the end of 1899, the Senators were among those eliminated.

Two years later, the Senators were reborn, this time as one of the founding teams of the American League. The new Senators, however, were as bad as the previous incarnation. After going 38-113 in 1904, as will happen to terrible teams, the owners decided to change the name to the "Nationals." Local people and newspapers seem to have ignored this change, however, and continued to refer to the team as the Senators. Making it easier to ignore the name change, the team wore only a "W" on their jerseys throughout most of the following era. In the ensuing years, the Senators/Nationals continued to dominate the bottom of the standings (though in 1908 they managed to edge out both the Boston Doves and the Brooklyn Superbas). Somewhere along the line, the name was changed (officially) back to "Senators,"but it wouldn't matter, because in 1960 the team moved to Minneapolis and became the Minnesota Twins.

The very same season, the hard-to-kill Senators were re-reborn in Washington, with a new team, a new owner, and the same win-loss ratio. In 1962, they played moved into a brand-new ballpark, present-day RFK Stadium. However, the following ten seasons would produce only one winning record, and in 1972 the team again moved, this time to Texas where they became the present-day Texas Rangers.

A thirty-year drought of baseball in Washington ensued, which was happily ended by the relocation of the miserable Montreal Expos to Washington in 2005. This newest team, the Nationals, has continued Washington's hilarious baseball tradition.

All statistics from: www.mlb.com

The Rise of Punk

What Motown is to Detroit, what Country is to Nashville, what the Blues are to Chicago, what Jazz is to New Orleans, and what Hip Hop is Atlanta; Punk Rock is to Washington, DC. It’s difficult to imagine this city of suits and pearl necklaces as having any kind of punk scene, let alone imagine it being located in the preppy neighborhood of Georgetown. Yet, it was there in Georgetown, and later on around Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan, that Punk Rock gained traction and became a musical genre in the 1970s and 80s.

Founded by a professor in the astronomy department in the 60s, Georgetown’s radio station WGTB primarily played light rock. However, by the 70s the oldest Jesuit university in the country’s radio station had become a haven for radical thought, featuring programs on Maoism and feminism. The station drew heavy criticism from political leaders, including the likes of Spiro Agnew, who believed that the station aired Third World propaganda. WGTB continued on in their radical ways, eventually attracting local garage bands to play in DC. The District’s first punk band was Overkill, based out of Catholic University. Other successful bands later emerged out DC, notably: The Slickee Boys, Government Issue, Bad Brains, and Fugazi. (At Right: Concert Flyer for the Slickee Boys)

Every good rock band needs a good scene, and DC had plenty that sprung up out of garages and old buildings. Among them was the Atlantis Club—sort of the CBGB of Washington. Rock bands yearned for an opportunity to play at the same locale as Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers and the Ramones. Bad Brains so wanted an opportunity at the Atlantis Club that they even wrote a song called “Jammin’ at the Atlantis Club.” Unfortunately, the Atlantis Club shut down in 1979 before Bad Brains got a chance to headline there. The owner of the club claimed that at every show the fans would destroy the building, ripping the wiring, tearing down directories. He did not mention that the building frequently violated fire codes and liquor laws. When the club reopened a year later under new ownership, it would be called Club 9:30 for it’s location at 930 F Street, NW.

With the hottest club in town shut down, punks turned elsewhere for a music venue. Enter Madams Organ up in Adams Morgan. A yippie commune founded by students from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Madams Organ joined the music scene by hosting a pro-legalization of marijuana benefit concert every July Fourth on the National Mall. As yippies became increasingly interested in punk, they began holding more and more shows at their row house on 18th Street, mainly in order to raise money for the monthly electric bill. The house was smelly, battered, with light fixtures inside of tin cans. Naturally, it was instantly popular.

While punk gripped the city, DC was also gentrifying. In 1978, WGTB was shut down by university president Father Healy (although how a station advocating abortion counseling at a Jesuit institution had so much staying power is a mystery). Rent increased for the Madams Organ building, and no fundraiser or benefit show managed to save it. The last concerts were held in April 1980. Despite the hardship, punk remained strong in DC throughout the 80s, if only a little less prevalent.

Both the 930 Club and Madams Organ are still in existence today. 930 Club can be found at 9th and V Streets, NW. It is still one of the most popular venues in the city. A newer Madams Organ is in Adam Morgan on the 2400 block of 18th Street. Trust me, you’ll know it when you see it.

To learn more about Punk Rock in DC, there’s an interesting (and free!) city tour guide at the Capitol of Punk website (http://yellowarrow.net/capitolofpunk/). There’s even a video podcast!

Sources: Mark Andersen and Mark Jenkins, Dance of Days (New York: Soft Skull Press, 2001).

Neil Augenstein, “Places That Are Gone,” (WTOP Radio Online: 2007) http://www.wtopnews.com/?sid=1018175&nid=226&pid=0.

Picture Source: Slickee Boy’s Concert Flyer, www.30underdc.com.

Working for the Weekend

It’s the weekend. My favorite time of the week; a time for sleeping late, brunch, concerts, movies, restaurants, and of course the Smithsonian. Ah yes, how would the both the Washingtonian and tourist live without the Smithsonian? Not completed until 1846, how did they ever live without it?

For starters, visiting government buildings was quite popular among visitors. One could check out the new inventions at the Patent Office located where the Old Post Office building stands. Over at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, one could study the portraits of Native American chiefs painted by Charles Bird King. But all that gets dull after awhile, and through my researching I’m left with two conclusions on public pastimes prior to the Smithsonian: there was the theatre and there was horse racing.

At the turn of the 19th century DC was a fairly rural community, just beginning to sprout up. The town’s population totaled at just a little over 8,000—that’s not promising for those who love the nightlife. Despite the small population, by 1805 the District managed to have one theatre, the Washington Theatre. The theatre was located on the northeast corner of 11th and C Streets and was described by Londoner Francis Trollope as small, dirty, and lacking décor. She was appalled by the coarse manners of American men, who would stretch out over the box seats, constantly chewing and spitting tobacco. Indeed, the night Ms. Trollope visited she witnessed one man in a fit of vomiting, commenting that no one around him seemed bothered in the slightest. Sadly, the theatre burnt down in 1820. It was rebuilt in the same location and managed by Italian musician Gaetano Carusi. The Washington Theatre, known as Carusi’s Saloon or the City Assembly Rooms, later played host to President John Quincy Adams’s inaugural ball.

On to horse racing. It is believed that the earliest racetrack was an oval located between 17th and 20th Streets, across from Pennsylvania Avenue and in to Lafayette Park. It was operating as early as 1797. A short time later, another track opened in what is now the South Petworth area, just west of the Soldiers Home. Both of these tracks are believed to have been run John Tayloe, DC’s wealthiest resident (of the Octagon House no less) and avid horse breeder. So popular was racing, that the Washington Jockey Club was founded in 1821 to regulate the races. The Club established gate tolls, types of heats to be run, entry fees, and appointment of the judges. Incidentally, the Jockey Club outlawed gambling in any form. Their attempt at morality failed, as they were wholly unable to stop wagering. Bet you didn’t know there was a racetrack that close to the White House!

Sources: Robert Harrigan, Pastimes in Washington(Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 2002).

Campbell Gibson, “Population of the 100 Largest Cities” (US Census Bureau: 1998).