FanPost

(Why) Do Local Sportscasters Hate The Wizards?!?

The Wizards are currently the only local team (on schedule) to make the playoffs this year. Georgetown and Maryland are headed to the NIT. The Caps are in an epic battle to merely make the playoffs. The Skins were 3-13 last season. The Nats underachieved last season, so who knows about this year? DC United hasn't been good since the Clinton Administration. Nobody cares about the Kastles. The Mystics are the Mystics.

So why does it seem like local sportscasts outright ignore the Wizards, a team that's headed for the playoffs for the first time in 6 seasons? Maybe I'm overanalyzing this, but yesterday, I watched a couple of separate sportscasts that sorta magnified my sentiment.

I like Britt McHenry. She's knowledgable, personable, and is very good on NewsChannel 8's SportsTalk. She's a star in the making, and to the surprise of nobody, she's also soon headed to EPSN. But yesterday morning on NewsChannel 8, she covered the sports and her stories read like this:

Maryland/UVa Preview... Georgetown loss... Nats Spring training... new player for the Caps.

The Wizards had won 8 of 9, taking a game in Milwaukee the night before, and they didn't even register a blip. McHenry's recap at 6pm on ABC7 went something like this:

Maryland beats UVa...Nats Spring training... interview of new player for the Caps.. NASCAR.

Again, the Caps merely signing some guy they drafted in 2010 warranted a mention (with clips from Kettler) but the Wizards didn't? I've noticed the same from ABC7's Tim Brandt, who routinely pretends as if the Wizards don't exist. Fox5 and NBC4 are marginally better, but their coverage still skews heavily towards the Skins and Nats (even when neither is in-season). I won't pretend I watch Channel 9, and neither should you.

I don't get it. Do these news outlets have an issue with Teddy/Monumental Network? Do the Wizards not warrant even a cursory mention, even when winning? Are Wizards highlights bad for ratings? What's going on here?

Wizards fans here often complain about the absence of national coverage/respect for this team. Seems like our problem begins a lot closer to home.

[Completely unrelated note: the seriously underrated Wizards Magazine is now available on Comcast SportsNet. Better late than never.]

This represents the view of the user who wrote the FanPost, and not the entire Bullets Forever community. We're a place of many opinions, not just one.