Sports and recreation

Baseball is the national pastime, and it has been traditional for the president to initiate the Washington season by “throwing out the first pitch” since William Howard Taft did so in 1910 (other presidents had been asked, but Taft, a sports fan, was the first to accept and follow through). Major League Baseball’s presence in the city, however, has been somewhat sporadic. The Washington Senators, who began playing in the city in 1901, featured Hall of Fame pitcher Walter Johnson but more often than not struggled (meriting the famous summation “Washington—first in war, first in peace, and last in the American League”), notwithstanding a World Series championship in 1924. In 1961 the franchise relocated to Minneapolis as the Minnesota Twins, but the next incarnation of the Senators began to play as an expansion team, again in the American League. After the 1971 season, that franchise too left Washington, becoming the Texas Rangers. The capital was then without a team until 2005, when the Montreal Expos of the National League relocated to Washington as the Nationals. In 2008 the Washington Nationals baseball stadium opened in Southeast D.C.

The football Washington Commanders (formerly Washington Redskins) of the National Football League (NFL), on the other hand, have been a constant presence in the city since 1937. With a history that includes groundbreaking quarterback Sammy Baugh, two NFL championships, and three Super Bowl championships, the Commanders have a deeply dedicated fan base. Area fans of collegiate football turn their attention to the University of Maryland in suburban College Park. Washington also has a professional hockey team, the Capitals, of the National Hockey League, and a Major League Soccer team, D.C. United. Howard and American universities, as well as the University of Maryland, have also had notable men’s football (soccer) teams.

Basketball has an especially rich history in Washington that dates from the first decade of the 20th century, when Edwin Henderson, an African American physical educator who had learned the game while attending Harvard University, introduced the game to Black Washingtonians. The long list of great players who competed for area high schools only begins with Earl Lloyd, Elgin Baylor, Austin Carr, Dave Bing, Kermit Washington, and Kevin Durant. Another local schoolboy star, John Thompson, gained even greater prominence as coach by establishing the Georgetown University men’s team in the 1980s as one of college basketball’s perennial powers. The University of Maryland and George Washington University also have enjoyed success in men’s basketball. The National Basketball Association (NBA) has been represented in the Washington area since 1973, when the Baltimore Bullets moved to Landover, Maryland, becoming first the Capital Bullets, then the Washington Bullets, and finally (in 1997, just before the team moved into its new arena in Downtown Washington), the Washington Wizards. Since 1998 the Washington Mystics have competed in the Women’s National Basketball Association.

Washington’s climate allows for outdoor recreation nearly year-round. Favourite activities for Washingtonians include jogging, bicycling, and in-line skating. Sailing, kayaking, and canoeing are popular on the Potomac River and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Baseball fields and volleyball courts in Potomac Park and other public areas are popular for after-work and weekend games.

Media and publishing

Washington is a major international information and communications centre. In the 1930s Pres. Franklin Roosevelt began the practice of using the mass media for political purposes with his weekly radio addresses (later known as “fireside chats”). The Washington Post is the city’s major daily newspaper, and its competitor is The Washington Times. The Hill covers Congress, Roll Call reports on Capitol Hill, and Politico covers U.S. and international politics. Several neighbourhoods have their own publications, including The Georgetowner, The Northwest Current, and The Hill Rag. Journalists from around the world work at the National Press Building in Downtown D.C.