When the Dismemberment Plan decided to call it quits in 2003, D.C. lost the one hometown act that just about everyone could agree on. The years since have been filled with high expectations for all of the band's former members, though none of the post-breakup projects have managed to incite the level of excitement that always seemed to surround the Plan. As you'll probably recall, the first out of the gate was Travis Morrison with......

The Washington Wizards did what they had to do last, beating the Indiana Pacers on the road 98-95. The win cemented the 7th seed in the East for the Wiz, setting up a rematch of last year's exciting series with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs clinched the 2nd seed in the East by virtue of their win over Milwaukee and Chicago's loss in New Jersey. Here's how the series will shakedown, schedule-wise: Game 1......

Good morning, Washington. After five straight days of frost warnings, temps will claw their way back into the 50s, though you'll still need a parka as you head off to work. We guess it could be worse; the Nationals could be driven out of town by a foot of snow. The Cleveland Indians have been forced to cancel several games and play this week's home games in Milwaukee by the fluffy stuff. Yikes, if......

A tumultuous weekend for the Washington Wizards took an unexpected turn for the worse on Sunday when All-Star Caron Butler fractured his right hand in a 121-107 win against the Milwaukee Bucks. Bulter was trying to contest a dunk by Ruben Patterson and hit his hand on the backboard. His availability for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs is very much in doubt at this point. "Caron is going to be......

In a city of monuments to great Americans, it's easy to think that the more recent monumistas began the trend of honoring foreign heroes. But for nearly a century, a statue of Polish freedom fighter Casimir Pulaski has made its home at 13th St. and Pennsylvania Ave., in what is now known as D.C.'s Freedom Plaza. The plaza, designed in 1980, is mainly a tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement,......

MONDAY >> The week kicks off with a smorgasbord of indie fare at Warehouse. New York singer-songwriter Peter Silberman, aka The Antlers, emotes Jeff Buckley-style, while Richmond garage rockers A Roman Holiday dabble in death metal, with a visit from their labelmates, Illinois screamo duo The Midwestern. $10, 9:30 p.m. >> This is one of their last gigs before they join TV on the Radio for a nationwide tour, so come catch San Francisco hip......

Gilbert Arenas left the court at the Verizon Center yesterday as fans serenaded him with chants of "MVP! MVP!" after hitting yet another game winner at the buzzer. The Utah Jazz were Agent Zero's latest victim, falling 114-111 in an incredible Martin Luther King Day matinée. Arenas, who tied a Verizon Center record with 51 points, traded three pointers with Utah's Memet Okur down the stretch, but got the ball last and made Utah......

Can it get any better for Gilbert Arenas right now? The Wiz may have lost at Toronto yesterday, but if you've been paying attention, that was almost inevitable after the week Gilbert (and the team) just had. It started early last week when Arenas was named Player of the Month for December. It continued on Wednesday when Agent Hibachi scored the game winner as the buzzer sounded against budding rival Milwaukee. On Friday he......

When the NBA schedule was released before the start of the season, I doubt many people circled the four games pitting Washington against Milwaukee. Too bad, because they are missing one of the NBA's best budding rivalries. These two teams, each led by a former second round pick turned All Star, have played some incredibly exciting games in the last two years. Last night's 108-105 Wizards win was more of the same. Gilbert Arenas,......

Monday >> Milwaukee-based indie pop quartet Maritime will be bringing their brand of sweet melodies to the Rock and Roll Hotel accompanied by the Swervedriver-inspired rock of Kansas City's The Life and Times. We rarely get to make a Swervedriver reference, so enjoy it while you can. 8 p.m. >> Drive-By Truckers' frontman Patterson Hood drops by the area for a show at the Birchmere in Alexandria. If you're not familiar with the live stylings......

A few weeks ago, the Nationals were down and out, battling to stay in front of the Florida Marlins. Now, after a weekend sweep of the Brewers in Milwaukee, the Nationals, led by Alfonso Soriano's hot bat, are on the rise. Winners of three in a row and 12 out of their last 17, the Nationals face off against their NL East rivals this week in a set of six games that could make or......

The Nats finally enjoyed a day off yesterday after more than two weeks of consecutive gamedays. A winning May seems to have gotten the season back on track after a disasterous April, but the Nats still have to cover plenty of ground if they want to make a run at the top half of the division. Winning four out of the six remaining games on this roadtrip will be necessary to maintain some momentum heading......

For the Washington Wizards, it's "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again." With an injured Caron Butler, the Wizards have lost four in a row going into tonight's game against Chicago, who are fighting for their own playoff lives. The fifth seed, which only a week ago looked like a sure thing, is no longer guaranteed. The team is banged up, but that's no excuse at this time of year. As of......

The visiting New York Knicks came into last night's tilt against the Wizards with the NBA's worst record and the league's highest payroll. With just 19 wins, the Knicks brass is paying roughly $6.5 million dollars per win. They, much like the crowd at the Verizon Center last night, aren't getting their money's worth. The Knicks came out flat and fell behind 14-2 in the first four minutes and never recovered on their way......

After a rough stretch that saw them lose five games in a row and six of seven overall, the Washington Wizards rebounded (no pun intended) last night with a 96-89 win over the road weary Portland Trailblazers. The Blazers, playing the last game of a grueling seven game road swing, obviously had that not so fresh feeling after a loss Tuesday night in Philadelphia and had trouble containing the Wizards All Star duo of Gilbert......

All Star break. By September. Shortly after World Series. Nov. 16-17 MLB owners meeting in Milwaukee. And so, the latest in a growing list of deadlines gets scratched from the list. You didn’t REALLY think the Nationals’ new owner would be announced next week when MLB owners meet in Milwaukee, did you? Baseball commissioner Bud Selig announced yesterday morning that there will not be a vote among the owners next week, and there is no......

After dropping three of four in Milwaukee over the weekend, the Nationals hit the reset button and return home for a seven game homestand, welcoming NL West bottom-feeder Colorado to DC for a three game series that begins tonight. The Nats lead the NL East by 1.5 games over the Atlanta Braves, who split a four game series with the NY Mets over the weekend. The good news is that the Nats have played......

The Wizards and Nationals made a pair of deals last night, attempting to plug big holes in their respective rosters. That Nats picked up center fielder Preston Wilson in exchange for right hander Zach Day, outfielder J.J. Davis and future considerations. Wilson led the majors in RBI's in 2003 and should supply some power to the lowest scoring team in the league. Hopefully this will bring an end to the experiment that was Carlos......

(Entry written by DCist contributor Chris Kelly) So it's a fact that the banged-up Nationals need a breather, after playing .500 ball over their last 10 games leading up to the all-star break and losing 2 in a row. And it's a fact that at 52-36, tied for the 3rd best record in the majors, the Nationals are the best story of the 2005 season (so far), improbably leading the NL East by 2.5 games......

Despite losing to the Mets yesterday at home, the long weekend was very good the Washington Nationals. They swept the Cubs over the weekend, drew their largest DC crowd ever yesterday and even got some front page love from the folks over at ESPN.com. Oh, and lest we forget that we have not one, but two All Stars on our roster. Livan Hernandez and Chad Cordero will both be making the trip to Detroit......

It's DCist's favorite time of the year, and we're not talking about our office's summer hours which begin next week. No, it's the NBA off-season, baby! Stat and fantasy geeks everywhere get to OD on rumor and innuendo tomorrow night when the NBA holds their annual draft. This may be the deepest draft in recent memory, so expect to hear the phrase "tremendous upside" more than you heard that crappy Rob Thomas song last week......

(Editor's Note: DCist would like to welcome Chris Kelly to our Sports staff. He will be assisting in our coverage of the Nationals with a weekly column each Monday.) Call 'em "The Comeback Kids", "The One-Run Wonders", "The Cardiac Kids"; doesn't matter. Call 'em whatever you want, but your first place Washington Nationals extended their 10-game winning streak yesterday with yet another 1-run victory (8 out of their last 13 wins have been by 1......

Two weeks ago, this DCist pondered aloud whether or not the excitement generated by the arrival of the Washington Nationals would remain over the course of the season. Reader responses varied -- many proclaimed their allegiance to the team, other expressed dismay over the team's less-than-compelling mascot and expensive taste in stadiums. The debate still stands, though: Where will Nats fans be next year, and the year after? Today's Examiner explores the same question by......

This week, the big story for political minded DCers is Inauguration. Now that the big event is days away, the complaints of those who think the massive party is in poor taste with regard to the recent tsunami tragedy and the gripes of local commentators that Washington's getting stuck with a massively unfair chunk of the bill have started to fade from the newspapers, soon to replaced by those who ask more immediate questions: Can......

DCeiver points us to an intriguing urban legend that the Redskins performance prior to an election has, historically, been an accurate predictor of presidential elections. Apparently, when the Redskins have won the home game prior to the election, the incumbent party has won the election; a Redskins loss has historically precluded an incumbent party loss. This year, the currently 1-4 'Skins will face off against the 1-4 Green Bay Packers for the "deciding" game, which......

Today in Milwaukee, Peter Angelos, the owner of the Baltimore Orioles, will face down a number of Major League Baseball officials who think moving the Montreal Expos to Washington is the best thing for the ailing team. The Post, which titled its article "The Showdown Begins," said that "informal overtures" between the MLB's relocation committee and Angelos have gone nowhere. The Post's baseball sources say that despite offers to compensate the Orioles franchise, Angelos has......