Ouch, Baby...Very Ouch

I know I'm over-sensitive about this, but would it be so hard for the media to cut the Caps some slack? They don't have to sugar-coat everything, but it's not like we were as bad as, say, the Penguins! Speaking of which, those dirty birds are getting a lot more respect than they deserve - what did they do in the offseason to improve, other than reacquire recent Hurricane and aging veteran Mark Recchi (because he was so useful the first time around)?

Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore Ovie and this complaint has nothing to do with him, nor do I intend to take away from what he accomplished last season because it was incredible. It just gets under my skin when I read things like this:

"Last year, Ovechkin was one of the few reasons to watch the Capitals, who languished, as expected, at the bottom of the Southeast Division in a rebuilding year."

Yes, Ovie was brilliant, but I watched almost the entire season and they were entertaining even when Ovechkin was on the bench. It just seems like an unnecessary comment to make - no, they didn't win the division or make the playoffs, or even finish in the top two-thirds of the league. I'm not saying they should be covered with the same amount of reverence given to consistent performers like Detroit. All I'm asking for is that they cover the Caps without editorializing all the time.

Add this to the recent discovery that The Hockey News is once again predicting the Caps will finish dead last in the entire league and it starts to feel like a conspiracy. Yes, I know, I should have a thicker skin about this - didn't THN say the Caps would be lucky to win more than 8 games last year? And weren't they the ones who predicted Carolina wouldn't make the playoffs? I definitely take it with a grain of salt, but I know other people won't and some of those people may have bought tickets to see a Caps game.

I get overly defensive of my boys and I know it, but I would just like them to get a little respect and that's all I'm saying - rant complete.