12 |
weekend | E X P R E S S | 0 3 . 2 1 . 2 0 1 4
sports
From Denmark to NCAA Tourney
Nats Begin To Thin Out The Roster Nationals The Nationals separated wheat from chaff in their major league camp Thursday, whittling their roster, other than two spare catchers, to only players who seemingly have a viable chance to make the opening day roster. The Nationals optioned reliever Christian Garcia, right-hander Ross Ohlendorf, catcher Jhonatan Solano and infielder Zach Walters to Class AAA Syracuse. They also reassigned non-roster invitees Will Rhymes, Manny Delcarmen and Brock Peterson to minor league camp. Among those cuts, Ohlendorf may be the most notable. He signed a one-year, $1.25 million guaranteed contract this winter. But he struggled through back injuries all spring, and the Nationals will keep him in the minors. He excelled when called upon last season, going 4-1 with a 3.28 ERA in a swing role. The most compelling player left after the Nationals cleaned house may be Blake Treinen, a 25-year-old right-hander the Nationals acquired last winter in the trade that sent Michael Morse to Seattle. Treinen has wowed rival scouts and Nationals officials with his booming velocity. ADAM KILGORE (THE WASHINGTON POST )
Friday | TBS
College Basketball Soon after the NCAA bracket was announced, George Washington sophomore forward Kevin Larsen reached out to Memphis graduate student David Pellom, who was with the Colonials last season but did not play due to a wrist injury. “I texted him and said ‘Good luck. You’re going to need it.’ ” he said. The ninth-seeded Colonials (249) will face No. 8 Memphis (23-9) on Friday in Raleigh, N.C. “They are a very good team, and they are well coached,” Larsen said of Memphis. “We have to play defense and just play together. That has been our motto all year. If we stick to that, we will win.” Larsen grew up in Copenhagen, Denmark, before he came to the United States to play two seasons of high school basketball at Montrose Christian in Rockville.
JOHN MINCHILLO (AP)
Ross Ohlendorf was among those assigned to AAA Syracuse on Thursday.
6:55 P.M.
Colonials forward Kevin Larsen is averaging 11.3 points and 7 rebounds per game.
He is part of an international community at George Washington, just a few blocks from the State Department. And Larsen knows the NCAA tournament is also popular in some parts of Europe. “Now everybody back home [in
Denmark] knows about it,” Larsen said of March Madness. But not everyone may know about Larsen, who played for Denmark’s U-18 national team. He is somewhat overlooked — if that’s possible for someone listed at
6-foot-10, 264 pounds — on a team that includes two players who have NCAA experience at power conference programs. Graduate student guard Maurice Creek transferred from Indiana for his last college season, and redshirt senior forward Isaiah Armwood is in his second season at GW after playing at Villanova. Armwood is also a product of Montrose Christian, and Larsen has looked up to the 6-foot-9 Baltimore native the past two seasons. Larsen is averaging 11.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, while Armwood is averaging 12.5 points and 8.5 rebounds. “I told him this could be our last game together,” Larsen said of Armwood. “I don’t want that to be the case. He has helped me on my game and been like a big brother to me. I really want him to go out on good terms.” DAVID DRIVER (FOR E XPRESS)
United, Toronto FC to Show Off New Look D.C. United D.C. United and Toronto FC may have underwent the more dramatic offseason makeovers in MLS. The two sides — which will square off Saturday afternoon at BMO Field — needed an overhaul, as TFC finished with the third-fewest points in MLS last season while United had the fewest. But the way each side changed its roster was very different. It’s been almost a year since Tim Leiweke arrived as president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE), which owns TFC. Leiweke, who was behind David Beckham’s move to the LA Galaxy in 2007, is known as one of the most audacious sports
4:30 P.M. Saturday
executives in North America. And so it was little surprise when Leiweke convinced MLSE to shell out major cash this offseason. TFC’s ownership group spent roughly $80 million to $100 million in transfer fees and salaries on American star Michael Bradley, England’s Jermain Defoe, Brazil national team starting goalkeeper Julio Cesar and Brazilian striker Gilberto — among others. In TFC’s 2014 season opener last weekend, Defoe scored twice in the first 25 minutes, Bradley was all over the field, and Cesar
TED S. WARREN (AP)
ALEX BRANDON (AP)
Larsen leads GW into second-round game vs. Memphis
Toronto FC’s Jermain Defoe, right, scored twice against Seattle last week.
made the team’s lead stand up in a 2-1 win over the Seattle Sounders. United’s roster overhaul was no less sweeping than Toronto FC’s, just not nearly as expensive.
Rather than throw money at big-name internationals, D.C. United acquired trusted MLS veterans in Bobby Boswell, Jeff Parke, Davy Arnaud, Sean Franklin and Fabian Espindola. The team did make one big-money move, trading for U.S. national team striker Eddie Johnson and giving him a big raise. While TFC’s new-look roster is off to a flying start, United showed there may be some growing pains when it fell 3-0 at home to the Columbus Crew in the 2014 opener March 8. It doesn’t get much easier on Saturday, as United travels north to face TFC in front of a soldout BMO Field crowd ready to welcome their new stars to MLS. SETH VERTELNEY (FOR E XPRESS)