First Down

By Ryan O'Halloran | Thursday, July 24, 2008

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THURSDAY'S BEST BET ON TELEVISION

The MLS All-Stars, led by that Beckham guy, take on West Ham United. 7 p.m., ESPN

LOCAL POWER RANKINGS

CRISTIAN GUZMAN

After a horrible start to his career in the District, the Nationals shortstop made the All-Star team and was rewarded with a questionable two-year contract extension.

ABE POLLIN

With Gilbert Arenas officially signed for $111 million, the Wizards owner has committed nearly $211 million to just three players. The pressure is now on coach Eddie Jordan.

JASON TAYLOR

The Redskins acted quickly to fill a void with this future Hall of Famer. But his $8 million salary leaves the team zero wiggle room should another starter go down.

TREE ROLLINS

We hardly got to know the Mystics coach before he was turfed the other day about 13 months after taking over. The team was 8-14 at the time of his dismissal.

JOHN SWOFFORD

The ACC commissioner, who seems to be more stooge than leader, says his conference's ninth-best team will play in a D.C. bowl game Dec. 20. Count me out of watching.

TWT FIVE: Worst things about training camp

1. Heat — From what I'm told, the heat at Redskin Park during the first two days of camp was worse than 2006. Football is supposed to be played in snow and cold, not heat and humidity.

2. Games — Is there anything more worthless, boring and pointless than fake football games? At least baseball acknowledges spring training games are meaningless.

3. Two-a-days — There's a reason one of the most popular phrases amongst the media is "Groundhog Day." Twice-daily practices mean every day is basically the same.

4. Little tackling — How can anybody who's not a coach judge the winner of a position battle when all-out tackling is not happening at practice? We can't. So we guess.

5. Injuries — Teams limit No. 4 to prevent No. 5, but that doesn't mean guys don't get hurt. It stinks to see a guy like Phillip Daniels out for the season before August.

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