OK, so his production isn't fantastic and he's a liability at ES. So what? Is he taking a spot from someone that would push Washington into the playoffs, make it a threat in the postseason? It's an aging team, it's headed for a rebuild, it might get lucky and scratch out a playoff spot at some point and then get waxed in 5. Whatever. Enjoy the moment, let him have his chance.
Sometimes, sports isn't all about "either he's productive, or he can GTFO." Pete Rose after 1981 was a .261 hitter who, when you look at all the esoteric stats, probably shouldn't have been in the lineup; he still got to play most of the next 5 years to get another 551 hits so he could finally pass Ty Cobb on the all-time hits list because it gave us all joy, even if in those last 2 years someone semi-decent might have given the Reds a shot at the NL West and the playoffs. No one cared. It's Charlie Hustle, he's gotta record to break, we might never see anyone get there again, let the guy have his chance.
Michael Jordan was objectively poor his 2 years in Washington. No one cared, it was nostalgia. Look there's Michael ... gah, he normally would have hit that shot, wouldn't have been beaten on that dribble, I know he's putting up points but this is a little tough to watch, ... it didn't matter. We knew Jordan wasn't in his prime, wasn't great, getting worse. We still enjoyed it, celebrated moments, remembered the good times. We didn't look at his last 3,000 points and passing Wilt on the all-time scoring list and say yeah, but ... this is getting cheap, this would be better if ...
Gordie Howe was 51, 52 playing in Hartford with his kids; I know that was pre-social media, I can just hear people already, the f*** is Howe doing out there, I know he's great but my god the game has passed him by, he's slow as shit, that's all he's doing and the team sucks ass, is he really just hanging on for 800 goals?, retire already and put someone else in. Who cares? He's having fun, the team is having fun, fans are enjoying it, Hartford isn't turning into some 101-point juggernaut if he's not out there, they're still getting swept by Montreal in the opening round and it's still not really close.
It's a game. Ovechkin's chasing a record. It's not hurting you, quit complaining about your feelings being hurt. We thought Lemieux might give Gretzky's record a run, thought Hull would give it a run, thought Jagr might give it a run, ... no one's done it. We think Matthews or McDavid or others might give it a run; there's no guarantee they do it either. Ovechkin is giving it a run. Don't nitpick the shit out of it because he's getting dogged 5v5 some nights and needs 3, 4, 5 extra shots to finally notch a goal. Enjoy it while it lasts.
