Hope springs eternal...

Today is yet another sad day to be a Washington DC sports fan...

Living in Northern Virginia for a quarter of a century, I have seen the DMV area experience some of the most gut-wrenching defeats at what should be their greatest moments of triumph. Whether it was RGIII's leg dangling in the air in the 2012 playoff game against Seattle, or the Washington Nationals blowing a 7-5 lead in the ninth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals, to Al Horford tipping in the game winner in Game 5 against the Wizards because Nene decided to take a nap near the basketball ring (shout out to Ted Cruz). However, there is no other team that has gained the ire of the nation's capital as much as the gladiators of the ice, the Washington Capitals.

Last night was yet another spring in which they will not drink the sweet nectar of victory from Lord Stanley's Cup as they lost to their arch-nemesis the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round of the NHL playoffs and were eliminated again after having the best record in hockey. Granted, the NHL playoffs are more of a crapshoot than any other sport. All it takes is a hot goaltender and an aggressive front line and 8 seeds knock out the best teams at any given time in the spring. If there was a Mount Rushmore of frustrated sports regions, DC would rank up there with Cleveland, Buffalo, and (this last one hurts) Atlanta. They are the perpetual tease that leaves you wanting more, with an A-level superstar in Alex Ovechkin and opportunities galore, yet have not graced so much as the Eastern Conference final since yours truly was a sprite young lad at VCU.

What is most frustrating is that it's not as if this area is lacking for getting a grade A star like the aforementioned 3-time MVP Alex the Great. Basketball fans marvel at the All-Star ability of John Wall each winter, and in the spring we flock Nationals Park to see NL MVP Bryce Harper knock a fastball into orbit or round the bases with his hat flying off in a dazzling display of brilliance the likes of one Barry Lamar Bonds. However, each of their seasons always ends with the same Wile E. Coyote look of not getting that dastardly Road Runner again.

Remember this? Robert Griffin III electrified this area similar to how the Michael Vick Experience graced the Georgia Dome in the early part of the century. However, it ended mercifully after front office upheaval and a lack of progression ended his reign before it every truly got started. Although the "Black Jesus" T-shirts were on the edge of blasphemy, there was this real hope that he was going to bring the Redskins to their past glory of yesteryear...

..and that is why, even in the midst of disappointment year in and year out, is why we keep going on. Think about that job you were so sure you were going to get? Or maybe it was that relationship you just knew would end happily ever after, and it didn't? That's the beautiful thing about hope, it never dies, it only lives, and for us to give up hope would be to give up a part of ourselves. Where there is no hope, there is despair, regardless of what setbacks you may have had before. Keep on keeping on, because as long as you have hope that lives...