As a coping mechanism this morning I decided put our last couple decades of sports fandom in context:
Since the 1998 Capitals got shellacked in the Stanley Cup Finals by the Red Wings, DC has seen its major pro sports teams play a combined 58 seasons without reaching the semifinal/Conference final level in their respective sports. The 2014 Redskins will obviously make it 59 seasons. On average one out of every 7.5 seasons (8 in football) ends with at least a semifinal berth. One of every 30(32 in football) should end with a title. We've gone twice as long without a semifinal as we would expect to go without a title if our teams were average.
Here's the triumphant list of the best pro sports teams we've seen in this town during my entire adult life- the ones who made it to the quarterfinal stage:
1999 Redskins- won a wild card game, botched FG attempt to beat Bucs in divisional round
2004-2005 Wizards- beat Chicago in opening round, swept by Miami in the conference semifinals
2005 Redskins- won a wild card game as a 6 seed, lost to Seattle in divisional round
2008-2009 Capitals- lost conference semifinal round Game 7 to Penguins in a blowout
2010-2011 Capitals- Swept by Lightning in conference semifinals
2011-2012 Capitals- Upset Bruins in 7, lost in 7 the next round to the Rangers
2012 Nationals- blew 6-0 lead in decisive Game 5 of NLDS
2013-14 Wizards- Beat Chicago in opening round before falling to Indiana in 6. Quite possibly the city's most rewarding playoff run since 1998, which is unbelievably sad
2014 Nationals- lost three one-run games in NLDS