All those that thought President Obama would attend a Caps game before physicists figure out how to teleport an object all the way across the galaxy, please step forward to claim your prize. Wait a minute, everyone, not so fast…

All hope is not lost. The Washington Post’s new Caps beat reporter Katie Carrera informed us that Barack Obama attended yesterday’s Washington Mystics game at the Verizon Center. Those of us here at Barack The Red were instantly filled with heartbreak.

Even comrade Dan Steinberg agreed:

Look, I’m all for the President of the country — whoever he or she is — supporting the D.C. teams of all sports and genders. But at this point it seems like he’s going out of his way to spite the Barack the Red movement…I mean, I love the D.C. Divas, but if Obama goes there before he attends a Caps game, I’m crying foul.

We’re not going to wait: FOUL!!

Say it with us: FOUL!!

Tweet it: It’s time to @barackthered President @BarackObama

See, it’s already working: Then on last night’s SportsNite, Lisa Hillary asked Ted Leonsis a few questions after he sat court-side with POTUS.

At then at the 2:30 mark, it happened:

Lisa Hillary – “We know the Washington Capitals are near and dear to your heart. Might we see [the president] at a game this fall?”

Ted Leonsis – “Yeah. He gave me some grief there. He said ‘I was planning on coming in the playoffs but you lost in the first round.’

Lisa Hillary – “Wuh oh.”

Ted Leonsis – “He did promise me he would come to a game next season.”

So can we consider Barack The Red a success? Not so fast, homeboy. Until we see Barack’s ass Presidential Seal in the Owner’s Box with our own two eyes, we shall be dubious of this claim – no matter how many peanut shells and popcorn kernels Ted picks up off the floor.

Additional Coverage: Ted’s Take, I Spy Things DC, NBC Washington

Mean Muggin’ Game Over T-Shirt

RMNB’s answer to the Wizznutzz’s jaw-dropping Agent Zero Metallic Gold Portrait Tees, the Game Over Portrait T-Shirt shows everyone’s favorite disrespected defenseman mugging for the ladies. The shirt comes in black and green, and with or without the psychological baggage of the Olympic snubbing. Also, for the first time ever, our Game Over graphics will be printed in a beautiful, space-age Metallic Silver.  You can microwave a pizza on it!*

* Please don’t microwave a pizza on it.

Game Over T-Shirt

Not to be outdone, this Game Over Portrait T-Shirt includes our high-flying defenseman sporting shades and his Blue Steel look. Is this the perfect wardrobe selection for the Wale Stanley Cup Celebration Concert in Early June at the Verizon Center?  We think so.  Buy twenty!

Sasha Minor- The Most Complex Of All The Constellations T-Shirt

There are few mysteries in this world as lasting as Alexander Semin.  Next to LOST and thermos technology, nothing fascinates us more than Alex’s out-of-this-world ability. Sometimes he’s so good he embarasses the competition, sometimes he looks downright bored.  In both cases, he heads inexorably towards a stick penalty like he’s caught in its gravity well. One day we will understand this most complex of figures.  Wear this shirt to show your friends that you are a dedicated Seminologist.

Nacho Power T-Shirt by The Hockey Chronicles’ Meghan H.

Much like how the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fuel up on Pizza to regain their power, Megan H. of The Hockey Chronicles believes the only way the Russian Machine reaches  full strength is if he’s eating several servings his highly coveted Arena Nachos. Drawn in paint in a playful style reminiscent of Home Movies, this illustration was just too wonderful not to decorate a t-shirt. Don’t you agree?

Barack The Red – Hope T-Shirt

President Barack Obama continues to act like he hasn’t heard our pleas to Barack The Red – yet still manages to find time to share his horrible Bracket Picks on ESPN and throw out the first pitch of a Nationals Game.  Nonetheless, our campaign forges on– this time in t-shirt form! Outfitted in a Hawaiian Hockey jersey and a HOPEful smile, POTUS shows everyone just how cool he’d look out on the ice (if he ever bothered to make the FIVE-MINUTE TRIP to the Verizon Center. Come on Mr. President, it’s not too late!)

That’s it, folks!  Share your thoughts below and vote with your wallets. And don’t forget to check page 2 and 3 of our store for different styles and colors.

Scott Wilson takes notes in the Gaza Strip after an Israeli soldier's kidnapping in 2006 (via Facebook)

Two weeks have passed since Russian Machine Never Breaks implored President Obama to attend a Caps game and Barack The Red.  To say we’ve been floored by the reaction would be a total understatement. In the days since our plea, we’ve received nods from Puck Daddy, D.C. Sports Bog, On Frozen Blog, Homer McFanboy, DCist, LaVar Arrington, and even “Uncle” Ted Leonsis himself! Then, 1,244 people joined our Facebook Petition (join now if you haven’t yet),  including Japers Rink, Dmitry Chesnokov and the affable Caps Owner (yes, really)! But to be honest, we were all completely shocked last Friday afternoon, when Scott Wilson, White House Correspondent for The Washington Post, asked the President’s Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, for a response to our open letter.  Joke or not, my letter being read before the White House gaggle was the highlight of my career and a fitting testament to the obscene number of hours Blogadyte Ian Oland has put into site.

It turns out that Scott Wilson is actually a longtime hockey fan and was the perfect person to ask the question.  Scott knows hockey jerseys are “sweaters,” and he attributes his lack of a hockey career to his mother’s fear that he’d end up with Bobby Clarke’s gap-toothed grin.

Scott was kind enough to spare a few minutes with me amidst the chaos in D.C. of late. For a man that has covered disaster, war, and famine, I’d like to think that chatting about hockey for a few minutes was a welcome reprieve and not just a distraction.  For me, it was a lot bigger.

But how did our manifesto get read aloud in the press room of the White House? It only could have happened that Friday: “Robert Gibbs had to pay back his bet to his Canadian counterpart, so he wore the Canadian national team’s hockey sweater to the briefing,” said Wilson. After only a few moments of modeling the red maple leaf for the press corp, Gibbs swapped out for a U.S. jersey, thereby unknowingly inviting the question. After prefacing with a quote from out letter, Wilson asked Gibbs, “Will the President commit to going to a Washington Capitals game this season?”

The Press Secretary must have been in a decent mood that afternoon, as he took the question in good faith. “He took it in the spirit it was meant. I knew he wouldn’t give a firm commitment, but I did get a light, evasive, funny answer,” Wilson observed.

It’s the kind of back-and-forth you can only have at the end of the week, once all the serious business has already been addressed. Before tackling “Barack the Red”, Wilson had asked about the big-ticket items on the Obama agenda: the Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court decision and pending Wall Street reform. And although we are obligated to mention politics insofar as they collide with hockey, political discourse is strongly discouraged here. (If the morlocks from The Pensblog wander over to RMNB again and  see us talking about medical malpractice tort reform, they’ll get dangerously confused.)

I asked Scott if he’d be willing to follow up with Press Secretary Gibbs about the President attending a game. “If the mood is right, and as we get closer to the playoffs, we’ll see,” was the firmest commitment I could get out of the professional journalist. He even rebuffed my attempted bribe, using a Russian Machine Never Breaks t-shirt as bait. “I could donate the t-shirt to charity maybe,” tactfully responded Wilson. Class act.

We all know President Obama is a big sports fan. “He says that SportsCenter on ESPN is his favorite show,” continued Wilson, “so I wouldn’t be surprised if you got him this year.” When pressed to quantify our chances, Scott went out on a limb.

“65/35. And those numbers go up if they go deep in the playoffs. The town will have Caps fever, and the President will want to plug into that.” Precisely. While we’d obviously prefer POTUS to grow a playoff beard and rock a Weagle necktie throughout the Spring, hopping on the bandwagon at Conference finals would be cool, too. In the end, we all want infinite glory for the home team.

My talk with Wilson ended with sage shifting of responsibility– off of the President and onto the team.  ”More than anything, the Capitals’ success will determine [if the President comes].”

Alright, boys.  It’s all on you now.

Obviously, the President loves him some sports. We do, too. The NCAA basketball tournament is one of the most exciting sports events of the year, and we could never disparage the President for being into it. We just want our Caps to get a little love, too. Speaking of, have you signed the Facebook petition yet?

Tonight, the Washington Capitals play the Hurricanes.  Ovechkin’s still suspended, Varly’s in net, and I’ll be able to watch the whole thing live for once.  Last time the ‘Canes and Caps met was only one week ago, and that game implausibly went to overtime before D.C. pulled out the win.  Hopefully, tonight will be a secure win in only 60 minutes.

(via the DC Sports Bog)

More to come later. Holy crap!@!1!!@!@!#@@#

We’ve already gotten a few outstanding entries for our Barack The Red call for Artwork. But the first entry I thought was worth sharing comes above from Nathan Burchfiel who has created The Barackstronaut. YES! LOOK AT HIM GROOVE!!

Anyways Caps Fans, from now until the end of the regular season, if you’ve got a clever and humorous way of artistically showing Barack Obama as a Capitals Fan, please shoot it our way. We’ll put it up on our Petition Page (please join if you haven’t yet) and you’ll be entered to to win our grand prize – a free t-shirt from our store. If you place in the top 5, your work goes on the Barack The Red website. Keep the artwork coming!

We keep hearing that the Capitals are the talk of D.C. sports. Going to a game is now the hip thing to do. Red sweaters haven’t surpassed power suits in prominence, but it’ll happen eventually. So what could cement Washington’s reputation as a hockey town? Well, a Stanley Cup, sure. But also, we really want President Barack Obama to rock the red!

Russian Machine Never Breaks is proud to announce our new initiative…

BARACK THE RED!

Our intention is to get POTUS into the Verizon Center for a Caps game. Our mini-site is dedicated to this proposition. It is there you can find our Obama video, our open letter to the President, and much much more.

Caps Nation, We can pull this off. Go join the Facebook group today, print off a copy of the letter and send it Barack’s way, and make some artwork. Most of all, spread the word. If we can convince the most powerful man in the world to support the most powerful team in the NHL, good things are bound to happen.

Special thanks to Tim Montenyohl for creating the video, Peter Hassett for all the fantastic writing & the support of my friends and family. I couldn’t of done it without you.