Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader had to heartily agree with his lovely and intelligent daughter, Villainette #1 who declared yesterday evening around the bottom of the 8th inning of the Nats/Angels contest, “Gosh! Our boys are very disappointing.”

Yes… Those Nats are very disappointing. As your Maximum Leader types these words, his beloved Nats are down 8-3 to the Angels of Anaheim in the top of the 8th inning.

Villainette #1 was wondering aloud tonight (while watching them spot the Angels 6 - count ‘em six - runs in the top of the first inning) why exactly we root (root, root) for the Nationals when they are so bad. Your Maximum Leader explained to his offspring that we root (root, root) for the Nationals because they are our hometown team, they are in the National League, and that suffering in this lifetime will reap a heavenly reward. She bought the explanation up until he hit the heavenly reward bit…

Regardless of the Nat’s poor performance of late, your Maximum Leader has gone ahead and bought tickets to this Sunday’s Nationals/Orioles game… He hope his Nats can eek out a win on Sunday.

While your Maximum Leader is just going on about the Nats… Your Maximum Leader will encourage his team to just spend a little money and get a good “high profile” batter to spice things up a little. Give people a little more to root for. Lastings Milledge and Elijah Dukes just aren’t enough. And as much as your Maximum Leader loves Dimitri Young (and he does root for Dimitri Young very much), his best years as a player are behind him… Your Maximum Leader encourages Jim Bowden, Stan Kasten, and the whole Lerner family to just splurge a little and get the fans someone fun and exciting to watch. You’ve got some money to spend (at least we hope you do). If you spend a little money now (and go against the “grand plan” of building the team through scouting and the minors) you might put more butts in the seats and make a little more money. 20,000 fans a game at the new ballpark is hardly praiseworthy.

Anyhow… Your Maximum Leader will go back to watching the game now. And he hopes that a little more suffering watching his Nats lose so badly will earn him a little credit in the ledger of life.

Carry on.