For all you might say about the '09 Nats, the franchise is culturally relevant. Yeah, there was at least one Nats hat on stage during the BET awards show, and then there's this:
"I was watching a re-run of Jimmy Fallon last night (I know, there was nothing else on, what was I supposed to do?) and his musical guest was Keane," reader Mike wrote me over the weekend. "As I was watching their performance, I noticed the guitarist from Keane had a Curly W on his guitar. They're from England! Probably the first and only Brit to rock his Nats gear on national TV, right? You'd think he'd have some other sticker or emo symbol or something, but the logo from our hometown losers? Wow."
Wow indeed. This demanded some more research.
So correct me if I'm wrong, but this man pictured is apparently Tim Rice-Oxley, the co-founder and main creative force behind the band. (I'm told by a fan that it's actually Jesse Quin, the band's touring bassist. Sports Bog Brit band identification fail.) The Jimmy Fallon episode had first aired in late May, when the band was touring North America. Before they went to New York, they spent at least a couple days in D.C., highlighted by a May 19 show at D.A.R. Constitution Hall. And the day before that? Let's go to the band's official photo blog:
we have had a couple of days here, and had a chance to wander a fair bit. we also spent a bit of yesterday recording some drums for a fun cover we are doing (sorry... can't tell you what - it's a secret right now in case it turns out we ruined it!), plus a couple of drum loops for a demo tim is working on. managed to get that done in time to go to see the washington nationals play the pittsburgh pirates. poor washington - they were doomed to lose from the moment i bought one of their caps in support! it was fun, and followed by a night out. sadly, thomas sweet was shut by the time we wandered home (tim and i had some of their amazing ice cream the night we arrived), so instead we had a late night snack / early breakfast at the georgetown cafe (open 24h) on the way home. not the healthiest of days, but a really fun one.
The game Keane caught was, in fact, a 12-7 home loss to the Pirates, part of a a seven-game losing streak in late May. But the band was apparently undeterred by the loss, jamming seven photos of Nats Park, plus one of the Navy Yard Metro crowd, onto its blog, almost certainly marking the first time an internationally famous rock band has posted that many Nats Park photos on its blog. And the giant foam Nats finger the gents acquired managed to find its way to their D.A.R. dressing room, which almost certainly marks the first time an internationally famous rock band has brought Nats fan gear into a pre-show dressing room.
Anyhow, this all backs up my general thesis of the 2009 season: even though the product is putrid, the fan base has actually grown since 2008, and the team has increased its share of the D.C. sports culture. Hey, you don't see the guys from Keane bringing Red Sox-stuck guitars onto the Jimmy Fallon set, right?
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http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2009/07/keane_are_nats_fans.html
