Imagine living in the Washington, D.C., area, ordering a pizza and having Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin deliver your pizza.
That was the case Friday night when Ovechkin, who is a spokesperson for Papa John's made three deliveries for the Sterling, Va., location.
In the first delivery, Ovechkin shows up wearing black sweatpants and a red Papa John's shirt, climbs up to the front door and rings the doorbell. He said, "Pizza's here," The man answering the door responds, "Oh my god."
The man then calls over a little girl and says, "Look who's here! Who is this guy?'
Another man said, "Holy s***."
Ovechkin, being professional, said, "I just need a signature."
Ovechkin's Friday night appearances caused a minor stir locally, according to a Papa John's employee at the location. There was a "significant" increase in calls, he said, including some that requested Ovechkin as their deliveryman.
News of the stunt apparently leaked before Ovechkin arrived at the Papa John's, which is in a local shopping center. A group of kids, who previously were in a nearby Dunkin' Donuts, waited outside before his white Mercedes pulled up.
"I'm going to ask him to sign my forehead," said one. "How cool is that!"
The kids peered through the storefront glass to watch as Ovechkin made a pizza after he arrived, the first time he'd made one himself. In the store, he also divulged his favorite toppings, which -- sad to report -- seem like a Somewhat Gross and Very Bad combination -- ham, mushrooms, pineapple and tomatoes.
So far, this season, it has been a good season for Overchkin, the Capitals and Papa John's. Overchkin has scored 27 goals and has 55 points for the Capitals, who have the NHL's best record at 44-13-7. Papa John's has a promotion in which online orders are half price the day after a Capitals' victory in which they score at least four goals. The promotion has been used about 135,900 times this season.
Capitals' fans hope Ovechkin can deliver a Stanley Cup as well as he does pizza.
Long shot
The World Baseball Classic starts today and one of the games features Israel vs. Taiwan. Nobody is confusing Israel for one of the favorites like the United States, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic or Venezuela.
In fact, Eddie Matz of ESPN.com had a unique description for Israel as the underdog, which qualified by winning a four-team tournament featuring Great Britain, Brazil and Pakistan.
"If you're not familiar with Team Israel, they're essentially the Mighty Ducks, Hickory High, and the Jamaican bobsled team all rolled into one. In other words, they're straight out of Central Casting for the role of "Underdog Team That Stands Absolutely No Chance of Winning But Somehow Goes On To Win It All." Except for the part that so far, they've won nothing. Well, almost nothing."
Matz has good reason for referring to Israel has a huge underdog, pointing out they are ranked No. 41 in the world rankings, have to travel to Seoul to play in a group that features 2009 runner-up South Korea and 2013 final-four team Netherlands. Of the 28 players on the roster, nobody is on a major-league 40-man roster.
No wonder Israel is a 200-1 shot to win the WBC.
Sports on 03/06/2017