Hello Nationals Fans,

We're back!

Due to a variety of circumstances, the Fan Club was inactive for the
2008 season, as you know. I apologize for our lack of activity...
2008 was quite a year for the Nats, full of highs and lows, from the
beautiful new stadium to Zimmerman's walk-off win on Opening Night to
the 102-loss season. 2008 was a season to remember for good reasons
and bad, and I wish we'd had more of an opportunity to spend it
together.

The good news is that the Fan Club will be back and better than ever
in 2009! And it couldn't come at a better time. You've probably
noticed that the national sports media tend to regard our Nats, and
the fan base, primarily as a punch line. For instance, take this
quote from ESPN's Bill Simmons about the Nats: "People in DC do not
care about that team. At all."

Oh, really, Bill? Obviously you didn't see the crowd at the
FanFest. You didn't see the line of people stretching around the
block on a bitterly cold day in January, just waiting to get in. You
didn't see the palpable excitement, fans charged up to see what this
team is going to do in 2009. The truth is, Bill, people in DC do
care about this team. You'd better believe we care.

So let's go out and show them how much we care! I invite all of you
to come out to a meeting on Saturday, February 21st at 1:00 PM.
We're still settling on a location, and I'll pass on the details as
soon as we have them. But please, come on out and let's talk. Let's
talk about our favorite memories from the 2008 season. Let's talk
about our predictions for 2009. Let's talk about Olsen and
Willingham and Cabrera and the new faces we'll be seeing this year.
Let's talk about Dunn and Hudson and the folks who might still be
coming. But most important, let's talk about the Fan Club: where we
want to go next year, what we want we want to do, what sort of
activities we should plan for. Also, I'd like to put out an open
call for volunteers and those who would be interested in serving as
officers in 2009. The more folks that we have who can pitch in, even
a little bit, the more we can get done this year. If you'd like to
be actively involved, either as an officer or a volunteer, please e-
mail me to let me know, or just come to the meeting and tell us
you're interested!

Stay tuned for further announcements and details, including a
possible guest speaker. In the meantime, I hope I'll see all of you
on February 21st!

Cheers,
Colin Mills
President, Nats Fan Club
natsfans@...