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| They’ve lost their homes, but not their joy in rooting for the Redskins | They’ve lost their homes, but not their joy in rooting for the Redskins |
| (about 11 hours later) | |
| Sometimes, the lawn chairs come out. Usually there’s food. And the crowd is always opinionated about Washington’s offense. | Sometimes, the lawn chairs come out. Usually there’s food. And the crowd is always opinionated about Washington’s offense. |
| “Just run the thing! What do they pay you for? Run! The! Ball!” | “Just run the thing! What do they pay you for? Run! The! Ball!” |
| It’s tailgating when you don’t have a tail. And you certainly don’t have a gate. | It’s tailgating when you don’t have a tail. And you certainly don’t have a gate. |
| “I am a die-hard fan and nothin’s goin’ to stop me from seeing a game,” says Mr. Robert, as he’s known on the corner of Sixth and F streets in Northwest Washington. | “I am a die-hard fan and nothin’s goin’ to stop me from seeing a game,” says Mr. Robert, as he’s known on the corner of Sixth and F streets in Northwest Washington. |
| When the Greene Turtle sports bar built a wall of outdoor big-screens for their patio customers at Verizon Center about a year ago, they unwittingly created an outdoor living room for the city’s homeless sports fans. | |
| All year, all weather, for all sports, they gather outside on that corner to cheer for their teams. On Sunday afternoon, it was playoff-bound Washington in a satisfying 34-23 trouncing of archenemy Dallas. But the Wizards, the Nats, the Caps, D.C. United and the region’s college basketball powerhouses all get some love, too. | |
| For the homeless, watching the games provides a sense of community and a connection to who they once were — a couple hours of remembering what their lives used to be like. | For the homeless, watching the games provides a sense of community and a connection to who they once were — a couple hours of remembering what their lives used to be like. |
| To have parties with dip and wings and family. To take a kid to a game. To laugh, cheer, hope and head back to work Monday to talk about the boneheaded coach or the amazing play. To have work on Monday. | |
| [For D.C.’s desperate, a refuge from homelessness is about to disappear] | [For D.C.’s desperate, a refuge from homelessness is about to disappear] |
| “We had season tickets. Me. My wife. And our daughter,” says Mr. Robert, who is now a 60-year-old disabled widower living in a homeless shelter not far from the Greene Turtle. “We were there for every game. Die-hard.” | “We had season tickets. Me. My wife. And our daughter,” says Mr. Robert, who is now a 60-year-old disabled widower living in a homeless shelter not far from the Greene Turtle. “We were there for every game. Die-hard.” |
| He worked as a plumber and a carpenter. But he buried his wife. Then his daughter died of a heart attack when she was just 33. And Mr. Robert fell from scaffolding on a job. He hasn’t recovered from any of it, he says, and he has been at the shelter for two years now. | He worked as a plumber and a carpenter. But he buried his wife. Then his daughter died of a heart attack when she was just 33. And Mr. Robert fell from scaffolding on a job. He hasn’t recovered from any of it, he says, and he has been at the shelter for two years now. |
| His sidekick, Mr. Goody, 54, is also a born-and-raised-in-D.C. lifelong fan. He was a supervisor at a big moving company. And when he had a good month, he would buy tickets and see Washington play at RFK Stadium. Glory days for him and the team. | |
| Now, these two guys count the dimes and dollars they can scrape together. | Now, these two guys count the dimes and dollars they can scrape together. |
| “We can’t get tickets to any big games,” Mr. Goody says. “That’s not for us anymore.” | “We can’t get tickets to any big games,” Mr. Goody says. “That’s not for us anymore.” |
| A while back, they snagged two of the cheapest seats at Verizon Center for a Mystics game. For a few hours, they were back inside, back with the rest of the fans. | A while back, they snagged two of the cheapest seats at Verizon Center for a Mystics game. For a few hours, they were back inside, back with the rest of the fans. |
| And sometimes, if they get enough cash together, they go inside the Greene Turtle, buy a $5 or $6 beer and nurse it for as long as they can while they watch the game on bar stools. | |
| But their crowd, their people, the guys who remember seeing Doug Williams’s rocket arm and Art Monk’s 700th catch, are all outside. | |
| They’ve lost their families. Their jobs. Their homes. But they haven’t lost their sense of identity or the community they’ve built in such an unexpected place. | They’ve lost their families. Their jobs. Their homes. But they haven’t lost their sense of identity or the community they’ve built in such an unexpected place. |
| [Yet another place the homeless aren’t welcome: Reagan National Airport] | [Yet another place the homeless aren’t welcome: Reagan National Airport] |
| There’s Mr. Robert, with his wide, friendly smile. And Mr. Charles, with his bike and suitcase that he keeps asking everyone to watch for him. The scalpers, the hat vendors who all know one another and stop to check the scores and yell for their teams. | |
| From across the street, the folks holding stemmed glasses, in suits and cocktail dresses, look down through a glass wall from their second-story party at Sidney Harman Hall. | From across the street, the folks holding stemmed glasses, in suits and cocktail dresses, look down through a glass wall from their second-story party at Sidney Harman Hall. |
| Police officers stop, survey the crowd and linger, watching the game. It’s a very popular parking spot, outside the Greene Turtle, for government vehicles on game days. | Police officers stop, survey the crowd and linger, watching the game. It’s a very popular parking spot, outside the Greene Turtle, for government vehicles on game days. |
| The street-sweeper guy keeps cleaning the same stretch of sidewalk over and over again, his eyes glued to the screen the whole time. “There’s usually a big crowd of these guys, and I watch with them. They tell me all about it, how it was back in the day,” he says. | |
| A white D.C. government van full of parking-ticket pirates stops at the “no parking” curb and parks. The meter enforcers watch the game, honking the van horn wildly with every score. Then one of the guys hops out of the van to slap a ticket on a car parked next to them and high-fives it with the guys at the corner. And they all talk about the playoffs and how Washington’s not going to mess it up this year. | |
| “When we first put the TVs up, they came out with about 10 lawn chairs. They had their McDonald’s,” says Andy Nieb, manager at the Greene Turtle. “They thought we’d be mad. | “When we first put the TVs up, they came out with about 10 lawn chairs. They had their McDonald’s,” says Andy Nieb, manager at the Greene Turtle. “They thought we’d be mad. |
| “But, nah. They’re fine out there,” Nieb says. | “But, nah. They’re fine out there,” Nieb says. |
| The homeless guys sometimes bus the dishes and glasses. They pick up the trash that paying guests leave outside, Nieb says. | |
| When there’s leftover food at the end of the night, Nieb brings it out to the regulars. | When there’s leftover food at the end of the night, Nieb brings it out to the regulars. |
| A few weeks ago, he hired one of the guys to be a server in the restaurant. | A few weeks ago, he hired one of the guys to be a server in the restaurant. |
| “I remembered him from when he worked at Old Ebbitt, so I know he could do it,” Nieb says. “He had a work history. And he’s doing well now.” | “I remembered him from when he worked at Old Ebbitt, so I know he could do it,” Nieb says. “He had a work history. And he’s doing well now.” |
| When it is clear that the Cowboys are vanquished, Mr. Robert and Mr. Goody say their goodbyes to everyone. They make sure Mr. Charles has his suitcase. And they walk back to the shelter in time to get a bed that night. | When it is clear that the Cowboys are vanquished, Mr. Robert and Mr. Goody say their goodbyes to everyone. They make sure Mr. Charles has his suitcase. And they walk back to the shelter in time to get a bed that night. |
| Even in the cold, they can stand on that sidewalk for a game. But they’re getting too old to stay there for a whole night. | Even in the cold, they can stand on that sidewalk for a game. But they’re getting too old to stay there for a whole night. |
| Twitter: @petulad | Twitter: @petulad |
| Read more Petula Dvorak: | Read more Petula Dvorak: |
| From Chocolate City to Latte City: Being black in the new D.C. | From Chocolate City to Latte City: Being black in the new D.C. |
| Our 10-year-old decided to give ice hockey a try. What we encountered was dreadful. | Our 10-year-old decided to give ice hockey a try. What we encountered was dreadful. |
| Meet two amazing women who are still working at the age of 102. Yes, 102. | Meet two amazing women who are still working at the age of 102. Yes, 102. |
| He made a promise to help others. Now he’s giving tents to the homeless. | He made a promise to help others. Now he’s giving tents to the homeless. |