As of last night, the Washington Nationals lost their uncontested grip on first place in the NL East. The hard-core Nationals faithful blame the team's sliding fortunes on the bogue energy that bandwagon-hopping fans have brought to RFK. WaPo reporter David Farenthold reports that EPA administrator Hugh B. Kaufman has taken matters into his own hands:

To break the hex, Kaufman came up with a solution that might sound weird to outsiders . . . .

"I have to find a rubber chicken," he told himself.

Before Tuesday's game, he beheaded the chicken in a brief ceremony, then presented the decapitated bird to a pair of nearby Nationals players.

The ritual seemed to work, at least for one night, Kaufman said. The crowd was louder, and the team won. "The karma was broken," Kaufman said.

At last we're getting a feel for how the Bush administration arrived at its stand on global warming. --HOLLY MARTINS

Cursed by the Casual Fan? [WaPo]