Introducing #33, Roger "The Shark" Bernadina

The Shark is now number 33!

We reported a couple of weeks ago that the Shark was changing numbers.  All we knew then was that Denard Span would be donning #2 this coming season.  At that point, we had no idea what number Shark would take. 

The Shark cleared that up on twitter this morning.  As soon as we saw it, we realized him much sense #33 made...

He was destined to use #33 eventually...

We are very happy for the Shark, though this does mean that we will have to somehow get our hands on another game used jersey.  Our current one is now obsolete...

More to come.

Shark Avoids Arbitration

It's official.  Roger Bernadina is the first Shark to make over a million dollars. 

The Shark avoided arbitration today by re-signing with the Nationals.  This year, he will be making $1,212,500 and can earn up $130,000 more in incentives.  Congratulations Shark! We're really happy for you.

We leave you with this by Rob the Doodler.  He's clearly a huge Shark fan!

 

More to come.

Two Sharks One Coat

Hello from a couple of losers!

Yesterday, the Nationals blog Curly W Live held a contest with a prize like none other. "We will pick one lucky fan to join us in the press box for a 2013 Nationals home game and write a post for Curly W Live."  The guidelines: All you have to do is state your case in the comments below. Keep it under 250 words.

Naturally, we had to try. So we posted:

Hi, we are Tyler and Terry, not a couple, but a couple of die-hard Nats fans who happen to have created/write for www.Sharkadina.com.  Ever since nicknaming Roger Bernadina “The Shark” on August 26, 2010, Sharkadina has been a popular and distinct voice in the Nats fan community.  We arguably run the best Washington-Nationals-aquatic–animal-nicknamed-baseball –player-fan- blog (definitely in the top 3) on the internet.  We would like to bring that top-3 attitude to you at Curly W Live.

Here are some things you can expect when we cover a game for Curly W Live:

• Original fleece shark hoods (no matter how hot it is outside, or inside the booth).
• Poor attempts at Photoshopped images of baseball players and Sharks.
• Animal nicknames for everyone (players, coaches, you)
• A plethora of obscure baseball facts
• Shameless rooting for our favorite player (THE SHARK)

All this and more, will be provided to you, assuming you let us into the booth.

On our end, sure we would benefit from the exposure, but honestly, we think that nothing would be more beautiful than being in the press box and seeing 40,000 Nats fans on their feet doing the Shark Chomp when Bernadina bats…which is all we really want.

Finally, if it turns out that you will only bring one person into the booth for this, we promise to buy an extra long trench coat, place Terry on Tyler’s shoulders and go by the name of Tylerry for the entire night.

The Shark Self on Twitter

Breaking News! Sharkadina is proud to be the first media outlet to report that Roger Bernadina has joined Twitter and his username is @RBtheshark! If you read this blog, you are required to follow him. #CHOMP

 More to come.

Jawsome Dutch Interview

Roger Bernadina was interviewed on Dutch Radio yesterday and it was Jawsome, which, as the radio host explained to her listeners is "Awesome with a capital J." The interview covered a range of topics, most of which we couldn't understand because we don't speak dutch. The Google Translated summary is: "In baseball-loving countries, he is a superstar. But when I call his name, then I do not think anyone here in the Netherlands when a light comes on; ballplayer Roger "The Shark" Bernadina." Sounds about right. Thankfully, some of our international Twitter followers came to our rescue with highlights and quotes. If you do speak Dutch, or are a true hardcore Sharkadina fan, you should watch the webcam version of the interview.

Roger demonstrates the Shark Chomp on air

Our Twitter follower @KeijzerJasper provided us with a rundown of topics covered: our website, how he got the shark nickname, how proud he is of the nickname, his MVP catch (referred to as the Shark Dive), the World Baseball Classic, his daily routine, baseball in general, concentration during the game and Strobe Eyewear in pre-game.

In the interview, you can clearly hear them talking about sharkadina.com and see them visiting the website on air (around the 4:00 minute mark):

See our website? ^

Another Twitter follower, @MartijnBeenker gave a us a partial transcript:

Shark Number

Although yesterday might have been the biggest day in Tyler's life (or definitely in the top 1500 days ever), today was arguably the  biggest day for the Washington Nationals this offseason.  It ranks up there with this awesome day. In a shocking announcement, new National Denard Span will be wearing the Shark's number this year:

Span wore number 2 while playing for the Minnesota Twins and apparently got the Shark's okay to continue wearing it.   That said, Twitter was not so sure about this:

After the dust settled from the atom bomb announcement, the next question arose: What number will the Shark wear?

Happy Birthday Tyler!

So I had this post all written up about how the Redskins loss yesterday was the sickeningly perfect blind carbon copy of the Nationals NLDS Game 5 loss last October.  It went on to discuss how the Shark's preseason training methods were going to inspire and drive the Nationals to victory.  How the unstoppable pitching staff was going to combine with the Shark led "Eat-Em-And-Weep-Offense" (a term I believe I just coined) to push the Nationals to a World Series victory.  Honestly, it was a pretty good post.  But then I remembered...

TODAY IS TYLER STOLTENBERG'S BIRTHDAY!

So none of that matters, it is much more important to take a page from the June 12, 2011 handbook and celebrate the taller and more bearded half of Sharkadina.

So help me celebrate Tyler by enjoying with him these Shark themed birthday cakes I found online:

Sharklusive Training Photos

Ladies and gentlemen, and Shark fans of all species, we give you the first: Sharkadina Exclusive. 

We have it on good authority that Roger "The Shark" Bernadina started his offseason training regiment this week. Remember how every year, the Shark comes to Spring Training SUPER BUFF? Well it's easy to see why when you look at these pictures of The Shark in the weight room. A good friend of the blog emailed us these pictures from the Netherlands and we are happy to share them with you, Loyal Shark Fans:

Pectoral Fin Press

Caudal Fin Press

Dorsal Fin Press

Roger Bernadina putting in all together in the facilities Aquatic Center.

84 days until Opening Day!

More to come.