Andrew Bowser admits that he isn't the biggest Capitals fan in the world. Heck, he might not even be the biggest Caps fan in his current ZIP code on the West Coast.
But the former Bowie native got hooked on hockey after attending a game last season with his brother-in-law, and decided to use his talents in acting and video production to honor all those Caps fans who live and die by the drop of the puck.
That new-found passion led to this: The Caps Rap.
It's a high-energy video created by Bowser and his friends. His buddy Mike Shwedick dropped some Capitals k-nowledge on Bowser, who then turned that info into the lyrics for the song. He enlisted another friend, Michael Eller, to play the role of Alex Ovechkin, and yet another friend, Ryan Deal, to portray coach Bruce Boudreau.
Bowser raps and stars in the video while rocking a red outfit that is part crazed Caps fan and part Wendy of hamburger fame.
"I wore it last year during one of the playoff games against the Pens," Bowser said.
Sports
"I haven't ever been a real sports fan," he added. "I grew up playing sports, but then turned to film and acting. I never really got what being a fan meant."
But that changed when his brother in law, Pat Wood, started inviting him to games last year when Bowser was visiting from his new home in Los Angeles.
"I don't know what it was, but I really got into it," Bowser said. "I got into the players and team. Then I even found myself doing research (on the Caps) in my free time."
That new love of hockey led to the Caps Rap, which Bowser and friends began filming a couple of weeks ago.
Eventually the crew made their way to the Kettler Ice Complex, the practice rink of the Capitals, and managed to get a couple of special guest appearances from the team, including Mike Green, Nicklas Backstrom, Brooks Laich and even GM George McPhee.
"I just hung out looking like a complete idiot in the outfit," Bowser said. He approached a couple of the players after practice and asked if they'd be a part of it. After explaining that the song was clean and didn't say anything bad about their opponents, they agreed.
"They were cool with it," he said. "And all I was asking from them was for a couple of seconds to stare at the camera."
Unfortunately for Bowser, he wasn't able to snag any face time with Ovechkin, but it was OK by him. He already had a plan for how he was going to portray the Caps' star for the "Ovie Shuffle."
"I thought it would be funnier to have a guy who's clearly not Ovechkin ... than get a look-alike," Bowser said. "So we put a gold chain on him and blacked out his tooth. That's about it. It's just an element that makes me laugh about the video. It doesn't look anything like him.
"And he sounds a little like Arnold Schwarzenegger."
Bowser, who is currently pitching a feature film around Hollywood with hopes of it getting picked up by a major studio, said he's not expecting the Caps Rap to bring him fame and fortune. He said it would be cool if the video was viewed by team owner Ted Leonsis and shown on the JumboTron at a Caps game. All he wanted to do was give something back to the fans and the team he's adopted as his own, he said.
"For me, sometimes I try to do these projects that I don't feel professional pressure with," Bowser said. "Video and film is what I love. ... I just wanted to get fans excited."
