Nationals Chatter: Gonzalez honored, trio of Nats model for Team USA

While most of the sporting news in the D.C. area was focused on the Redskins' new coach, life still went on with the Nationals. Congratulations to Jay Gruden on the new gig. Really, I'm happy for you, but we're here to talk baseball. And by baseball, I mean no Alex Rodriguez conversations. He's banned from this entry. We're talking good, clean topics this week. See what I did there? * It was almost a year ago that Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez was honored by his hometown, Hialeah, Fla. After the honor, Gonzalez had tweeted he hoped to one day have a "Gio Gonzalez Day" in Hialeah. Well guess what, Gio? Your dream came true. Gonzalez was honored Jan. 8 in his hometown. According to The Washington Post, Gonzalez tweeted the following: "January 8th will forever be known as Gio Gonzalez day in my beautiful city of Hileah." Here is a picture of Gonzalez with the proclamation, courtesy of @ZavierGarcia on Twitter. * The Winter Olympics begin next month in Sochi, Russia. Traditionally during the Olympic Games, many Americans show their patriotic colors that are normally saved for July 4. Denard Span, Adam LaRoche and Ross Detwiler are three Americans looking forward to the games starting. The official U.S. Olympic Team twitter account tweeted a picture of Detwiler modeling a pair of mittens that say "Go USA" on them. LaRoche, Detwiler and Span's photos can all be seen here. You can also show your support for Team USA by purchasing a pair yourself. * As MASNsports.com's Dan Kolko wrote earlier, LaRoche likes to hunt. The Buck Commander Facebook page shared a picture of LaRoche carrying a mountain lion on his shoulders. Apparently, LaRoche took down the cat with one single bow. As others have suggested, maybe LaRoche can join the cast of "Duck Dynasty" once his playing career is over. I'm sure he'll fit right in. That's a wrap of Nationals Chatter this week. Be sure to check MASNsports.com every week for more.