Once again: Everything you need to know about D.C. sports this year you could have learned in grammar school.

A while back it occurred to me that the two biggest local sports stories of the summer, Stephen Strasburg and Albert Haynesworth, were starting to resemble “The Tortoise and the Hare.”

Strasburg had people asking if he was the most popular athlete in town after his first start. Even accountants agreed the record contract he got from the team looked like a bargain.

Haynesworth, meanwhile, had folks wondering most of the summer if he was the most despised man in these parts, with a series of disclosures that he didn’t want to do this or that that the Redskins wanted no matter how much money he was guaranteed, and then we were told that he was in no shape to do this or that even if he wanted to.

But, then Strasburg’s condition faltered, and he began leaving fans feeling ripped off by no-showing for scheduled events; and Haynesworth got through his shuttle runs and crept back onto the field for third-team duty despite some blood ailment rare and weird enough to show up in a “House” script.

Then on Friday, the Tortoise and Hare denoument really took shape. The Nationals announced Strasburg’s season was over, and that he was done for at least a year, maybe more. Hours later,  Haynesworth worked with the first team defense in the Meadowlands for the Redskins’ last exhibition game that mattered.

Looks like he’ll be in the starting lineup after all come Opening Night.

Given how the situation was for Strasburg and Haynesworth just a few months ago, who woulda guessed things would work out like this for these two competitors?

Anybody who paid attention in second grade, I guess.