Ted's Take

Thank you.

The NHL owners voted to change the schedule and we will now play teams within our division six times instead of eight times. It seems like we play Florida every week.

At the beginning of the season if someone had said that the NY Rangers would score 57 goals and the Capitals would score 58 goals but they would be two of the three lowest scoring teams in the East, would you have believed it? (The Islanders are the other low goal scoring team.) Both the Rangers and the Capitals were two of the busiest free agent signing teams in the off season adding significant firepower to their respective teams. What is going on?

 For goals against, we have let in 74 goals, the same level as division leading Carolina and second place Florida. Our goals against are acceptable but our goals for are UNACCEPTABLE. Add another dozen goals from an injured and out of synch Alexander Semin; a few more wins from one goal losses; and I would certainly feel better about the season. I am just stunned by our lack of offensive production.

As I noted last month, making the move from a nice social community to an ad-based business to justify a $15 billion market cap will be a rocky road to travel. People feel that a social network is very personal and very intimate populated with "my" friends and family members. When ads appear that seem targeted or are based on deeply personal information, consumers blanch as this article so clearly attests.

Here is the first pass of information about "Kicking It" hosted on AOL True Stories. The URL is Kickingitthefilm.com and we will be updating it on an ongoing basis. The film is a very uplifting look at the power of sports and how a ball can change your life.

Our second filmanthropy project called “Kicking It” was accepted at the Sundance Film Festival. Here is the news release on this great achievement.

It is a great honor to have your film accepted at this festival as 8,000 films are considered for about 125 spots. I am very proud of this work - kudos to the director, Susan Koch - and to all of my friends that helped make this project come to life.

Two films, two acceptances at Sundance…I am humbled beyond words.

November 29, 2007     

KICKING IT World Premiere at 2008 Sundance Film Festival

Director Susan Koch and Producer Ted Leonsis

Here is a widget on Lou Reed from Nanking. Check it out.

Thank you for showing so much class and dignity last night while we all observed a moment of silence for Sean Taylor. Local professional athletes are a brotherhood and each member of the Washington Capitals family shares in the collective pain of this tragedy.

Here is a pretty good synopsis of my keynote speech at the Wharton school at UPenn from a couple of weeks ago. The students that I met there were quite impressive and I was honored to be able to speak with them and meet so many of tomorrow’s great business leaders.

Great news here and just what the doctor ordered. Thank you so very much.