I am proud of my last name given to me by my father.
My ancestors are from Sparta. My last name is kind of a derivative of Leonidas, the King of Sparta and of 300 film fame. 
For those of you who are unfamiliar, it is pronounced “Lee - On - Sis”, Leonsis.
Most intelligent, non-xenophobic and educated people have no issue with its pronunciation.
Tags: Ted Leonsis, Ted's Take
We love you Ted!
One word, Ted:
BRILLIANT!!!
Take care,
Mike
You’re a good man Mr. Leonsis. I suppose Mr. Cherry prefers to pick on people with character and class. It seems that is what the classless always do.
The perfect response. Kudos.
Sorry but your bringing politics into the Don Cherry thing was lame and wrong I think.
Suddenly, I’m not too fond of a certain red pitted fruit
Mr Leonsis,
I am so very glad to see you taking the high road on this. So you know i am Capitals season ticket holder, but i am a lifelong Toronto Maple Leafs fan, so Don Cherry is a person i enjoy watching on coaches corner every saturday night on HNIC. I even subscribed to the NHL centre ice package just to watch this program. But after the last two weeks i am highly disappointed in Don. I know he isnt exactly “nice” to any hockey player that isnt from the province of Ontario but he has gone too far. I was sincerly hoping for a apology or a truce but his cheap shot is just plain wrong. I will be writing a note to CBC Sports also, venting my frustrations. Glad to see your being the big man in all of this.
LETS GO CAPS !
Jon Lensch
Good for you, taking the high road! Of course, Grapes has no idea where Sparta was, who Leonidas was, what 300 was or what “non-xenophobic” means.
Perfect!
Bravo Mr. Leonsis!
Well done.
But how forcefully can you bellow pseudo-logic?
Anyone who hasn’t read Gates Of Fire, by Stephen Pressfield should do so immediately; it makes 300 seem like something Mother Goose cooked up.
amazing…
Who is this supposed to be a shot at?
Doesn’t seem to me like your taking the high road.
Indeed. I’m a bit disappointed Coach Boudreau has chosen Mr. Cherry to write the opening for Boudreau’s new book. Equally, I’m offended by the absolute bias which appears to be Cherry’s hallmark. I will guarantee that I’ll be rooting for ‘Team Russia’ in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
Nice!
Cherry is a coot and I’m dreading when the Canadian teams are out of the playoffs and he gets time on Versus. Hopefully he will figure out the reality that times change, and sometimes change is good.
People actually care about Capitals Hockey, and that’s what matters.
Donald S. Cherry is not the spokesman for all 1) Canadians, 2) hockey fans.
He is very good at talking without thinking but in his defense he is very proud and loud with the military.
If you watch all of the Coaches Cornor he always mentions the fallen and their families and his very sincere.
There is a Canadian saying about Donald S. ” what else would you expect from a pig but a grunt”
Don’t get caught up with his rants.
Go Caps GO !!!!
Go AO Go !!!!
ted,
don cherry is an idiot. i don’t know why the cbc thinks it’s kosher to have him on the air, he doesn’t represent our country, he’s an embarrassment. i hope he has apologised.
Thank you Ted. Next time you see the new King of all Idiots, punch him in the head, will ya?
I wish I could hear Cherry explaining his last name
You go, Ted!!!
Great Post Ted
There is more support for you up here in Canada than you will ever know and we’re all very proud of what you’ve accomplished with your franchise.
I’m not sure if you’re aware of this but Don Cherry only played one game (Only one!) in the NHL. That’s it - not exactly great credible!
Also, Cherry was previously the coach of the Boston Bruins, leading the 6th game of the Stanley Cup finals with only a couple minutes left and lost the game, the momentum and eventually the series against Montreal due to a penalty for too many players on the ice! That is truly a penalty on the coach for an inability to count.
We’re not very proud of Don Cherry these days. He used to be tolerable, even mildly amusing, but now we’re embarrassed and angry with this. It’s not the Canadian way.
Don Cherry intentionally mispronounces non-North Americans’ names as a sign of disrespect and contempt. He is a highly paid hockey commentator and won’t learn the correct pronunciation of a large percentage of NHL players’ names - unbelievable! For that reason, I disregard him and anything he says - he’s a joke.
But writing “Most intelligent, non-xenophobic and educated people have no issue with its pronunciation” isn’t exactly taking the high road as you are implying he is none of the above.
Bottom line is let’s not give him more of what he wants most - attention.