Professional sports are much maligned. They have such scrutiny and such passion wrapped around them and so many negative slants that sometimes, we forget the true beauty at the heart of the matter.
I am honored to lead a partnership that owns professional sports teams. When I read articles such as this one - click here please - it makes me swell with pride. Love, passion, friendship, honor and civic duty and family connectedness…that is what it is all about. And we also have players that we can be proud of in our community. Thank you Alex and Matt.
I am involved with sports because I remember vividly going to games with my dad when I was a child. I remember holding his hand and walking into arenas and stadiums as a kid and those memories have stayed with me ever since. They are some of the constant reminders to me about the healing power of sports. My father passed away and these visual images are ones that I can call on and remember warmly and with a smile. I miss you Dad and know you will be watching the game tonight and rooting for us.
I have passed that tradition on to my son and my daughter. Some of my best memories pivot on family outings at games. I sit with my wife and family and we are one unit all focused on the same thing; all united in one goal; and all with our own set of superstitions and family traditions and set of discussion points. Driving to and from the games represents high quality family time. We talk. We laugh. We stress - altogether. I know many people share in this ritual and that sports and the Washington Capitals have become a big part of your daily fabric of life. Thank you. We are honored to play such a role.
My partners are my best friends. We all share in this set of rituals. Games have become our primary way of socializing. We watch our families grow up together. We mingle; we hug; we laugh; we cry; and we work together. We invest together. We are part of a keiretsu. This is so much fun. We are happy and united in what we pursue. Ownership of the team has given us a collective higher purpose. We have big dreams and big goals but we never forget the small intimate moments that sports can offer up to our community and to fans and to families.
We now hit the road. We go to Pittsburgh to play pivotal Game 3 tonight. I will break out my road lucky charms. Click here for some info on my home game superstitions and at this moment I do feel confident and calm. My demeanor is thus because of the collective personality and best wishes from our community. Sometimes I dwell on some of the negative posts or emails I receive. But to be brutally honest 99 percent of the vibes sent; of the messages posted; and of the emails and pixels generated are written out of love and respect and friendship. We have a big responsibility in owning a team. We have a major role to play in uplifting our community. We help create and reinforce friendships and relationships. We have become a mirror held up to the soul of our city. We can’t thank you enough. We want to make you proud. We want to play a role of connective tissue to friendships and to productive and happy families. What other pursuit is as worthy?
Onward. Go Caps! We love you all.
Ted-
Great article. I share with you the memories of me and my father (at Capital Center). And now new memories with friends or my husband at games.
Sorry we lost last night, but I still believe we will win Friday, and close it out at HOME Saturday. GO CAPS!
Teddy Just a quick Rock the Red & Lets Go Caps!!!!
Sending some Good Karma your way. ++
Ted, I am indebted to you for bringing the Caps front and center. I’m a longtime fan who has loved the Caps for years but endured much heartbreak. Believe me, I am LOVING the Playoffs! Thanks for the courage and cash it took to relocate to Ballston. The chance to stop by and see a practice or nearly be run over by one of the players is exciting! My hockey friends really are the most diverse group in my life, and what a pleasure it has been to follow “our boys” from all the way down to Round 2 conquerors. Keep up all the great work, I am so proud of you and what you are doing for DC. Lets Go Caps!
I also agree this is a wonderful article about friendship. There have been many new friends I have met through my individual attendance at the Caps games. All of my friends thought I was crazy when I finally went from a partial attendee and bought a full season plan for myself. I am now thrilled that I did because I feel like part of a huge extended family and haven’t regretted the purchase at all. Thank you Ted for being the best owner in the NHL as well as the best owner in the DC and surrounding area! Lets Go Caps!
Mr. Leonsis
I share simular happy child hood memories. Going to Memorial Stadium to watch the O’s. Ringing a cow bell at the old Alexandria Dukes minor league park, watching the US beat the Russians in the Gold Medal semi final of the 1980 Olympics. (Who would think the same little girl would cheer her heart out for 5 russians who play for the Caps.) Because of these memories, I invited my father up from NC to see the game Saturday. He had a blast.
Keep up the good work. There is a reason you get a standing ovation when you are on the jumbo tron. And you should take your cowbell with you to Pittsburgh. GO CAPS!
Ted:
Of all the blogs you have written (I read them but have never written), I enjoyed this one the most since it spoke to me as a mom. First, I want to thank you for what you have done for this franchise. Keep up the good work and keep on cheering (no matter what anyone says). We are old time fans from the Cap Center/US Air days. We have always enjoyed the Caps in their good years and their bad. But it sure is a lot of fun to go when the place is jumping and the red is rocking and seeing you enjoying the game along with the “non-owner” fans only makes it better.
Although we do not have season tickets, we get to as many games as schedule and money allow. Although I go to games with friends and enjoy myself, there is nothing more fun than attending with my 17- and 20-year old sons. We yell, we scream, we swear (sorry), we wear our red, my sons sometimes dye their hair or shave it and they grow their play off beards. We give each other high fives and hugs when the team is doing well. As you know, as your children grow and move into adulthood, it is sometimes difficult to maintain the relationship against pressure from friends, girlfriends, school, etc. But a Caps game, whether we watch it at home or attend the game in person, gives us a chance to sit together, to laugh, to yell at the refs and to argue about what players are playing well and who needs our advice on how to improve his game. (ok, maybe none of them, but we THINK they do.) Further, what you are doing and the product you are putting out advances the sport. Our family plays hockey and has been involved in numerous youth and school hockey programs over the years. The players you and your staff have pulled together represent everything that is good about professional sports. They work hard and play with an apparent love and respect for the sport that gives them drive and determination that is not conditioned on their pay checks. It is bigger than that. They represent the city and the sport extremely well. And, a final thank you. At the last game against Pittsburgh, Donald Brashear was out shaking hands with fans. My son, who is blase about most things as only a teenager can be, was beside himself because he got to shake Brash’s hand and tell him that the suspension was b.s. I don’t know whose idea it was to have Brash do that, but what a great treat for the fans and another classy act by a franchise that is doing everything in its power to make this a great experience for the fans. Keep up the good work. And pat yourself on the back for what you do for the community and our families. It is appreciated.
The Caps have always had some really classy players on the team and thankfully that tradition continues to this day… great stuff.
Thanks Ted.
Most of the negativity you read are from those who would still complain even if the Caps win the cup.
Make sure the guys do not take their foot off the gas tonight.
See you guys when you fly north to take on the Hamilton Coyotes one day.
Ted,
Thanks for being such an involved, intelligent, and gracious owner. And, not the least, for providing such a good role model to the rest of us, as far as staying above the fray when it’s appropriate to do so
Along the lines of your family memories post, I have to share one with you: During last year’s first round series, our family would devoutly gather around the TV and my dad, to watch the Caps’ playoff run. We knew Dad was dying (pulmonary fibrosis), but he loved the Caps and he loved hockey, and always seemed to rally when a game was on. He passed away before game 7, but I will always be grateful to the Caps for providing an opportunity, through sport, to transcend life’s most painful experiences, including the terminal illness of a loved one. He is surely looking down, as your dad is, cheering them on. . . and yelling at the top of his lungs:
Go CAPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ted, I appreciate all you for the Caps and think you are a great owner, but I’m disturbed by all your Ovechkin vs. Crosby comments of late that have been published in the media. I and my family are long time hockey fans. I grew up in PA but have lived here for 20 years, and, believe it or not, I straddle the fanbase of both teams (have Caps partial season tickets). I can appreciate the incredible talents both teams have. Unfortunately,your recent Ovechkin vs. Crosby comments seem to be backhanded slaps on Crosby. You always qualify your gratuitous comments about Crosby being good with a comment about Ovechkin being better….just maybe in a politically correct way… i.e., “Sid is the best white wine the restaurant has to offer. Alex is a Denver Slammer,….” Why can’t you just love and praise your boy without making it about Crosby? It just feeds into this obsession Caps fans have with Crosby hate. Can’t we just appreciate them separately without having it be about a battle between them? Leave that up to the media that has to sell their work. Maybe you should just take a clue from Mario: let the boys play and stay out of the rivalry. It just makes you look so self-serving.
As long as we take one out of two in the upcoming two road games, I think this series will be ours, hands down. I don’t think the Caps are playing to their full potential and they are still winning, so if they step it up another notch, watch out
Heres to going 3-0 in this series, just like the Bears are did in Hersey last night! LETS GO CAPS!
Thanks for being a great owner Ted. My friends and I will be rocking the red and eating Penguin (chicken) salad for the third time this week.
In today’s Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the Penguins are starting to sound like the Rangers last series – earning bad series karma by whining about everything from hats to alleged pick plays to even the curve of the blade on Ovechkin’s stick.
If the Caps just play solid hockey and keep their mouths shut, they are going to win the series.