At the root of the word fan is the word fanatic.

On Saturday evening, my wife and I went to an early dinner at the Palm in Tysons Corner. We went early because we had gone on a date to a movie and then went to dine so we could rush home and watch the Caps game. By the way, we saw the film The Blind Side which we both liked very much.

Our server took our order and very efficiently brought us our salads. As we were eating a young man - who is also a waiter - walked up to our table and said, “I don’t mean to interrupt you but I wanted to tell you that I have a great friend at church. She is 75 years old. She emails you all of the time and you once sent her an autographed hat from Ovie as a Christmas gift and some free tickets as she can’t afford to go to games. Sir, that was very nice of you. She talks about you all of the time. You are very generous. And she sure loves her Caps hockey. I also wanted you to know that I don’t like the Caps as I am a Penguins fan. I also have to be a Pirates fan, too. It comes with the geography.”

He then wanted to shake my hand and walked away.

Then on Sunday - to relax - I went to the Grooming Lounge to get my beard trimmed and to get a hot lather shave. They use seven hot towels and then an ice cold towel. It is very relaxing.

During one of the hot towel treatments my head and face are covered up. The barber leaves to go watch some of the Redskins vs. Cowboys game on TV and a man comes up to me. I can’t see him as I have a towel covering my face and he says, “Hey Mr. Leonsis. Do you really think you can win anything this year without a Donald Brashear type player in the lineup? Grow a pair, will ya?” He then turns and scoots out of the building. My barber returns and says, “Did you know that guy?” I say, “No. Who was he?” He says, “I don’t know. He ran in and was wearing a red Caps hoodie. I thought he was some friend of yours.”

Last night, I gave a speech at a Georgetown Graduate program on sports management. There were 90 students attending. This morning I received an email from one of the students. It said “Mr. Leonsis: Thank you. You gave a very inspiring speech. I so want to work in the sports business. I so admire what you stand for and what you have done for the Capitals. I am the biggest Sabres fan ever. Could I send you my resume? Can you comp me some tickets for Wednesday’s game?”

And so it goes. May we live in interesting times.