Monthly Archives: November 2010

Funny About Truth

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The only ads on this blog are from Groupon and are about food: Donuts, pies and the like – deal of the day.

I wouldn’t make fun of food if I was you. It would be bad for business! :-) Laugh out loud snark.

By the way, if a team plays .500 ball, it is possible that record would qualify for the playoffs in the East this season. I believe last season the team in the 8th spot qualified at a couple of games over .500.

THAT was my point!

Win at home a majority of the time and you are right in the thick of things come playoff time.

The Caps are 7-1 at home so far this season.

The Wizards are 1-1 at home this season.

Win at home. Create an identity. Be hard to play against.

Go from there.

Effort Matters

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Rebounding matters.

Fundamentals matter.

Adhering to systems matter.

I agree with all of this but we are also rebuilding with many new players and many young players thrown into the mix. They must learn to play together. They must build up a psyche that is positive and confident and selfless. They must learn from stats and see the importance of rebounding and defensive sets and stops to their stat line. That is a long and difficult process.

But we must also remember that with a veteran-laden team, we won 19 and 26 games the last two years (respectively) with many all star players. Talent at times doesn’t matter. Effort and team chemistry matter.

Effort matters. Hard work and repetition matters. We can’t say that enough. Our fans want effort, enthusiasm and signs of progress. Great team chemistry and mutual player support and respect as well.

We will get there. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Bloggers can poke fun of my optimism and belief system all they want. Those who can – do. Those who can’t? Well they just blog. :-) I appreciate the pixels.

Come see us play tonight. We are celebrating Asian Heritage Night. This game will also be shown in China to more than 400 million basketball fans. We will have a big crowd tonight but still no sell out.

Yi and Yao on the same floor will make for an interesting game with some dynamic sub plots.

Earvin Magic Johnson will be in town as well. He will meet our players before the game and talk about effort, teamwork and upside.

I hope to see you all tonight. Thanks for making the effort to attend.

Take Two Points and Call Me in the Morning

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No emails this morning criticizing the win. Thank you.

We take two more points from a tough team in NYC at MSG. We retake a lead and we hold on for a win.

Five wins in a row.

At this point in time we have the most points in the NHL at 22. We are 11-4.

Most goals scored. Best goals scored to goals allowed differential in the NHL.

And we promise to improve and play better.

We have much work to do but we seem to be learning how to win in almost every different situation. And we have been able to throw our young players into the pool; allow them to learn how to swim; and overcome some mistakes to help them learn how to play in the NHL.

We next play the much improved and exciting Tampa Bay Lightning team on Thursday at home. I am very respectful to them. I admire how they have rebuilt their team around young players and new ownership.

Go Caps!

Others’ Views

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In talking with some folks in NYC, they think the Caps are:

  • Having a great season and are “scary good”; it is why we have such a good record
  • That we are a high scoring team
  • That we have improved defense schemes
  • That our penalty kill has improved
  • That our goaltending is much improved
  • That Alex Ovechkin is having a great and more balanced season of play
  • That we have more balance in our line up now; we are tougher to play against; and the coach has more weapons and line ups to mix and match.

Isn’t that funny?

One pundit pointed to our two wins this weekend against the best of the East in Boston and Philadelphia as proof points of progress and our record as being tied for most points in the NHL .

But then again, there is this locally in DC.

We get “the joke.”

Expectations are high. People are not satisfied – deservedly so. Angst away but try just a little bit to enjoy the ride.

We play a big game in NYC tonight so wish us well. Madison Square Garden is always a tough place to play.

Provocative

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Thanks Mike Holden. Read this one please.

We don’t sell tickets directly to brokers or to travel agents as an organization. We try to sell only to Caps fans. We do our best as an organization. We have a long waiting list from our local fans to buy season tickets too.

I have no beef with season ticket holders that resell their tickets. It is capitalism at its best. Supply and demand.

I do get unhappy when I receive emails from season ticket holders complaining to me about rowdy fans in seats next to them as if we had sold the tickets to these opposing team’s fans. Let no good deed go unpunished, I say! I also cringe when I receive emails from fans that say, “I paid $ 500 per ticket and all I got was…” Duh. I didn’t receive $500 per ticket. You are complaining to the wrong person. Complain to the person who sold you the tickets at a 5 times mark-up. “It wasn’t me.”

This is a tough issue. We enable our fans to resell their tickets. They go to the highest bidder. Sometimes fans of the other teams get to buy those tickets. A free market has emerged.

The season ticket holder profits from the sale. This is the business relationship that most of you have asked us to abide by and we intend to allow it. There is another alternative. We could have resold tickets go directly back to us as an organization. We could match up Caps fans to these tickets and we could take a piece of the transaction for the service provided.

However, this isn’t the free market relationship that you seem to want. Hence we have a bazaar right now. This set of transactions where our season ticket holders can resell to anyone that bids the highest is the business relationship that you have all requested and we are honoring.

If you change your mind, let us know.

I guess these are good problems to have though. We have way more demand and not any more supply directly from the source.

Two-A-Days

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Hard work is good.

I was up and blogging and answering emails from our fans at 4:30 am yesterday.

I then showered and left to go to train station to attend a 9:00 am meeting in Philadelphia. I was in Philly from 9:00 to 11:00 am. I took the train back to DC; came into the offices for a meeting; then went to a conference related to philanthropy held by the Harmon Family across the street from Verizon Center. I delivered a keynote address; came back to Verizon Center; held some more meetings; then I attended the second practice for our team in our practice court. I stayed at Verizon Center and worked until 7:00 pm. Then I went to Georgetown University and taught a class from 8:00 pm until 9:30 pm. I finally returned home at 10:30 pm. I had an 18 hour work day yesterday.

Holding a second spirited practice yesterday was the right thing to do for the Washington Wizards.

Work ethic; enthusiasm; and positive attitude matter. To our team; to our coaches and staff; to our fans; and frankly to me.

Read this article.

I tend to look at things though in a more positive light. We are a young team but with some players that need to round into shape, we can physically afford to conduct two practices in one day.

Also had we won a close game at home on Saturday, we would be playing on Wednesday for a .500 record.

If you look at the standings, a 2-3 record would qualify for the playoffs if the playoffs started today. :-) No joke. Click here.

The difference between success and failure in professional sports is quite small. Hard work is the foundation to all success - in business, in sports and in life.