Monthly Archives: January 2011

It is a Simple Game

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When you only turn the ball over twice in the fourth quarter.

And you out rebound the other team.

And you have a “big” play and puts up lots of points, rebounds and blocked shots at a key juncture. Way to go Andray Blatche! The bobblehead giveaway was a nice touch we all thought!

And your point guard doles out lots of assists. And plays a complete game. Against one of the best point guards I have seen in the NBA.

And the BIG SHOT is hit at the right time at the right place. See play and diagram here! Nick Young drained it. Kudos. Big time.

Two in a row at home. Four games over 500 at home.

Let us get this feeling regained on the road next!

Three of four games ended in a win this weekend at Verizon Center. A long busy long weekend. Three out of four. I will take it. :-)

Here Is To A Great Man – Sargent Shriver

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A great American.A wonderful husband and father.

A man who led a family that has done more public service than perhaps any family in US history.

I first met Sargent Shriver back in 1976.

Maria Shriver and I were classmates at Georgetown and she invited me to her home with some other classmates and friends.

Her mother and father welcomed me and were so nice to me. I will never forget their warmth and sincerity. I have maintained a close relationship with the Shriver family ever since. I love this family. Mrs. Shriver always encouraged everyone in my family to give back; to care; and to practice “to those who much is given, much is expected.”

Sarge was just admitted into the hospital. He is 95 years old. He is tough as nails. He is a fighter.

We are all rooting for his peace and comfort and to get well soon! We are all thinking of you Sargent Shriver.

He is truly a great man; an American idealist; founder of the Peace Corps; VP candidate; Presidential Medal of Freedom winner; President of Special Olympics; and the list goes on and on. Read this Wiki on his life and times.

Celebrate his life. Think positively.

We are all rooting for you!

Take the Win

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Enjoy the two points.

I know some of you are frustrated. I got your emails during the first and second periods of the game.

We are playing a new system. Its emphasis is on defense and not allowing for many shots against.

We all believe in it at this point in time for our club.

We are playing it as well because we are short handed. We are missing Alex Semin, Matt Bradley, Tom Poti and Eric Fehr from the lineup. We also traded a winger with skill who scored many goals in exchange for a d man who is logging many minutes for us now. We are struggling on the power play and it sure felt good to score on one today to get the go ahead goal. Funny how that works. Thank you John Carlson.

I hear it when you boo. I read your emails. I empathize. I understand.

But still we have 57 points to date and we are 5th in the East and tied for first in the division.

It could be worse. It should be better.

But enjoy a win.

Thank you.

A Snapshot of Monumental Sports and Entertainment

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Here is an article from today’s Washington Post on our holding company called Monumental Sports and Entertainment.

Most fans don’t care nor should they care about our business operations and I understand that fact. Fans only care about wins and losses and the game day experience.

There are a few tidbits within that aren’t correct. Randy Boe is our general counsel and heads administration NOT operations as an example.

But overall this article does show that we have a very large and integrated sports and marketing platform in a very big market that serves DC, VA and Maryland plus has fans all around the country and the world. As noted, we now have more than 1. 5 million names of people in our database and we will have more than 2.5 million turnstile clicks this year at Verizon Center. This is a big and important part of our local community.

This is a big responsibility and we take it seriously. It is also quite a large investment and I am proud to have so many great partners to help us lighten the load and the risk inherent in leading these public trusts.

We do our best. We have to improve on all counts but we are working hard to earn your trust and to keep you satisfied and happy.

We will continue to hear your voices. We want to build a world class operation. We want you to be happy. We want to build value and an enterprise that our community is proud of and recommends to friends and family members. Thank you.

SnagFilms Raises $ 10 Million in Venture Capital

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From NEA and from Comcast Interactive Capital.

I am proud. I am happy to help the company now expand into indie films and to grow outside of the United States as well.

Here is a story from All Things D on the fundraising and our expansion plans. Thank you for caring about this company and our films and services.

Watch us grow. Click here to learn more.

Tale of Two Cities

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Check out the standings.

In the NBA Eastern Conference, there are 15 teams.

Six teams have a record that is 500 percent or better. Nine teams have records that are under 500. In the West, only seven teams have records that are less than 500 percent.

Two teams would qualify for a playoff spot with records under 500 in the Eastern Conference should the playoffs start today. Each of those two teams has only 16 wins to date.

The Wizards play with confidence and rhythm at home. We are 11-8 at home. We play at above average in front of our fans. We played quite well and competitively with very good teams at home such as Miami and Orlando.

Yet we are 0-19 on the road. A truly unexplainable poor performer. Teams ahead of us that would qualify for the play offs have won 6 and 5 games respectively.

There is parity amongst many teams in the NBA. There are certain teams that have broken away and differentiated themselves.

The Wizards struggle right now as we try to forge an identity as we rebuild.

It is ironic though. Had we won a few games on the road, we would be feeling a lot better about ourselves and our competitiveness. It is why we need to play the season out as if it started today; fresh; knowing we can play competitive at home; and we just need to win some games on the road. Let the chips fall where they may.

As this article notes, we are beating “bad” teams at home. If you look at the standings, that means sub 500 teams and that means more than half the league right now – 16 teams – have sub 500 records. You get my point.

Boingo IPO

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Good news for our industry. The IPO market is heating up again.

Good news for NEA located in Silver Spring, Maryland and led by Peter Barris. They are investors in both Boingo and Groupon. They also led the investment in Advertising.com, which we acquired at AOL, and they are also the founding VC investor in MediaBank, another company I serve on the board. And NEA is also an investor in Clearspring Technologies, a company of which I am chairman of the board. NEA is hot! I so enjoy working with Peter Barris, Harry Weller and the team at NEA.

In fact, I think NEA was one of the first investors in Boingo and I know NEA was the founding venture capitalist in Groupon. I was there.