Monthly Archives: April 2011

A Full Arc

Posted on by

The season is 12 months long. That is how we have to look at it nowadays.

Season 1 is the off season.

We seem to have to compete in it because it is written about – a lot.

There are off season moves. They get critiqued and judged. There are scoreboards created. We didn’t do very well in most experts’ eyes in the off season. We had a losing record according to the blogosphere.

There is season 2. Camp and preseason. Lots of speculation; lots of analysis; and lots of jockeying for positioning. We did OK in that one according to some folks. Lots of chatter and speculation. And pre season ranking. Ours were mixed. Some said we would do well in the standings; some said we wouldn’t. You can go back and look thanks to the Internet on who said what and how. Lots of pixels dancing in the cloud.

Season 3 – The regular season. It has been a grind. We have garnered a lot of points. We have 107 to date. Regardless of how we do on Saturday night on the road, that is a lot of points. We may end up first in the East. We may not. There are several really good teams in the East. I would venture to say that every team that qualifies for the playoffs is a good team. We shall show respect and homage to every franchise that qualifies for the playoffs as we know what a difficult and aspirational goal that is in pro sports. Well done all.

I will let all the experts opine on whether we had a good regular season or not and who did well and who didn’t. Go for it. Have fun with it.

And in about a week the really important season, Season 4, begins.

There can’t be much time celebrating any wins in seasons 1 to 3 because the playoffs are around the corner.

We got through seasons 1, 2 and 3 all to have the opportunity to play in season 4. We are only grateful. And respectful to the process.

Last night was our last game at home for season 3 and I wanted to say again how thankful I am to our fans and our community for being so supportive of us. There have been 101 straight sellouts. We are humbled. And grateful.

Respect process. Respect the game. Respect the league and all opponents.

Learning to Win

Posted on by

Read these quotes.

See the players’ confidence building.

See players developing right before your eyes.

That is what a rebuild is all about.

A new big three has announced its arrival – Wall, Crawford and Blatche. Big minutes – big productivity – big results. And wins, too.

We are short-handed and so players are getting bigger minutes to show the world what they can do.

We have two first round draft picks next off season. We have cap space.

We are young.

We have upside.

We are becoming an exciting team to watch.

The sun is shining out today.

Admit it. It feels good to be Wizards fans watching the rebuild unfold, yes? I am so grateful to you all and I appreciate all of your positive emails.

Thank you.

Not Bad for a Country Club

Posted on by

Read this post and this post from February 15th. Wry?

Congratulations to the Washington Capitals organization for clinching its fourth straight SE Division Crown.

And for moving back into first place in the East.

And to Alex Ovechkin for scoring his 300th goal, the 6th fastest to this milestone in NHL history. He continues to score big and important goals for us. We are grateful.

For a team “as soft as Charmin” read this one. We seem to have overcome a lot of adversity and I am proud of the teams “stick-with-it-ness.”

Two more games to go. Last home game of the regular season is tonight. Saturday in Florida and then let the chips fall where they may.

This season has been a grind.

You decide if we are an elite NHL team or not.

It doesn’t matter to us. We are what we are. We are what our record says we are and we are grateful to have such great fans. Thank you. See you all tonight. Go Caps!

Shot Across the Bow

Posted on by

Wow.

Provocative. Read this one. It is a complicated subject indeed. Analytic and emotional all at the same time.

I empathize greatly with what Mark is saying. We as sports teams are our own media companies now as you know. I blog and I am on Twitter and Facebook. I read and respond to all of my email. I am accessible. I care deeply. We all do in our franchises. In a way, we compete with the bloggers and media that cover our teams now.

There. I said it. We hire journalists on our staff. We want sponsors. We want readers. We want to feed the monster. Mr. /Ms. Blogger. We are in your business. You are in ours. We live in this odd state of “coopetition” with the media that covers us. We must get that out and understand what that means. We don’t get rights fees from these folks. They take our content and brands and access to players and staff that we pay and then try to make a business or a reputation out it for themselves. Good deal, right? Only Comcast pays us fees.

Continue reading →

In Support of Andray

Posted on by

He has come to play of late.

He is a real big man; skilled and motivated.

He is also a nice young man that is still learning and has upside and when he is healthy, we believe he is a top young big forward in the NBA. Just check the stats.

Let us allow him to develop within our structure and root for his success. Being positive is good– being negative isn’t. Thank you.