Whose Signature Is That?

Last week I wrote my second to last Wizards blog post of the 2018-2019 season. Just like last year, I'm taking the summer off, although I will likely blog about the schedule when it's released rather that in September like I did last year. For now, I'm bullish on this coming season after what I see as a positive draft. Since my draft optimism stems mostly from the fact that the Wizards actually acknowledged that drafting in the second round is a good thing, there's tons of room for my euphoria to fully deflate before opening night. And it will. Pretty much can guarantee that free agency will do that.

Last week's blog post concerned the Sixth Man Referral program offered by the Wizards, a rewards benefit for current season ticket holders to refer new season ticket holders to the team. One of the gifts I received for my referral was a Wizards team autographed basketball, which now sits in the back of my closet on display surrounded by pictures of family, various power cords for phones and things and my bottles of prescription drugs (hey, I'm old and my diet hasn't been that healthy earlier in life!). I graded this reward as a C- for a couple of reasons. First, there are only 11 signatures on the thing. I know the Wizards tried to keep as few people on the team to avoid sniffing any sort of luxury tax but I don't believe you can carry fewer than 13 on a team so where are the other three? Second, some of these signatures are completely unintelligible. 

I'm hoping one of the half dozen or so people who occasionally read this blog can help me identify some of these. Here goes...let's start with the ones I can figure out before we move to those I need help with.

So this one is clearly Dwight Howard. It's a little lazy; just a large D with a 21. I guess these guys do have a lot of stuff to sign. Economizing is good.

Next up: Thomas Bryant. Very obvious T Bryant going on here with his #13 after it. Well done!

Then the rookie Troy Brown. Less legible than Thomas Bryant (the other TB) but there's clearly a T and B and his number 6 is fully understood.

Working our way down the ball...Kelly Oubre is the next one I find. I love Kelly's signature. Very well thought out and ready for use as a branding label (I would expect nothing else from this guy): a KO with the 12 inside the O. Good stuff!

On the same panel of the ball is Bradley Beal. Brad's signature has been the same since he got drafted. It's a little messy here so maybe I got the end of Brad's signing session but it's clearly "B Beal 3".

Now I need some help.

On the bottom of the ball, I have a clear Jason Smith autograph. Jason's helping me out immensely with a clear 14 next to his signature. I'm stumped on the other one. Assuming I'm looking at the beginning of last season (Jason Smith was traded mid-season so I think that's a good assumption) and I'm throwing away guys in training camp who didn't make the squad (not necessarily a good assumption), then I'm looking at John Wall, Otto Porter, Jeff Green, Tomas Satoransky, Markieff Morris, Austin Rivers,  Ian Mahinmi, Chasson Randle, Devin Robinson and Jordan McRae as possibilities. I cannot make the squiggle next to Jason Smith's name into any of these.

Next three...I got nothing here either. Maybe the one in the middle of these three is Tomas Satoransky? I can't begin to even explain which way up the other two signatures go.

Last one. I have no freaking clue. I looks like it's partially cut off, like whoever was signing was holding a piece of paper over the panel when they were writing and some of the signature ended up on the paper.

I'd appreciate any help. Also, if anyone out there wants this thing let me know. I own about 10 or 12 basketballs signed by various current and former Wizards. This one's not likely to make it to next season. Hopefully I will. Have a good summer everyone. Let's hope somehow Tommy Sheppard can make gold out of lead this free agency period.

Sixth Man Referral

The 2019 NBA Draft is in two days and the Washington Wizards do not have a general manager. Free agency starts shortly thereafter and I'm thinking they won't have anyone in place when that process starts either. This after firing Ernie Grunfeld so they could get a jump on the replacement GM process and later telling everyone they decided they are "playing the long game" on the search after being unable to convince Tim Connelly to leave the Denver Nuggets. What a mess.

On top of all that, they have worked out just one top ten draft prospect despite holding the nine pick, have used most of the salary cap on just five players and still think that Washington is a desirable destination for free agents and potential general managers. What a delusional bunch. Now the rumor is that the team intends to lure Masai Ujiri from Toronto with a boatload of cash and the prospect of ownership. Yes the same Toronto team that just won an NBA championship. It's the latest chapter in the "put all your eggs in one basket" strategy this team seems to employ time after time (see: Kevin Durant, Al Horford and Tim Connelly) before failing time after time. How did this franchise become the most dysfunctional team in the entire NBA?

Ted Leonsis gave Washington's front office an A for last year's offseason. You know who got an A? Toronto! You know who didn't? Washington. And this year's even worse so far. It's no wonder I haven't posted anything on this blog in a month. I'm sick just thinking about this team. Yes, I'll be back as a season ticket holder next year. But that's not what I'm here to write about today.

What I got in the fridge during my suite game last year. Also the current state of the Wizards' franchise.

Next season will be my 20th as a season ticket holder. Over all those years I've taken advantage of pretty much every current or now extinct benefit the team has offered from autograph sessions to chalk talks to VIP experiences to the Monumental Rewards programs to season ticket holder gifts to free seats to everything else that the team has concocted in an attempt to add value to the season ticket package that's not winning.

Buried somewhere on the Washington Wizards website, there is a page called the 6th Man Referral Program, which details the rewards available for current season ticket holders for referring new accounts to the team. I know, I know, what are the odds of someone actually wanting to buy Wizards season tickets? But hey, I found one last year and made a referral. So I thought I'd spread the news in case you find that one person out there in the metropolitan Washington area looking to be a first time Washington Wizards season ticket holder.

Despite the odds being against me in my 19 years as a season ticket holder taking advantage of this benefit, once you get it, it's pretty advantageous, especially if you manage to refer more than $10,000 of sales like I did. Let's take a look at the benefits of this program and how much value each one meant to me this past year. We'll grade them on an A through F scale, just like you used to get graded at school and just like Ted Leonsis handed out last summer. Spoiler alert: my grades are more accurate than Ted's!!

Complimentary All-Inclusive Food and Beverage Tickets to a Game

Grade: B+

My hope here was that the Wizards would see fit to set me up with four wristbands to the Etihad Lounge and I could feel like a king for a day. Or at least a few hours. Free food and beer always makes me feel like I'm on top of the world.

Alas, the four passes turned out to be in the (completely dead) Budweiser Brewhouse on the 200 level. Complaining? Not me. Free food and beer is free food and beer. Unexpected in this reward was a set of four seats in the lower level at about center court. It's the first time I've sat in that section in quite a while and I have to admit the view is better than it is from Section 109 two sections over.

So why a B+ on this one and not an A? Well an A would be the Etihad Lounge I think and the seats were about as far from the Budweiser Brewhouse as I could have gotten. Would have been much better sitting on the south side of the 200 level.

Refer less than $5,000 of sales and you get two seats, not four.

Wizards Team-Signed Basketball

Grade: C-
I love autographed stuff. I have I don't know how many signed pictures and basketballs and basketball cards and jerseys and other things I have squirreled away around my house. I should have loved this. A Wizards logo-ed basketball signed by the entire squad. How cool is that? Actually not really. I didn't love it and I don't love it.

I get that basketball players in the NBA are probably made to sign thousands of autographs per year and I'm sure that these types of team autographed collectibles are signed assembly line fashion one after the other. I think some of the guys who signed my ball were on their last legs. Some of the signatures are completely unrecognizable. So much so that I'm going to devote my last (probably) pre-summer break blog post to that object just to see if my eight or so readers can help me figure it all out.

It should be noted that this gift is only available for referrals of $10,000 or more of sales. 

Pair of Suite Tickets for a Game

Grade: D

I've sat in suites set up by the Wizards for games before. Usually these are communal affairs in the 200 or Lexus Suite levels where I'm sharing the space with 16 or so other fans who are on the same sort of junket as me: there for a game as a little bit of an upgrade perk. Sometimes there is a little free food; sometimes there's more than a little free food and you can actually make a meal out of the whole experience; and there's always been some sort of liquid refreshment.

This reward was a pair of tickets to sit in what would become the renewal suite. Nobody checking tickets, nobody there, empty refrigerator. No food. No drink. I actually skipped dinner thinking I could score some free food on this one. Denied! I ended up buying beer and a meal at the game and since we didn't sell our regular seats, I didn't even sit in the suite much longer than it took to take these two pics of the overpriced menu.

Trio of dips for $138 and a $6 bottle of Tabasco? Count me in! When I own the team.

$200 in Concession Credit

Grade: Incomplete

So honestly, I haven't gotten this one yet. After being promised several times by my account representative that the credit had been added and trying out my season ticket holder card to buy food or beverage only to be denied each time, I was told by someone else that the credit is applied during the season after the referral. 

Still not convinced I'm ever getting this one, which I would actually use.

You only get $200 for referrals of over $10,000. Less than that but more than $5K = $100. Less than that, just $50. Free money is free money. Unless you never get it. lower for less than $10K and less than $5K - $100 / $50

Credit for 2019-2020 Season

Grade: A+

So here, free money really IS free money. Anytime I can get anything off the price of my season tickets I'm on board. In this case, the discount is 5% of the referred sale off the price of your tickets, which saved me about $800 off the price of next year's tickets. Any way you slice it, this is an awesome benefit. The only way it could be better is if the discount was on something that would add a ton of value to my life. The 2019-2020 Wizards season is unlikely to do that.

The 5% discount isn't applicable at all referral levels. Less than $5K of referral gets you 1% off; between $5,000 and $10,000 gets you 3%.

The view from my completely empty suite.

So is the Sixth Man Referral benefit as good as it's advertised. I think the answer there is maybe. I definitely see easy, low cost ways for the team to increase the benefit to the referrer and really make this something special. But then again, this team isn't known for making small tweaks to season ticket holder benefits to add lots of value. On the flip side, they don't have to offer anything at all here and the $800 of next year's tickets is much appreciated. I'll be even happier if they come through on the $200 concession credit next year.

If you actually find someone who's looking to buy, you may as well make a referral. It's not like it's going to hurt you. In fact if anyone out there wants to buy, let me know and I'll refer you. But I do have some words of wisdom for potential referrers. My path to referral riches was not exactly easy.

First, if you are planning on making a referral, I'd call your account representative and let him or her know that you are planning on doing so. Don't just fill out the online form. I'd also screenshot the entry that you are making and the confirmation screen. I didn't do either and when I asked about the referral I had made, I was told the referral system didn't talk to the system the account reps use and that there was no way to verify the referral.

After that I spent maybe two or three months gently prodding my account representative with no results. I got the account number and name of the person I referred so they could check it out for me but got crickets. I'd recommend you document everything about this process.

Finally, I sent an email to my rep asking about if I was getting any discount on next year's tickets because if I wasn't it would really affect my decision to renew. Things moved pretty smoothly from there. Other than the oft-promised concession credit.

It shouldn't have had to come to that but eventually I got what was coming to me. Mostly.