2020

So two things right off the bat here: (1) I've been silent for way too long on this blog and (2) yeah, I know everyone thinks 2020 sucked pretty much as badly as anything as long as a year ever has. It's wrecked my year, it's wrecked my spirit, it's wrecked this blog and there's less than a month left so we don't really have to put up with this very much longer. On to 2021. And hopefully a return to normal.

Before I continue, this post is not supposed to be tone deaf but I realize it could come off that way. My year has been frustrating but I'm still alive and healthy and employed. There are more than 300,000 people who contracted COVID-19 who can't say that and millions more that have lost friends, relatives and jobs or have aftereffects of an illness that will never be cured. Compared to all those people, my year has been a breeze. I wouldn't wish 2020 on anyone but my heart goes out to those that have come through this thing way worse off than they started through no fault of their own.

Now back to that wrecking this blog thing...it's true. Since I started writing this thing in 2012, I published 51 posts every full year from 2013 to 2017 and then decided to take the summers off in 2018 and 2019 and dropped my output to 36. There's nothing magical about those numbers (no it's not for Michael Ruffin and Etan Thomas although it would be awesome if that were the case) it's just the way it worked out. This year? 9 posts through the middle of December (meaning before this post). Nine!!! Pathetic.

Speaking of pathetic, that's about how the Wizards' year has been don't you think? Let's recap, shall we? And yes, there's plenty of self pity here.

January

Do you know what it's like for your team to have no shot at winning anything before the season even started? I do. I'm a Wizards fan AND a New York Jets fan. There has been plenty of that hopelessness before anything started over the 20 years I've been a Wiz season ticket holder and the more than 40 years I've been a Jets fan. The 2019-2020 season was about as miserable as I have felt before the beginning of a campaign. The Wizards started 2020 with a New Year's Day loss to the Orlando Magic which dropped them to 10-23. I'd pretty much lost interest at this point. There was just no conceivable way that this team turned things around.

February

The All-Star Game is held in February without Bradley Beal. Why? Because Beal wasn't selected by the coaches to be an Eastern Conference reserve. Considering the success of the teams from which every other All-Star reserve was selected, it's difficult for me to argue with Beal's omission. Team success affects All-Star voting, at least among coaches. It just does. Deal with it!

March

After waiting through the first four months my 20th season as a Wizards season ticket holder, I finally get the information about my 20th anniversary reward, transportation to and from a regular season game with dinner pre-game. I select the March 15 game against the Thunder as my game. Then four days before that game, the NBA shuts down, dooming my reward that I've waiting 20 years to get. It's not the first time the Wizards have skipped a significant milestone. My five year reward was supposed to be a reception with a player but Agent Zero skipped out alleging a flat tire and the team never felt like that was important enough to reschedule. I got a signed basketball instead. It's not the same.

April

The season is still shut down. But...

So not only did the NBA shutdown affect my 20 year reward celebration, it locked Wizards fans out of the biggest bobblehead bonanza in more than a decade. Finally after single bobblehead seasons the Wizards low low low attendance forces the team to hand out more swag. April was supposed to be Bradley Beal Black Panther and Thomas Bryant bobblehead month. Never happened. Same for Rui Hachimura bobblehead night in late March. The Wizards probably have upwards of 9,000 or so of these things in some closet at Cap One. They could mail them to season ticket holders, but don't.

In typical fashion, there are clearly some of these things out there and on eBay. The Wizards have given away some of these to fans here and there and there was a promotional special for season ticketholders who visited the team store at Cap One a couple of weeks ago and dropped a minimum spend. It also appears that the team mailed out a special package to some fans with the Rui and Beal bobbles and some other swag. Some dude in Canada has one for sale. The picture is above. Have at it, fans!!

June

The NBA finalizes plans for The Bubble, a way for teams to finish out the 2019-2020 season. Not every team is a part of this thing but the Wizards are because they are close enough to the playoffs to be deemed competitive. There are going to be eight seeding games to allow teams on the outside of the playoffs looking in to catch the teams above them. If a team is within four games of the eighth place team there will be a series of play-in games. 

The NBA is wrong to deem the Wizards competitive here.

August

By the time the eighth month of 2020 starts, the Wizards have already seen Bradley Beal and Davis Bertans opt out of The Bubble and the team has already dropped their first of eight seeding games. It will get worse. It will take the Wizards until their eighth game to win one by which time they are long out of any sort of postseason scenario. The Bubble is a wasted experience.

The NBA came up with a way to get fans of the home teams engaged by having them attend games virtually having their likenesses pasted into seats on video boards. True to form, the Wizards "arena" under this scenario is more than half empty.

After their seeding games, the Wizards have the eighth worst winning percentage in the NBA for the 2019-2020 season. They entered The Bubble with the ninth worst winning percentage so by going 1-7 in July and August, they actually slid below the Charlotte Hornets in the standings, which last season were determined by winning percentage because not every team played the same number of games. In the annual NBA Draft Lottery, the eighth worst team moved up to the number three spot. But...the rules don't allow Bubble teams to slide below non-Bubble teams for the purposes of the Draft Lottery. The Hornets move up and the Wiz stay at nine. Figures! Push the knife deeper, why don't you?

December

The Wizards trade John Wall to the Houston Rockets along with a future conditional first round draft pick for Russell Westbrook. 

I'm crushed. I still haven't recovered emotionally. I can get my head wrapped around the idea that Russell Westbrook is going to hold the entire Wizards team accountable in a way that John Wall or Bradley Beal or Scott Brooks never have been able to but I'm still crushed.

In my 20 years of season ticket holder-dom, there have been only two players on this team that I have truly loved. They are (and there's probably no surprise here) Gilbert Arenas and John Wall. There's nobody else that's come close. Micheal Jordan, Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler and Bradley Beal have all been All-Stars in Washington over that time and Brendan Haywood and Martell Webster have been favorite players of mine at one time or another. But none of those guys have offered me hope of achieving something more than just mediocrity as a Wizards fan. Gil and John did that. Nobody else. 

The Wizards traded Gilbert Arenas because he ripped his knee up in a game against the Bobcats and did something immeasurably stupid by bringing a firearm into the locker room. The team apparently traded John Wall because someone in John's inner circle leaked a video of him flashing some gang signs at a party this summer. Not a smart thing to do, I get it, but the franchise has been talking about just wait until John Wall gets healthy for more than a year and right when he is they go and trade him. Makes no sense. That's all I'm going to say about that. Words can't express how faithless and utterly lacking in loyalty I think that trade is. I know...it's a business. John Wall offered me hope. The Wizards have taken that away.

Is that enough for this year? It is for me. The NBA season starts tomorrow. The Wizards open Wednesday at Philadelphia in front of no fans. I feel the same way I felt last October. The Wizards have no shot here at winning anything. Maybe they make the playoffs. Maybe they don't. If they make the playoffs this year then they get a mid-first round pick who likely won't make a difference to the team's future success in any real way and maybe they stay a playoff team the next season and then give up their 2023 first round pick as part of the Wall trade.

Maybe Russell Westbrook makes the Wizards better. Maybe Davis Bertans is worth the investment and maybe a draft pick pans out. What then? I get that it's unfair to say this but the guy who's supposed to be calling the shots for the Wizards was the team's third choice. Are we happy there? I know, the book's still out. But he did back a coach who's shown little ability to get the most out of his teams. Maybe Ted Leonsis called the shot on that one, not willing to part with $7 million for nothing, just like Ted called the Wall trade too. And refuses to exceed the luxury tax to take a shot at winning. Tell me where my hope is.

Meet The Team 2019

The 2019-2020 Wizards season starts tomorrow. If I were in a different spot in my Wizards fandom, I'd be excited for the next six months or so. We have an exciting young team with a ton of future upside, with heavy heavy heavy emphasis on the word future. It could be a ton of fun to see what this group can do. I'm hoping this team makes some noise and keep me interested for the duration. To be clear, I'm expecting a lot of losing. I just think there's a chance it could be different. Ever optimistic, I know. I'm a fool. I'm a New York Jets fan too, remember.

For as long as I can remember (or about since 2003) the Wizards have hosted a Meet The Team party to introduce season ticket holders to the current players. This event has been mostly a chance to get some swag signed and to get a little free food, although some years the food was absent and the opportunity to get swag signed was pretty limited. And I say since 2003 because I believe this event was on hiatus during the Michael Jordan years as fans were experiencing "the Jordan effect", although I'm sure the Wiz meant something a bit different than the way it turned out.

This event used to be held over at MCI Center / Verizon Center (although once it was at the now-closed Newseum) but for the last ten or 12 years or so we've had to traipse out to Six Flags America in Bowie. Yes, I know my NoVA view of the world is showing in that statement but it's a long way to go, especially when it used to be held at night.

This year, the Wizards changed it up, so for the first time since 2013, I'm writing a few words about this opportunity to say hi to my favorite Wizards players (although not all of them).

The Venue

Whether it's a new change in management or just Ted Leonsis somehow being locked in a dispute with Dan Snyder (who owns Six Flags America), the party was not held out in Bowie and that was very, very welcome. The new venue? The National Museum of African American History and Culture. 

This is a win-win-win. First, the party is held in the same city that the team actually plays in. I get for non-Metro users this might have been more difficult to get to especially on a weeknight but this event belongs in the District. After all, it's the Washington Wizards, not the Maryland Wizards, we are buying into here.

Second, this is an important building. It's right on the National Mall but more importantly, there are pieces of our nation's history which need to be preserved and displayed so we don't ever go through something like this again. Yes, most of what's in the Museum is difficult to see and read and hear (go to the Emmett Till exhibit if you want to experience how cruel people can be to each other) but it's important we not forget. An opportunity for a somewhat private experience in this place is rare. I only regret we didn't have longer.

Finally, it's October and it's cold out at night. Being indoors is good.

The Event

By The Event here I mean the catering. The food (and beverage) choices here were way, way better than the hotdogs, chicken sandwiches, potato salad and lemonade you get out at Six Flags. Passed hors d'oeuvres? Yes, please!!! And especially the chicken croquettes! Mac and cheese station? Shawarma? Chicken and waffles? Yes, yes and yes!!!

The trays of chicken croquettes, mini-Cuban sandwiches and Caesar salad skewers were great. The self-serve food? Not so much. Doors opened at this thing at 6:30. Signings were supposed to start at 7:30. So an hour for some nosh, right? Not so much. The self-serve food stations were supposed to open at 7:15 so for the first 45 minutes of this shindig the catering staff did everything from shooing people away to putting themselves between hungry people and plates to keep them off of the food that wasn't toted about on trays. What a disaster!!! If they do this again, they have to change this up. Don't keep people from the food, folks!!!

Finally on this point (and most important)...free beer. You had me at free beer.

The Signings

I don't know if the food up on the ground level of the Museum distracted people but by the time we wandered downstairs for some signatures the lines were pretty short. And much to our surprise, signings were clearly going on before 7:30. I am pretty positive those two things are related.

I've stood in plenty of long lines to get Wizards jerseys, photos, cards and other items signed over the past two decades so not having to wait long to get John Wall to sign my jersey or Rui Hachimura or Troy Brown, Jr. to sign my Wizards first first round draft picks ball was very very welcome.

Just like they have done the past few years, the Wiz wristbanded some lines. Typically they have issued wristbands for John Wall and Bradley Beal and you can only get one or the other, meaning you need to bring one friend of some sort to get signatures from both. Last year, they did three for Wall, Beal and Dwight Howard. This year, they subbed Rui Hachimura for Howard, meaning you had to bring two friends (I don't have that many tickets any more) to get all the players. This practice sucks! This year, we went Wall and Hachimura. I know Wall's out all year (probably) but he's still my favorite player.

What Was Said

Maybe it was the less crowded lines or maybe it was the couple of beers (OK, three), but this year's event made it way easier to stop and talk to the players. Here's what I got out of my dialog with four of this year's team.

John Wall: I told John I was going to miss him out on the court this year. Simple response: "I know. I'm pissed." Just reaffirms John Wall being my favorite player.

Moe Wagner: Moe went to Michigan. So did I (Class of 1990). For this, I got a fist bump that I screwed up before getting a handshake. I let him know Michigan won a title when I was in school there and that the loss to Villanova killed me. Ish Smith (sitting next to Moe) burst out laughing. I'm sure I handled that wrong. 

C. J. Miles: Miles was sitting next to Isaiah Thomas signing swag. I asked C.J. if this was the Wizards killer section of the Museum. He claimed he wasn't a Wizards killer. He is. November 24, 2015. Verizon Center. 32 points as a member of the Indiana Pacers. Of course the Wiz D that night was awful. 

Isaiah Thomas: Three words here: "It wasn't me." If there was a chance at the greatest glory for the Wizards franchise since 1979, it was game seven in Boston two seasons ago (how quickly things fall apart for my teams...). Thomas killed the Wizards that season. When asked about it, he claimed no involvement. I remember differently. I also think the Celtics took advantage of Thomas' sacrifice and cut him loose. I let him know that and told him I hope he makes a ton of money in the future.

I'm glad the Wizards do this. We need more of these on weeknights downtown. I hope this season brings unexpected surprises. It all starts tomorrow in Dallas. By this time Sunday, the Wizards will already be three games in. Let's just hope we don't lose them all.

John Wall Bobblehead No. 5

For the past couple of years, I've been somewhat less than kind to the Washington Wizards when reviewing their giveaway offerings each fall. It's an exercise that's turned into a strategy (if you can call it that) of handing out a schedule magnet, a bobblehead and a team poster and calling it a year. No imagination, no outside the box thinking, no multiple bobbleheads. It's like they think that fans don't care about useless things being handed out at the doors of Capital One Arena on game night. News flash: we do care!

Most of my ire in the last several years about the freebie schedule has revolved around the Wizards' tired and true (not a typo) approach to bobbleheads, meaning they only give away one each year. Yes, that's right...while the Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Milwaukee Bucks or some other franchise is handing out multiple bobbles in any given season, the Wiz are determined to stick with one. Sure, sure, there have been years where there's an extra bobblehead available through the Kids' Club for a fee or through Monumental Rewards (R.I.P.) but there's a cost associated with those above and beyond a game ticket and they appear to have stopped all that anyway. I have no idea why this team doesn't set its sights higher with the promotional schedule.

So given all that, April 5 was likely the most bittersweet Wizards game of the season. First, it was the last game I attended his year which brought the frustration which was this season to an end. I should never be welcoming the end of basketball season, not with a team allegedly this talented. Second, it was bobblehead night which simultaneously made me happy and also pointed out that the Wizards had pretty much only made me this happy on this one night this season, either with their play or due to the fact that no other games had bobblehead giveaways.

Now, one of the perils of just having one bobblehead handed out per year is that the team pretty much creates a no win choice for themselves: make a bobblehead of a popular player or go unconventional and give a role player a shot. The former choice risks the ardent fan having multiple bobbleheads of the same player over and over again; the latter risks nobody bothering to show up explicitly for the bobblehead because nobody knows who the heck the player even is. Of course, this year by the second to last home game of the season, there weren't many Wizards fans there; the San Antonio Spurs fans were way more vocal.

The Wizards, to nobody's surprise, over the years have opted for the first tact, whereby they give away the same players in bobblehead form over and over again. At the beginning of this season, I had on my bobblehead shelves (yes, shelves) four John Wall bobbles, three of Bradley Beal, two Ottos and a Kelly Oubre bobblehead and no other active players on the roster. When the Wizards announced the promotional schedule this year, they didn't name who was on the schedule for April 5, preferring to go with the enigmatic "bobblehead". In all my stupidity I first assumed it would be Dwight Howard but then got my hopes up for Tomas Satoransky or Thomas Bryant.

Of course, it ended up being John Wall. I now have five Wizards-issued John Wall bobbleheads.

So the first and obvious question here is: WHY? Why give us another John Wall bobblehead? If the decision was made at the beginning of the season, why schedule an end-of-season bobblehead for a dude that missed half of last season? If the decision was made during the season, it's even more puzzling with Wall missing more of this season than last season. I know I've already answered these questions earlier in this post (he's the most popular player) but I still don't get it.

Complaining won't do me any good. Let's talk about how I feel about my new bobblehead shall we?

First off, let's deal with the scale of this bobblehead because it's unique in my collection. While it's as tall as a standard sized bobblehead, it's standing on a plinth, which has forced the artist to scale the bobblehead itself down to sort of a three quarters scale model. I don't know that this is necessarily good or bad, it just it what it is.

The plinth has been painted in an attempt to make it resemble marble to match the spirit of Nike's City Edition uniforms which feature a stylized Washington Monument along the side of the uniform to right below the armhole. The plinth also has a Capital One sign (because Capital One sponsored every one of the three giveaways this year), some holes and a button for pressing. We'll come back to that.

Of course, John Wall is sporting the 2018-2019 Wizards City Edition in black with the aforementioned Washington Monument below the armpit and the District of Columbia logo across the chest.  As they have with other recent bobbleheads, the Wiz have opted to do with decals for the detailed wordmark, numbers and nameplate on the uniform in lieu of casting these details into the model and relying on the Chinese workers to skillfully execute the paint job. This strategy generally yields a better product, although it loses some of that unskilled paint application free bobblehead appeal.

If you are worried about the last sentence of the previous paragraph, don't be. There's still plenty of spots on this bobblehead for a sloppy paint job, namely the Washington Monument / stripe down the side of the uniform which looks like someone painted the red and white and then aggressively colored with a grey or silver marker which I assume is supposed to simulate the marble veining on the white part of the stripe. They definitely didn't stay within the lines; the red is covered with grey/silver color.

One of the big tests of the value of a bobblehead is whether the head of the thing actually looks like the player. Sometimes I feel that teams just select any old representative black man's head and hope that works. The 2011-2012 season John Wall bobblehead looks like some kind of crazed elf (second from left in the 5 John Walls pic above).

In this case, I'm going with the likeness being pretty good. The smile is a little off and the chin seems oversized, particularly on the left side of John's face. I guess it becomes inherently a little easier with a beard but John's is rendered so minimally here that it doesn't really contribute to making the head look more or less like John's actual face. But the overall effect is one of John Wall. I can buy it. There are definitely bobbleheads out there that are better but its not the worst of the bunch.

So about that plinth...as you may have guessed, the height, holes and button mean one thing: talking bobblehead. This is not the first time the Wizards have issued a bobblehead with a sound system. The one and only team-issued Gilbert Arenas has a custom recorded message from Agent Zero himself. A couple of years later the team gave away a Phil Chenier / Steve Buckhantz featuring a "Dagger!" call from Steve.

So what's this one? Some words of wisdom from John Wall? Nope. Some kind of confidence-laden statement about D.C. being his city? Not that either, although that would be awesome. In fact, there are no words from John at all on the recording. Instead it's the "Welcome to D.C." song that they play at the games. Kind of lame? Sort of but for me, it's not what bobbleheads are about. I don't press the play button on my Arenas or Phil/Buck bobbleheads too often so it doesn't matter to me. 

Of course, as all Wiz bobbleheads do these days, this one comes in a box covered with stats. OK, so one half of one side has a few stats. Important to me: franchise leader in assists and steals, 2014 Slam Dunk Contest champion and one each All-NBA and All-Defensive team nods. Interesting to me: All-Star point guard. No number of times. Makes me guess this was decided at the beginning of the year.

Also interesting to me: the accurate representation of the Nike jersey template reflected in the seams on the back of the bobblehead. That shows me how far bobbleheads of come. It used to be that you would struggle to recognize the player. Now the jersey seams are accurate. This is also the first bobblehead with the Geico advertising patch on it which I obviously hate. I find it curious the team had to (I'm assuming they did "have to") put that on the bobblehead but didn't have to (or were forbidden from?) putting the Nike swoosh on it. 

Overall, I'm giving this bobblehead a B. This one looks pretty good. It's clearly John Wall and I'm OK having this on my shelf. I just wish it was someone else. And not Bradley Beal either. If there was a reason to mark this down (and I did) it was because the choice of player shows absolutely no imagination whatsoever. Here's hoping next year the Wizards will get things right in the bobblehead department and hand out more than one next year. 

Spoiler alert: they won't. Just a hunch.

400 Level Signage Ranked, Part II

This is my last post about the new picture signs installed over this past summer at Capital One Arena. I promise. In November, I posted my ranking of the 22 signs installed in the 100 Level of the building assuming that was all the money Capital One cared to spend on these things. About a week later I made my first trip of the season to the 400 Level and found 34 more signs. I posted part one of my countdown on that level last week. Now I'm handling the top 17 on the upper deck. Then I'll be quiet about signage in the building for a while. Probably.

Let's see what I found on the top level of Cap One that's better than what I showed last week.

17. Playoff Bound (408/409)

Sometimes the playoffs are something to celebrate so I'm putting this sign at the 17 spot in this countdown. I do find the concept of this one a little curious though. I mean it's not like the Mystics had some long playoff drought. This sign is dated 2006. The Mystics made the playoffs in 2004, 2002 and 2000. Why this year? They made it as the four seed with an 18-16 record. Don't think I'm going to figure this one out.

16. Young Guns (410/411)

So let me get this straight: this sign celebrates the fact that the Washington Capitals found multiple young players in the draft that are actually good. In many, many ways this speaks volumes about the ownership of the Capitals and by default also the Wizards and Mystics. And Valor I guess; I keep forgetting that's a sport. This ranks 16th on this list because this standard is like a minimum bar for some franchises. Of course, these young guns did go on to win a Stanley Cup I guess.

15. Bondra's Goal (402/403)

I guess this is good for Peter Bondra. Score three goals in a game and get a contract extension. And we wonder why Andray Blatche got an extension for a couple of good months of play.

14. Holtby Saves 44 (406/407)
So it seems to me that this sign isn't really celebrating Braden Holtby saving 44 shots in a single playoff game; it's more about the fact that his effort in this one game propelled the Caps to a series win against the Boston Bruins. And maybe recognizing Holtby individually for being between the pipes for the 2018 Stanley Cup championship run. Why do I think that? Because yes, the Caps got by Boston but they bowed out in the very next round in the 2012 playoffs. And 44 saves isn't like an NHL record or something (it's 92, if you were wondering). Still this signs sits 14th because it spotlights Holtby and he deserves his own spotlight.

13. Wes Unseld Named NBA MVP (400/401)
Only one Wizards / Bullets / Zephyrs / Packers player has ever been named the NBA's Most Valuable Player and that's Wes Unseld (obviously). No, it didn't happen in Washington; he played for the Baltimore Bullets. But as a basketball fan, I think it deserves a sign celebrating the accomplishment. Oh...and Wes was also Rookie of the Year this same season. Only player to ever win both of those in a single season.

Oddly enough Alex Ovechkin has won the Hart Trophy (the NHL's MVP award) three times and he gets no sign for that. Even though he did it in the building. Can't figure out the logic behind some of these things. 

12. Dozen Goals (417/418)
It's not often a hockey team scores 12 goals in a single game. The Caps have done it once since the current building opened and that was in January of 2003. I'm having second thoughts about putting this one ahead of Wes Unseld's MVP season but it did happen in the building after all.  I need to post this before I change my mind.

11. Dale Hunter Number 32 Retired (412/413)

10. Phil Chenier Number Retired (431/432)

There are a total of six retired number signs that were added over the summer. Earl Monroe, whose number was retired after the move to MCI Center / Verizon Center is down on the 100 level. You can find the other five upstairs. I ranked Gus Johnson, Elvin Hayes and Was Unseld 21st, 20th and 19th respectively in last week's post because their numbers were retired before the Wizards moved to downtown Washington. Chenier's and Hunter's numbers were not; they were retired right at 601 F Street NW. Chenier's ranked higher because basketball is better than hockey.

Phil Chenier's 45 is the fifth number retired by the Bullets / Wizards and all five of those players are represented on signs in the building. The Capitals have retired four numbers and oddly enough, only Hunter is celebrated in sign form around the concourse on the 100 or 400 level. I don't know what Rod Langway (#5), Yvon Labre (#7) or Mike Gartner (#11) did to deserve to be snubbed but they were.

9. All-Star (John Wall) (433/400)

8. The #1 Pick (428/429)

John Wall has played a huge part in the identity of the Washington Wizards franchise over the last nine seasons (how has it been that long??) and deservedly so. I ranked him as the best Wizard all time (Wizard, not Bullet)  a couple of years ago based on his play over the years and his five All-Star appearances, which is two more than any other Wizard.  These two signs mark two pretty important milestones in John's career: his selection number one overall in the 2010 NBA Draft and his selection to the All-Star team for the first time.

7. Eastern Conference Best (405/406)

Yep, believe it or not, the Washington Mystics were the WNBA Eastern Conference's best in the 2010 season, long before they made the Finals this past season. They also started three players (Monique Curry, Lindsey Harding and Crystal Langhorne) in the WNBA All-Star game. Of course, there's a picture celebrating the regular season because in the postseason they bombed, losing 0-2 to the four seed Atlanta Dream.

6. 300 For Kölzig (423/424)

Olaf Kölzig in the Capitals' all time leader in games won and he won a lot of them at the MCI Center / Verizon Center. There's a lot of value in celebrating accomplishments accumulated one game at a time over the span of years. Kölzig did something here worthy of note. And sure, Olie won 300 but he only went one over that number. His career total stands at 301. Braden Holtby has 245 as of this past Sunday. What happens then? 

5. U2 (404/405)

I put most of the concert signs in the 400 level in the mid-20s (22 through 28 to be exact) of this sign rank. Well, except for Keith Urban who is deservedly dead last. But U2? No way could I put this band with the rest of the acts 17-23 spots higher. U2 is a breed apart in this bunch. As an aside, can you imagine even seeing U2 at a venue this small (which is bigger than most bands will ever hope to play)? Crazy that they weren't already doing stadium shows when MCI Center opened in 1997.

4. Community Assist (403/404)

What beats U2 and team success by the Mystics? John Wall giving back to the community, that's what. Every year since the 2011-2012 NBA Season, the NBA has handed out an annual award to a player to honor their community engagement and charitable work and/or philanthropy. At the end of the 2015-2016 season, John Wall received the award for his work making Washington, D.C. and Raleigh, NC. This is important stuff. In many ways much much more important than winning on the court. Well done, here. Proud of John for this one.

3. The Dalai Lama (427/428)

I get what you are thinking: is the Dalai Lama really more important that all this Wizards and Capitals stuff? More important than the Mystics and Valor? Than Keith Urban and U2? Yes, he is. Much more important. One could argue as the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism and international peace symbol and conscience of all that is good that he should be number one. But he's not on this countdown. Not today. The Dalai Lama played 601 F Street. How cool is that?

2. 17-Game Win Streak at Home (416/417)

This seems like a distant memory at this point but two years ago (yes, just TWO YEARS ago) the Wizards ran off 17 straight wins at home on their way to their first and only division title in my 19 years of being a Wizards season ticket holder. Since then? Not so much success. We'll always have the 2017 playoffs, I guess. Can't see the Wiz having the same success this year.

1. Finals Win (430/431)
Just as was the case with the 100 level signs, there is no accomplishment in the building better than the Stanley Cup Finals win so any sign celebrating anything to do with that series and that championship comes first, number one, all the time. This sign outside sections 430 and 431 commemorates the first win in Washington that put the Caps up 2-1 en route to winning four straight and closing out the Golden Knights in Vegas five days later. 

That's it. Until they put some of these on the Club level, which they likely won't. But if they do, they should right the wrong that they have done by omitting all mention of the Wizards post name change and pre-Leonsis ownership. Those players on the mid-aughts team are not a stain to be erased from the team's and building's history. Happy about this current Wizards team making the second round of the playoffs and putting two players in the All-Star Game? We should be equally happy about the team 10 to 15 years prior doing the same thing, only with three All-Stars.

John Wall

I know I'm a little late on this one. This post (and in fact this whole blog actually) isn't intended to break news. I've spent the last few days thinking about the events of this week and how to put them into words. Monday night my friend Mike and I were discussing why John Wall wasn't on the bench during the Wizards loss to the Atlanta Hawks (!!!). Tuesday we knew. Achilles. Brutal. Threw my whole world off.

John Wall is my favorite current Wizards player. I mean it's not even close. I never loved Bradley Beal's game and attitude until maybe this year (that would be seven years into his time in Washington) and Otto never did much for me. Kieff Morris? Dwight Howard? Please. John's my guy. Has been since he got here and pulled this franchise back to the playoffs. True, I do own a Tomas Satoransky t-shirt which I wear occasionally but John's my favorite. Now he's gone. For a while. Still under contract and counting against the cap. But he's not going to be on the court for a while now.

Despair. Pity. Anger. Regret. Hopelessness. Helplessness. I've felt all of that this week. Why can't the Wizards ever have anything good? What's going to happen to the chances for this team for the next two seasons? Why did I pick this franchise? Is Ted Leonsis going to use this injury as an excuse to make no change in the franchise even though he said no excuses? Why is there never any long term plan? Is Ernie Grunfeld ever going to be ushered out of the building? Why did I buy season tickets this year when I know this team is never ever winning it all?

This news sucks. Think it's bad for you and me and any other Wizards fan out there? Think again. Most to all of us have not just torn our achilles tendon. Most of us have not undergone surgery on the same part of our body that affects our ability to walk and do the job that sustains us. This is not my body we are talking about. The person this devastates the most is John Wall. And anyone that feels differently is just making no sense.

Yep, I know John Wall is making north of $37 million next year and his salary alone is consuming more than 30% of the salary cap. Who cares? Are the Wizards in trouble next year? Sure they are. Does this injury kill our chances to make it to the NBA Finals? Maybe, if you believe we ever had a chance to begin with. I think sometimes we think that because the team that we root for has invested a lot of money in a player, that man (the player) cedes all right to have a healthy body at the end of his contract. 

From a certain perspective, John is lucky. He's not an undrafted free agent that's killed his ability to make money with little to show for it. That part doesn't matter to me so much. As I grow older, I feel more and more empathy for these guys that are laying their bodies and maybe their lives on the line for a chance at glory. From a certain perspective, it's just not worth it. I'm lucky that I never had to make that choice.

I'm rooting for John Wall to come back soon at full strength. Maybe there will be a Wizards team on the other side of this that is assembled well enough to grab at some glory I've never seen since I've intimately entwined my life with this club. But the important thing is that he's well and can walk and run and jump normally again. Right now that's really all I'm looking for out of this situation.

First Round Exit

This Wizards team had me there for a week or so with their 3-0 start to December and their next game against the miserable Cleveland Cavaliers. It looked like they would pull to within two games of .500 heading into the middle of the month. Two games later and two losses later including one to the aforementioned miserable Cavs, John Wall's out with a bone spur, the team's back at 11-16 and sitting in fourth place. In the division!!! 

With all that happening in the last five days, about the last thing I want to do right now is write about this year's lackadaisical, mail-the-game-in Wizards team. So I'm not going to. Instead I'm going to write about last year's lackadaisical, mail-the-game-in Wizards team. I know, I know; it's a marathon, not a sprint and there's a long way to go. Still...

For the last five years, Panini America has added a special insert set into their annual Hoops basketball cards release detailing the path each team took in the previous year's playoffs. There's a single card for each game of the postseason which are issued in progressively smaller numbers as the playoffs march to the NBA Finals. These Road To The Finals cards have been a way for me to celebrate the prior year's playoff success (yes, I'm defining reaching the second round of the playoffs as a success for the Wizards) in this blog.

In 2014, 2015 and 2017, I've posted the Wizards games in this insert set on this blog and reminisced about beating the Bulls, Raptors and Hawks before bowing out to the Pacers, Hawks and Celtics in each of those years. 2016 is missing because, well, the Wizards just decided not to try so much that year and just plain missed the playoffs (bye, bye Randy Wittman!).

There are some good memories in these cards I've collected over the years and there is some agony. That first round sweep of the Raps in 2015 still stands out as one of the nicer surprises I've had as a Wizards fan and the first round ouster of the heavily favored (by like every supposedly knowledgeable media figure) Bulls was pretty special too. I can still remember Ted Leonsis in his  Nenê jersey courtside while the big Brazilian was suspended for getting into it with Jimmy Butler in the prior contest. The Celtics game seven loss still kills me, especially since right now, it looks like that was the pinnacle of success for this current Wizards team. The home loss to the Hawks on Paul Pierce's disallowed three was pretty painful too (bye, bye The Truth).

Last year's season sucked but I couldn't break tradition and not buy these cards so here we are. An eight seed after barely losing to the Celtics in the second round the prior year was about as disappointed as I've been as a Wizards fan (and that's saying something). Still the team was brimming with playoff confidence before their first round matchup with Toronto  last season only to get blown out in games one and two. If there's one thing the Wiz weren't short of last year, it was false confidence. And it was on full display in Toronto in the first two playoff games. Serge Ibaka was the top performer in game one with 23 points and 12 boards; DeMar DeRozan poured in 37 in game two. The score of both of these games was not as close as the games themselves.

Home cooking worked in games three and four for the Wiz. John Wall and Bradley Beal make appearances on the cards for these two game by virtue of 28 points, 14 assists and four steals (for Wall in a game three blowout) and 31 points including 12 in the fourth (for Beal in a tighter game four). Unfortunately, that's all the Wiz could muster, letting DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry out perform the House of Guards the rest of the series and close the Wizards out at home. 

Series over. Playoffs over. Season over. Just six cards to collect this year. They are on display for your enjoyment or misery here.  Right now, it doesn't look like there will be a post like this next year. We'll see how it goes the rest of the way. Go Wizards. Sort your issues out, please.

Wizards Season Ticket Holder Roundtable

Over the last six plus years I've been writing this blog, I've talked, tweeted, texted and otherwise corresponded with a number of Washington Wizards season ticket holders. Some of these are one time encounters; others have evolved into regular communications or even developed into friendships. With the Wizards in the midst of another slow (I'm being kind here...) start, I thought it might be a good time to get some input from some of them about the current state of the team and what they would do to straighten things out. Assuming they agree that things are a little crooked right now, that is.

I've adopted a format used by ESPN in their 5-on-5 series. In other words, five questions answered by five different people who supposedly know a little about what they are talking about. Here goes my first (and maybe last, who knows) attempt at getting a little bit of input from four fellow season ticket holders about the state of our favorite pro basketball team. For perspective, I'm including the section at Capital One Arena where each of us sits and the current tenure as a season ticket holder. I'm doing this on the first question response only. Also, apologies in advance for the all-male panel on this one.

1. What is most wrong with the Wizards?

Patrick (Section 421; Season 4): The mismanagement of the roster during the John Wall era like the absurd contracts offered (e.g., unnecessary player options, Otto's contract), the midseason trades, the trading of draft picks. You could even make a case that the hiring of Scott Brooks was attributed to roster mismanagement as the hiring was supposedly to lure Durant to the team.

Taylor (Section 115; Season 17): This team needs a leader in the worst way… a leader who holds himself accountable, as well as others. The Wizards have been at their best in recent years with credible veteran leaders: Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler. Nene. Paul Pierce. It’s become clear that the team’s current players don’t have the experience to set an example and guide the team to regular season success, much less post-season success. At least not yet. How much longer can we wait?

Marcus (Section 104; Season 5): They don't seem to really care all that much about playing basketball. The team believes that they have the talent to turn it on and off at any time. The hunger is missing, but the bravado isn't. I think a lot of that falls on the coaching and the leaders on the team. The leaders have to lead and set the example. Paul Pierce's words ring true: do they just want to be good or do they want to be great? They are also one of the worst  defensive teams I've ever seen. It doesn't seem to be a personnel issue. If you look down the roster at each position, they have the talent to defend. It goes back to the point of they just don't seem to care. They don't communicate on defense and teams easily pick them apart. On the bright side, this should be the most "fixable" aspect of the current team.

Stephen (Section 108; Season 5): My response is based on having to come up with only one thing the sticks out and if corrected would have the most impact on increasing wins and reducing Twitter misery culture.  Failure to execute is most wrong. Failure to execute is caused by many things such as lack of focus, taking plays off, not trusting teammates, coaching, culture, egos, injuries, new teammates, new schemes, the other team, etc. I actually like the talent on this team and feel they should be able to compete at the number four spot in the East right now if they would have executed in more of the October and November games instead of underplaying.

Jonathan (Sections 109/415; Season 19): "Team" is most wrong with the Wizards. This roster appears to be a bunch of individuals who do not function as a team. They are sometimes variously lacking in effort, self-accountabilty, trust, sacrifice for the greater good and inattention to results (i.e. winning the game). Unfortunately, everyone is at fault here. Ernie brought this group together, hired a coach who struggles to find different ways to motivate and there appears to be no leadership in the locker room.

2. You own the Wizards for a day. What do you fix?

Patrick: I think every well-informed fan of the franchise would answer this question unanimously. Replace the GM. As the Twitter hashtag enthusiasts would say: #FireErnie.

Taylor: You mean what do I fix, other than the team name? Hmm. Is it breaking the rules if I spend my billions on a time machine to go back and prevent the Ian Mahinmi signing, which was predictably a disaster? I mean, with win shares ranking 205th, 149th, 229th, and 53rd in the league in four seasons with the Pacers, who could have predicted Mahinmi’s win shares with the Wizards would rank 230th, 269th, and (on pace for) 272nd, given that he’s an aging player at an outdated position? Can you imagine how different the Wizards’ path, and perhaps the Celtics’ path, would have been if we’d signed Horford instead of Mahinmi, or if we’d even saved that cap space? But I digress. Grunfeld has generally failed at drafting, failed at free agent signings, and excelled at trading (when draft picks aren't involved). So he needs to get as much as he can for Oubre (we’re not going anywhere this year and there’s no way we can afford to re-sign him), and then I’d fire Grunfeld as soon as the trade deadline passes. There needs to be a new tone from the top. As they say, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Culture matters.

Marcus: I wish my first move didn't have to be the one that should have happened years ago, but I would get a new GM in place. This franchise definitely needs a culture change and it "starts at the top" as Deuce Beal's father says. And hopefully that GM can move that Otto contract but that's up to them. I'm just the owner. No meddling. Also, while I'm owner I'm going to fix one of my biggest pet peeves of Capital One Arena: I'm upgrading the scoreboard. As you look around the league, arenas really have immersive scoreboards that have very detailed stats about game play. The "first HD scoreboard" from 2007 is definitely showing some age.  I'm very tired of having to crank my neck and squint up in the top corners of the building to see the basics of points/rebounds/assists on a small grainy display.

Stephen: The coaching staff. Hard to swallow Scotty’s contract, so I would get some discipline minded coaches to assist him with taking back the locker room.

Jonathan: I think the obvious answer here is find a new general manager, which I would totally do. But I'd also find a way to engage or re-engage (as it were) with season ticket holders because I think that is as broken as the squad on the floor is. Over the years, benefits have been stripped away while ticket prices have increased. We used to have occasional pre-game chalk talks with Ted Leonsis but he seems to have stopped doing those. I don't feel valued as a season ticket holder and that starts with the top of the organization. I feel I could decide to not renew and nobody in the organization would care. After 19 seasons of shelling out money for one division championship, I'd love to feel more valued than that. I'd start by building bridges to the team's most loyal paying customers.

3. Otto, Brad and John. Start one, sit one, waive one. Who do you start, sit and waive?

Patrick: Start Wall, Sit Brad, Waive Otto. Wall is still the most dynamic and valuable player on the team. I am a silent Otto apologist, but I did not support the matching of the Nets offer.

Taylor: The answer of who to start/sit/waive is fairly clear, even before salary cap implications are considered. Both Beal (25) and Porter (25) are younger than Wall (28). At this point, Beal and Porter frankly seem to have better character than Wall, and Beal may also have more upside. While I’ve rooted for Wall and give him credit for dragging the team out of the post-Arenas doldrums, this is his 9th year in the league, and it’s just not happening with him. He’s become aloof, sometimes surly, and has never engaged with the fans other than his brief “This is MY city!” game-winning hop onto the scorers' table in 2017 – only to be eliminated from post-season contention in the following game. If Wall goes to another team? Maybe everybody eats again. Talented point guards are in abundance these days. Beal is streaky, but compared to Porter, he has the highest ceiling and could potentially blossom into a leader. So: start Beal, sit Porter, and waive Wall – especially since he’s not proven himself to be a leader, he costs twice as much as either of the others, and his game will likely suffer the most with age.

Marcus: The waive is pretty easy. See ya, Otto! The next two are tough but I'm sitting Brad and starting John. John is still the heartbeat of this team. He has taken a lot of heat recently but he's still one of the most exciting players to watch in the league. When he's thumping his chest, flexing his arms, and throwing up the occasional gang sign, there isn't a better show in the city. Also, Brad would be one heck of a sixth man, right?

Stephen: Start Otto; he needs the work. Sit Brad; he could use the rest. Waive Wall; that supermax deal handcuffs ability.

Jonathan: I'd start John, sit Otto and waive Brad. Maybe it's an emotional decision for me but I still think John Wall is the best player on this team and he's done so much for the organization and the community; I'd love for him to fall in love with defense and stop complaining so much. Call me naive. I hate that Otto Porter is on a max contract, especially with the player option (thanks, Brooklyn) but it is what it is. When Otto is playing well, it's a bonus; when he's not, at least he's not hogging the ball or taking possessions from someone else. I think Bradley Beal is an aloof guy who feels no personal responsibility for his own poor play or that of the team and that just drives me crazy. I'd have no problem rooting for a Beal-less Wizards team.

4. What's the best part about being a Wizards season ticket holder?

Patrick: Prior to this season, it would have been the ability to get tickets at a cheaper price, but the reselling prices have been so cheap this year. I do enjoy the opportunity to engage with the players and coaching staff and the other neat events that are held each season.

Taylor: For years, the best part of being a season ticket holder was the community of my neighbors in Section 115. They’re still great, but probably only a third of us remain, either having given tickets up or having been frequently re-located on game nights by the mixed blessing offered by the Wizards’ Fluid Ticket Program. My next favorite benefits are the Milestone Awards and Playoff Ticket Pricing. I mean, a ticket to the NBA Finals in my section would have been just $146 this past year, less than the cost of a Warriors or Cavaliers (with LeBron) game! Sadly, however, I’ve never gotten to enjoy NBA Finals pricing or even Eastern Conference Finals pricing, and the Milestone Awards happen only once every five years.

Marcus: The connection to the team, the familiar faces around you, and getting to watch the best players in the world every night. I love the game of basketball and have been a lifelong Wizards fan. I am just as excited to watch the Wizards play the Sacramento Kings on a Tuesday as I am to see the LeBron train (and bandwagon) come into town. Also, shout out to my usher, Antonio, in Section 104. He's the best in the business.

Stephen: DC12 Club events and the access to the players.

Jonathan: For me, it's the opportunity to interact with the players. Some of my friends think I'm stupid for collecting autographs but it's something I do and the Wizards giving me the opportunity to stand in line and get stuff signed is awesome. They used to do more of this: years ago they used to have receptions for 10+ year season ticket holders. My friend Mike and I had a half hour or so discussion at one of these events with Josh Howard about diet and exercise and keeping focused on what was important about doing your job as a professional athlete. The opportunity to do that was very insightful. FWIW, I'm not sure anyone else at the thing knew what Josh Howard looked like.

5. If you could do one thing to improve season ticket holder benefits, what would you do?

Patrick: It's honestly difficult to choose just one thing because, even though this is only my fourth year as a season ticket holder, I feel like the benefits have gotten worse during my tenure. I don't have any creative answers right now but I think the fluid ticket program could be improved. I don't like the limitations that were implemented this season. For example, I believe we should be able to return as many tickets as we want (not just for 10 games) and we should be able to use the returned funds on other things, not just the tickets. Allow us to spend it elsewhere like at the team store or on concessions. Oh yeah, and I'm still salty about the surprising end of the Monumental Rewards program. While Monumental is raking in the cash, I don't believe they have done enough to keep me around next year.

Taylor: Like any paying customer, I’d like more transparency and consistency. Just when I feel like I’m getting used to a program, it’s cut or disappears. Season Ticket Holder Advisory Board? Unceremoniously disbanded with no explanation. Autograph sessions? There's no player list sent out beforehand to allow us to match memorabilia to the event (just say "tentative" in the invitation if specific player appearances can't be guaranteed). Free bonus tickets? Gone as inventory dwindles. Monumental Rewards Program? Terminated with no real announcement, along with the points I’d spent effort accruing. Fluid Ticket Program? $100 credit eliminated, and there is now a burdensome 48-hour pre-game restriction blocking ticket returns in that window. The sad part is I'd be more understanding about most of these changes if their rationale was communicated overtly and honestly, instead of in a way that comes off as on the sly, in hopes that no one will notice. As a result, in recent years, my relationship with the Wizards has felt much more like an impersonal business relationship and much less like #DCFamily. 

Marcus: This is the easy answer for a season ticket holder, but the prices should really be lowered about 10 to 15%. That is  the biggest hindrance to building out a fanbase and all that it ends up doing is pissing off the real "diehards". The market that Ted thinks the Wizards should be at versus the reality of that market is not close. When I see tickets being sold around me for 50 to 60% less than what I paid, it is discouraging and makes you wonder why you pay for season tickets. (And no, the Lebron and Warriors game do not make up the difference). Also, the fluid ticket program used to be a real true benefit but they have  destroyed it in the last couple of years. Getting rid of the VIP options and forcing you to return tickets more than 48 hours in advance have made the program not worth it. Would love to see you be able to use some percentage of the fluid ticket program returns at concessions, but that's just a wild dream that I know would never come true.

Stephen: Bring back the rewards program with real value. Allow season ticket holders to use for food and beer, Wizards swag, player experiences, and seat upgrades.

Jonathan: Bring back the occasional VIP experience to the average season ticket holder. Over the last few years, it seems like Ted Leonsis has done everything he could to scale back any sort of VIP access to those people who aren't (a) paying tons of money for it or (b) guests of the players or staff. This was a benefit that used to be complimentary at our ticket rep's discretion (typically once a year). Then access moved to Monumental Rewards program before that got eliminated. Then the Fluid Tickets program allowed a little more costly access before access got totally restricted this year. I used to feel really valued being able to do this a couple of times a year. It's especially frustrating sitting in Section 109 because there are a bunch of player and staff guests who get seats in 110 who have VIP access every game. I'd also give away more bobbleheads; I realize that's two things.

I appreciate the time each of these folks took to answer these five questions. I was looking for a random sampling of opinions from season ticket holders and I think I got it. Most of all, I appreciate the fact that all four of these guys said yes without hesitation even though half of them have never met me in person. We'll have to change that last part. I at least owe everyone a beer here I think.