It's finally happened. I no longer care about the Wizards.

[GhostsOfGil]

Wow this thread is one sad sack of potatoes..



Upper Decker, you pretty much hit the nail on the head IMO.

Also, Look at the join dates for most of the guys around here... This is a group who has supported this team through some rough years. I should know better, but I cant help but feel victimized for wasting my time and money on the belief that this team was actually going to go somewhere. I'm going to give this team a few games... if there is not a drastic change in play or management, I'm going to stop watching for the first time in 15+ years.

[Zonkerbl]

Being a wizards fan SUCKS. Why did I move here?

[dangermouse]

I'm consoling myself by running through the Association mode in 2K13; it takes a surprisingly short amount of time to reload with cap space and draft picks once I personally replace Ernie with competent leadership.

I feel personally responsible for this amazing losing streak.

In my 2k13 association, when i first started the game and wasn't used to the new control scheme just yet, my Wizards did not register a win until playing San Antonio (!) at home on the 26th. And i didn't just beat them, I trounced them, it was a cakewalk...

So, if we are 0-11 when the Spurs roll into town, I'm going to be putting like $100 on the Wiz for the win.

[AFM]

It's kind of like an abusive relationship, and I keep getting punched in the balls by my drunken girlfriend, but I just say to myself "I can fix her! She has a good heart!"

[Halcyon]

All I want is a new GM and for him to hit on a couple of moves for me to be fully back in again. I love basketball too much and I'm too much of a DC & MD homer to find another team. With that said, my apathy is at an all-time low right now and won't be climbing out of that black hole of apathy anytime soon.

[TheBigThree]

Is it worse not to care, or to care and actively root for the team to fail?

Seems most people are in one of the two camps, and that is a distressing spot to be in as a franchise. Just have to hope Ted eventually realizes the only solution is to clean house.

[sashae]

I've been rooting for this crap franchise for DECADES for god knows what reason -- growing up in DC doesn't count, and certainly shouldn't be so much of an attachment for laundry. I've lived in Boston, NY, and LA -- all cities that let's say have had reasonable success with their basketball programs. I hate the concept of giving up on the Wiz to go to Knicks games... but I'd sure rather watch that brand of basketball than whatever the crap is that Ted is trying to sell us.

This franchise is an abomination, run by clowns. Just shameful.

[dangermouse]

I have to admit, with the recent talk of Seattle getting a franchise back, I was very excited at the prospect of having someone else to root for, since they were really my first proper team i used to root for in the early 90s.

Honestly though, I cant see myself moving on from the Wizards. Ive put too much time and energy into following them, posting about them, talking about them and watching them. I have no emotional connection with any other team. I dont want to form one, either. Ill just pray that Ted makes the changes we all know he needs to make, and hope whoever takes over the controls is savvy enough to make us better, maybe not this year (i hope not this year, i'm becoming enamoured with the idea of adding Shabazz or Zeller, they both seem like they will most certainly be franchise cornerstones or at the very least great professionals).

[penbeast0]

Even if the team sucks, I'll still be around most likely. I just like basketball more than the other sports and the Wiz are the team I grew up with. Hopefully it will never end up like my Redskin days -- used to be a fanatic, now I am mildly cheered when something goes right but couldn't even name one starting O-line player -- whereas here I can still get worked up about the 3rd string PG spot.

[omegatronic3]

I hear you guys. I also havent been this uninterested in Lez Boullez for a long long time.

I think the NBA as a whole is a little lacking but in particular the Wizards team is just so godaweful and without hope that watching a game just feels like flushing time down the toilet. Even Wall doesnt excite me all that much.
He hasnt shown that he has what it takes to be a superstar and lead a team. Who else is there to feel excited about. There is literally no other player on the team even within light years of being a star.
Theres no excuse for putting this bad a product out there. Has a team ever lost all their games because I could see that happening with this team

[DCZards]

In for a dime, in for a dollar.

[dobrojim]

First, it's a little rich posting this on a Wizards message board. Legitmate apathy means you stop coming here altogether.

Second, no one knows if we care if they win or lose -- because they haven't won yet. Watch, Nene and John come back, they reel off a few W's, look moderately impressive in doing so, and we're all sucked back in.

Third, I mentioned to a friend and fellow board member earlier today that for the first time EVER I have adopted a second team to root for -- the Grizz. It feels reasonably safe to me in that they're in the west, under-appreciated, have a Buckeye, and Marc Gasol is awesome.

So, I feel you. And I think it's all about being hopeless -- seeing with our own eyes every night that Vesely is an unmitigated disaster and that OkaRiza is the same. And both represent massive, unquantifiable opportunity costs in terms of bringing this team to respectability.

But Ernie will be fired at some point. If they drop to 0-16 or 2-30 or something, Ted will make a change. Even if it's not that bad and it's just a significant disappointment of a season, they'll give him his walking papers this summer. Remember, Ernie was extended for two years, but it's effectively a one year deal. No coach or GM works on a one year deal (unless they're making massive money like a Phil Jackson).

Once Ernie goes, there will be hope -- particularly if KEVIN B or someone of that ilk gets the job.

Largely agree with the fix included. Kev, I bet you would take the job for a fraction of
what TL is paying EG, not that you should.

[Nivek]

I understand exactly what you guys are saying. I went through exactly the same thing with the Orioles after Peter Angelos bought the team and did everything he could to run it into the ground. First I stopped caring whether they won. When Cal retired, I stopped paying attention to the team completely -- really to baseball in general until DC got a team. And I was a HUGE Os fan. Knew every player on the 40-man roster; knew about their minor league prospects; knew who managed their minor league teams. And so on.

With the Wizards...I've been questioning lately why I'm still a fan. I don't like the way they play, I don't like the roster, I don't like the way they run the basketball operations. I don't like the name or the uniforms (even though the current ones are an improvement). Their stadium is pretty good, but still...What the hell am I rooting for exactly?

Maybe I'm just in it at this point for the analysis and the jokes. I still want them to win, but I don't expect it on any given night. When they win, it's a pleasant surprise.

[dobrojim]

You could fix that if Ted would just hire you!

[Nivek]

Obviously Ted is never going to hire me. But, here's my offer:

1. Salary: What I'm making now +25%.
2. I'll take a one-year contract.
3. I get to pick my team.

And yes, I already know several people I'd want in the front office. A couple quants, of course, but there are some ex-player/coach types I'd want too.

A fun diversion for a moment.

[The Consiglieri]

Started for me with the horrible drafts in the late eighties and early nineties, bogues, hammonds, dumb pick after dumb pick, a F.O. manned by Pollin's best friends, and bootlicks rather than professionals. After that I simply observed out of team building interest, than Webber and Howard in '94 changed everything, i was a wolverine fan as a kid because of the x-men oddly enough, and loved them, when we got wallace in '95 i was ecstatic, a superstar athletic front court with every aspect of talent imaginable, i had stars in my eyes, even with the stupid mark price trade in the rear view mirror, than they had to dump young and big for old and small in strick, and cracks appeared in my hopefullness.The incomprehensibly moronic Richmond trade destroyed what was left of my faith.

Since then I've had none, and simply bee enamoured with the possible ways you cold team build. Got alittle hope when Leonsis was in line to own, but that was long since destroyed and now i have none again, and watch to see what they do, rather than hope that things turn out great. This offseason, a redux of '09, reinforced my total lack of faith in the team.

As others have said, when you have the expertly run nats, the well run caps, and the improved redskins and united, all the wizards ever offer in comparison is seasonal rubber necking.

[FAH1223]

anyone know a billionaire with a little guap to spend? that might be the only way things can change around here

[DMVleGeND]

Agreed. Even in the last 3 yrs we've sucked in 2009-12, I was always optimistic before the season. And even though we sucked, we were at least fun to watch. Now, we just have a team that sucks and can't put any points on the board.

I don't nearly follow this team nearly as much. The Wizards used to be my favorite team, even more than the Redskins, but now, I just tune into the games because I have nothing else to do, and even then I'm not fully focused. Even though I still come to this site everyday, I don't post as much as I use to.

It's not even really because they suck, it's that I know that this team will never be near-championship level with
Ernie Grunfeld at the helm, and it seems like Ted is content with that.

That being said, I will NEVER start rooting for another team.

[Nivek]

Know what's helped make this season more fun? Twitter.

When possible, I'm watching games with some smart fans on Twitter, and it improves the experience immensely.

[pineappleheadindc]

Rafael is good for a couple of interesting tweets per game. But he also multitasks, so you may also get the odd comment about some college basketball game going on at the same time.

But I'd recommend you'all follow him.