RealGM

did you make that sign in watercolor? jesus man

Best I could do at the time. Yeah, not the most clear to read sign but whatever.

I think a bigger boycott would be to stop watching the Wizards altogether because the Wizards still make money through TV. That would be tough for me; I will still probably watch the Wizards but will make a concerted effort to do less until the Wizards' improve the direction of the franchise.

dobrojim wrote:Best I could do at the time. Yeah, not the most clear to read sign but whatever.

Jim -- the Ernie Grunfeld of sign making.

Kanyewest wrote:I think a bigger boycott would be to stop watching the Wizards altogether because the Wizards still make money through TV. That would be tough for me; I will still probably watch the Wizards but will make a concerted effort to do less until the Wizards' improve the direction of the franchise.

Listen to the #RadioParty with Dave and Glenn

We need to do something like the Bucks fans did with SaveOurBucks

We don't have a threat of the team moving to Seattle but we gotta get billboards and stuff out there! We have so much material!

As Fishercob and Monte mentioned, I finally did not renew after being a season ticket holder for 20 years, the last 15 years in the Center Select Section. In my 20 years, I figure I have spent over $200,000 on the Wizards just for season tickets alone. This doesn't count the money I have spent on food, drink, gas, parking and babysitters. The cost of my seats were raised by $20 per seat last season and again raised by $8 per seat this season. Season tickets in my section are now about $13,500 for 2 seats.

I have been considering giving up my season tickets for a few years now. However, the straw that broke the camels back was Ted raising my prices again this year despite an inferior product. I felt like that was just a slap in the face. Instead of apologizing to fans that they paid more to watch an underperforming team, the Wizards basically said "we don't give a crap about you or the product that we put on the floor this year, we are just going to try to cash in based on faint speculation that KD or another prime free agent comes here." As I told my ticket rep, I am not going to be holding the bag again when none of that comes to fruition. I’m done buying on hope.

Although the Wizards raising my prices again were what sent me over the ledge, there were other factors that made me finally conclude that having season tickets is just not very smart (at least for me).

1. To help reduce costs, I end up selling most of the premium and weekend games because these are the only games I can sell without taking a loss. I have done pretty well making a profit on these games, but it basically leaves me with weeknight games against lowly opponents. Although I don't mind attending these games, I have found that I could get these same games for much less than the season ticket cost on the secondary market. In the last two games I attended, I met people that paid $54 and $88 for the seats in my row. I pay $150 per seat. The profit that I make on the premium games is easily offset by the amount that I overpay on the crappy teams and the amount I pay for games that I would not have attended but for the fact that a prepaid for the game and can’t get my money back (see below).
2. The Wizards organization, not you, is in the driver’s seat. You commit and pay up front and then you are stuck with whatever crappy, careless, nonsensical moves that the Front Office makes before or during the season. You are powerless. I’m tired of going to games only because I could not sell them and I sit there and stew because I just paid $300 to watch a team that don’t give a crap and a product that was the result of mismanagement. For once, I am going to enjoy sitting in the driver’s seat. I may or may not buy tickets in the future on the secondary market. The Wizards will have to earn my presence and dollars.
3. You have no flexibility. I have always had two seats so I can take my wife, son, or a friend to a game. However, in many instances, I go alone because it’s a weeknight game and my wife has to get up early, my son has school the next day or nobody wants to go with me. Now, if I want to go to a weeknight game and no one can go, I can just buy a single ticket on the secondary market.
4. The odds that the Wizards will become perennial contenders and I will regret giving up season tickets because I’m stuck paying outrageous prices on the secondary market is extremely low. First, there are very few teams in the NBA that are perennial contenders. The Wizards have not even sniffed being one in over 30 years and is no where close to being one, especially with the current management. Most teams have more mediocre or bad seasons than really good seasons. In the off chance that the Wizards will become a contender and I have to pay a premium to go to the games, the year or two that happens will be more than offset by the years that the Wizards are bad or just ok. If I were a Spurs fan and the Spurs had an off year, I would not give up the season tickets. The Wizards…easier decision.
5. Life is just too hectic to have season tickets. With my son playing basketball and me coaching him, and with us skiing more during the Winter, having season tickets becomes more than a burden than anything else. Now I can make plans based on when I want to do them, instead of making plans around the Wizards schedule.
6. Having season tickets has made me more hostile toward the team and I believe has made me more cynical than I would be if I were not a season ticket holder. I will always be upset if the Wizards perform poorly. However, it gets amplified that much more when you know that you are doling out large amounts of money to watch this team play, especially when you think the FO just doesn't care. I think I will tolerate the Wizards losing much more gracefully if I know that I have a choice whether or not to spend money on the team. If the Wizards stink again next year, I just won’t spend as much money and do other things that are more enjoyable. If they are good, I might spend more money to watch them play, but it will be worth it.
7. As a season ticket holder, you are not a “member” of the team even though they like to say that you are. You are just another cog in their profit machine. After 20 years of being a season ticket holder and spending over $200,000 on this team, I have not received a single call from anyone from the Wizards after I informed by ticket rep by email that I was definitely not renewing. They don’t care because I sit the premium section and will likely find some corporate suiter who will fill the seat with people who don’t give a rats a** about this team.

Anyway, just thought I would share my views so other people can decide for themselves whether season tickets are worthwhile. I fretted about my decision for a long time, but I am happy now that I finally made it.

When I first started buying plans, there was a real financial benefit in that you could break even or even a little better selling middling games on the secondary market. You could sell the premium games and make a healthy profit if you wanted to, or you could go to those. And you had access to the playoff games, and I went to just about all of those during the Arenas years. I didn't feel like the team was ripping me off. That was true even for 20 game plans.

It's clear from these testimonials that they've jacked up prices even on the full season plans to the point where it makes no financial sense for individuals. You are better off just buying the individual games that you want. The season ticket holders have to all know this. It will be interesting if we ever find out whether some larger trend in cancellations is occurring. I wonder if there are enough corporations and law firms who will take those seats at those prices.

I used to go to about 10-15 games a year. But Grunfeld has caused such apathy in me regarding this team that I only went to one game this year. And only because my girlfriend and our other friends were in DC to see the museums and go to the zoo and they wanted to do something afterward. And our 4 tickets cost a combined $72. And we didn't buy anything else.

So that about sums up my general interest level of this team.

Unfortunate because I was able to watch this team during the real craptastic years. There was always hope. There was always *something* to root for. Not anymore. Ernie has successfully washed away any feigning interest I used to have. Sad.

Oh, look: The same post from milellie111 in the thread about Jorge Castillo's non-news article about EFG's contract status for next season.

And it includes this quote,

milellie111 wrote:But this off season is what they planned for. This was a bridge year. We knew that. An exciting summer of free agency is approaching. Lets see what they do with that before having a major owenership melt down.

essentially admitting that

1. He works for Monumental Sports in some capacity,
and
2. He admits that Wizards management has knowingly, willingly wasted a season of the prime of _ohn Wall's career.

I sincerely hope _ohn Wall reads this stuff.

Here is a Monumental Sports employee admitting that the Wizards' management wasted a year of the prime of his career.

And milellie111, you still haven't answered my questions from a previous post in that other thread, i.e.,

1. How do you know what the responses are to a poll on NBA.com? I can only conclude that you work for Monumental Sports. That impacts your credibility as a poster here. We're fans. Not employees.

2. What the H-E-Double-Toothpicks does the VC experience "other than the teams performance" have to do with evaluating EFG? He's supposed to be running a competitive basketball team, not G-Wiz and a bunch of cheerleaders in short skirts (may God bless them).

3. Are you implying that I and many other posters here are not level-headed? Because that's offensive.

#FireEFG
Grunfeld must go before the Wiz get another penny out of my pocket. And apparently, many other loyal fans who post on this board.

dandridge 10 wrote:Anyway, just thought I would share my views so other people can decide for themselves whether season tickets are worthwhile. I fretted about my decision for a long time, but I am happy now that I finally made it.

Not only an and 1 post but it was long and still readable.

WizTom wrote:1. How do you know what the responses are to a poll on NBA.com? I can only conclude that you work for Monumental Sports. That impacts your credibility as a poster here. We're fans. Not employees.

My God, Millie! Not your credibility!

TheSecretWeapon wrote:

nate33 wrote:

milellie111 wrote:How about just supporting the team, sit back and watch a big part of this rebuild play out?

The time to get really pissed is in like 2 years from now if things don’t work out.

Right now, everything is still on course.

Still on course? Did this navigation plan include missing the playoffs while trading away a lotto pick?

The notion that we are still early in a rebuild phase is flawed. Wall has already peaked. Gortat is past his prime. Morris is at his peak. Beal and Porter may have a bit of upside left, but not much. It's not like they're going to explode into superstars. They are what they are, respectable starters, no more. I don't see where you expect this improvement to come from. We have cap room, but unless we land one of the two young players with star potential (Durant or Whiteside) we are simply going to use that cap room to replace our departing veterans (Nene, Sessions, Temple, Dudley) with similar role playing veterans (on bigger contracts).

The bright side I see: millie has FINALLY acknowledged the possibility that the "rebuild" could fail.

As for nate's analysis: yup. This is the 6th year of the team's "rebuild". Maybe it would have been nice if they'd done a rebuild instead of using spackle and duct tape to "contend" for the playoffs in a historically weak conference.

I was with you till you said Whiteside . The wiz should be in knuckle head anonymous- and when is a 25 year old NBA player at his peak?

Oh yeah...how is this a rebuild? We haven't won a championship since the 70s. That's like a person that has been fat since Birth- saying "I am working out to try to get back in shape"... BTW...that's me...Fat Cobra

BOYCOTT MONTE THREADS!

What's a boy cot anyway? That a bed for little kids or somethin? Tss tss

CobraCommander wrote:and when is a 25 year old NBA player at his peak?

Interesting question. In David Berri's research, he found that NBA players on average improved until their age 25 season, more or less maintained until 29/30 (slight decline, on average), and then got worse as they got older. Using a very different approach, Kevin Pelton found something similar -- he ran numbers to see what percentage of players at each age improved the following season. At 20, it was 69%, etc. -- 60% and up to age 23. And then the percentage dropped: to 55% at 24, 52% at 25 and 26, to 44% at 27. And so on, continuing to drop as the ages got higher. Pelton thought his findings were consistent with peak age being 25 to 27.

Other studies have been done, of course. In general, there's been some convergence on NBA players peaking at 25-27, more or less maintaining until early 30s, and then decline.

I haven't studied peak myself. When I ran projections on Wall back in the preseason, I found that players most like him (similar production at similar age) tended to peak fairly young. On average, his 10 "most similar" peaked just under 25 years old. The oldest "peak" age in that top 10 "most similar" group was 26.

milellie111 wrote:How about just supporting the team, sit back and watch a big part of this rebuild play out?

The time to get really pissed is in like 2 years from now if things don’t work out.

Right now, everything is still on course.

I appreciate for once this team is approaching things with a long term plan. Some see moves like Gortat or Morris as patch jobs. But they weren’t. Gortat has been our center for 3 years now and will be again next year. Morris is signed for multiple years and is a young big strong PF/S4 we needed with Nene’s contract expiring. We have Wall 25, Beal 22, Otto 22, Oubre 20. You have young talented pieces and we have cap.

That is a result of long term planning that we are here. This was not the case during the Pollin regime. So complaining that ownership is totally screwing up ? That really isn’t happening.

Ted plans to deliver on that long term vision. Does it take time? Yes. But now is not the time to revolt.

They fell short this one year. Things happen such as injuries that are out of everyone's control. But its not like that changes all the good stuff still in place.

If you are the type to get overly negative, then I guess this is a good time for you. But this off season is what they planned for. This was a bridge year. We knew that. An exciting summer of free agency is approaching. Lets see what they do with that before having a major owenership melt down.

Or maybe you could just support the team, not go to games if you don't want, sit back and watch a big part of this rebuild play out.
The time to get really pissed is in like 2 years from now if things don’t work out.

Right now, everything is still in front of them.

I appreciate for once this team is approaching things with a long term plan. Some see moves like Gortat or Morris as patch jobs. But they weren’t. Gortat has been out center for 3 years now and will be again next year. Morris is signed for multiple years and is a young big strong PF/S4 we needed with Nene’s contract expiring. We have Wall 25, Beal 22, Otto 22, Oubre 20. You have young pieces. That are talented. And we have cap.

That is a result of long term planning that we are here. I never saw stuff like this under the old ownership.

So complain about no DL team is you want. Complain that EG is still here. But complaining that ownership is totally screwing up ? That really isn’t happening.

Does Ted still have to deliver on that long term vision ? Of course he does. But now is not the time to revolt.

They feel short this one year. Things happen. But its not like that chances all the good stuff still in place.

If you are the type to get overly negative, then I guess this is a good time for you. But this off season is what they planned for. This was a bridge year. We knew that. Now they hopefully go coach hunting. And FA hunting. Lets see what they do with that before having a major Ted melt down. Because those are two important pieces of information we need in hand first.

Hands11

by Hands11 on Apr 7, 2016 | 7:18 AM reply rec flag

http://www.bulletsforever.com/2016/4/6/11377162/ex-season-ticket-holders-message-to-ted-fellow-commiserators

Sup, Hands.

Sluggerface wrote:

milellie111 wrote:How about just supporting the team, sit back and watch a big part of this rebuild play out?

The time to get really pissed is in like 2 years from now if things don’t work out.

Right now, everything is still on course.

I appreciate for once this team is approaching things with a long term plan. Some see moves like Gortat or Morris as patch jobs. But they weren’t. Gortat has been our center for 3 years now and will be again next year. Morris is signed for multiple years and is a young big strong PF/S4 we needed with Nene’s contract expiring. We have Wall 25, Beal 22, Otto 22, Oubre 20. You have young talented pieces and we have cap.

That is a result of long term planning that we are here. This was not the case during the Pollin regime. So complaining that ownership is totally screwing up ? That really isn’t happening.

Ted plans to deliver on that long term vision. Does it take time? Yes. But now is not the time to revolt.

They fell short this one year. Things happen such as injuries that are out of everyone's control. But its not like that changes all the good stuff still in place.

If you are the type to get overly negative, then I guess this is a good time for you. But this off season is what they planned for. This was a bridge year. We knew that. An exciting summer of free agency is approaching. Lets see what they do with that before having a major owenership melt down.

Or maybe you could just support the team, not go to games if you don't want, sit back and watch a big part of this rebuild play out.
The time to get really pissed is in like 2 years from now if things don’t work out.

Right now, everything is still in front of them.

I appreciate for once this team is approaching things with a long term plan. Some see moves like Gortat or Morris as patch jobs. But they weren’t. Gortat has been out center for 3 years now and will be again next year. Morris is signed for multiple years and is a young big strong PF/S4 we needed with Nene’s contract expiring. We have Wall 25, Beal 22, Otto 22, Oubre 20. You have young pieces. That are talented. And we have cap.

That is a result of long term planning that we are here. I never saw stuff like this under the old ownership.

So complain about no DL team is you want. Complain that EG is still here. But complaining that ownership is totally screwing up ? That really isn’t happening.

Does Ted still have to deliver on that long term vision ? Of course he does. But now is not the time to revolt.

They feel short this one year. Things happen. But its not like that chances all the good stuff still in place.

If you are the type to get overly negative, then I guess this is a good time for you. But this off season is what they planned for. This was a bridge year. We knew that. Now they hopefully go coach hunting. And FA hunting. Lets see what they do with that before having a major Ted melt down. Because those are two important pieces of information we need in hand first.

Hands11

by Hands11 on Apr 7, 2016 | 7:18 AM reply rec flag

http://www.bulletsforever.com/2016/4/6/11377162/ex-season-ticket-holders-message-to-ted-fellow-commiserators

Sup, Hands.

all this wasted time...lol.

TheSecretWeapon wrote:

dobrojim wrote:Best I could do at the time. Yeah, not the most clear to read sign but whatever.

Jim -- the Ernie Grunfeld of sign making.

I promise to try to make a better sign for the Home Finale.

I slipped walking around the concourse at halftime and spilled beer on
that last sign so you won't be seeing it again. This is what happens when
you take your most alcohol-intox resistant friend to a game and he plies
you with beers that you otherwise wouldn't have consumed. My bad.

FAH1223 wrote:

Kanyewest wrote:I think a bigger boycott would be to stop watching the Wizards altogether because the Wizards still make money through TV. That would be tough for me; I will still probably watch the Wizards but will make a concerted effort to do less until the Wizards' improve the direction of the franchise.

Listen to the #RadioParty with Dave and Glenn

What happened there? I missed it.

dandridge 10 wrote:As Fishercob and Monte mentioned, I finally did not renew after being a season ticket holder for 20 years, the last 15 years in the Center Select Section. In my 20 years, I figure I have spent over $200,000 on the Wizards just for season tickets alone. This doesn't count the money I have spent on food, drink, gas, parking and babysitters. The cost of my seats were raised by $20 per seat last season and again raised by $8 per seat this season. Season tickets in my section are now about $13,500 for 2 seats.

I have been considering giving up my season tickets for a few years now. However, the straw that broke the camels back was Ted raising my prices again this year despite an inferior product. I felt like that was just a slap in the face. Instead of apologizing to fans that they paid more to watch an underperforming team, the Wizards basically said "we don't give a crap about you or the product that we put on the floor this year, we are just going to try to cash in based on faint speculation that KD or another prime free agent comes here." As I told my ticket rep, I am not going to be holding the bag again when none of that comes to fruition. I’m done buying on hope.

Although the Wizards raising my prices again were what sent me over the ledge, there were other factors that made me finally conclude that having season tickets is just not very smart (at least for me).

1. To help reduce costs, I end up selling most of the premium and weekend games because these are the only games I can sell without taking a loss. I have done pretty well making a profit on these games, but it basically leaves me with weeknight games against lowly opponents. Although I don't mind attending these games, I have found that I could get these same games for much less than the season ticket cost on the secondary market. In the last two games I attended, I met people that paid $54 and $88 for the seats in my row. I pay $150 per seat. The profit that I make on the premium games is easily offset by the amount that I overpay on the crappy teams and the amount I pay for games that I would not have attended but for the fact that a prepaid for the game and can’t get my money back (see below).
2. The Wizards organization, not you, is in the driver’s seat. You commit and pay up front and then you are stuck with whatever crappy, careless, nonsensical moves that the Front Office makes before or during the season. You are powerless. I’m tired of going to games only because I could not sell them and I sit there and stew because I just paid $300 to watch a team that don’t give a crap and a product that was the result of mismanagement. For once, I am going to enjoy sitting in the driver’s seat. I may or may not buy tickets in the future on the secondary market. The Wizards will have to earn my presence and dollars.
3. You have no flexibility. I have always had two seats so I can take my wife, son, or a friend to a game. However, in many instances, I go alone because it’s a weeknight game and my wife has to get up early, my son has school the next day or nobody wants to go with me. Now, if I want to go to a weeknight game and no one can go, I can just buy a single ticket on the secondary market.
4. The odds that the Wizards will become perennial contenders and I will regret giving up season tickets because I’m stuck paying outrageous prices on the secondary market is extremely low. First, there are very few teams in the NBA that are perennial contenders. The Wizards have not even sniffed being one in over 30 years and is no where close to being one, especially with the current management. Most teams have more mediocre or bad seasons than really good seasons. In the off chance that the Wizards will become a contender and I have to pay a premium to go to the games, the year or two that happens will be more than offset by the years that the Wizards are bad or just ok. If I were a Spurs fan and the Spurs had an off year, I would not give up the season tickets. The Wizards…easier decision.
5. Life is just too hectic to have season tickets. With my son playing basketball and me coaching him, and with us skiing more during the Winter, having season tickets becomes more than a burden than anything else. Now I can make plans based on when I want to do them, instead of making plans around the Wizards schedule.
6. Having season tickets has made me more hostile toward the team and I believe has made me more cynical than I would be if I were not a season ticket holder. I will always be upset if the Wizards perform poorly. However, it gets amplified that much more when you know that you are doling out large amounts of money to watch this team play, especially when you think the FO just doesn't care. I think I will tolerate the Wizards losing much more gracefully if I know that I have a choice whether or not to spend money on the team. If the Wizards stink again next year, I just won’t spend as much money and do other things that are more enjoyable. If they are good, I might spend more money to watch them play, but it will be worth it.
7. As a season ticket holder, you are not a “member” of the team even though they like to say that you are. You are just another cog in their profit machine. After 20 years of being a season ticket holder and spending over $200,000 on this team, I have not received a single call from anyone from the Wizards after I informed by ticket rep by email that I was definitely not renewing. They don’t care because I sit the premium section and will likely find some corporate suiter who will fill the seat with people who don’t give a rats a** about this team.

Anyway, just thought I would share my views so other people can decide for themselves whether season tickets are worthwhile. I fretted about my decision for a long time, but I am happy now that I finally made it.

This times 1000. Love it BobbyD. Well said and I share your reasoning completely.