If you were Ted Leonsis: New Wiz Owner

[nateteaches]

If you are Ted and you just claimed majority ownership of the Wiz, what changes to the organization do you make? Can his Caps success permeate the Wiz? If given a choice, I'd rather he take over the Redskins but that's not happening anytime soon.

[Ji]

part of it is luck...how great of an owner would Leonsis be if he didnt win the lottery and get Ovechkin. The NBA is about having superstars. You can market till you are blue in the face but without a franchise player(Duncan,Lebron,Kobe,Wade..) your are really limited. We needed to win a lottery when a franchise player was coming out.

We are on the 45-37 treadmill...


and...Id change the name back to the Bullets immediately

[nateteaches]

I just read that Ted has 44% ownership in the Ticketmaster balt/dc franchise. (Abe has the majority). The ticket industry is a blood sucking leach! I wish Ted could eliminate outrageous "convenience fees" and "processing fees" and the worst... "building facility fees"!

ji, I could see the Bullets coming back with uniform changes so we don't have to Rock the Bronze anymore.

[WizDom]

I hope they go back to being the Bullets

[AceDegenerate]

l

[mohammed10]

I hope they go back to being the Bullets

+1

And go back to the old unis as well!

[fishercob]

Delgardo Franklin – District Heights, MD: I'm a life-long Bullets/ Wizards Fan. What was the rationale, if any, for the team name change?

Abe Pollin: It has been awhile since I have been asked this question. Believe me when I say it was not an easy decision. I won a World Championship under the name Bullets. However, too often during the mid to late ‘90s, I would hear the word “bullets” associated with guns and violence instead of my basketball team. While the name was longstanding, I finally reached a point that I was simply tired of the association between the two. Then, my good friend, Prime Minister Rabin was assassinated in Israel. That was the final straw. It was time to change names. With regard to the name “Wizards,” we held a three-tiered contest to determine a new name. The name “Wizards” was selected by the fans and has adorned our uniforms since that time.

It is essential that whoever takes over this team post-Abe rename the team Bullets. There is absolutely no sense in renaming a historic franchise for the reasoning of "violence" when they play in the capitol of the country, and all I see is the USA promoting using bullets as a means to an end.

It's as ridiculous as the person who came up with the idea. Bring back the Bullets.

I've always been pretty indifferent about the name, but now I hope they keep it as Wizards for eternity, just to piss you off. Your invective and disrespect towards Pollin is despicable. Yeah, pretty "ridiculous" to have a gag reflex towards something that reminds you of violence when a good friend -- who won a Nobel Peace Prize -- is gunned down by a lunatic.

[AceDegenerate]

l

[BanndNDC]

I just read that Ted has 44% ownership in the Ticketmaster balt/dc franchise. (Abe has the majority). The ticket industry is a blood sucking leach! I wish Ted could eliminate outrageous "convenience fees" and "processing fees" and the worst... "building facility fees"!

that's really disappointed to find out. on the plus side i know have no qualms about demanding that Abe (or leonsis) spend more money since he's raking in serious ancillary money on every ticket sold and certainly covering the loss on the caps/wizards through his ticketmaster profits on tockets they sell.

if i were ted

step 1: completely overhaul the medical staff
step 2: conduct a preliminary evaluation of potential GM candidates
step 3: hire a design team to update the classic red, white and blue bullets unis
step 4: schedule an "abe appreciation night"
step 5: fire the hype man and muscle bound blue fool and stop the canned crap music
step 6: hire a programmer and analyst to do nothing but collect and collate various stats.
step 7: start a fan club, lower ticket prices and set up the sections underneath the basket as student style fan sections
step 8: commission a song
step 9: see how the season goes
step 10: bring back the fat lady motif during the playoffs

[FreeBalling]

I'm changing the culture for one by just walking in the door. No more marketing other teams players 1st and the Wizards 2nd.

Re-Org executive level management. I'd want my team of management.

Brand awareness - New marketing campaign to attract a broader range of fans, New sponsorship and Merchandise sales. You got to plant your seeds even for the kids coming up.

D-League player development. (Do we even use this vehicle today?)

I'm ok with the name Wizards but I'd put it to a vote for the fans.

[BigA]

<snip>

I'm ok with the name Wizards but I'd put it to a vote for the fans.

They had a vote the last time, but I think the other choices were "Sea Dogs" and "Turd Sandwich."

[bulletproof_32]

^^ I think those were the finalist for "Dress Your Dog" as well.

[hands11]

EG and Abe have actually done a decent job of rebuilding this thing from its low point. I definitely think there have been some mistakes. It probably took longer then it needed to if Abe would have taken a different path in management structure but he needed to do it the way he needed to so he could learn he needed to get out of the loop. But now, we have a good coach hired by a good GM who has brought us good players. Our cap isn't busted and we are ready to take a shot. We are 18th in salaries out of 32 teams.

We will make a run for it this year. We should defiantly make the playoffs and from there, we have a decent chance for more since we added some vets that filled needs while getting ride of an often injured Etan, and a mostly useless OP. Only downside to the deal was losing a solid well rounded big in DSong but we have Haywood, MM play and DMAC playing motivated for new contracts and Blatche playing for a starting roll.

If Abe can hold on, I see him owning the team no more then 2 more years. It's ripe to sell. Only thing that would keep him from fetching top dollar is the economy.

As for changes.....

Bring back the weener dog and wagon