The Angst of the Bullets Fan

[kavu]

I grew up in the DC Area in the 70'-90's...started rooting for the Bullets when Elvin Hayes was the talk of the town.

I can only say that the bullets have to be one of the worst managed franchises in the history of sports. Mediocrity is the high end of performance.

We blew the draft (blair in the second round? That was a no brainer...and we could have done a helluva lot better than Foye), we just ditched our talent for little in return...and we go for the sideshow (Mugsy and Manute; Crittendon and Dirty Harry; Jordan episode III, etc.) rather than trying to build up a real franchise.

When Ernie came on board, I figured finally our misery was over. But, the guy should flat out be fired. Apparently, the curse of the Le Boulez is too strong for Ernie's magic. We should do what we do best...let him go somewhere else and flourish.

There is no reason whatsoever why Washington couldn't be as much of a marquis venue as Boston, NY (yes, new york), and LA.

We should wipe the slate already...change the name again, new uniforms, move back to Baltimore, and see if Mel Turpin is willing to come back from retirement. I give up.

[doclinkin]

I grew up in the DC Area in the 70'-90's...started rooting for the Bullets when Elvin Hayes was the talk of the town.

I can only say that the bullets have to be one of the worst managed franchises in the history of sports. Mediocrity is the high end of performance.

We blew the draft (blair in the second round? That was a no brainer...and we could have done a helluva lot better than Foye), we just ditched our talent for little in return...and we go for the sideshow (Mugsy and Manute; Crittendon and Dirty Harry; Jordan episode III, etc.) rather than trying to build up a real franchise.

When Ernie came on board, I figured finally our misery was over. But, the guy should flat out be fired. Apparently, the curse of the Le Boulez is too strong for Ernie's magic. We should do what we do best...let him go somewhere else and flourish.

There is no reason whatsoever why Washington couldn't be as much of a marquis venue as Boston, NY (yes, new york), and LA.

We should wipe the slate already...change the name again, new uniforms, move back to Baltimore, and see if Mel Turpin is willing to come back from retirement. I give up.

Hello kavu, let me be the first to welcome you to your new home. Don't mind the screamers, if they aren't immediately sedated by the night crew they generally settle down after morning meds, you can sneak a good nap in then before Arts Therapy. Word to the wise, you can recognize the violent cases by their Haldol shuffle about 5 minutes after they get their paper cup. Avoid topics like Spanish Point Guards, or Small Ball Line-ups and you should be fine.

Just don't oversleep after lunch since afternoon Group meeting is mandatory.

Go Wiz!

(No man, really, go wiz: you got to fill the specimen cup for the lab to check your pee for contraband traces).

[montestewart]

When Ernie came on board, I figured finally our misery was over. But, the guy should flat out be fired. Apparently, the curse of the Le Boulez is too strong for Ernie's magic. We should do what we do best...let him go somewhere else and flourish.

I have a friend who comes from Milwaukee. he hated what he perceived as Grunfeld's destruction of the Bucks, and he always viewed Grunfeld's moves with the Wizards through that lense. In hindsight, he was right.

I started following the Wizards when they were the Baltimore Bullets, and even though I was not living around here when they moved to Washington, I was still following them and became an avid fan when I returned to the area in the mid-70s, in time to see them win a championship. I've been hooked ever since, and it's been a frequently miserable addiction.

I share your pain. Welcome. This is a safe place to B**CH.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

kavu, forgive me for being too busy bitching about EG to properly welcome you.

I'm not always THIS negative.

Today, however, I can say that it's very rare that every fan agrees on something. If nothing else, I can't find a single Wizards fan that's happy with what just happened.

Like you, kavu, I came to the area in the 70s and remember The Big E well.

Sad times of late.

Ernie's gotta go is all I can say.

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

kavu, forgive me for being too busy bitching about EG to properly welcome you.

I'm not always THIS negative.

Today, however, I can say that it's very rare that every fan agrees on something. If nothing else, I can't find a single Wizards fan that's happy with what just happened.

Like you, kavu, I came to the area in the 70s and remember The Big E well.

Sad times of late.

Ernie's gotta go is all I can say.

Kavu... Welcome to the board o' fellow sufferer. My name pretty much should serve as a ditto to what you wrote.

This is definitely one of my low points... it's almost laughable that we all still post here with creative ideas for trying to trade any of our remaining assets for any kind of value when EG just signaled to the league that we don't care about getting ANYTHING back in return. This is a fire sale, plain and simple. It is the kind of activity unique to a professional sports franchise that is trying to unload expense obligations in order to jack up the price of a sale.

And it is one final middle finger to us long-time, die hard supporters who have put up with the blatant penny-pinching and mom and popishness of the Pollin family, in many cases for decades.

What Ted (or anyone else who buys this franchise) will get will be the result of a serious scorch and burn effort that will leave us years....YEARS... away from even contending for a playoff spot.

And like most other pigeons, I'll probably just take my crumbs when I can get them.

[montestewart]

kavu, forgive me for being too busy bitching about EG to properly welcome you.

I'm not always THIS negative.

Today, however, I can say that it's very rare that every fan agrees on something. If nothing else, I can't find a single Wizards fan that's happy with what just happened.

Like you, kavu, I came to the area in the 70s and remember The Big E well.

Sad times of late.

Ernie's gotta go is all I can say.

Kavu... Welcome to the board o' fellow sufferer. My name pretty much should serve as a ditto to what you wrote.

This is definitely one of my low points... it's almost laughable that we all still post here with creative ideas for trying to trade any of our remaining assets for any kind of value when EG just signaled to the league that we don't care about getting ANYTHING back in return. This is a fire sale, plain and simple. It is the kind of activity unique to a professional sports franchise that is trying to unload expense obligations in order to jack up the price of a sale.

And it is one final middle finger to us long-time, die hard supporters who have put up with the blatant penny-pinching and mom and popishness of the Pollin family, in many cases for decades.

What Ted (or anyone else who buys this franchise) will get will be the result of a serious scorch and burn effort that will leave us years....YEARS... away from even contending for a playoff spot.

And like most other pigeons, I'll probably just take my crumbs when I can get them.

If you had a fire sale and there were two people that wanted the same item, one would likely pay more than the other. Fire sale or not, the liquidation might get more under the right oversight.

I've said this before elsewhere, but I don't really think the Pollins are following a selfish but shrewd strategy to eliminate long term obligation and increase the value of the franchise. Appraisers would look beyond long term debt, and selling off assets, destroying goodwill, and undermining profitability in future years might very well offset anything gained by the "fire sale," or even bring the selling price down. I have to believe that at least some among their advisors for the transaction would illustrate that potential negative consequence. It is possible that, to some degree, they are following a strategy agreed upon with Leonsis to arrive at an agreement.

What depresses me more is thinking that, rather than any of the above, the Pollins and EG are following no real strategy at all.

EDIT: See, kavu, we got angst here.

[dobrojim]

I just wanna know one thing - who is our Jack Marin that we can trade
for one of the greatest players to ever play his position? Jamison?

[hands11]

Welcome. Please dig out your Voo Goo Shoes and step right in.

[BanndNDC]

I am just increasingly finding it better not to think about either what ifs or what will happen next. the info that the blazers offered blake/penderwhatever and their 1st for haywood we aked for rudy, they said no and then we gave up kills me. that we ended up trading haywood + cash for $3m (stevenson minus ross) really just put it over the top.

i no longer care what happens, i only have a morbid curiosity over how things can get worse. it's really beginning to look a lot like 1999. just as the housing bubble collapse wiped away an entire decade (economically) this trade (and the ones to follow) wiped away an entire decade.

i remember steve colter's jheri curls, labradford smith v. jordan, and the greatest offensive threat known to wes (Ledell eackles). i remember trading rex chapman for less than nothing (a 2nd round swap in which we had the higher pick). i remember the days when you could hear individuals in the 400 section yelling juwan you suck across the arena without ditraction. secret weapon charles jones and the circus sideshow of mugsy and manute. don maclean to jim mcillvaine. michael adams with an alley oops. now i hope that when trade jamison we at least get the ip rights to danny ferry's childhood pet.

i originally came to this place to talk basketball among the few the proud the bullets fans, now it's a support group for the battered, hoping against hope and convincing ourselves that their words can be trusted. that they still love us... even when.

to be or not to be. that is, indeed, the question. is it nobler in the mind to suffer? or should i take arms against a sea of troubles? to die? to sleep? but in sleep perchance to dream. the pangs of a despised love. conscience make cowards of us all.

[BanndNDC]

I've said this before elsewhere, but I don't really think the Pollins are following a selfish but shrewd strategy to eliminate long term obligation and increase the value of the franchise.

i wonder. i really do. i can see the "spite" theory. i can see the "appraisal" theory. and i can see the "leonsis" theory. i really can. but none make sense. i see what they see, but i see no star dancing in the night.

Appraisers would look beyond long term debt, and selling off assets, destroying goodwill, and undermining profitability in future years might very well offset anything gained by the "fire sale," or even bring the selling price down.

would they? how do you measure it. in the absence of a drastic series of preacknolwdged season ticket cancellations they can only project based on current trends. though it may be obvious it is not obvious in the numbers. while we may assume (and be right) that season ticket renewals will drop steeply there is no verifiable formula for calculating the impact a trade might have. in the end they can only base things on recent trends regardless of how obvious or truthful reality might be. its the original sin of economics and statistics, one can only make projections based on quantifiable facts.

I have to believe that at least some among their advisors for the transaction would illustrate that potential negative consequence. It is possible that, to some degree, they are following a strategy agreed upon with Leonsis to arrive at an agreement.

i would hope and unfortunately (based on the response leonsis gave you that you were kind enough to hare) i agree. though it pains me to say it i think ted has made some wrong comparisons between the caps and the current wizards. he forgot that the caps lost fans to the fear of heartache and the inevitable 3-1 playoff series lead that turned into a 3-4 series loss while the wizards lost fans due to abuse of a webber for richmond, wallace for austin and mark price for kobe or nash (the players reports (from the time) say we would have chosen between with the pick we traded) trades. cap fans were tired of being disappointed. wizards fans are tired of being betrayed. but whom are we but lonely fans to point out this difference.

What depresses me more is thinking that, rather than any of the above, the Pollins and EG are following no real strategy at all.

and so it be. they seem to be trying to read the tea but forgetting their history and as is becoming all too obvious, history has a way of repeating and we foolish few are drinking like it's 1999. in a way it's very fitting that juan dixon got busted for steroids this week.

[Hoopalotta]

It is possible that, to some degree, they are following a strategy agreed upon with Leonsis to arrive at an agreement.

Exactly. But I would suggest that it's quite possible we could go a lot further than to say "to some degree".

The Butler-Haywood trade is what the 'Teddy Plan' looks like in a strict buyers market after previous mistakes have been made. Simple as that.

The trade matches perfectly with Ted's plan under that context.

It's a classic 'Ted's-Plan trade.

The idea that we "hold onto our guys to get more value for them over the summer" would have been doubling down on a bad hand (again), as there will be loads more teams interested in dumping contracts on our naked cap space than there will be teams in need of 'former allstars'.

I've even seen people here and at Bullet's Forever talk about picking up Howard's option year to move him as "a valuable expiring" contract.

Uhm, no.

We'll get a WAY sweeter deal by trading "the rights to Vladimir Veremeenko" while taking back whatever it was that they were going to trade for Howard. Actually, we don't even need to do that, as we would have taken back a bad 2012 contract; here all we need to do is take a bad 2011 contract.

Many of the most vocal critics fundamentally misunderstand the market and the options that will subsequently be available over the summer.

Of course we're only half way there as we haven't moved Jamison yet, but at the moment, there's nothing in greater demand around the league than 'nothing'.

[verbal8]

I thought the rumor of the offer of a 1st, filler and Blake for Haywood from Portland might have not had much basis. However looking at what they are giving up for Camby, it looks like that was likely(or could have been) a legit offer.

I can't imagine Portland would not rather have Haywood. In fact Stevenson's and Haywood's salaries are the same as Camby's. I think Portland would be willing to take on Stevenson's next year of salary for the difference. Or if the trade was just for Haywood, Stevenson and the pick should be able to get an expiring from someone.