mohammed10's Official "Ted's Wizards" Thread

fishercob · Post #281 » by **fishercob** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 7:49 pm

Link to fan Q &A with Ted, hosting by BUllets Forever:

http://www.bulletsforever.com/2012/7/23 ... -questions

closg00 · Post #282 » by **closg00** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 8:15 pm

fishercob wrote:Link to fan Q &A with Ted, hosting by BUllets Forever:

http://www.bulletsforever.com/2012/7/23 ... -questions

Haven't opened the link yet, we're the questions pre-screened?

fishercob · Post #283 » by **fishercob** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 8:23 pm

Hasn't happened yet. They are soliciting questions via FB and twitter, etc. I think BF is screening the questions for what they believe to be the best, but beyond that I don't know. Ted's a pretty open book though. I am quite confident Prada will ask him some form of a pointed "why did you retain Ernie" question.

tontoz · Post #284 » by **tontoz** » Mon Jul 23, 2012 11:48 pm

Just finished the Ted interview. Good stuff.

We shouldn’t forget Gilbert played here John Wall’s rookie season until he traded himself to Orlando.

There was a new CBA — there was an amnesty clause — we could use it if we wanted — the coach and GM and several players said we would be a better team if we used it.

Wow

closg00 · Post #285 » by **closg00** » Tue Jul 24, 2012 12:22 am

tontoz wrote:Just finished the Ted interview. Good stuff.

We shouldn’t forget Gilbert played here John Wall’s rookie season until he traded himself to Orlando.

There was a new CBA — there was an amnesty clause — we could use it if we wanted — the coach and GM and several players said we would be a better team if we used it.

Wow

I am missing something, where are Ted's answers? I can see all of th submitted questions.

tontoz · Post #286 » by **tontoz** » Tue Jul 24, 2012 12:53 am

closg00 wrote:
tontoz wrote:Just finished the Ted interview. Good stuff.

We shouldn’t forget Gilbert played here John Wall’s rookie season until he traded himself to Orlando.

There was a new CBA — there was an amnesty clause — we could use it if we wanted — the coach and GM and several players said we would be a better team if we used it.

Wow

I am missing something, where are Ted's answers? I can see all of th submitted questions.

I took those quotes from Ted's answers in the Mike Wise interview fish posted.

go'stags · Post #287 » by **go'stags** » Tue Jul 24, 2012 7:48 pm

Gilbert "traded hmself"? Yea right. I get that Gilbert probably made himself an unhappy camper, but this is a low-class shot. As if the origination had nothing to do with the handling of gun-gate, his injuries, and all of the fallout after. Whatever.

dandridge 10 · Post #288 » by **dandridge 10** » Tue Jul 24, 2012 9:50 pm

go'stags wrote:Gilbert "traded hmself"? Yea right. I get that Gilbert probably made himself an unhappy camper, but this is a low-class shot. As if the origination had nothing to do with the handling of gun-gate, his injuries, and all of the fallout after. Whatever.

Leonsis told me that the Wizards learned that Gilbert was having discussions with Orlando's GM about a trade well before the organization even contemplated trading him. Arenas was also publicly telling people that he was going to be traded to Orlando based on those conversations. Leonsis told me that the organization had no intention of trading Gilbert until they learned of this stuff and until Gilbert basically made it clear he did not want to be here. I think that is what Leonsis meant by saying that "Gilbert traded himself."

Chocolate City Jordanaire · Post #289 » by **Chocolate City Jordanaire** » Tue Jul 24, 2012 11:41 pm

All of this after they drafted PG John Wall and acquired PG Kirk Hinrich, of course. Gil's ability was just not the same and there is no way his role could have been anywhere near what it was. Also, there had to be some hard feelings suspecting he was essentially snitched on and run out of DC. They wanted to void his deal. I don't fault Gil for orchestrating his deal.

IMO Ted should be happy Gil left. Rashard Lewis couldn't play well but he was a solid citizen and a team player.

I guess Ted is happy now to be paying Okafor/Ariza what Gil would have made this season, instead of having to pay Gilbert.

closg00 · Post #290 » by **closg00** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 7:23 pm

I have not seen Ted's answers to fan questions screened and submitted by Mike Prada. Anyone see/hear anything?

fishercob · Post #291 » by **fishercob** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 7:41 pm

closg00 wrote:I have not seen Ted's answers to fan questions screened and submitted by Mike Prada. Anyone see/hear anything?

Ted:

The Great SB Nation Email Challenge
Posted on July 25, 2012
Thank you, I have received the questions –10 each from Japers’ Rink and Bullets Forever. They are long, great and thoughtful questions. The wisdom of crowds is in here.

The questions are quite involved and they demand great attention and focus and a thoughtful reply. As I am traveling a bit this week, and must attend a few outside board meetings, I promise to think about these questions during the week, and then draft my responses this weekend. I will get the responses back to Jon and Mike late Monday evening.

I very much appreciate this process. It is much fairer to me, frankly, to get questions in advance so that I can be thoughtful about my responses. This way, I can write and edit my responses as opposed to a Q & A session where there is a stream of consciousness to it, and then the transcript is published and a giant game of “gotcha” and pixel analysis commences.

In this format, I can’t say I was quoted incorrectly if my answers get published in their entirety, right? I can’t say I was taken out of context if I answer the questions directly. I think I like this process. Thank you for this opportunity in advance, and thank you for your patience.

fishercob · Post #292 » by **fishercob** » Fri Jul 27, 2012 7:39 pm

For those that are espousing that Ted is now pursuing mediocrity, here is his latest blog:

It is a long one and worth a read, but this is important:

I am at that point in my life cycle as an owner, that when we don’t win a ring I do feel like I have failed. We need to have high standards, and I am highly motivated to win a championship for our fans and our community. I think there is nothing more noble than this pursuit. This is the highest of callings.

Chocolate City Jordanaire · Post #293 » by **Chocolate City Jordanaire** » Fri Jul 27, 2012 7:46 pm

There are people who can help Mr. Leonsis, but he needs to step out of his comfort zone to deal with some of us.

Post #294 » by **Ruzious** » Fri Jul 27, 2012 11:17 pm

fishercob wrote:For those that are espousing that Ted is now pursuing mediocrity, here is his latest blog:

It is a long one and worth a read, but this is important:

I am at that point in my life cycle as an owner, that when we don’t win a ring I do feel like I have failed. We need to have high standards, and I am highly motivated to win a championship for our fans and our community. I think there is nothing more noble than this pursuit. This is the highest of callings.

His blog is all well and good, but he already said - when explaining why he's not doing e-mails anymore - that he measures success and failure by how many season ticket renewals he gets. And bottom line, actions speak louder than words. Year after year Abe Pollin talked about how he wanted to win "another" championship. But his actions were of someone who tried year after year to just be respectable. There was never a legit plan to do what it took to build a championship contender. Maybe the Wiz season ticket holders need to send Ted a message - when this season doesn't meet the expectations he's talked about.

fishercob · Post #295 » by **fishercob** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 1:14 am

The foul stench of cynicism...

DCZards · Post #296 » by **DCZards** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 1:42 am

Ted said he is "highly motivated to win a championship." I'm going to take him at his word.

Chocolate City Jordanaire · Post #297 » by **Chocolate City Jordanaire** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 7:10 am

Ruzious wrote:His blog is all well and good, but he already said - when explaining why he's not doing e-mails anymore - that he measures success and failure by how many season ticket renewals he gets. And bottom line, actions speak louder than words. Year after year Abe Pollin talked about how he wanted to win "another" championship. But his actions were of someone who tried year after year to just be respectable. There was never a legit plan to do what it took to build a championship contender. Maybe the Wiz season ticket holders need to send Ted a message - when this season doesn't meet the expectations he's talked about.

If the Wizards do not win at least 33-35 games this season should be considered an epic fail. But if that happens and season ticket holders still reward worse than mediocre results, no major changes will occur.

A very real change agent would be an empty Verizon Center.

jivelikenice · Post #298 » by **jivelikenice** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 7:13 am

^or maybe giving him more than 2 yrs to fix up what was a mess when he took it over?

Post #299 » by **montestewart** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 12:35 pm

Chocolate City Jordanaire wrote:
Ruzious wrote:His blog is all well and good, but he already said - when explaining why he's not doing e-mails anymore - that he measures success and failure by how many season ticket renewals he gets. And bottom line, actions speak louder than words. Year after year Abe Pollin talked about how he wanted to win "another" championship. But his actions were of someone who tried year after year to just be respectable. There was never a legit plan to do what it took to build a championship contender. Maybe the Wiz season ticket holders need to send Ted a message - when this season doesn't meet the expectations he's talked about.

If the Wizards do not win at least 33-35 games this season should be considered an epic fail.

However, if season ticket holders still reward worse than mediocre results no major changes will occur. A very real change agent would be an empty Verizon Center.

I can't say that I won't buy a ticket this year. Last year I heard about some rock bottom bargains. I'm not buying a package this year, for the first time in a long time, and it really feels liberating to not have to listen to mealy mouthed excuses while paying for their continual crap product as they collectively dodge accountability year in and year out. I enjoyed the championship season quite well while only going to one game. Maybe I'll follow some advice on the TV thread and get a bigger screen (you know, for watching a good team).

Chocolate City Jordanaire · Post #300 » by **Chocolate City Jordanaire** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 2:03 pm

monte, I edited that post a little for clarity. What I meant is if the Wizards stink this season but people keep buying tickets at the same rate next season, regardless of this team having not achieved; there is nothing to force change.

For an analogy, what if a restaurant consistently puts out bad food but they keep getting customers. Do you think the owner would feel obligated to find a new manager and hire a new head chef? I don't. The ownership group can say they want to be a 5-star restaurant but if they keep being a 2 or 3 star rating, but with a loyal group of customers, I doubt anything changes. OTOH, let folks finally say, "Enough! I will not go back to that place because the product is bad all the time." I bet then the owner does something radically different.

As far as I am concerned this season is the point of critical mass for my loyalty as a fan. There was a movie out many years ago called, "Network". All I remember is the line, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it any more." For years I have thought about what this team can do better or what I think would be good moves only to see them never come to fruition. All the while this team has consistently lost many more games than I think they should have. With the course the team is on now, Grunfeld has acquired win now talent the same way he acquired Foye and Miller. I hope they do win now, but if they falter and I see teams like Minnesota do (way) better or Cleveland be better or even Charlotte be once again at the heels of the Wizards in wins--I need to find a new obsession. :-?

As far as Ted is probably concerned, monte, you are a stakeholder and I am not. I don't buy tickets there because I live elsewhere. My thoughts are that my loyalty as a Bullet/Wizard fan is on the verge of unhealthy because they're gonna do things a certain way. I stopped living and dying with the Redskins a long time ago. I can be a very casual Skins fan. That is what I will do this time next year if the Wizards flop. The same way, if I were one to go to the games, I would stop not this season but next just to make my own statement.

I hope they do well, but I have some doubts.