The Sweater Ted Meets the Owner Ted

Yesterday I got the pleasure of getting to sit down and talk with an NHL owner, a first. Ted Leonsis invited me to Capitals headquarters and I was glad to take him up on the offer. We sat and talked for probably about 20 minutes. The first thing you will notice about Mr. Leonsis is how engaging he is; he gave all his attention to me and was genuinely focused and interested in our meeting. It was something special. The next thing you can’t help but see is the man’s passion for the team and sport of hockey; he’s an owner that wants to have a class organization and wants to provide a winner. In that regard they are rounding into form.

We talked about a lot of things: hockey, blogs, fan-ship, following teams, he told me about his youth and how he came to love the game. We talked broadly about arenas and revenue, the economy…Of injuries and coaching changes, on fans who don’t get it and ones who do. It was a whirlwind and an exciting one.

I've come to the conclusion that in this day and age with the limitless resources of the internet and cable/satellite television, it is so much more easier to stay connected to a sports team if you wish. It's no stretch to say though, I'm probably at one extreme in terms of rooting interest. Had I been, not less "dedicated" to the Penguins but maybe less attached is the proper word, it would be easy to see me phasing out of them and towards a team who's city I live in. If it was 30-40 years ago, I would not have much of a choice.

Therefore, I don't think it's uncommon or really inherently a sin for a transplant to adopt their local team. I also still believe though there are plenty of folks like me in this area, who's bond with their team/city has been solidified. I think this is reinforced when Buffalo, Detroit and Pittsburgh (three cities that have lost a lot of people) come to play in a city like Washington where due to the government, there's a lot of transplants in the area to begin with.

More to the point I would say, if you ever get the chance to meet Mr. Leonsis, be it at a game or around a practice, I would definitely suggest doing it. He is accessible and as you would imagine a very interesting conversationalist. I had a very nice time at Caps HQ and thank him for his time and parting gift; tickets for me and my friends to sit in some of his seats. We all had a wonderful time.

Say what?

Ted Leonsis is at it again too..

Pittsburgh has a great fan base. Fans will travel from the city to DC-based games or they actually live here and break out the terrible towels and go to games here. They are Skins fans except when the Skins play the Steelers. We experienced that phenomenon with the Capitals too and same with the Orioles when they play the Yankees or Red Sox or the Nationals when they play the Mets.

As we've explained to Mr. Leonsis before, being a fan of a particular team is not a fluid decision for a lot of fans. We'd invite Ted to go to the Pour House or to our usual haunt; the Bailey's in Ballston right below his practice arena on a Sunday afternoon and see all that the only accompanying color to the gold in the crows is black, not burgundy. No self respecting Steelers fan we know would ever cheer for the Redskins, barring some sort of playoff implication that would benefit the Steelers.

If anything, hearing the annoying commentators and fans talk of an impending Super Bowl after every win, and then the “sky is falling” rants after losses give non-Redskin DC area fans nothing but malice to the local team…In fairness, this loathe of homer-ism undoubtedly applies to fans in Pittsburgh that don’t like the Steelers, Philly area non-Eagle fans, etc, etc.

He is right that Pittsburgh fans travel well, though. A lot (like our family and our friends' family) will come from Virginia Beach or Richmond to watch a rare Steelers game in DC. I suspect that is the case for a bunch of other Virginia/Maryland area ex-Pittsburghers. And because the team has been so successful and popular over the past 30 years factored into the large number of scattered ex-Burghers, you see why the Steelers "travel well" to basically any opposing city.

The enthusiasm of the black-n-gold clad fans also goes to disprove Mr. Leonsis' idea that these are Skins fans 364 days of the year and Steelers fans just when they play....The willingness to folks to drive from Richmond, or Maryland, or PA for a Monday game shows just how rabid and loyal they are. These people (blog's editor included) will not go to another Skins game this year, and certainly will not be cheering for the Redskins. Except for Clinton Portis and anyone else who might be on a fantasy team.

Responding to Ted; what it means to be a fan

Ted Leonsis mused in his latest blog:

Whenever I am in the building and see a fan wearing another team's jersey, I always ask "Where do you live?" It amazes me how many fans of competitive teams live in our area and don’t come to games except when we play that specific team. Probably that is what I dislike, that people don’t come for the love of the game. They just come to one, two or four games per year to cheer against us and for their team. This article is well done and addresses the issue. It has a strong point of view. What do you think?

This is a complex issue because we as a team have lots of long distance fans as well. And I would expect when my children fly the coop, they will take their passion for the Caps with them as my son has on the campus at UPenn in Philadelphia. I see both sides of the issue. I have empathy but don’t hate on me because I want everyone to be a Caps fan that lives in the area. I am an evangelist for Caps hockey. It is who I am now.

The editor of this blog is Leonsis' perfect case study: I live and work in Arlington, Virginia (right across the river from DC, if you didn't know). My house is within walking distance of the Caps practice facility. I am not a Capitals fan.

Leonsis mentioned that he's switched allegiances three times in his lifetime (first a Rangers fan, then his beloved Bruins and then finally the Caps). May we refer him to the Will Leitch school of thought:

"...essentially I argue that when you are a sports fan, you are a fan of a team year round, no matter whether they're playing or not. When, exactly, am I supposed to suddenly switch my loyalty, and start caring about THESE guys rather than THESE guys?

...There's a certain lack of logic about being a sports fan, and bringing that kind of emotional, civic betrayal to the situation just betrays that. I stuck with the Arizona Cardinals because I started cheering for them and couldn't suddenly pretend I liked another team more just because they moved closer to me. I can't exactly talk: *I* don't exactly live in St. Louis anymore either. [ed. Note: Leitch is a HUGE Stl Cardinals fan]

Personally, I've never lived in Pittsburgh. My parents did and much of my extended family lives there, so I've visited often. My parents encouraged me to choose my own sports affiliations. However give a kid access to Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and the bunch and it's easy to see why I'm a Penguins fan.

What Leonsis doesn't seem to grasp is: why isn't someone like me, an inhabitant of Caps land, still hanging on to my original team and not switching allegiances to my new hometown team like he did several times.

The simple answer would be loyalty. Not at all to say Ted isn't a loyal guy or anything, but I couldn't imagine myself being anything but a Penguins fan until the day I die. Perhaps a good analogy might even be marriage; I don't think a good husband would leave their wife just because they've gone away on a business trip or have to deal with a distance issue. For me, and many other fans, who you cheer for is very much ingrained on you. And once the choice is made, there's no turning back, no switching horses in the middle of the stream.


But luckily I'm not the type of fan Leonsis doesn't like; I do support the Caps, I've got nothing against them. I've been to at least 10 games this season, more than just when they play Pittsburgh. I've gone out to functions to meet players like Mike Green and Brooks Laich and found them to be pretty cool. But there's nothing that can be done to ever convert me over. While I do love the game, the main reason I love the game is watching my team play.

So what canTed do for his problem? Not too much, I'm afraid. With so many transplants to the area that there will be a heavy contingent for the opposition for a long time. But kids in this area, where organized hockey is continuing to grow, will no doubt be looking up to Alex Ovechkin as I did Lemieux. That's where you hook fans, that's how you get them for life. The Caps are fortunate to have a sensational player, it will take time but he'll keep on reeling in supporters.

The Capitals Had Their Players Cold Call..

You know, it's hard being a season ticket holder in the NHL. You're shelling out thousands of dollars (that are propping up the whole league), you're sacrificing countless hours of your time going to and from and attending games, and it's still $7+ a beer.

So I could easily understand why you might be on the fence about not wanting to re-up; especially when your team is the Washington Capitals and you've won one playoff series in the past nine years, you might not be interesting in the commitments to shell out the big $$.

So Sweaty Ted busts out the big guns, his players. Especially hilarious is this recap from a fellow who got a voicemail (because he didn't pick up a repeated call from the Caps) from Native Son Milan Jurcina:

Through a heavy accent, and in an eerily robotic voice, Jurcina addressed me personally, pleaded with me to help him, uh…do something (bring up attendance at the Verizon Center?), and asked that I give my account representative a call.(Of course, he gave me the wrong representative’s name, but I’m not going to
hold that against the big guy.)

He then thanked me for my support and expressed his extreme enthusiasm for the upcoming season with a monotone “Go Caaahhhps.”

Mike Vogel, a MSM writer for the Caps said they got this idea from The Penguins recent efforts of having players deliver a couple of season tickets as a thank you to those that bought season tickets.

Having players do cold calling and basically beg folks to re-up their tickets is a little different than Sidney Crosby or Maxime Talbot showing up on your door with your tickets.

As always, Capitals fans and organization, the devil is in the details.

The cool thing about owning your own hockey team..

There's some people that it's impossible not to like. Chad Johnson may be one, but I think Ted Leonsis, the patron saint of this blog certainly is another. Below is one of Leonsis' latest blogs:

Fun
I am at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex. There are more than 30 players on the ice including our three newcomer free agents, Alex Ovechkin and Alex Semin. The goalies took the day off. Hence, Chris Clark is leading drills and he has all of the players that are right-handed playing left-handed and visa versa. He has them skating hard.

Kozlov is a very big man as is Tom Poti. Both seemed very impressed with our facility. Michael Nylander can dangle left-handed. It is very impressive to see.

There is only one person in the stands right now and he is having a great time.

Just a very rich man and his professional hockey team; straight chillin on a Wednesday afternoon. Must be nice.