Leonsis brings sanity and a plan to the Wizards
By: Turner Sports Desk
Jim Turner
Turnersportsdesk.com
June 10, 2010
Washington Capitals Majority Owner, Ted Leonsis officially
took control of the Washington Wizards and the Verizon Center formerly owned by
Abe Pollin. One of the first items on the agenda of Leonsis was to speak to the
status of Gilbert Arenas. Leonsis confirms that Arenas will return and will be
a vital part of the teams restructuring efforts. Leonsis added that he’s been
in constant contact with Arenas and that the two will spend more time together
later.
Leonsis is a breath of fresh air in terms of a sports team
owner. He is totally accessible by email or in person, he is transparent and
most importantly he has earned the trust of Washington area sports fans. He is
the perfect owner for a Wizards team that frankly can’t get much worse. Leonsis
took a Washington Caps franchise that barely registered a pulse to one of the
best franchises in the NHL. Leonsis lost a ton of money in the lean years and
has just now started to turn a profit on the Caps. What Caps fans love about
Leonsis is the fact that when he goofed up by going on a Dan Snyder like free
agent spree (Jagr etc.) He was honest enough to admit his mistake and provide a
plan for fixing it.
The Wizards started the roster purge prior to Leonsis taking
over so now Leonsis will direct Wizard General Manager Ernie Grunfeld to build
a young, entertaining team that can grow into prominence much like the
Capitals. The years of mismanagement and just plain bad decision making have
taken a heavy toll on Wizards nation. Leonsis represents hope where none
existed before and Wizards fans now have a very good reason to trust the man at
the top. If Leonsis can do for the Wizards what he did for the Caps then happy
days are coming if we can have a little patience.
How thoughtful is Leonsis? Even though everything has been non-stop Wizards of late he wrote an open letter to Caps fans just to restate his commitment to bring a Stanley Cup to Washington.