Unfortunately I don't live in the DC area so my only hope to watch the Wizards this year is NBA League Pass. The prob lem is that it appears the Wizards are rarely covered on League Pass after January. Does anyone know if this is in fact the case or if maybe the League Pass schedule after January just hasn't been announced? It kind of seems like a waste of money to pay for the season but only get January.

via scrapetv.com

I admit, I'm not the biggest fan of the Wizards' name.  But I also understand the organization has invested quite a bit in it and we as fans have gotten pretty much used to it - and that does have value.  I also understand that Ted Leonsis would probably feel some weight on his conscience if he were to change the name back to the Bullets (some will say he is disrespecting Abe, others will say Abe's original decision to change from the Bullets was the right one, given the history of violence in DC).  It is also a reality that much of the DC area population reacted with disgust at Gilbert and Crit's locker room gun episode, the team's handling of it, the jail time, etc and that makes a switch back to the Bullets more difficult.  Even if the name were changed to something other than Bullets, half of us would like it, half of us would hate it, and it would be expensive for the team to change anyway - if it costs $10M to change the name to something that half of us like better than Wizards, should we do it?  OR should we buy Atlanta's first round pick instead, which I'm pretty sure all of us would like???  

So Ted and us might be stuck with Wizards.  And if we're stuck with it, we mind as well like it.  But in order to like it, some changes must be made.  Here are my three suggestion.  What do you think?

1.  Win.  Nothing helps a brand name like winning.  The Spurs used to have a dinky name.  So did the Mavs and the Nuggets, heck, so did the Bulls - they may be the best example.  But winning changed that and now they are considered good names.  Same thing in other sports...Saints, Chargers, Kings, etc.  Even the Vikings' colors of Purple and Yellow seem cooler ever since they got Randy Moss and now Peterson and Farve.  

2.  Colors.  No amount of winning is going to make teal cooler than Red, White, and Blue.  So let's just change that right now.  You can write Wizards across the old Red and White Bullet's jerseys and it would be a HUGE improvement over what we have now.  

3.  Logo.  What is that piece of modern art?  It's got to go.  And what if we replaced it with a Captain America style Wizard.  If anyone on this site can draw comic book style, it would be awesome to see what you come up with.  

If the organization made these changes, I think we could all live with the Wizards name - and maybe even grow to like it. What do you think?

I live in Brooklyn, so before this season began, I begged a good friend of mine who works for the owner of the Nets to get tickets to the Wizards-Nets game tomorrow night (Friday, January 29th 2010).  A couple days later I followed up with her and upon hearing a lack of urgency in her voice about locking in some great seats "Chill, it's the Wizards-Nets, I don't think getting tickets will be a problem." I explained to her, as calmly as possible, that the the Wizards were going to be the turnaround story of the year in the NBA and that if she didn't get the tickets right away, the good seats would be gone.  

I reasoned that the Wizards are in Win Now mode.  They'd hired an elite NBA coach with a great system and a penchant for defense.  They'd get their elite player, Gilbert Arenas, back from injury, who also happens to be a crowd pleaser - which will make the tickets even harder to get.  Add in returning Brendan Haywood, two proven veterans in Mike Miller and Randy Foye, the improvement of Nick Young, Andre Blatche, and Javale McGee over the summer -- And once he saw this team play together for a month or so, it's likely that Ernie Grunfield would make a trade for the "final piece".  In sum, by the time January 29th rolls around, the Washington Wizards would be one of the hotter tickets to come to town, and I didn't want some other employee scamming my Wiz tix.  

It's now January 28th, 2010.  And I'm clearly a genius.

Wizards 14-30

Nets 4-40

I know, it hurts to think back on the optimism of the offseason, but I have a serious question for everyone.  A question that I will be asking myself as I sit courtside on Friday night.  I grew up in the DC area and, like many people on this site, I believe in rooting for the home team and have rooted for the Bullets/Wizards and their players since I was a kid. I still have my Bullets cap which I wear proudly no matter how low the team sinks.  BUT, as I stated above, I live in Brooklyn now.  I still believe in rooting for the home team, but I've never really gotten into the Knicks or the Nets.  Let's face it, It's hard to change your loyalties and I love the Wizards.

The Question:

It is very likely that the Nets are moving to Brooklyn and I wonder if this will pose a serious threat to the Wizards being first in my heart (although I don't think I could ever root for LeBaby if he ends up here too).  This is like an NBA team moving into your neighborhood - be it Rockville, Fairfax, Alexandria, etc.  How could you not get into that?  My question is, would you consider changing your loyalty to the Wizards if another NBA franchise moved to your neighborhood?  

Extra Credit:

My seats are close enough to the court that anything I shout out will be heard by the players and coaches.  What are you suggestions for any "encouragement" or "advice" you'd like me to relay to the team?

I'm interested to see everyone's responses.