On Tuesday afternoon, Washington Wizards team president Ernie Grunfeld fired Flip Saunders, the only coach he’s officially hired during his eight-plus seasons in D.C., after a 2-15 start to this season and a 51-130 cumulative record over Saunders’ tenure with the team. (This post originally misstated Saunders' record.) “We felt the team had become unresponsive,” [...]
Ted Leonsis, the owner of the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals, is one of those members of the District elite who transcends politics.
Which isn't to say that Leonsis, a tech mogul turned sports tycoon, doesn't have the skills to make it in his city's main game. Last night, I watched the owner of the 1-12 [...]
Divorce Equality: When the District passed a law allowing same-sex marriages a few years ago, it was cause for great rejoicing. Some of the marriages, though, don't appear to have kept the joy going. So now the D.C. Council is looking into easing divorces for same-sex marriages where neither partner lives in a jurisdiction where [...]
#OccupyDC: Considering how much help the rich folks on Wall Street have from the government based here, it's no wonder a protest modeled on Occupy Wall Street has now arrived in the District. Now a protest in Freedom Plaza, which was supposed to end today according to a National Park Service permit, will continue past [...]
This is Not a Test: District residents who are so inclined can sign up for emails or text messages about emergency alerts. (Yes, sometimes the system announces things like the mayor's State of the District address.) Soon enough, though, the alerts will come automatically, unless you opt out; D.C. and New York are the first [...]
This much is certain: The Wizards' days of losing in teal are over!
The team unveiled its new color scheme today. City Desk's own Kyle Weidie went to the ceremony and wrote it up. TBD and The Great Dan Steinberg, the H.L. Mencken of the increasingly vital "Who Are You Wearing?" school of sports reporting, have [...]
The Washington Wizard isn’t gone—he’s just officially buried in a sea of red, white, and blue, likely never to be heard from again.
Ted Leonsis’ ownership group finally unveiled the much-anticipated new look for the city’s basketball team today, with dim lighting, pop music, balloons, and customized cupcakes giving the Verizon Center's practice court a feel [...]
My favorite moment of the ongoing rendition of March Madness came after the buzzer to end Sunday's Kentucky/North Carolina game.
CBS's cameras were pointed at the handshake lines on the sideline. There, among the victorious Wildcats, I caught a glimpse of The Greatest/Worstest Washington Bullet/Wizard of All Time: Rod Strickland!
He's a survivor. Last April, Strickland got [...]
When Ted Leonsis took over the Washington Wizards last year, he promised fans he’d change the team’s teal-and-gold color scheme back to the red, white, and blue of the Bullets era. Early this month, a glimpse of a red, white, and blue version of the current Wizards logo hit Twitter, and was promptly panned by [...]
So presto-chango, the Washington Wizards are transforming again?
It's been 14 years since our NBA team changed from "The Washington Bullets" to the "The Washington Wizards," and now a new logo with the old red-white-and-blue color scheme is on its way. Washington Post beat reporter Michael Lee alerted readers to what may have been a leaked [...]
You'd have to go back to Aerosmith's "[On the] Rocks" tour in '76 to find a more underperforming-yet-intriguing road show than this year's Washington Wizards.
Groupon's favorite NBA squad lost another two road games over the weekend. They delivered a rare double-OT, double-digit defeat Friday to the Oklahoma City Thunder (still sounds more like a Roller [...]
Today, alongside halfsies offers for "three LipoLaser treatments" at Help for Health in Springfield and a "scrub" at Alexandria's Frizzles Salon and Spa, Groupon is offering fire-sale prices on Washington Wizards tickets.
From the Groupon pitch:
Choose from the following seating options:
* $150 for One Box VIP Ticket (a $225 value, including all you can eat and [...]
Rest easy people: It's alive!
The Wizards fell to the Knicks last night at Madison Square Garden. So I can still claim to have as many welterweight title belts, Nobel Peace Prizes and winning Powerball tickets as the 2010-11 Wizards do road wins.
That's the team's 21st straight road loss this season. Every single away game [...]
The Wizards lost again last night in Minneapolis. That makes 'em 0-19 as visitors this season.
No other NBA team has lost every road game this year.
There's no reason to pay attention to the Wizards from here on out as compelling as their road losing streak.
If this continues for much longer, it'll be like DiMaggio (circa [...]
The Washington Post has announced it's hosting a roundtable of area sports owners next week.
The gathering, titled “Scoring Big: The Business of Sports,” is headlined by Dan Snyder and Ted Leonsis, but the supporting cast will include Robert Tanenbaum and Marla Lerner Tanenbaum of the Nationals and D.C. United's Will Chang.
For now, this crowd should [...]
