Will Pollin's Pep Talk Help the Wizards?

Wizards owner Abe Pollin, 84 years old and suffering from a debilitating disease, offered his team some motivation yesterday in preparation for Game 5.

Only the Wizards know for sure what Pollin said, but let's just assume it was something a bit more inspiring than this:

YLordY: COME ON, YOU NO-ACCOUNT, OVER-PAID, UNDER-ACHIEVING INDIVIDUALISTS! WAKE UP AND WIN FOR MR. POLLIN!!!!!

Will the pep talk help? We'll have to wait and see, but here's what readers are thinking:

ddraper81: Thanks you Mr. Pollin for all that you have done for Washington DC. I wish you and your family well. Yet, with all due respect. I doubt these guys have the physical, spiritual, and mental fortitude to grant your request.

cmalik: If Abe has to make this speech to put the Wizards over the edge and get a win in Cleveland, what does this say about the character and professionalism of the team? I have a simpler solution...bench Arenas.

Really? Still? I thought we were done with the "Gilbert Arenas isn't good at basketball anymore" phase.

cbmuzik: Man, it makes you really wonder what motivates out Wizmen to get out there and play hard every night...albiet Gilbert and Caron are both slowed by injuries or this series would have WAY been over...but let's hope this is a good motivational factor in there taking one from Cleveland and helping us regain momentum in this series.

Man, this is getting depressing. Thank goodness for Kathy:

kathywargo: Mike, I would like to thank you for this beautiful column about Mr Pollin. He demonstrates on a daily basis what one person can do when he is passionate about something. I am sure he and I will look forward to seeing the Wiz play on Friday Nite. Thank you for putting things in perspective. - Kathy (section 106 Row B)

Somebody should go find Kathy on Friday (maybe) and give her a high five.

jeff19: We just need to ride this day out and hope for the best. Really, I think these guys could have won tonight without Mr. Pollin's appeal, they do have it in them, but the extra inspiration from their classy owner can't hurt. Go Wiz.

impeachemall: DC has both the most, and the least classy of sports franchise owners. I'll give you one guess as to who is the latter.

Finally, another franchise owner (who I think it's safe to assume is not "the latter" impeach refers to) puts in his two cents.

But now that we're on the topic of team owners, what do you think?

Who is the classiest sports franchise owner in Washington?

By Lindsay Applebaum | April 30, 2008; 2:54 PM ET | Category: Wizards
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You know what would help the Wizards

YOU QUITTING YOUR JOB!!!

Posted by: Jonnny | April 30, 2008 3:28 PM

This blog needs to go. How about another Capitals blog instead? The Caps did amazing things this year, let's celebrate their newfound fandom. Crowd Noise is completely pointless, aimless junk. There is no need for this and it's painful to read. To those who say that if you don't like something, you should keep your mouth shut, you're probably the same people who still enjoy The Family Circus. If you think a blog should go, let The Post know!

Posted by: | April 30, 2008 3:58 PM

I'm glad Polin cares so much, and I think the guys will be happy to hear from him, but truthfully, they've played very inspired basketball.

They've been scrappy, fighting hard and diving for loose balls.

Hopefully, this will give them an extra push.

I think Kathy needs to take it easy though:
"He demonstrates on a daily basis what one person can do when he is passionate about something."

He hasn't done anything yet!

And for the "Bench Arenas" folks out there: SHUT UP! After the way your lord and savior Caron played last game, there is enough blame to go around to pretty much everyone but Haywood.

LEZ BOULEZ ALL THE WAY!

Posted by: Agent 0 | April 30, 2008 4:16 PM

Good topic Lindsay.

Abe has to be regarded as the classiest owner in DC but it's not too tough a field is it? He stands out for his commitment to the community and exceptional generosity to local charities. I wish him the best. Now the Lerner's do have potential but it's way too early to tell. Leonsis once attacked a fan in the stands, didn't he? I guess that rules him out. Snyder couldn't possibly be called classy given the way he runs his business and his pretty consistent disregard for his teams's customers / fans.

Posted by: Papa Smurf | April 30, 2008 4:25 PM

'Twould be reverentially cool if they took to the court in game[s] 4[, 5, and 6] in Bullets unis*...

(* "unis" referring to uniforms, not unitards, just to be clear)

Posted by: | April 30, 2008 5:15 PM

Where are the Lerners in your poll? or would you rather put Mr. Angelos there?

Posted by: SF Fan | April 30, 2008 9:24 PM

I think it's a little to early to judge the lerners as sports owners. They've obviously been a very prominent family in this city for a long time, but it's not fair to put them in the poll.

Posted by: CB3 | April 30, 2008 9:41 PM

Abe Pollin is one of the best people owning a professional sports team in America. However, he's one of the worst owners of a professional sports team in America. Great person, enormous asset to the community, deserves all the respect in the world for having built not one but two state-of-the-art arenas with his own money. But he's a lousy owner in terms of being competitive on the court. The team has been mired in mediocrity or worse since the mid 1970s. Since then he's been an owner everybody likes, and one everybody would like to see win again, but he just hasn't fielded any teams remotely capable of anything more than just barely making the playoffs.

Posted by: BigAl | May 2, 2008 7:29 AM

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Will Pollin's Pep Talk Help the Wizards?

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