A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet the owner of the Washington Capitals, Ted Leonsis, and watch a game in the owner's box. It was a really thrilling experience and despite the loss it was a great evening. One of the things I regretted, though, was that I never really got a chance to speak with Ted as I had planned to do, being too in awe of the whole scene to actually talk in full sentences.
Because our entire interaction had consisted of a brief hello and then a brief goodbye, Ted was nice enough to sit down with me for a phone interview earlier this week to talk about all the things I had wanted to discuss. He has some very interesting views on the future of blogging as it relates to the hockey world, the logistics of free agency signings, and what the Capitals need to do to become a competitive team.
On blogging and the Capitals:
"I believe that traditional media, especially newspapers are in peril right now. Their circulation is decreasing, their advertising revenue is shrinking, and as a result they’re losing talent. They’re laying off people all over the place and they’re being forced to cut back on their coverage. We want and need and thrive on coverage - good and bad. I don’t care if a blogger writes badly about us, I just want them to write. We need the coverage."
On the upcoming draft:
"I would expect this is going to be a really hard-working draft. We have a lot of picks, there might be some trades happening around that time – we’re in the top 5, we didn’t win but being in the top 5 we should be able to get a very good player. We don’t know where else we’ll be picking with Buffalo’s spot. We’ve got 5 picks in the first and second rounds so I’m expecting George will be busy."
1 comment:
Awesome, just awesome. That was a great read, though I'm hurt to think that he believes in Ottawa winning too - but that's just me being bitter.
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