What do the Wiz mean to you? Why are you here?

[MJG]

I'm a fan of the Wizards because I love basketball (my earliest concrete memories involve playing with a toy hoop around four years of age) and the last 85% of my life has been spent in the DC area. Really, it's that simple.

The first forum I posted at was BasketballBoards, probably around mid-2003. I wasn't looking for it really, but found it when searching for a rumor, or something like that. I posted there like mad for awhile, actually was one of the two or three highest in that regard, something like 50 posts per day. The Wizards forum was pretty small, maybe a half dozen regular posters, but the general NBA discussion was rampant, and that was enough for me at the time. I became the moderator of the Wizards board after a few months, then a community mod a bit after that. It was certainly a fun time.

Sometime during summer of 2004, I started having less interest in the NBA as a whole, but more interest in the Wizards. My overall posts per day were down, but the posts per day in the Wizards forum were up. I tried to liven the place up, but not to much avail. I decided to look into other forums, which is what brought me here. I signed up with the intent of doing both at once, but I realized that would be kind of a drain, so I put RealGM on the back burner for a bit.

By early 2005, I had had enough, and decided to make the switch to the more active forum here. I finished out the season (I did the game threads, PotG threads, and so on, so I didn't want to leave them cold), then joined in actively here. It was actually kind of a relief; because this place is so much more lively, I could pick and choose my spots to participate, rather than trying to lead all of the discussion. I probably average 2-2.5 posts per day here, versus the 15-20 that I was doing when I left BBB. I only need to kick in a few of my own smaller posts each day to satiate my appetite for active participation. Sure, I'll occasionally go a bit more in-depth, sometimes do some research and include it to back my point, but for the most part, the other members here have a wide enough range of opinions and the ability to get them across in an interesting and intelligent manner that I don't feel any strong need to duplicate their work.

[Zerocious]

The wizards keep my motor running. even though i don't really wear any of the uni's or shirts i have, or even dare to bring up their name in conversation, there aren't many days when i don't either get on here or check the wires for some wizards news. i don't usually have a lot of in depth opinions or insights to share but i am thoroughly intrigued by what wizards love is on display here.

i got into watching the wizards through Juan and Steve after the won the championship and went on to play for the wizards.

i live in north Baltimore (county) so i dont get to go to games as often as i would like, but i guess i have gone to maybe a dozen games in the last 2-3 years.

i have worked in and around Washington for years and love the city. if i had to move anywhere i would move to DC. i dont know exactly what it is, but whenever i am in DC, no matter how bad the traffic is, i feel calm and at home.

my wife does not get me and my wizards obsession at all. to her it is all about the wins (which is what it is all about in some respect) but i would watch the zards even if they lost every game by 20. (as the did much of the time this past year.)

i cant wait for the draft, not even so much as from an improvement stand-point, but more from a news stand-point. any news concerning the wizards is good news. that said, for as long as i have been a fan the wizards have not done a single thing that has excited me much, so i dont have high hopes for much of anything. the draft position is the suck, but it does provide much speculation which in turn provides more news, yay for me.

i do really hope to get together with some of you guys, either for a game, or shooting some hoops or whatever. i know nobody, NOBODY who even cares about basketball let alone the wizards. i have, because of that, diverted some of my attention to the sport of organized ass-kicking. and the ravens will probably get some more tv time from me this coming season than they got in the past.

but, in the end, i live and die by the wizards. sadly i dont even watch much basketball outside of the wizards either. i maybe watched 6 play-off games this season. if i could hibernate until mid october i would. instead i'll probably run 3 mile laps on a daily basis until then, to compensate for the calories burned watching a wiz game....

[Severn Hoos]

Great topic, fish!

I first went to a Bullets game during the one season they were called the Capital Bullets. (1975?) For years, I had a pennant from that game on my wall, with the word "Capital" scratched out. (I was an idiot - I sure do wish I still had that pennant, and in its unmarred state!). I was transfixed with the Wes/Big E/Motta teams, and loved the Fat Lady Era. Was ecstatic with the one championship, and heartbroken when they lost in the Finals the next year.

Kept following them through the Ruland & Mahorn seasons, Thunder & Lightning, Moses & Jeff Malone, and even Dan Roundfield and Tom McMillan. Ironically, I really got hooked when they weren't very good - from Wes' 1st full season, when they were the scrappy underdogs with a long homecourt winning streak (Feb-Apr 1989, 15 games and almost 2 months without a loss. Can you imagine?) I loved rooting for Darrell Walker, and then Haywoode Workman - always the overlooked guys who came in and played better than expected. I guess that's when I started the "RealGM" mindset - who are the hidden gems that we can find that GMs missed?

In the years since, I've found myself eyeing other teams' rosters to find that marginal player that's poised for a breakout season, or watching college basketball less for the actual game itself than for who could be a rotation guy on an NBA roster. And the reason I post here is that I believe most of the other posters share that mindset, unlike the annoying fanboy types who followed Jordan (and came here for 2 years) or now LeBron.

I have had times when I was more passionate about other teams - the Gibbs 1.0 Skins, for example. That was just a fun team to root for, and the mid-80s Bullets just couldn't compare. Likewise, the '79-83 Orioles were a good team who did things The Right Way. But now both of those teams are run by meddling outsiders, and I find it hard to make myself care. The Caps are fun again - but will break your heart, like they always did against the Islanders, Penguins, etc. So for now, the Wiz are the top interest, with the occasional exception of UVA sports.

[pancakes, I understand where you're coming from. If we soil ourselves trying to beat the Hokies, then we have simply become them - at least we should keep our dignity if we're going to lose anyway. But I really enjoyed this year's baseball team, Lacrosse is always good, and I think Bennett won't tolerate any off-court nonsense. I have some high hopes for the Athletic Program, especially with a new President on the way...]

I don't post anywhere else about the Wiz or any other team. I just haven't found a board with the intelligence and depth that this one has. I tend to think that it has "slipped" somewhat of late - maybe it was the EJ Wars bringing everyone down. Or maybe I'm just a cantankerous old coot who pines (get it?!?!) for the "good old days." Still, I'm hopeful that a return to good basketball will bring a return to good posting, myself included. And when they finally do win that elusive title, we'll be the ones who can honestly say "We were there when..." That feeling is one that no bandwagoner will ever feel, and it's why we still care after all these years.

[doclinkin]

At a very young age, I lost basically all I had in life. Soon I fell into drug use and I was abusing psychedelic drugs and marijuana mostly for about a year and a half. Academically and socially, I was a total train wreck and I didn't have a family to provide me any sort of guidance. I was an eighth grader in middle school at the moment. I'm not going to get into the whole story of how I got out of drug abuse, but by the time I was a junior in high school I was completely drug and alcohol free. These years were the absolute worst. My train wreck of a childhood had only thing that I can carry with me to this day and that's sports.

I have no playful memories and no amazing stories to tell people, but I do have great sports memories. Honestly, sometimes I really feel like sports are the only reason I didn't end up dead. The Redskins, Wizards and Capitals have been the family I never had. Through my druggie years, through rehab and through withdrawal, sports were the only constant in my life and the only thing that kept me sane. Every great memory from my troublesome childhood are sports memory.

I don't remember when exactly I started posting here, but this is the board I frequent the most. I occasionally post on Extremeskins and the Capitals board but I enjoy this place more than any other online message board. I know over the past few seasons, I have generally been on the **** list of quite some people due to my extreme dislike for Eddie Jordan's coaching which came through in all of my posts for a good amount of time. Seriously, I look back and realize how awfully annoying I must have been. But I think I've toned down quite a lot (at least I think have lol). I've learned a lot from this board, mostly understanding and looking at everyone's point of view rather than being a self absorbed prick.

My sports heirarchy really is 1a Redskins, 1b Wizards, 1c Capitals. I am equally pessimistic about all three but I can't help but tune in and watch every game I can.

Hall of Fame thread. Miller please link this thread in your first post on the links thread.

G0A. Sorry if I was an ass to you. Looking forward to better days.

[miller31time]

Hall of Fame thread. Miller please link this thread in your first post on the links thread.

Good idea, doc. Done.

[Tyrone Messby]

D.C. native here, moved away at a young age, but then moved back up this way to Virginia during my teenage years. Moved away again to attend LSU, a school which I had wanted to attend since I was a young kid, thanks to family ties and just growing up watching their sports when I lived in the south.

Redskins and LSU football are the top 2 in my sports hierachy. 1a and 1b so to speak.
After that comes the Capitals, Wizards, LSU basketball/baseball, and then the Nationals.

2a and 2b so to speak for the Caps and Wizards. The Nationals are a distant 3rd. I post on a Redskins board, LSU board, Caps board, Wiz board (this one), and Nats board. I do it all. I follow Capitals and Wizards insider religiously, moreso than the Redskins, just because the Skins board I post on always seems to be on top of everything from the get go. The Wizards of years past have just really soured me on the team. Their whole arrogant demeanor of the past couple of years and then proceeding to get destroyed by the Cavs, along with the crippling injuries have just been alot to handle. I just really haven't enjoyed the make-up of the team lately. But, Flip Saunders brings new hope and hopefully we'll finally get some luck on our side. I guess watching the Capitals re-tool the entire franchise after such a depressing firesale and then watching it throughout the really lean years leading up to the past two seasons has really entrenched their position right below the Redskins and LSU. They did it the RIGHT way. The Wizards just seem to be in an endless merry go round of mediocrity. The Caps will always slightly edge the Wizards in terms of my fan support, but I consider myself a Wizard die-hard.

Now with all that being said, this is BY FAR the most knowledgeable sports board I've come across. I don't post as much here just because everything has already been said and written in such a professional manner. Kudos to all the regulars on this board, you guys are awesome and KNOW basketball.

[Zerocious]

Now with all that being said, this is BY FAR the most knowledgeable sports board I've come across. I don't post as much here just because everything has already been said and written in such a professional manner. Kudos to all the regulars on this board, you guys are awesome and KNOW basketball.

+1!

[Tyrone Messby]

I've actually found these past 3 seasons to be the toughest I've had rooting for the Wizards just because of everything that has gone wrong. I guess it has made me a stronger fan, seeing as how it can't realistically get any worse than it has been for the past 3 seasons. But damn, it has been tougher to watch than the really lean years after the Webber for Mitch Richmond trade. This team just had so much promise and to see perhaps the best window the Wiz had close shut due to injuries really hurt. But, we'll see. Anything can happen, and Flip coming to coach this team along with Arenas returning could help me forget these terrible past 3 years. I haven't been this excited for a Wizards season since the season following the loss to the Heat in the second round. LETS GEAUX WIZARDS!

[BYRDMAN RULZ]

Ok this might be blashemy but I am originally from NY and still a Knicks fan. But since I moved here as a little boy in 1976 I have adopted the Bullets/Wizards. (I remember Elvin Hayes, Wes Unseld, Kevin Grevey, Tommy Henderson, and Bobby D, Truck Robinson, Nick Weatherspoon, Joe Pace, etc). I often see Bobby D at the Capital Sports Complex working kids out. He is a very nice guy and very down to earth.

Sometimes it gets hard rooting for 2 teams but my feelings for the Wiz run as deep as any other native Washingtonian. It's funny hearing about trades between the Wiz and Knicks. Both teams have been linked to Curry from time to time and there are rumors that the Knicks may try and trade into the 5th spot to take Curry. Now I see that the Wiz may want Hughes and Jeffries back I am so confused. It's going to be very interesting to see how this draft plays out.

I would love for nothing more than to see the Wiz rise back to Championship prominence before Mr. Pollin steps down. I am not sure how long that window will be open, but this teams as currently constructed, in my humble opionion, is a playoff team that is probably no better that 5th seed. Depending on what they do in the off-season, they could possibly pass Atlanta as the 4th seed. I still see Cleveland, Orlando, and Boston as better teams than the Wiz. We will see how it plays out though.

[daSwami]

Why am I here? Simply put: I have always loved basketball and love watching the best athletes in the world compete at the highest levels, or whatever else is on tv, usually Fox News or the Wizards.

[Optms]

Wizards rank second with me.

Although, I follow them just as much as I do with the Lakers nowadays. But since Washington has one of the most busy off-seasons going and with Lakers having much easier decisions this off season- Wizards are the first team I consistency check on when logging in. I love both teams and root on their success. It's really hard to root against Washington when they play the Lakers come regular season though.

[Halcyon]

My parents came here to America right around 22 years ago, and I was born here. Growing up, neither of my parents were really sports people, but encouraged me to play sports like the other kids, like soccer. However, the first sport I really fell in love with was basketball. I started watching basketball in around 95-96, the first of the 2nd Jordan 3-peat, when the Bulls took down the Sonics. From then on, I was hooked. Since I live in the DC area, I naturally became a Bullets fan. My earliest and fondest memories of the Bullets were from the Chris Webber/Juwan Howard/Rod Strickland team that got beat by the Bulls. Then until the short MJ fiasco, I remember long, arduous nights of listening to the terrible sub 30 win teams of Courtney Alexander, Michael Smith, Mitch Richmond, Tracy Murray, etc.

(As a side note, I remember listening to sportstalk radio since my early days, and I specifically remember segments on our local station (Sportstalk 980 in those days) that featured a new website featuring a trade-checker for the NBA, called realgm. Never thought I'd be posting here years after that, but I digress.)

Then, the days of winning started, and my fandom grew. Right around that time (04-05) I signed up for a messageboard (gamefaqs), as I had become a huge sports fan and wanted to discuss it with fellow hardcore fans. I moved from messageboard to messageboard (mostly general boards like gamefaq, IGN, ExtremeSkins, etc), eventually ending up at the realgm boards, specifically the Wizards board.

In terms of fandom, I'd put the ranks as 1) Redskins, 2) Terps (basketball moreso than football) and 3) Wizards. Since the following for the Redskins is larger in the area, it has been easier to immerse myself in that Redskins culture. The Terps are the only team (so far anyway) in the area to have delivered a championship in my lifetime, so they will always have a special place in my heart. Now I'm a student there (one more semester to go!), so I'll be a Terp fan for life. And I go way back with the Wizards, so I'm thrilled when they have success.

Anyway, I'd like to say that this board has an amazing number of knowledgeable users. The ratio of good users to bad is much better than other boards I've been on. Check that, I'll quantify that to be 10 times better. I don't post much here, but I gladly lurk around throughout the year, because of the quality of the posters. And I hope that continues for years to come.

[daSwami]

dang, everyone's being all earnest and whatnot. I guess I should, too.

My connection to the Wizards/Bullets franchise is and forever will be my father, who passed away in 1994 when I was 22 years-old. My dad was a basketball junkie, loved the game like nothing else. He adopted the Bullets as his hometown team after moving to the DC area from Minneapolis in the late 60s (I guess maybe they were in baltimore at that time). Some of my best memories as a kid growing up were the nights when my dad would take me to a Bullets game (these were the Bullets of the early 80s - the Gene Shue years, teams with guys who looked old as dirt - gray-haired guys like Tom McMillian, and a whole bunch of guys with bald spots and/or widow's peaks - Dan Roundfield, Moses Malone, John Lucas, Gus Williams). Those teams were really boring, but they always managed to sneak into the playoffs and get beat in the first round by either the Celtics or the Sixers.

One of my dad's work buddies (at HUD) occasionally slid him some great tickets (I remember only that they weren't too far from where uber heckler Robin Ficker usually sat - that guy was a classic. In fact, one of the few bitternesses I hold toward Abe Pollin is how he alienated Ficker.) I've often thought about writing an extended essay on my Wizards' fandom, how and why it evolved and what it means to me today, but I'm sure that it would bore the crap out of ninety-nine percent of those who read it.

[doclinkin]

I've often thought about writing an extended essay on my Wizards' fandom, how and why it evolved and what it means to me today, but I'm sure that it would bore the crap out of ninety-nine percent of those who read it.

I say "Balls" to false modesty. You just want to be begged to write it. Write it already, dadgummit. Do it for the 1%.

[WIZKID]

I second that emotion

[fishercob]

I've often thought about writing an extended essay on my Wizards' fandom, how and why it evolved and what it means to me today, but I'm sure that it would bore the crap out of ninety-nine percent of those who read it.

I say "Balls" to false modesty. You just want to be begged to write it. Write it already, dadgummit. Do it for the 1%.

While I agree (write it, Swam) when are you going to stop commenting on others' and grace us with an essay of your own? You're one of the most compelling writers/thinkers/hearts here. Get to it, asswipe.

[Zerocious]

I've often thought about writing an extended essay on my Wizards' fandom, how and why it evolved and what it means to me today, but I'm sure that it would bore the crap out of ninety-nine percent of those who read it.

if not here, where then?

and i second the false modesty claim, stop fishing, get to it

[Donkey McDonkerton]

At a very young age, I lost basically all I had in life. Soon I fell into drug use and I was abusing psychedelic drugs and marijuana mostly for about a year and a half. Academically and socially, I was a total train wreck and I didn't have a family to provide me any sort of guidance. I was an eighth grader in middle school at the moment. I'm not going to get into the whole story of how I got out of drug abuse, but by the time I was a junior in high school I was completely drug and alcohol free. These years were the absolute worst. My train wreck of a childhood had only thing that I can carry with me to this day and that's sports.

I have no playful memories and no amazing stories to tell people, but I do have great sports memories. Honestly, sometimes I really feel like sports are the only reason I didn't end up dead. The Redskins, Wizards and Capitals have been the family I never had. Through my druggie years, through rehab and through withdrawal, sports were the only constant in my life and the only thing that kept me sane. Every great memory from my troublesome childhood are sports memory.

I don't remember when exactly I started posting here, but this is the board I frequent the most. I occasionally post on Extremeskins and the Capitals board but I enjoy this place more than any other online message board. I know over the past few seasons, I have generally been on the **** list of quite some people due to my extreme dislike for Eddie Jordan's coaching which came through in all of my posts for a good amount of time. Seriously, I look back and realize how awfully annoying I must have been. But I think I've toned down quite a lot (at least I think have lol). I've learned a lot from this board, mostly understanding and looking at everyone's point of view rather than being a self absorbed prick.

My sports heirarchy really is 1a Redskins, 1b Wizards, 1c Capitals. I am equally pessimistic about all three but I can't help but tune in and watch every game I can.

This is like one of those zero to hero commercials. I didnt read this before I posted about staying away from here because people were repeating the same fire ej crap....anyway, im glad to see you turned your life around.

[wermolwermol777]

The Wizards are one of two basketball teams that I consider myself a fan of. The other being my hometown team BC Kalev Cramo.

I began following the wizards a little less than 10 years ago. I think it was during the 2001 season (or the one before). The reason was rather random. I had been playing an NBA Live game for a while and it had become too easy, so at one point I decided to switch whatever team I was playing with for Washington since they had one of the very worst if not THE worst ranking in the game. I started playing the franchise or career or whatever the feature was called and it sort of stuck. I've always found it incredibly easy to root for the underdog.

So I quietly started following the real Wizards team as well. What started simply as checking the scores of games rather soon evolved into me staying up at nights madly refreshing my browser to get updates to the NBA.com box-scores. After a season or two of doing that I started looking for more and somehow ended up at the ESPN boards where a certain doclinkin introduced me to the wonderful world of streaming SportsTalk 980 live commentary over the internet. To this day I am so incredibly thankful for that.

The ESPN boards + Dave Johnson were an absolute blast. A new ecstatic post every time Steve Blake hit a three in a game where we were down by 20? But of course. I stayed up way more nights than I really should have. After a while though the chaos and pessimism of the ESPN boards somewhat drove me away.

At one point I found these forums. Browsed a bit and liked what I saw. Joined, created a new thread and rather instantly got taught a lesson that not every random thought deserves its own thread. Definitely a welcome change from the chaotic ESPN boards. That plus the fact that two of my favorite posters from ESPN boards - doc and barelyawake were also on RealGM never really made me want to go back. And I've been following ever since.

The RealGM wizards board is just an amazing place for an overseas fan such as myself, I could not hope to get as much in depth information about the team anywhere else. Other than my brother I don't know a single die hard Wizards fan anywhere close to where I live so being able to share the highs and lows of the team with other enthusiasts just adds so much to the experience. And thanks to the kindness of a certain poster here I was able to follow games live via NBA.com League Pass a couple of seasons ago when internet streams to games were A LOT more rare than they are today.

About two years ago I started following NFL and since I had been following the Wizards it seemed only natural that I'd give the Redskins a shot. It didn't take long for me to become genuinely excited about them and a little while longer until I found myself shaking with excitement on 3rd downs and cheering out at full lung capacity at the computer or TV screen when anything good happened.
So as a result I also follow the ES boards.

So as a result of a random I am now a die hard fan of two DC based sports franchises without ever stepping a foot in the city myself.

[barelyawake]

"What do the Wiz mean to you?"
Pain. Anguish.

"Why are you here?"
42? The flying spaghetti monster? Is this a roundabout way of asking someone to explain the birds and the bees to you?

I believe I've told my story here before. My youth was steeped in sports -- especially football, basketball and thrill sports (rock climbing, hang gliding, etc). I've told the story of the "adventure camp" I attended for many a year. And my high school years of playing tag on the cliffs of Great Falls. As far back as I can remember, I was a diehard Hoyas' fan. When John Thompson retired, I switched over to the Wiz fulltime to feed my addiction (whom before I was only a casual fan of). I've become disenthralled with every other sport for one reason or another. And I'm on the precipice of such a revelation with the NBA.

I'm on the Internet for seven major reasons:
A) I grew-up hating/avoiding the phone and fascinated by computers.
B) I am no fan of texting or Twitter.
C) I discovered the ESPN board as a result of a bad kayaking accident I had years ago.
D) I have an addictive personality.
E) My jobs tend to be isolating, so I chat with friends/girlfriends over the Internet.
F) Because of D, I tend to like doing several things at once -- including talking on the phone and writing unreadable, basketball posts while juggling.
G) I enjoy debating, which is more than likely a residual of having been in a great deal of fights as a kid (always on the righteous side v. bullies). I simply don't cotton to watching people get picked on or abused.