Off Wing Opinion

The Washington Capitals' season of frustration took an ugly turn on Sunday night:

Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis was involved in a physical altercation with a season ticket holder at MCI Center on Sunday night after being taunted and jeered by fans during the team's loss to Philadelphia, the Capitals' first home game since Leonsis traded all-star winger Jaromir Jagr to the New York Rangers.

The fan, Jason Hammer, 20, a resident of the District, said Leonsis grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground after he had led a mocking chant of Leonsis during the game and hoisted a sign chiding him. Some witnesses explained the confrontation differently, offering varying accounts of the severity of the clash.

To say this incident is out of character would be an understatement. Since Leonsis purchased the Caps from Abe Pollin before the 1999-2000 season, he's been known as a passionate advocate of the team's fans, never hesitating to engage them either in person or through his AOl email address --

Hammer sits across the ice from Leonsis's box at MCI Center and Sunday night carried a sign to the arena saying, "Caps Hockey; AOL Stock -- See a Pattern?" to the game. Leonsis is vice chairman of America Online, whose stock value has dropped precipitously since Leonsis bought the Capitals in 1999.

Hammer was also among those in his section chanting at Leonsis through the game, cheering, "Thank you, Ted, Thank you, Ted, You Suck," to voice their displeasure over the Jagr trade.

"I will admit we were jeering him," Hammer said in a telephone interview. "But it wasn't just me, I'll put it to you like that."

Jason Hammer, real man of genius.

Both sides are saying all the right things this morning, as Leonsis called Hammer by phone to apologize and has invited him to watch a future game in the owner's box.

POSTSCRIPT: For the hardcore fan reaction, follow the story over at the team's message board.

UPDATE: Looks like the Caps fans have been discussing this for a couple of days now. More than a few fans are saying that Leonsis needs to step back, curtail his interaction with the fans, and take a lower profile with the organization.

I hope that doesn't happen. All the things Leonsis said about the Internet revolutionizing the way teams communicate with their fans are absolutely true. And at a time when athletes like Curt Schilling are using the Web to bypass traditional media, you can't expect to be able to turn back the clock.

Certainly, when you're the owner of a team caught in a downward spiral, the heat is going to be at maximum. As for me, I think Leonsis is going to find a way to turn things around. It may take a few seasons, and perhaps a new general manager and brand new set of talent evaluators, but it can happen.

OT UPDATE: Again, courtesy of the Caps message board, comes some proposed new nicknames for Leonsis. If they aren't funny enough, try this list of signs some fans think should be posted at the next game.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 27th, 2004 at 8:17 am by Eric McErlain and is filed under Hockey. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.