Pollin and Massenburg: Two for the Ages

By George Solomon
Sunday, October 7, 2007

Abe Pollin, the owner of the Washington Wizards, and Tony Massenburg, the team's recently signed free agent forward, have a common bond: longevity.

Pollin, 83, begins his 43rd season as the owner of Washington's NBA franchise, by far the most senior owner in the league.

Massenburg, 40, is trying to win a job with the Wizards, which would be his NBA-record 13th team in 14 seasons, plus two seasons in Europe. If he makes the team, he would be the second-oldest player in the league behind Houston's Dikembe Mutombo (41). Massenburg missed the last two seasons, he said, recovering from an ankle injury incurred in a car accident.

"I'm healthy again, and just to be invited to try out for the Wizards is an accomplishment," the 6-foot-9 Massenburg said. "I am not your average 40-year-old man."

Massenburg joined the NBA in 1990 with San Antonio after a college career at Maryland during which he played for coaches Lefty Driesell, Bob Wade and Gary Williams.

"Who else can say that"? asked Massenburg, whose degree in human ecology might have prompted this thought from him: "You take care of your body because your body is your business."

Pollin's stewardship of the franchise includes moving it from Chicago to Baltimore in 1964 before settling the team in his Washington area home town in 1973.

A year later, he put an NHL expansion team on the ice that he sold to Ted Leonsis in 1999. He also built arenas in Landover and D.C with private funds. The con struction of 10-year-old Verizon Center was the catalyst for the downtown resurgence, perhaps Pollin's crowning achievement.

"The league has changed in so many ways over the years," he said in a telephone interview Friday.

"It's so big, important and worldwide. In 1968, when we drafted Wes Unseld out of Louisville, we needed a subsidy from the league to pay him $100,000 to keep him from the American Basketball Association."

Pollin's payroll today is at the league ceiling -- about $67.86 million -- with all-stars Gilbert Arenas (nearly $12 million a year) and Antawn Jamison ($16.36 million) counting on raises when their current deals expire at the end of the season.

"I'm proud of our players," said Pollin, who continues to battle health problems. "Not only are they good athletes, but I think they're good guys. If we don't have any injuries, we're going to go far in the playoffs this year."

Rumblings Under the Ice

Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld isn't the only personnel boss in town facing the challenge of re-signing star players. Capitals GM George McPhee has the task of keeping Alex Ovechkin in town and happy while out-of-town news reports regularly speculate about Ovechkin's future.

While the Capitals can match any offer to the 21-year-old Ovechkin until he turns 27, the superstar forward will be enticed with at least as much as the $8.7 million annual salary Pittsburgh has committed to its phenom, Sidney Crosby. Ovechkin earned about $3.85 million last year, more than two-thirds from incentives.

"When the time comes, we'll do the right thing by Alex," McPhee said.

Meantime, Leonsis has set the bar high for the team, McPhee and Coach Glen Hanlon.

"It's our year to dream," Leonsis said. "The expectation is for us to be a good team. The rebuilding is over."

Clear enough.

Cue the Tinkling Pianos

The bye week that followed the Redskins' loss to the New York Giants resulted in so much hand-wringing, I expected Ken Burns to show up at Redskins Park to document: Clinton Portis running, Santana Moss kvetching, Brandon Lloyd rapping, Joe Gibbs and Bubba Tyer doing their "Grey's Anatomy" thing and Joe Bugel's agony. Thankfully for Redskins fans, Detroit, 0 for 20 in these parts, is at FedEx today.

I joined Maryland journalism students in taking in The Post's third-ranked DeMatha Stags' 38-6 victory over No. 8 St. John's last Saturday. DeMatha began the season ranked No. 3 nationally before its season opener, a 28-7 loss to No. 1 St. Xavier of Cincinnati in a game televised by ESPN. Was the national hoopla too much?

"It's nice to be on television and the national stage, but we're talking about high school kids," DeMatha Coach Bill McGregor said. "We have to be careful about overemphasizing all this. But you play a team like St. Xavier, in that atmosphere, it sets the tone for the season."

Big-time high school sports sells, so the trend likely will continue. But the setting at St. John's Fernandez Stadium in Northwest D.C. last Saturday -- about 2,500 fans in the stands and on grassy slopes, two enthusiastic teams -- seems good enough for anyone interested in, or playing, high school football.

"Friday Night Lights" Update I: Guess who replaced Eric Taylor as head coach of the Dillon Panthers? Bill McGregor, that's who. A fictional tough guy from Tennessee who has DeMatha's McGregor saying, "I don't know how this happened."

R.I.P.

In the past week, the Orlando Sentinel and Gainesville Sun reported the practice of football fans of the University of Florida -- my alma mater -- being permitted by UF officials to spread the ashes of a dead relative in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (i.e., "The Swamp"). The Sun quoted Natalie Gonzalez, coordinator of operations and facilities at UF, saying, "They can go to Row 1 and kind of sprinkle" the ashes without actually going on the field.

Florida grad Bill Barnett made his wishes known to his family, telling the Sun: "This way I know that six or seven times a year, my family and friends will say: 'Hey, Bill. How are you?' "

While sports tributes are not unique, I wondered which area venue would be the preferred final resting place for the most passionate of our fans:

RFK Stadium: Favored haunt of many fans of Redskins, Nats, Senators and, of course, D.C. United. Staff may agree to rock movable stands on request.

FedEx Field: Grieving loved ones would have trouble getting there, but tipsy tailgaters will provide lively, if obscenity-filled, sendoff. Of course, club members and suite holders get free burgundy-and-gold urns.

Verizon Center: Please don't ask how many perpetuity programs/options former marketing whiz Susan O'Malley would have concocted. (All-Star Tablet, a resting place under the boards, in the ice?)

Laurel Park: Anything goes at the track. Just pick a spot, until the slots arrive.

Nationals Park:"Pledge your allegiance" for opening-season specials. Naming rights available, as well.

Send your final resting place of choice to me at talkback@washpost.com.