UPDATED: Abe Pollin, D.C. sports entrepreneur, dead at 85

Posted by Mike Henderson on Nov. 24, 2009 at 4:05 PM
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Abe Pollin, chairman and majority share owner of Washington Sports and Entertainment, owner of the Washington Wizards and the entrepreneur responsible for the construction of Capital Centre and Washington's Verizon Center, has passed away at the age of 85.

Appreciation:  You might have lots to say about rich players and owners, and you might have had issues at times with the way Pollin's teams were managed.  But today's a day to remember his Bullets teams that went to the NBA finals in 1971, 1975, 1978 (when they won it all) and 1979, and the 1997-98 Capitals who made it to the Stanley Cup finals (a feat that recent editions of the Caps have been trying mightily, and credibly, to repeat).

Also, next time you're taking a carefree stroll down F Street NW between Union Station and the White House after dark, ponder whether you would've been so carefree about it 20 years ago.  Abe Pollin is a lot of the reason why you can be today.

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Tags: Abe Pollin, obituaries, Washington Sports and Entertainment, Washington Wizards, Capital Centre, Verizon Center



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Mike Henderson is a medical informatics consultant based in Silver Spring, Maryland. He grew up in Wheeling, West Virginia, rooting for the great Pirates teams of the 1970s that he's really never got over. (And he still misses Pirates announcer Bob Prince.)

Upon moving to the DC area in 1984, he duly began rooting for the Orioles but found it was never quite the same. Especially after the 1994 strike and the Angelos teardown.

Mike's inner fanboy came back to life the minute the Nats hit RFK in 2005. He shares his random observations with the discerning readers of Nationals Pride and eagerly awaits the day when he'll be complaining about having to pay entirely too much for playoff tickets at Nats Park.


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