2006-07 Wiz Family Event Summary

This season, the Wiz held the Family Event before the regular season. There are players on the current roster that may not be on the final roster, but it is good to see that they get some recognition. The planning for this year's event was so much better than last year. The agenda was clear and easy to follow. Even though there appears to be more participants, people didn't have to fight through the crowd to "have fun".

Agenda:

6-6:30 pm - Family events at the floor. Mostly, this is for families with kids. The kids seemed to enjoy face painting, shooting hoops, and taking pictures.

6:30-7 pm - Dave Johnson emceed the event. The team's roster (coaches included) was announced. The starters showcased Adidas' new alternate Wizards jersey and shorts. Gold and black dominate the colors and in my opinion, they look good. Very different than the standard white/blue colors the Wiz wore since the name change in 1997. One strange event that happened was Antonio Daniels came out with his wife and daughter, greeted the crowd, and then ran back behind the curtain and never came out again. He (and Songaila) wasn't on the stage along with the other players and coaches. AD is a classy guy, so I hoped he stayed to sign autographs for the fans.

7-7:45 pm - Autograph session was why the fans went to this event. Fortunately, I was able to get autographs from players that I've not met "up close" before. Jarvis Hayes, DeShawn Stevenson, and Roger Mason Jr. signed my autograph book. Some lucky fans got Arenas' signature, but I think the hardest one to get is Jamison. Maybe next year (if he wants to come back to the team). Several players, such as Caron, Brendan, and Etan walked around the stadium and kids just draped them for autographs.