Perhaps it's our natural ennui, but we have a very hard time getting worked up about ESPN's Ultimate Rankings, in which the Wizards finished 122nd of 122 in the fan relations category. According to its description, the category measures "openness and consideration toward fans by players, coaches and management."
We're pretty sure that this is a totally nebulous thing to measure. And that's before we get to the subcategories: whether players act professionally on and off the field, whether players and owners show appreciation to fans, players' accessibility to fans, and whether the team provides an avenue for fan feedback.
How on Earth can anyone measure this?
We're not as up on the sabermetric community as we'd like to be; have they come up with an Accessibility Zone Rating (AZR) for players. Has the formula for PORP (Professionalism Over Replacement Player) been developed yet?
Even if our math skills aren't what they should be, our geography skills are. And they're wondering why the Nationals aren't in the D.C. market yet. Perhaps ESPN should work on perfecting that first.
(Note: Wizards owner Ted Leonsis is an investor in SB Nation. He had nothing to do with this.)