Pollin has always been a sports fanatic. "Where I got this bug, I don't know," he says. "Nobody else in the family has any interest in sports."

When Abe graduated from George Washington University in 1945, he went into the building business with his father and older brother. At age 35, Pollin started his own construction company. "I had to prove to myself I could do it without my father," he says.

In 1946 Pollin and two partners bought the Baltimore Bullets. Four years later he bought out his partners and decided to move the team closer to Washington. When he couldn't find an arena to rent he built the Capital Centre (now US Airways Area) in Landover, MD.

The Cap Centre opened in 1973. It had the nation's first big screens for showing instant replays and the first computerized ticket system. But to make the arena viable, Pollin needed another professional team. Although he had never seen a hockey game, he bought an expansion franchise from the National Hockey League and created the Washington Capitals.

Several years ago, as gun violence in the area was on the increase, Pollin agreed with the local mumblings that the basketball team needed a new name: "Bullets" was sending the wrong message. So the team became the Wizards. When he eventually decided his teams needed a new home, he set his sights on downtown DC.

"It was time for somebody to step forward," he says. He worked to put together the financing for the $200-million MCI Center. Since its opening in December 1998, the MCI Center has hosted 6 million people and more than 600 events.

Last year, Pollin sold some of his interest in the Wizards and the Caps. But he's still the biggest fan in the house. And when Abe Pollin wins, so does Washington.