News - Atlanta Hawks
For their perpetual awfulness
It’s an organization that has failed and failed and failed and failed.
We’re not talking about the FBI here, but a group somewhat closer to home. On April 13, the Hawks officially notched a five-year drought for post-season pro hoops action in Atlanta. This is especially pathetic considering that, in the low-achieving Eastern Conference, it would seem that a consumptive woodchuck could score a playoff berth.
Let’s face it: These guys have sucked so long and so hard that many of us can be excused for forgetting that this is the same franchise that once could be counted upon as an annual contender for the NBA finals.
Remember the late-’80s heroics of Doc Rivers, Kevin Willis and that diminutive dunking machine, Spud Webb? Do you recall the thrilling basket-for-basket shooting duel between Hawks superstar Dominique Wilkins and the Celtics’ Larry Bird in the fourth quarter of Game 7 in the 1988 Eastern Conference semifinals? Does the name Mike Fratello mean anything to you?
Those days are now so distant, it’s as if they took place in another era in a galaxy far, far away. Hell, even pleasant memories of the modestly fruitful Lenny Wilkins-Dikembe Mutombo period of the late ’90s seem like warning signs of the onset of early senility.
It isn’t just that the Hawks have dashed their hometown’s playoff hopes or provided us with yet another perennial doormat of a sports franchise. Please, we’re used to that. But even the hapless Braves of the early ’80s had a genuinely compelling star in slugger Dale Murphy. And the Thrashers, while losers, are at least exciting to watch.
What is especially sad about the Hawks is how they’ve made going to Philips Arena — one of the most colorful and inviting of all sports venues — such a drag. Every time-out or pause in on-court play is crammed with annoying promotions and lame announcements that serve as momentary distractions from the lackluster efforts of the team.
Just as bad, they’ve given a city hungry for hoops heroes no one to root for and no reason to care when the next home game is.
Of course, the bright spot is the Hawks’ new ownership and the opportunity for a fresh start. Here’s hoping this is the last chance we have to take this sorry team to task.