Hawks vs. Chris Paul

Chris Paul is coming to Philips Arena tonight to taunt me! I really hate watching him play. Seriously, it pains me! He's exactly the player the Hawks need in order to achieve this elusive running offense they so desire. Instead we have to rely on a player that I'm unable to acknowledge. Point guards like Chris are few and far between, but the people making personnel decisions were more enamored with Marvin Williams. Um, I don't want to say that Marvin isn't as good of a player as Chris, but its quite possible he isn't. Chris has had an impact since his rookie year and he's no worse than the second best player on the Hornets team. He's already one of the best point guards in the league and he's only 3 years in. Meanwhile we're still waiting on the upside to manifest itself permanently in Marvin. Sigh. I'm getting depressed just thinking of how much better our team would be if we'd chosen him. Anyway, we'll see how we fare against the Hornets tonight. They have been playing pretty well this season, so hopefully the Hawks will deem them worthy opponents and put forth a tremendous effort. I wonder if the running team will show up tonight.

Update: We lost.

Hawks Lose

So the Hawks lost to the sorry ass Bulls last night. They are now 0-12 against the Bulls over the past 3 season. This is ridiculous. They gave up 90 points to the Bulls who are the lowest scoring team in the league if I'm not mistaken. Then, they had the nerve to only score 78 points. Where is this running team that they were supposed to be?? Do they only attend certain games? Are they only allowed to speed up the pace once a week? Really, I don't know what the problem is, but dammit they need to fix it. Their offense is ABYSMAL! 90% of their "offensive sets" start from the right side of the court. There's little to no variety! Also, no one in the organization is allowed to mention Speedy Claxton and or his injury in reference to this team. Ever. Eazy Yi (as Slamonline refers to him) and the Bucks are in town tonight. They're coming off of a loss as well so this game should be interesting.

Update: The Hawks beat Eazy Yi and the Bucks. It was a great team effort and they need to play that way more often.

Sean Taylor, Too Much Money

It's a tough day for the University of Miami, Washington Redskins and the NFL as a whole. Sean Taylor a 24 year old safety died today from injuries sustained from a gun shot in the upper leg. He was shot in his home during an alleged robbery. As of now there are no suspects. No matter what the investigation reveals, this is just another senseless death of a young man. It's unfortunate that his teammates have to carry on with business as usual, because as we all know the show must go on.
The Yankees and A-Rod have reached an agreement on a contract that could be worth as much as $300 million if Alex reaches reaches certain incentives. I cannot tell you how pissed I am about this. First of all, what happened to the big bad Steinbrenner proclamation that if he opted out they would not pursue him?? They blinked, and as far as I can tell they didn't have too. There was no market for A-Rod in real life. Yeah he's an MVP and he'll probably go down as the best player statistically in the history of MLB, but he's a diva. Professional athletes are high maintenance, but he takes it to another level. Second, I don't know why in the hell the Yankees offered him as much money as they did. It's not like he had a contract offer from any other team as evidenced by the fact that he came crawling back after opting out at the first available chance. They should have offered him a contract in the $100 million range as opposed to the $300 million range. They were bidding against NO ONE! All this means is that we will have at least 10 more years of not winning a World Series. I'd never wish bad on a player, but let me just say I hope A-Rod decides to retire next year.
Allegedly the Yankees and Twins are in preliminary talks about a trade involving Johan Santana. If this happens.............
Anderson Varajoe or however the hell you spell his name, says he doesn't want to play for the Cavs anymore because they aren't treating him fairly. See this is why professional sports franchises need more women in charge. They need someone who will tell Andy that he's not nearly as good as he thinks he is. Seriously, when people talk about his strengths, they include things that damn near anyone can bring. He's an energy guy, nothing more. He has a chance to play alongside a guy in LeBron James who is about to average a triple double. Know your role Andy! I hope he goes to another team and gets a big dose of reality.

Hawks Win!

Yay, the Hawks finally got their first road win of the season! It came against the sorry ass Miami Heat. I know they won't continue to play this poorly throughout the season, but for right now they really are sorry as hell. Told ya we wouldn't lose to the sorry ass Heat EBOY! The Hawks found themselves down by 10 heading into the 4th quarter, but I guess they decided they really wanted to win the game so they did. It was a hard fought game. Joe was big late in the fourth quarter. He hit two big 3 pointers when they all but dared him to shoot. The biggest play of the night was when Josh Smith blocked D Wade's shot with about 5 seconds to go. It was perfectly timed!
I still don't trust Mike Woodson or this team in the clutch because there were a couple of possessions late in the game where Joe didn't even touch the ball. That can't happen. If he's on the floor he's always the best option. Josh also called their last timeout with just under a minute remaining. He was in a bit of a jam, but still.... Anyway, they won so I guess all is well. Next up is Minnesota on Saturday, hopefully they'll come up with a win.

Gilbert Arenas is going to miss 3 months following knee surgery. He should have waited a little longer before returning obviously. When will these athletes learn??
Priest Holmes retired today. He was about 2 years overdue. He had a great career all things considered.....

Mike Woodson Is Killing Me.

So the Hawks are really, really getting on my nerves! They got beat by the Spurs which is not a big surprise, but it's the way they lose that irks me to no end! First of all, the coach doesn't know how to manage his timeouts. He lets the other team build on a lead until it's damn near insurmountable before he calls a timeout. Who the hell does he think he is? Phil Jackson! That strategy doesn't work with bad teams, so there's no way in hell its going to work with the Spurs. Let's not even talk about how clock management or lack thereof is just as bad among the players. They didn't even have the presence of mind to get a 2 for 1 at the end of the 1st quarter when there were 39 seconds left. Nope, they dribbled and passed the ball around til there were 25 seconds left, then a penalty of some sort was called. I mean come on, it doesn't take a coach to know that you should try to get 2 possessions before the quarter ended.

Let's not even talk about their defense. Seriously, they all but escorted Tony Parker down the lane to the basket. They let Gino get to the rim at will as well. They just didn't do anything right. Yes they were without a few players, but that's no excuse for the lack of defense and the mental errors. If Woody makes it to the All Star Break I'll be more than surprised! He hasn't had a lot to work with, but its so obvious he isn't a good coach. 60% of the time the team isn't ready to play. They make too many mistakes that are the direct result of bad coaching or lack of coaching. Woody and the crew seem to be absolutely clueless. Somethings gotta give.

Random Stuff

Here's a real quick rundown of the days games:
The Celtics lost their first game of the season to the Magic.
Bobby Petrino has some splainin' to do. Falcons lost to the Bucs behind Byron Leftwich. Falcons fans were literally chanting for Joey Harrington. Yeah, it's that bad. He should have started anyway considering he'd won the last 2 games and Byron hadn't played in like 3 weeks. Bobby must really miss college. Not to worry though, if he keeps making decisions like this he'll be back there soon enough.
The Jags beat the Chargers.
Cowboys beat the Skins. T O is good.
Eagles beat the Dolphins. McNabb left the game in the 2nd with a sprained ankle.
Browns beat the Ravens.
Rams beat the Niners.
Pats are beating the Bills. Moss is good.
Seahawks beat the Bears.
Colts barely beat the Chiefs.
Steelers lost to the Jets. Mike Tomlin is still handsome.
Giants beat the Lions.
Packers beat the Panthers.
Cardinals beat the Bengals. Cincy is unbelievably bad.

Tom Glavine will return to the Braves. If this were the 90's that would be a big deal.
Not that you care, for the record I don't either, but Jimmie Johnson won the Nascar Nextel Cup Championship or whatever the hell its called. I can't think of a more unwatchable sport than Nascar. They're probably the reason gas prices are so damn high. I'm sure that's not true, but I'm just sayin......

My Fan Crush Did Us In!

Sigh. The Hawks lost a thriller to the Sonics in Philips Arena tonight. Double OT, it just doesn't get much better! I don't even know where to begin. Obviously they were at a slight disadvantage being without Josh Smith and Acie Law IV, but the Sonics had only one win coming into the night so this was a winnable game. As a matter of fact, if you're the Hawks you have to win this game. Seattle is not a very good team, no matter how you slice it. The Hawks seem to have a problem winning the games they're supposed to win. Seriously, they need to get it together. There were a lot of good things that happened tonight for both teams. Damien Wilkins (Nique's nephew) whose averaging 14 points this season scored 41 points. In fairness to the Hawks, he was just feeling himself tonight. He hit 15-20 shot attempts. There's nothing you can do about that. Really, don't beat yourselves up about it. Kevin Durant (my fan crush) hit the game winning three pointer so it doesn't really matter what he did the previous 57 minutes, 58 seconds. As far as the Hawks are concerned, the usual suspects showed up for the team tonight. Joe was Joe. He didn't have a particularly good shooting night, but he did hit some big shots when they needed them. Chills was very good, he had 22 and 10 before he fouled out. He unfortunately missed what could have been a game winning free throw, but that's life. Marvin was good, he had 18 and 7 before he fouled out. Fouls were a problem for the Hawks, but I'll get to that momentarily.

There were plenty of bad things that happened as well. I'll just focus on the Hawks for this portion. Let's start with coaching. Woody did so many bad things tonight its almost unfair to just point out a few. Let's just say he needs to work on his strategies and leave it at that. That's a vague enough and broad enough assessment of Woody's problems. He's on the verge of coaching himself back into an Assistant's position.

The Refs were horrible. I don't even feel like getting into the particulars, but know that damn near all of the Hawks players were in danger of fouling out and 2 of their best actually accomplished it.

There are a ton of things I could say about this game, but I honestly don't want to dwell too much on it considering they have another game tomorrow. Let's just hope they fair better against Eazy Yi (as Mutoni refers to him) and the Bucks.

The Jig Is Up

After four long years, the Grand Jury FINALLY indicted Barry Bonds. They weren't going to give up on getting him. Ever.

Hawks, The Commisioner, A-Rod

Hawks win! They beat the Bobcats 117 to 109. This is a big win because the Bobcats have owned the Hawks since they entered the league. It's kind of strange, but its true. Unfortunately Josh Smith and Acie Law IV had to leave the game with injuries. (Are you happy EBoy?) They're both listed as day to day. There is a lot of depth on the team, but make no mistake, the Hawks need them! Josh is under appreciated and if he misses any real time everyone will realize that. Joe was fantastic tonight! He had 34 points, and 11 assists. Marvin had another very good game. Maybe this will become so routine that I won't have to mention it, all I'll have to say is Marvin was Marvin. Chills had 23 points and Horford added 13 points and 13 boards. If he averages a double, double he might make a run at ol' Kevin Durant for Rookie Of the Year. It's way too early to talk about awards, but I just want to put it out there. Speaking of Kevin Durant, he's coming to Philips on Friday so He and Al will get to go head to head. I have a fan crush on Kevin Durant, so I'll be paying close attention to this game considering it will be his only trip to Atlanta this season.
T-Mac got hurt. he's just like his cousin.
D Wade came back, but it didn't matter. The Heat still lost to the Sonics. The Heat kind of suck.

There's a report that there was a proposed trade between the Pistons and Lakers that would have sent Rip, Tay, some other dude and a first round draft pick to the Lakers for Kobe. Kobe supposedly vetoed this trade. I don't know why because I think this trade would be a good look for Kobe since Chauncey, Sheed, Dyess, and Maxiell will still be there. Unfortunately Flip Saunders will still be the coach in the playoffs so all of their hard work will go for naught. Anyway, the fact that Kobe has THIS much control over the league leads me to believe I need to refer to him as The Commissioner. He literally has more control than the GM trading him and the GM trading for him. I can't believe he has this much power, but more power to him and whoever negotiated his contract.

The Yankees are reportedly willing to negotiate with A-Rod again if, and only if Scott Boras isn't involved. Sigh. I want A-Rod to go! I told ya'll he was dead to me after his abysmal playoff performance and I'm so for real. Plus, if Alex is dumb enough to keep his agent out of negotiations for his LAST big contract, then the Yankees shouldn't want him anyway because he's clearly an idiot!

Ricky Williams has been reinstated to the NFL. I'll bet money he'll be suspended again for violating the substance abuse policy. He's damn near a fiend.

Hawks, NFL Stuff.

So the Hawks lost to the 0-5 Wizards today. They seem to play to the level of their competition and they need to cut that ish out. You can't go out and beat 2 of the best teams in the league then lose to an 0-5 team and say you have playoff aspirations. Not to say that the Wizards won't turn it around because I certainly believe they're better than they've shown, but the Hawks have to learn to kick a team when they're down. You have to beat teams that you should beat if you want to contend for a playoff spot. They shot way too many jumpers and their offensive rebounding left a lot to be desired. This is why I really wouldn't be surprised if this team won 25 games or 45 games. They're so inconsistent that I honestly don't know what to expect from them from game to game. Woody has still shown no ability to make adjustments or take advantage of mismatches. He'd better get it together because he's not unfirable (probably not a word) anymore considering people actually have expectations for this team. The biggest problem with everyone's expectations are the fact that they are centered around the 2 rookies making an immediate impact. Horford has been very good and Law is doing his best, but we may be asking a bit much from them. We'll see where things stand at the end of the month and hopefully we'll know if this is a new and improved team or if they're the same old Hawks. Moving on.
Peyton Manning threw 6 interceptions tonight. Seriously he kept both teams in the game. I could go into detail, but he threw 6 interceptions and that's all you really need to know.
The Steelers beat the Browns.
The Bears beat the Raiders. Brian Griese got hurt and Rex Grossman came in and saved the day. I'm serious, he really did.
The Eagles beat the Skins.
The Cowboys beat the Giants. T O is good.
The Bengals beat the Ravens. Steve McNair is old.
Denver beat K C.
Buffalo beat Miami. Apparently they're still in contention in the AFC East. Right.
Green Bay beat Minny. No 300 yard rushing game for A P.
The Falcons beat the Panthers.
St Louis got their first win over the Saints. Yay for them.

K G

So Kevin Garnett took it upon himself to absolutely destroy my poor Hawks! He had 20+ points and 19 rebounds. He was a beast. Paul Pierce who almost goes unnoticed (at least by me) now that KG is there had a quiet 20+ points. One of Steve Smith's 3 pointers for the Hawks to focus on was to stop one of the big 3. Well the Hawks did that, sort of. They didn't let Ray Ray get off, but Eddie House decided to channel his inner Jesus Shuttlesworth and he picked up the slack. There wasn't a Hawk who did anything worth talking about. I've already said too much.
Next up is Washington and they're 0-5 so in theory the Hawks should have the upper hand, but you never know with this group.

Hawks Beat Another Western Powerhouse

The Hawks beat up on the Suns tonight. They are knocking those Western Conference powerhouses out one by one. Joe Johnson did not have a particularly good offensive night, but he kept everyone involved and he ended up with double digit assists. Josh Smith had a hell of a night, 22 points, 10 rebounds, 4 asst, 4 stls and 5 blocks. Pay him please! Marvin Williams showed us some of that upside we've been waiting. for. He has perfected his mid-range jump shot and I'll be fine if that's the only shot he takes. Al Horford was a beast on the boards as well. Overall the Hawks out rebounded the Suns 56-40.
Steve Nash was fantastic for the most part, but he did have a couple of killer turnovers. We'll take it though. They play Boston on Friday, I'd love for them to put the smack down on the Eastern Conference favorites!

Hawks Lose

The Hawks lost to the Pistons 91-92. They had plenty of opportunities to win the game, but in the end a couple of mental mistakes cost them. Josh Smith turned the ball over a gazillion times by himself, but he atoned for it by making 3 straight free throws to tie the game with only a few seconds left.

Marvin had 2 bad fouls at the end of the game, especially the one that put Chauncey on the line to seal the deal for Detroit, but that's neither here nor there. Detroit is the measuring stick in the East and my boys hung in there with them even though they came out swinging. They play the Nets on Tuesday, hopefully they'll come back to Atlanta with a win before they have to face the Suns on Wednesday. By the way, Joe Johnson is really good and he makes it look so easy.

Hawks Win! Scott Boras has lost his damn mind!

The Atlanta Hawks won their season opener against the Dallas Mavericks! Yay! Joe was fantastic and the rookies looked really good as well. They played hard from start to finish and that's all we really want. That and a trip to the playoffs.

There were a lot of other games in the Association, but I really don't feel like talking about them. I have more important things to discuss.

Apparently the Yankees were told in order to meet with A-Rod they needed to be prepared to offer $350 million. I got hold of the transcript of how that conversation went down.

Phone rings: Don't be surprised if she ask where da cash at. Where da, where da cash at, where da cash at? Don't be surprised if she ask where da cash at. (personal ringtone for Scott Boras)
Cashman: How much, and for how long?
Boras: Well hello to you too Brian!
Cashman: Come on Scott, I have shit to do.
Boras: Well, we're thinking we'll start the bidding at $350 million.
Click.
Boras: Hello, Brian are you still there? Hellllloooooooo!

I can't make this stuff up people. I swear!