AJC > Sports > Hawks > Blog > Archives > 2007 > August > 08
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Join the club!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What’s that?
Where have I been?
Where do I get off not posting a new blog for over a week?
What, you’re upset with me?
Join the club. I’ve got more people upset with me than Barry Bonds, Michael Vick and Tim Donaghy combined. (And no, I haven’t touched the cream or clear, I have a pet dander allergy so I don’t own a dog, cat, gerbil, mouse or anything else with fur. And no, I don’t gamble because I’m too cheap and too poor - just ask anyone that knows me or is looking for me to pay them back).
So go right ahead and be ticked off at me this week. I’m used to it.
Hey, it’s oppressively hot and beyond the occasional call back from a Hawks player (Josh Childress I know you read this blog and I’m still waiting to hear from you, homeboy), things are quiet in Hawksville.
If it wasn’t for Jermaine O’Neal’s mini-drama with the Pacers and the residue from the Boston-Minnesota mega deal, I’m not sure that we’d have much anything legitimate (NBA-related) to talk about (you know it’s football time again and my Wolverines have already reported but I won’t go there, not yet at least).
O’Neal’s saga - depending on what you believe, he does or doesn’t want the Pacers to trade him to either the LA Lakers or the New Jersey Nets - is proof positive that the endless news can help manufacture a good soap opera even where this is nothing there.
That mess should be a warning to all players and organizations about negotiating through the media (don’t do it unless you’re on my beat, then I need you to help make my job as easy as possible by contacting me with your gripes, on the record, of course, so we can make a mountain out of a mole hill).
I understand your complaints reese, but we’re not ignoring the NBA or basketball news in general around here. But trying to fool you all with bells and whistles would be foolish on our part. Sometimes the things that make news elsewhere (on other websites, etc.) don’t find their way into our pages or on ajc.com for good reason. That said, you make a good point about some of the missing info that does strike a chord, particularly with me.
For example (and I, like many of you, can psychoanalyze this stuff until my fingers cramp up from typing):
The “so-called” snub of the Hawks’ young players for that 10-man team that’s going to get in some work with the National Team made me wonder, just what do some of these young Hawks have to do to join the party?
But then I realized that you were right, these would be the same guys that have been passed over countless times for the Rookie Challenge and other honors bestowed upon players by the league, in conjunction with whatever organization they’re dealing with. It’s always a subjective thing, where the players being chosen for these honors and teams are selected by a group of people that have a certain group of players in mind. And quite frankly, there were lots of other young players that could have been included on that Select Team that were not.
But I also think that the stigma that’s accompanied those Hawks jerseys (they’ve got new outfits now, so we’ll see how things work out) the past decade or so play a huge part in these guys being overlooked and devalued in the eyes of most people. Truth be told, fans in other cities, media types and people around the league knock the Hawks regularly for being a doormat and a laughingstock organization (that’s the cold, hard truth, sorry if it offends).
I can’t tell you how many times somebody (reporters, scouts, league execs, etc.) from other cities offer up pity for me having to cover the Hawks. It would be funny if they weren’t so sincere. A lot of those same people are dealing with teams or organizations swimming in similar quicksand, but for some reason they feel the need to crack the Hawks (and yes, I think the relentless wave of embarrassing happenings that have plagued the Hawks on the ownership front and elsewhere the past couple of years has fueled quite a bit of the rhetoric). It might sound strange, but it’s true.
That’s why, as I was telling someone the other day, the only way for the organization - and more importantly the team - to rid themselves of that stigma I mentioned is to show up for camp with a chip on their shoulders the size of Philips Arena. They had it early last season, when they were the surprise of the league in the first couple of weeks and the injuries (for the most part) were still manageable.
That confidence and swagger melted away soon after and they were right back in survival mode. And both emotionally and physically, they were never the same team.
After years of studying these things (I was a student of sports long before anyone paid me to do it), I’ve come to the conclusion that there may be no factor more important in a team environment, sports or otherwise, than the collective psyche. If there’s a belief in a common goal and the single-minded pursuit that nothing trumps the reaching of that goal - and I mean NOTHING, you’re dealing with something more powerful than just your ordinary group of high-priced ballplayers.
Right now, and albeit unfairly in a lot of respects, I think that’s exactly how these guys are viewed by many outsiders.
So what else do you want to talk about?
