AJC > Sports > Hawks > Blog > Archives > 2008 > December > 21
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Are you watching this?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
HAWKSVILLE - Go ahead, close your eyes and count to 10 and then open them.
It’s not a mirage.
That’s your Hawks sitting in the fourth slot in the Eastern Conference standings with Christmas just a couple days away.
I know, I know.
You didn’t see this coming did you?
You didn’t know they’d get here this fast did you?
But are you watching this franchise renaissance take place before your very eyes?
The Falcons aren’t the only ones that can rise from their own ashes (and kudos to the other birds for giving their haters the business and the gas face and making the playoffs - I’m never mad at anybody for proving their haters wrong). The Hawks want in on this thing, too.
After Sunday’s win over Detroit (the current holder of the No. 5 spot in the conference standings and a team, based on what I saw today, that would have a hard time knock these Hawks off in a best-of-seven playoff series - which would be the matchup if the postseason started this morning) it’s become increasingly clear that these Hawks aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
They like this side of .500.
It feels good.
Way better than the mud holes they’ve been in this time in recent years.
“Being 11-2 at home sticks out to me more than anything else right now,” Josh Smith said after Sunday’s game. “It’s been a long time coming for me and all the rest of these guys that have been here for a few years. I like to mess with Al (Horford) and tell him that all he’s ever known is the good times. We made the playoffs his rookie year and we’re winning now. He doesn’t know what it’s like to struggle.”
That could turn out to be the best thing for Horford and anyone else that is a part of this franchise going forward.
Having been here through the leanest of times, I can tell you it hasn’t been particularly pleasant for anyone (though this job is a lot easier when the stories are coming at you left and right). I’ve worked big winners and big losers in this league and I sleep the same whatever the situation.
The toll extreme losing takes on everyone else, however, is rough to witness up close.
Heads inevitably must roll when things are sideways.
The Hawks, unlike most others, have resisted the urge (and I’m sure there have been many) to throw folks overboard. Even Billy Knight was given the option of staying or going (and he chose to bounce).
It’s an approach I don’t believe most franchises would opt for. But looking back on where they’ve been and where they are now (and all we’ve got is now folks, I can’t promise Tuesday let alone March or April. But right now, these Hawks are in the mix … in a place it was hard to see as recently as this time a year ago), it has to be a refreshing change for all involved.
That said, now that the Hawks have crawled this far, the real test becomes keeping it going. There’s no going back now. No one will tolerate it. I know you die-hard Hawks’ fans certainly won’t allow it, having tasted the good life, even if only for a little while now.
So I’ll ask you again, and I’m serious when I say this stuff, you didn’t see this coming did you?
You didn’t know they’d get here this fast did you?
But are you watching this franchise renaissance take place before your very eyes?
