Ladies and Gentlemen, the Atlanta Hawks.

[Channing]

Still, the Hawks can be proud of how well they played at home. This team is close to being a real contender. All they need is a new PG, a legit C, a creative coach, and a front office with a clue and they are right in there. Oh, they also need to get rid of thier starting SF. But they are really close.

i was thinking that - then I heard some commentator say that nobody is really locked up long term here - I think Joe Johnson and Horford are locked up the longest, for 3 more years. In that span just about everyone's contract comes due, and it is quite possible some players are going to try and go elsewhere.

[JasonEvans]

Who knew that the Hawks backup center was really Borat in disguise??!?!

-Jason " " Evans

[slower]

It's an old Seinfeld bit from back in the day. Since the players change teams so much, we're basically just cheering for laundry (i.e., the uniforms).

I guess if he'd said "we CHEER for laundry", I would have made the connection.

[moonpie23]

i will give marvin a pass THIS time cause he HAS had many opportunities to "punk out" and has pretty much been a good case of jumping to the big leagues..

with the money and life of an nba player, it would be easy for a kid of less character to fall down...



but that was a chump move and it gave me another small reason to hate on unc due to guilt by association...

[CDu]

I guess if he'd said "we CHEER for laundry", I would have made the connection.

Is there a difference between rooting and cheering?

[slower]

Is there a difference between rooting and cheering?

There is if you're trying to Google a phrase!

[CDu]

There is if you're trying to Google a phrase!

Ah, I see. Touche.

[gvtucker]

A couple of thoughts on this point:

1) BC is a private university and relatively small(8500 undergrads) compared to the other schools you mention, this does limit the number of fans.
2) Boston is a pro sports town, in fact most of the Northeastern cities(Boston, NYC, Philly, etc.) strike me as pro sports towns. In the Southeast, except for Atlanta and recent additons in Florida and North Carolina and Nashville, there isn't the pro competition you might face up here.

I think that's a big misconception.

Case in point is the notion that Boston is a "pro sports town" and that's why the attendance at BC games isn't very good.

Until this past year, the Celtics didn't draw well at all. Whatevertheycalltheirarenanowadays wsa never, ever full. Of course, this is mostly because the Celtics stunk.

Of course, Boston is hockey country, not basketball country, so that is a big reason behind the Celtics' attendance problems of years past. But if you look at the NHL Bruins, they don't draw well, either. Heck, the Carolina Hurricanes draw better than the Bruins. In fact, hockey is more of a college sport in the area. BU and BC routinely sell out games.

Yes, the Red Sox sell out, consistently. But it is no coincidence that the Red Sox have been very good lately.

[wilson]

I think that's a big misconception.

Case in point is the notion that Boston is a "pro sports town" and that's why the attendance at BC games isn't very good.

Until this past year, the Celtics didn't draw well at all. Whatevertheycalltheirarenanowadays wsa never, ever full. Of course, this is mostly because the Celtics stunk.

Of course, Boston is hockey country, not basketball country, so that is a big reason behind the Celtics' attendance problems of years past. But if you look at the NHL Bruins, they don't draw well, either. Heck, the Carolina Hurricanes draw better than the Bruins. In fact, hockey is more of a college sport in the area. BU and BC routinely sell out games.

Yes, the Red Sox sell out, consistently. But it is no coincidence that the Red Sox have been very good lately.

Similarly, a prominent conversation item in the earlygoing of yesterday's radio broadcast was the fact that the Garden had a noticeable number of empty seats upstairs (for Game 7!), while Philips Arena drew three record crowds during the same series. I contend that Atlanta fans are not markedly more fickle than any others, and I'm positive that the old meme about bad Atlanta fans is one of the more overblown things in all of sports.

[wilson]

Billy Knight is stepping down.

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sp...ge_tab_newstab

[Lavabe]

Billy Knight, GM of the Atlanta Hawks, has resigned this morning.
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sp...ge_tab_newstab

Will hold onto DBR job waves until after the interview process begins.
Cheers,
Lavabe

[SilkyJ]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3385104

Silky "This will make Jason Evans happy" J

[wilson]

Is there an echo in here?
Is there an echo in here?

[SilkyJ]

tried to delete but can't. sorry...sorry...sorry...

[shadowfax336]

and unbelievably Jason has yet to comment

[shadowfax336]

According to John Hollinger at ESPN, Billy King is rumored to be the next GM

[shadowfax336]

and I mean anybody who plays Chess knows that you always have to sacrifice a Knight for a King...