Sorry I didn't get this out until today. I was just giving you a chance to read it first on scoreatl.com or by picking up a copy at your local Kroger or QuikTrip. Catch this Friday's edition too as I am working on the cover story about the baseball draft!
The Atlanta Hawks coaching search continues and a different name is the hot pick (at least until it changes, probably tomorrow) is now ESPN’s Mark Jackson. The former point guard has been calling games for the last few years for ESPN and ABC, and the team interviewed Jackson last week. Several of the radio hosts have even seemingly gone to bat for him recently. On Brandon and Woolvy earlier this week, Jeff Woolverton laid out all of the positives that Jackson potentially could bring to the Hawks bench, several of which might outweigh the fact that he’s never been a head coach. Woolvy brought up the fact that he has played for some of the greatest coaches the game has ever seen as well as how he reportedly has the respect of all of the current players. The most interesting point though that Woolvy raised though was the potential increase in respect that Jackson would bring to Atlanta. He pointed out, much like we have here as well in the column over the months, that sometimes the national media (read: ESPN, Bill Simmons, ETC) lays waste to Atlanta and its team and fans, and perhaps with Jackson at the helm, ESPN would be more likely to give Atlanta the benefit of the doubt. I thought it was an interesting point. Maybe ESPN WOULD lay off one of its former workers in his new job. Adams however did remind everyone that Jackson would be a rookie coach and perhaps this would be an on-the-job-training ground for him before he moves on to a more successful position, ala Doc Rivers in Orlando to Boston.
Tim Legler appeared on Buck & Kincade earlier this week and he too addressed Jackson’s potential. Legler praised Jackson and glossed right over that he has never been a head coach, perhaps cementing Woolvy’s point that ESPN would suddenly respect the Hawks. Legler confirmed that Jackson has the players’ respect and noted how the Hawks might be the perfect fit for Jackson as it isn’t a team “that has to start from the ground up.”
Finally on the Hawks coaching search, Jeff Schultz of the AJC is still lobbying for Avery Johnson while Mark Bradley attempted to get people excited over the possibility that Doc Rivers may leave the Celtics for his former team, Atlanta. Bradley, or rather his misleading headline writer, after hoodwinking everyone into clicking onto his online blog, reveals what everyone already knew: Rivers isn’t coming to Atlanta. Rivers has said that he is walking away after this year to watch his children play sports for a year. He wouldn’t give that up, especially after playing for a championship with a team that could again next year, to come to Atlanta. It wouldn’t happen.
Adams was back last week after going on vacation and he put up a blog on the 790thezone.com website about the finale of Lost. Adams’ final point of the well-written article related the swing-and-miss ending of Lost to sports.
Said Adams, “In a universe of culture where everyone seems to content to think small, I think many of us are just grateful that someone has the guts to swing for the fences.
This is also true for sports. For example, if the Hawks were to go all-in and sign LeBron James or some big-name free agent to a mega-million dollar deal and he were to break his leg and never accomplish anything in Atlanta, most Hawks fans would be pretty forgiving of Rick Sund or any of the other corporate types who would have a hand in a decision like that because at least they had the guts to try something big. Sports fans are no different than fans of television dramas. We all like bold strokes.”
I will have to disagree with Adams on this point that fans will be forgiving of a move that doesn’t work out. While we would “respect the move” of going after someone big, ask Orlando Magic fans if they were pleased as punch over Grant Hill. Yes, we LOVE bold strokes, but those strokes have to work out. Taking Marvin Williams over a point guard was a bold stroke to say the least. He could have been Kevin Durant before Durant was Durant, but it didn’t happen. Look how divided Hawks fans were over the Atlanta Spirit Group’s bold stroke of Joe Johnson. Seemingly every show I’ve ever co-host that has talked about the Hawks has had two strong sides: those saying keep him and those saying that he’s a bum. I would say that the Joe Johnson signing was a swing-and-miss. Did he lead the Hawks to the playoffs? Not until Mike Bibby arrived. Johnson disappeared this postseason and then popped off at the fans through the media. Not exactly a home run; maybe a double that advanced a runner to third.
The media has a tendency to go mock-draft crazy these days and the AJC has jumped on the MLB draft with so much talent in the state this year. Michael Carvell documented five different state talents that have a real chance at going in the first round of this week’s draft. In fact, the AJC was all over the MLB draft as players from the Marietta/Cobb area as well as Gwinnett area were considered strong bets to be among the talent pool that the Atlanta Braves would be selecting from at pick No. 35 and pick No. 53. In Carvell’s piece, the AJC prep writer/blogger also linked to eight other feature stories that gave plenty of background on these players, as well as several other nice local stories. The state of Georgia gets so much attention for football (for clear and obvious reasons) and is quickly rising in basketball, but perhaps it is baseball that could be Georgia’s strongest and most fertile breeding ground. Several of the game’s top players have called Georgia home including Jason Heyward, Adam Wainwright and the No. 1 overall pick from two years ago by Tampa Bay Tim Beckham of Griffin. Recently Score Atlanta Sports Sunday had University of Georgia head baseball coach David Perno, and after he praised the high school coaches for their exceptional work he commented how the Georgia high school and local club teams are so good in developing talent. He noted that he has several players that he will be keeping an eye on to see if they will be drafted in the top few rounds of the draft, perhaps leading to them foregoing Athens for huge signing bonuses. Roger Clarkson of the Athens Banner-Herald followed up with Coach Perno for a story that came out on the first day of the draft that noted how Perno was eagerly awaiting to see where signees Drew Cisco and Ralston Cash were selected.
Can you believe he said that?
In today’s football world, people care more about the NFL Draft than the Super Bowl. 680 The Fan’s Chuck Oliver hitting the nail right on the head, talking about how some people care more about what could be than what is. I will say this though Kang, for a lot of fans out there, the current stinks. We (especially Redskins fans) NEED the future!
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