Catching Up

Been a while since I've posted, figured I'm overdue. Not that I have that much to say.

Bonitis and the artists formerly known as DW3CP4 summed up the Hawks playoff experience fairly well -- rarely has a fan base felt so happy about a 34 point loss. I was at Game Six and it was arguably the greatest experience of my life, easily my greatest sporting experience. No matter what else we take away from sports, it's moments like Joe's threes in games 3 and 6 that remind us why we live and die with these teams. All those moments of suffering are washed away in those split seconds. If anything, that much suck really makes those moments more precious.

Speaking of the Hawks, Billy Knight was announced as "retiring" just a few hours ago. I can't think of a more embattled GM over the last couple of years since Knight. He's certainly been up and down: great job drafting Smith as late he did, good signing with Joe Johnson, and you certainly can't complain about trading your four worst players for Mike Bibby. However, his bads have been bad. I'm willing to ignore the Chris Paul pick (this has been played to death enough and, remember, we were one of three teams to skip over him -- Marvin was the pick, according to analysts. Drafting is not an exact science), however, not signing Smith (and, to a lesser extent, Childress) to extensions last summer was especially egregious. Our team took on a lot of cap by trading for Bibby, which is good, but done to make up for another Knight mistake (signing Speedy Claxton). Also, Shelden Williams at #5? I know what I said about drafting not being an exact science, but it's much easier to know a bust is going to be (Shelden) then predicting the super studs (Paul). That pick was simply inexcusable and he should have been fired a while ago for that, not signing Smith, and the Speed Claxton signing. Good thing he got Bibby before that.

Of course, the greatest thing Billy Knight tried to do never happened: firing Mike Woodson. Stay tuned, because there's no way this is resolved yet. I don't think Knight leaving is necessarily a great omen for Woodson. A new GM will want to make his impact immediately and, since we don't have a first round pick this year, I can't think of a better way for him to do that by hiring his own coach (which would also help us convince Josh Smith to stay, an added bonus). I'll let bonitis and Grundel go over the possible candidates later, but, suffice it to say, finding someone better than Woodson should not be hard.

Speaking of dying, it'd be nice if the Braves bullpen could stay healthy. However, I am still encouraged so far -- the offense is simply on fire and the starting pitching, despite going through injuries (Sigh. Smoltz.), still leads the NL in ERA. Sure, I don't expect Chipper to bat .400 or Jair Jurrjens to give us a quality start every time out, but, with this many players performing beyond expectations, it's a good sign that even when someone starts to slump (coughcough Kotsay coughocugh), there will be other players there to pick them up. It's still way too early to be scoreboard watching, however, the fact we are only two games back after blowing so many late games because of incompetent bullpen pitching (and managing of said bullpen) is very encouraging, since the bullpen will improve as guy's roles are established (Resop = only when we're winning by eight or more) and when we get some arms back.

Since apparently our tags are on "use-it-or-lose-it" status, I'd like to relate to you, dear readers, the story of Tantalus. Tantalus, a son of Zeus, invited the gods to dinner and, in order to impress them, cooked his own son. Sure, he was delicious, but, the gods were kind of pissed and they sent him to the Underworld where, for the rest of his life, he was doomed to a fate where he would always be reaching for food and water, only for it to move just out of reach as he got close. This si where we get the word "tantalizing" from -- something that looks good, but is beyond reach. This story of always trying and always failing (and also of false appearances) seems applicable to Greg Norton.

OK, that's kind of a loose fit, but, the "Greek Tragedy" label is too important to get lost in the shuffle.