A lot of rumors floating around about AI becoming a Hawk. I’m not so sure he’s what we need. IMO, he takes such a beating that he’s not going to be around too much longer. I’m surprised that he doesn’t miss more games than he does.

I don’t know what to think about his supposed attitude issues; he still plays hard and produces but i’m not sure if he’ll be what the Hawks need for the long-term in terms of helping along the younger players.

Is anyone else really happy to see Rasheed Wallace suck on his dumbass victory guarantee? The Pistons didn’t get on my nerves that much before, but now everytime I look up, they are always talking about what a great team they are. Or maybe it’s just Rasheed that got on my nerves. At least give the Cavs some credit.

Also, there is that stupid ass chant that I heard at the Hawks game: “Pisssssstons Baassketballl” (or however you’d do that phonetically). The Hawks “Rise Up” slogan is much better.

Christina’s neighbor had tickets to last night’s game against the Marlins. Good seats - Lexus level. Good game too. The Braves got 2 runs early, and Smoltz was cruising to a complete game shut out, but things went bad in the 8th and the fish got 3 runs. The braves were able to manufacture a run in the bottom of the 9th to push it extra innings. We stayed through the 10th, but it was getting late. I should have known better after Saturday. After the Braves gave up a run in the top of the 11th, Chipper hits a 3 run walk-off to win it. I was on the connector at the time. Oh well.

…which one of you guys shot this video?

I decided to use my “I’m 800 miles away from the team” expertise to grade the players and coach on the results they posted this year. Doubling their win total was great but even following games on espn.com can be frustrating as they dropped plenty of games in the 4th quarter which certainly seemed winnable. I hope you guys also publish grades as I’d like to see what everyone else thinks of this year’s team.

-Joe Johnson B I wasn’t high on the SF becomes PG thing but it seemed to work out in the second half pretty well.
-Al Harrington C+ Nice leader for the youngsters but too many guys at his position dictate that he should be traded.
-Zaza Pachulia C+ After a nice start, he seemed to fizzle as the season went on, possibly due to the amount of time he played in the first half.
-Josh Smith B- Great second half, particularly the last 20 games. Where was he before the All-Star break?
-T. Lue C- I think we need improvement at this position.
-Josh Childress C The best thing about not getting the Hawks games here is that his jump shot does not make my dreams/nightmares.
-Salim Stoudamire C- He just got suspended for insubordination again….good pick for where they got him.
-Marvin Williams C+ The debate over his pick will reign but Marv showed more confidence over the course of the year. He also mixed in much needed rebounding so I’m optimistic about next year’s possibilities for him.
-A. Grundy D Little impact=low grade
-Royal Ivey C+ Hawks seemed to improve when he was placed in the starting lineup but I’m not sure that it was due to him.
-Tony Delk A+ So he’s good enough for reserve minutes with Detroit but he couldn’t play for the Hawks? I undertsand the “play the kids” philosophy but surely when Salim was suspended for the 9th time, Tony D. deserved a shot.
-E. Batista C Not much of an impact.
-J. Edwards D The VP did not step up as needed after Collier’s death. I’m hoping he doesn’t make another run for Pres on the Hawk’s dime.
-Donta Smith C Minimal impact.
-John Thomas B- This is the same guy on the Nets right? At least he made the playoffs….
-Mike Woodson C+ Good improvement but we are strved for a playoff team. Better make it happen or come very close this season or he will be assisting Lon Kruger at UNLV.

This past Saturday night, Mike, Ashley, Christina, and I went to the Braves v Nationals game. We had seats in the 400s. Our tickets were in row 11, but the front row was open. We were just behind the right field foul pole over the grounds crew entrance. They were actually great seats with a good view of the field. Our experience was soured though by a bunch of privileged Dunwoody kids across the aisle from us. They were drunk and being loud and obnoxious. All they did was try and get everyone to do the wave. They were leaning over the railing endangering themselves and the people below. Christina, thanks to much prodding by Mike and Ashley, went to report them to security. A cop came to check it out, but the sensed they were being watched and settled down. A little while later a couple of guys from the lower section came with a security guard to report them for throwing peanuts. They were obviously drunk and underaged so I’m guessing they may have been arrested. It was some excitement in an otherwise boring game. Well, there was that walk-off grand slam by Francour in the bottom of the 9th, but the girls had gotten cold, so we left early and missed it.

On a side note, It’s official, the Tech v Notre Dame game will be prime time Sep. 2nd, and Game Day will be broadcasting from Tech. Anyone want to lay some money on how long it will take Todd and his anti-Chan chants and signs to get in a fight with a fellow Tech fan?

So I was at the Yankees/Rangers game last night (the crazy one that the Yanks ended up winning on a Posada homer in the bottom of the ninth; today’s NY Daily News headline: The Posada Adventure). Anyway, we got to sit on the field in the front row thanks to some tickets from adidas. A-Rod came up in the 5th and drilled a foul ball at us that had everyone in our section ducking. I stuck my hand up, knocked it down and came up with the ball (and a huge welt on my wrist).

But this got me thinking…anyone else every caught a foul ball? I think Todd has, right?

Before Steve ruins his Al Harrington bobblehead by sticking it you-know-where, thought I’d mention that I ran into Harrington this weekend. He was in Jersey at the Heat/Nets game three on Friday night. He said he was going out in Manhattan after the game with Antoine Walker, which seems like quite a wrecking crew.

He’s been in Jersey for a while (where’s he originally from) and has been working out by boxing. “Four or five rounds a day,” he said.

I asked Al where he was going to end up next year, and he said, “I gotta get back to this, man,” pointing out at the floor. I didn’t know what he meant because the game was over and the floor was empty. “Playoffs, man, gotta get back to the playoffs.”

So I’m guessing that means he doesn’t want to come back to ATL. I’ve heard Al wants a max contract, but the only teams with a lot of money are Atlanta and Chicago, and I’m guessing neither team wants him.

Just got my Josh Smith and Al Harrington Bobbleheads in the mail. They’re from last season. $35 for the two of them including shipping. I don’t notice any difference in their shades, Todd.

Thought we should give some props to Hawks rook Marvin Williams, who is going to be named to the All-Rookie second team today. I didn’t see him in person as much as a lot of you, but he seemed to come along really well as the season progressed.