CALLING YOU OUT! - THE ATLANTA HAWKS

by WCT, The Ship of Fools

“Calling You Out!” is a periodic segment where WCT takes people to task for irresponsible journalism, foolhardy activities, or just general douchebaggery. Nothing is sacred, no one is spared, watch your ass mister! You could be next!

Today - The sports equivalent of a cock-tease

As a sports fan, I do not think I have ever looked forward to a NBA playoff game (that didn't involve my hometown team) more than I looked forward to yesterday's Atlanta-Boston game 7. By that same token, I don't think that I have ever been more dissappointed by the outcome of a game 7, in any playoff series, in any sport, ever.

For the first time, seemingly ever, the NBA had an NCAA-style Cinderella story. For a split second, we thought that maybe a 37-win team that most most casual fans couldn't name three players on, could eliminate a team that flirted with a 70-win season. It looked like a scrappy young team that was playing on all emotion, could knock off the most storied franchise in basketball and their three bona fide superstars.

And then, that happened. Atlanta, as I'm sure you know by now, was destroyed by the Celtics and eliminated from the playoffs in game 7. What the hell was that? Friday night the Hawks were riding a wave of emotion and playing like they had nothing to lose. Sunday, they looked like an overmatched, below-.500 team that didn't deserve to be in the playoffs. Friday, the Hawks were hitting clutch shots down the stretch, pushing the Celtics to the brink, and making the Celts - and legions of obnoxious Boston fans - very nervous. Sunday, they were crapping the bed and scoring 26 points in the first half (!) and 43 points through three quarters (!!) on the way to a 34-point pistol-whipping.

I realize that expecting Atlanta to beat the Celtics may have been too much to expect, but after all of the talk, and anticipation, and build-up that comes with a game 7, is it too much to ask that they be mildly competitive? A loss after all of this would have been somewhat pallatable if they at least performed well and carried themselves like a team that belonged on the same court as Boston, but the way they behaved was disgraceful. Especially Marvin Williams who, with the Celtics already ahead 51-28 in the third quarter (no, that is not a mistake, Atlanta really did have twenty-eight points 3 minutes into the third quarter) commited one of the dirtiest flagrant fouls I have ever seen, and was ejected from the game. (thanks to Awful Announcing for the video)

So after all of that, there will be no cinderella story, no 8 over 1 upset, and no Boston heartache (not yet anyway). There will also be no easy road for my Cavs through Atlanta to the Eastern Conference Finals, but that's neither here nor there. Instead, Boston moves on, just as everyone thought they would, and Atlanta goes back to their rightful place in basketball obscurity. What a tease.