Michigan J. Frog

I’ve finally figured out the Atlanta Hawks true identity; Michigan J. Frog. Do you remember the character from the Looney Tunes cartoons? We Hawks fans get to see the frog dance and sing beautifully when he’s only performing for us but when the spotlight is on him and it’s time to put on a show for the masses, all we get is…….. "Croak". Because of their consistent inconsistency during the Woodson/Drew era, the Hawks are truly a maddening team for us fans. The Hawks are a real enigma, more than any team in professional sports, let alone the NBA. Can you name any other team who’s considered a "good" team (likely to finish with a top 4 seed in the East) whose play is so unpredictable?

The single biggest indictment of the Hawks is after four plus years of being a solid playoff team, we fans still have no idea what to expect when we sit down to watch a Hawks game. Seriously, I know that we hope and think the Hawks will give a good performance every game but on any given night they will: (1) Come out like gangbusters focused and intense or (2) Come out looking like the walking dead, such has been their track record throughout both the Woodson and Drew regimes. This is a very difficult team to root for, especially since they’ve accumulated a winning record over the last 3 plus seasons. I maintain that the 2008 first round playoff series against the Celtics is the perfect microcosm for this bunch. Three outstanding exciting, energized performances at home and four dreadful blowouts on the road. (Side note: Looks like coach Drew has the road thing figured out but now we’re getting blown out at home. See what I mean? MADDENING!)

Above all, the most infuriating thing about being a fan of the Atlanta Hawks is despite all the dysfunction (incompetent coaching, apathetic and undedicated management, etc.) this team has real potential. But then again, I guess there are about 25 other NBA teams out there with fans that say "You know, if we only had a good coach and an owner with deep pockets we could win a championship."