A year to forget Atlanta sports teams had disappointing 2005-06 seasons Published on: 04/23/06 No sense in griping about 2006 yet; there's still eight months left. The fiscal year? Hundred and sixty days to go. Chinese calendar? We're not even three months into the Year of the Dog. Ah, but the 2005-06 sports year. Not too soon to sample that vintage. From upwind, perhaps. That time of judgment has arrived. OK, there are some college spring sports still out on the field. But they can't possibly crack this list of bummers and things that went bump in the night. And to think, they used to call this place Loserville. —————————— The buck drops here Joe Johnson just made $14 million in his first season as a Hawk, the big-ticket free agent helping the club to a 100 percent increase in victories. That would mean 26 wins instead of the 13 last year, or $1.08 million per win. That would also mean an attendance bump of 593 fans per night. That would also mean seven consecutive years of finishing out of the playoffs. That is not good. Even the forsaken Los Angeles Clippers made it this year. Mr. Paul, your table was ready They really seemed to want Andrew Bogut, until Milwaukee took him with the NBA's first overall pick. So then they really seemed to want Marvin Williams, a 6-foot-9 forward with great upside but who couldn't crack the starting lineup at North Carolina. But six months later, the Hawks still really seem to lack a point guard. The rest of the NBA thought enough of last summer's point guard crop to make them the third, fourth and fifth selections of the 2005 draft. Chris Paul was the fourth and proceeded to legitimize a dead Hornets franchise. And what do the Hawks really seem to need now? You say Blueland, I say, Wha? It is one thing to promise a place in the playoffs. It is another to come close enough that a city hung with that assurance until the schedule's final minute. And it was indeed good theater. But with the curtain down now, the Thrashers' revised resume still reads like this — NHL seasons: six; playoff appearances: zero. Try to Zamboni that one. Psst, buddy. Need a venue? The city that hosted the world just 10 years ago suddenly can't even bum a light from NASCAR? Atlanta's two highest-profile venue bids failed. The city came up with a $25 million offer (cash and other contributions) for the 2009 Super Bowl but lost out to Tampa. The city's bid to land NASCAR's Hall of Fame, finally upped to $92 million in mostly public funding, fell to Charlotte. "They decided to marry the girl next door," Gov. Sonny Purdue said. Yeah, she's the one hammering on the back right quarter-panel. Bye-bye, Blackbirds A legitimate goal of the Super Bowl wound up to be an 8-8 fan dance, after which Falcons quarterback Michael Vick said he was "lost." What is this? A TV reality show? In retrospect, the Falcons were brought down by injury, a failure to rise to the occasion, and by inconsistent tackling, which is only the first thing teams work on from the first day in pads. That's how you lose four of your last five. Lock, stock and wigwam On the market for some six months, the list of known potential buyers for the Braves includes a Colorado holding company, a local radio mogul, an Atlanta real estate magnate, and Sir Arthur Blank, who already has dropped more than half a billion dollars into the Falcons. Does anyone else have a funny feeling about this one? It's their party So, lots of states got left out. Like 18 of them. Like Idaho and Hawaii and Nebraska and Maine. But which of those sent a team to the Final Four just two years before? None. Georgia — the whole state — was overlooked by the NCAA men's selection committee, and it wasn't a close call. Sure, it's happened before, but not one year after a state school went to the title game the year before. In the meantime, bow deep to the five states that border Georgia. They sent 13 schools to the big dance, including a national champion. Fun on the Flats Georgia Tech beat Auburn at Auburn, beat Miami at Miami and wound up in the ACC's default bowl (the Emerald), where the Jackets lost by four touchdowns to Utah, which then accused them of quitting. Therein was included a big-time marijuana bust — defensive back Reuben Houston got nine months' probation — and curious comments by the athletics director about proper expectations for the football program. After telling alumni they can't expect 10-win seasons every fall, AD Dave Braine shortly announced his retirement, but not before giving coach Chan Gailey a contract through 2010. Gailey's record at Tech is 28-21. The program is about to go on NCAA probation for the first time in history. Is everybody happy? And in this corner, wearing the litigious trunks . . . Has professional sport ever seen a more embarrassing saga than Steve Belkin's suit against the Thrashers-Hawks ownership group? Well, probably, yeah. But there isn't a pro league that isn't keeping a scorecard on this one. While everyone made nice when Atlanta Spirit LLC was formed to buy the franchises, the perils of multi-member consortia have never been so fully displayed. Picture of the year: Belkin's courtroom effort to shake Hawks GM Billy Knight's hand; Knight looking at it like it's a dead opossum. Everyone join hands Perhaps the most noteworthy development to come from any of these chapters is job security. Yes, the Falcons fired quarterbacks coach Mike Johnson. At Tech, recruiting director David Wilson and tight ends coach Tommie Robinson resigned. But that's about it. Everybody else is being invited back to try it again. No wonder people keep moving to Georgia. 资料来源 http://www.ajc.com/hawks/content/sports/stories/0423badyear.html --

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