Just WOW! (Levenson will sell Hawks)

[thecampster]

And now for the good news. Less than 1 month until training camp, when we can all stop caring what color people are and focus on Al's health, Teague's progression and whether or not Payne will be groomed to contribute at center.

 

Oh and I guess I'll need a local bodyguard to go to games now since I'm obviously too scared to go.

Edited September 8, 2014 by thecampster

[Wretch]

Now that I'm caught up...

Man there are so many things that I want to say in one sentence...lol

 

As a black man, I take NO OFFENSE to anything Levenson said.  He always struck me as a nice dude (Didn't he come on the Squawk and and offer us some discounted tickets once?).  Honestly, there's too much politically correctness/thought policing going around. The Internet has seriously brought on unprecedented levels of high horse-riding and nosiness and they make terrible combination.  There's really nothing to see here but a dude shooting from the hip and trying to come up with ways to improve his business.  

 

What stands out to me though...

• You don't just casually toss this kind of conversation around with just any ol' body.  He was comfortable with this audience and you are very safe making some assumptions about the others involved.
• There are some very specific reasons for our attendance woes, crappy sales, and the "crowd" that shows up and it's disturbing to see the kind of "thinking" that goes on at the top of our franchise.  It doesn't take a genius to connect all the dots.  This shit right here is so basic...that I'm just...just...  I'm just dumbfounded that we're even having the conversation.  It's like...
  
  "Why do I get this buzzing sensation when I do that?"
  Because you're sticking a damn fork in a power outlet.
  
  "How do i make it stop."
  Don't stick that fork in there.
  
  "What if I..."
  No.
  
  Get a clue man!  Nobody is coming to see 'Sap and The Lunch Pail Gang on tour for their 40th consecutive failure to even sniff the semi-finals.  Nobody cares about the moral victories and silver linings.  Sports is about competition and winning the big contests.  You ain't doint that...nobody cares.  You fail to do it for decades...?  Sweet mercy people...is it so hard to figure out?
  
  I mean damn man...if you're this guy:
  
  
  They don't want your damn autograph.  They're not buying your action figure in the store...  You don't even have one!  So what kind of ham-licking, jack knob, dorkweed do you look like...running around asking why nobody wants your T-Shirt?
  
  This is the guy the fans come to see:
  

There is but one rule of thumb to follow in order to get attention (fans, sponsors, tickets, merchandise, etc.) in competitive sports:  KICK. ASS. [Optional: Take names]

 

"Derp.  Who'da thunkit?"

 

Our ownership group is out of touch with the game and the fans.  They have purposefully built a middling but high character and blue-collar team...and we all know why.  They're f'n stupid.  Seriously...we might have THE most bumbling, incompetent, out of touch ownership group in the history of sports...and these guys hand picked Danny Ferry.

I am so done with these dudes....

[RWF]

• Get a clue man!  Nobody is coming to see 'Sap and The Lunch Pail Gang on tour for their 40th consecutive failure to even sniff the semi-finals.  Nobody cares about the moral victories and silver linings.  Sports is about competition and winning the big contests.  You ain't doint that...nobody cares.  You fail to do it for decades...?  Sweet mercy people...is it so hard to figure out?

 

Pretty much sums up the Hawks and especially the NBA. You need stars and you need to win.

[JTB]

This is just getting nuts...I'm very close to not caring about this upcoming season. We have a disaster at ownership obviously even with Levenson leaving there's obviously many problems.

I don't know what to believe with ferry in all of this...can the asg just drop the hawks and someone else buys them and keep them Atlanta!

Goodness how can fans be excited about the season and we have a fu**ed up front office including owner(S)

[JTB]

Now that I'm caught up...

Man there are so many things that I want to say in one sentence...lol

As a black man, I take NO OFFENSE to anything Levenson said. He always struck me as a nice dude (Didn't he come on the Squawk and and offer us some discounted tickets once?). Honestly, there's too much politically correctness/thought policing going around. The Internet has seriously brought on unprecedented levels of high horse-riding and nosiness and they make terrible combination. There's really nothing to see here but a dude shooting from the hip and trying to come up with ways to improve his business.

What stands out to me though...

• You don't just casually toss this kind of conversation around with just any ol' body. He was comfortable with this audience and you are very safe making some assumptions about the others involved.
• There are some very specific reasons for our attendance woes, crappy sales, and the "crowd" that shows up and it's disturbing to see the kind of "thinking" that goes on at the top of our franchise. It doesn't take a genius to connect all the dots. This shit right here is so basic...that I'm just...just... I'm just dumbfounded that we're even having the conversation. It's like...

  "Why do I get this buzzing sensation when I do that?"

  Because you're sticking a damn fork in a power outlet.

  "How do i make it stop."

  Don't stick that fork in there.

  "What if I..."

  No.

  Get a clue man! Nobody is coming to see 'Sap and The Lunch Pail Gang on tour for their 40th consecutive failure to even sniff the semi-finals. Nobody cares about the moral victories and silver linings. Sports is about competition and winning the big contests. You ain't doint that...nobody cares. You fail to do it for decades...? Sweet mercy people...is it so hard to figure out?

  I mean damn man...if you're this guy:

  

  They don't want your damn autograph. They're not buying your action figure in the store... You don't even have one! So what kind of ham-licking, jack knob, dorkweed do you look like...running around asking why nobody wants your T-Shirt?

  This is the guy the fans come to see:

  

There is but one rule of thumb to follow in order to get attention (fans, sponsors, tickets, merchandise, etc.) in competitive sports: KICK. ASS. [Optional: Take names]

"Derp. Who'da thunkit?"

Our ownership group is out of touch with the game and the fans. They have purposefully built a middling but high character and blue-collar team...and we all know why. They're f'n stupid. Seriously...we might have THE most bumbling, incompetent, out of touch ownership group in the history of sports...and these guys hand picked Danny Ferry.

I am so done with these dudes....

Good write up man....obviously he was comfortable with stating all if this like you said and it makes me wonder if the other owners went along with his plans or was planning to do it.

Everything is just out of whack now. We need to blow up the whole team and start over from the ownership down

[MaceCase]

Reading the CViv piece with the updated Koonin quotes makes me believe that the "rather be a bigot than a hypocrite" comment is on the money.

 

It seems like the events went like this:

 

Danny:  Well this fella that I'd like to sign is quoted as being one "________"!

Bruce: Now Danny I feel that type of language is absolutely uncalled for in a NBA front office!  I'll have it made sure that you and no one else in this management has ever used that type of remark before or ever again!

Danny: But.......

Law firm:  Mr. Levenson we've completed our interviews and our searches through your records and found....this puzzling correspondence written by......you.

Bruce: Oh..........bullocks.

 

Levenson is like Ralph Fiennes' character in "In Bruges" muttering "you've got to stick to your principles" to himself before he pressed send on his phone call to Silver.

[lethalweapon3]

As another possibly unfortunate matter of awful timing, when is the official press conference and announcement scheduled for this guy?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvCMh3qRFJM

 

He's still not showing up on the Hawks roster. That presser oughta be fun now.

 

~lw3

[Jody23]

I wonder will agents and players insist on knowing what Ferry said and why he said it when he read that report. For him to do that in a professional setting right after the Sterling saga pretty much says he's on the same bumbling level with the rest of the ASG. I wonder how free agents and their agents will view Ferry now.

[lethalweapon3]

In terms of resultant media freakout, is this (announcement two hours before Sunday Opening-Day Football, now Racism trumped by RayRicism in time for the morning news cycle), the best timing an NBA team has ever had announcing their screwup?

 

~lw3

[Guest]

Just when you thought some ownership stability might be on the horizon - this cluster#&@k rears it's ugly head.

[Guest]

In the wake of the announcement, the Hawks reached out to their players to explain the developments. In general, sources said, the players were upset by Levenson's comments. He was well liked by players and in the league as a whole. ESPN.com

Atlanta Hawks, Bruce Levenson

- See more at: http://hoopshype.com/rumors.htm#sthash.yEveNwE2.dpuf

[Jody23]

Listening to Windhorst on XM86 and he's says one of the other owners (not Levenson) was offended by the statement Ferry made, which prompted the independent review of the organization.

[Guest]

Listening to Windhorst on XM86 and he's says one of the other owners (not Levenson) was offended by the statement Ferry made, which prompted the independent review of the organization.

 

Heard the same.  Nice to hear some Hawks-talk on the drive in, huh?  Too bad the subject matter was so ridiculous.

 

It's starting to make sense now, especially how Windhorst described the still dysfunctional nature of the A$Group.

 

Kinda makes me think whatever Ferry said probably wasn't as "offensive" as it's being described.  Probably something borderline that the other owner saw as a chance to make noise.

 

The most interesting thing Windhorst said was that there are 5-6 ownership groups ready to pounce and that, if the NBA wanted to, they could sell the Hawks by this afternoon.  Don't know if that's good or bad considering I'm sure most of those groups are looking to move a team somewhere (cough *Seattle* cough).

[Bahamut]

I would love to see a Southerner lead the country in repairing some of these racial issues. That kind of courage and vision despite obstacles is decidedly Southern, if you ask me.

 

[Guest]

Just when you thought some ownership stability might be on the horizon - this cluster#&@k rears it's ugly head.

 

Wait, you said 'stability' when referring to the A$G?

 

Clooney says, "What!?   Where?!"

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Well I never had problems with Hawks games...but I do understand why the Braves got out of "downtown".  Me and a buddy of mine go down on MARTA a few times a year and walk the rest of the way to the game (he's a big guy) and we still got pestered by the "young men" asking for smokes and the "Reverends" asking for money for their "church".

 

You can say what you want but it has been a big problem in Atlanta.  Solid people (in general - no matter race) don't want to be pestered for "car insurance" after they pay for parking - and they aren't interested in getting begged off of on the way to the game.

 

That's exactly why the Braves will be in Cobb County.  That stuff won't happen there.

 

Not saying it's the way it should be...but it's the way it will be...and when I go to a Braves game in Cobb County I won't have to think about taking an extra pack of smokes to give out "loosies" along the way for security reasons.

But you will be paying more from everything from parking to concessions to ticket prices. Then Braves fans will complain about that.

[NineOhTheRino]

I think after all the smoke clears many will think about Ferry differently.  So if you thought he had trouble connecting with top talent before this...well I don't see that improving after this. 

[Bahamut]

Levenson just realized that being a racist is a billion dollar windfall in the current NBA......too bad he had to go digging through 2 years worth of spam, angry letters from Sothron, and leaked celebrity nudes to "prove" it but I guess he needed a legitimate out after his recent comments of being comitted to not selling. The man must rather be considered a bigot than a hypocrite but he's surely looking to get paid either way.

Bingo.

[lethalweapon3]

Would love to know how Billy Knight's breakfast is going this morning.

 

~lw3

[Guest]

 Is there a link to the interview? I'd like to hear it, or at least get a summary of what was said.

 

Not sure.  I know they replay the show back-to-back but I don't know if there's a podcast or w/e available.

 

I only heard about half of it but here's what I remember (most of this isn't new to us but they asked him to recap):

 

- FAgency meeting took place a few weeks post-Sterling ban so the antennas were up regarding insensitive speech.

- Ferry read from a background report prepared by a party either outside the organization or outside the room.

- Owner (not Levinson (sp?)) present in the room was offended by something read from the report (i.e. not Ferry's words, was just reading).

- Owner called for a full investigation which turned up the email in question.

- Said, as we all seem to agree, it was just a poorly handled/worded marketing discussion but Levinson wanted to "get in front of it" and decided to sell.

- Windhorst stated there are multiple (5-6) groups just waiting to pounce on an opportunity to own a team.

- Host asked why he decided to sell and not fight it (since this was probably survivable).  Windhorst reiterated that Levinson felt the process would be too damaging regardless of if he was able to survive or not.

 

Had to get out of the car at that point.  Sorry most of that isn't new to us.

 

The hosts seem to feel this will further depress the Hawks' ability to land FAgents.  Yay.