Thrasherville will not soon forget what Atlanta Spirit did here
On October 5, 2007, opening night of the Thrashers 2007-8 season, Atlanta Spirit co-owner Rutherford Seydel stood by as the 2006-07 Southeast Division Championship banner was raised to the rafters of Philips Arena. He took control of the microphone as it was hoisted up and made a promise, a vow, to the 18,707 fans that had packed into the arena…and everyone else in the greater Thrasherville community. He assured us that night that he and the other co-owners would do everything in their power to bring a Stanley Cup championship to Atlanta.
I remember this event very well. My wife and I were sitting in section 319 along with our two sons. Just six months prior we were in 316 for the first playoff game in team history, feeling the upper deck shake when Eric Belanger scored the first ever post season goal for the Thrashers.
Rutherford Seydel stands by as the 2006-07 Southest Championship banner is raised to the rafters of Philips Arena. That night he promised the AS, LLC would do everything in their power to bring a winning team to Atlanta. It was a promise that went unfulfilled (AJC/Pouya Dianat)
Unfortunately, Seydel’s promise was not only to go unfulfilled but as we now painfully realize, icing a competitive NHL team was in fact never the intent of the Atlanta Spirit, LLC, (Lies, Lawsuits and Contempt). His pledge that night was nothing more than hollow words uttered by one-eighth of an ownership group that never planned to put forth any effort whatsoever to back them up.
Just a few days after that opening night, I posted my first “Ice Man” blog on this site. By then we had had already seen the team drop the first two games and were on their way to six straight defeats to start the season. But before game number seven was played they fired head coach Bob Hartley…the only coach ever to take them to the playoffs and the only one ever to lead them to beyond 83 points in a single season.
I wrote a blog that day saying “good-bye and thank you” to coach Hartley…a man I had gotten to know and respect while my oldest son attended a couple of his hockey camps. In that opine, I indicated that the only true measure to gauge whether or not the move was the correct one or not would me determined by how the team fared afterwards and by who he was replaced with.
Of course, the person that finished the season behind the bench was general manager Don Waddell, whom so many felt should have been the man departing Thrasherville instead of Hartley. The team finished that campaign with a record of 34-40-8 for 76 points. They followed that up with another 76 effort during John Anderson’s first year as head coach then 83 in his second and least season. Last year they posted 80 points with coach Craig Ramsay at the helm.
I’ll leave it to you to determine whether or not the move to replace Hartley was a success or not. I think you all know where I stand on that issue.
AS, LLC: The Roots That Caused The Tree To Rot
While I understood that there were serious issues facing this Thrashers organization the day Waddell announced Hartley’s departure, what I didn’t quite yet have a firm grip on back then…something every Thrashers fan should have now…was just how deep the roots of the true problem with this organization ran. It was easy to point a finger at the only GM the franchise had ever had…really easy… but the fact of the matter was that the tips of the root system that was rotting the Thrashers tree forked in eight other directions…one to each of the partners that made up the Atlanta Spirit, LLC.
Bob Hartley will be remembered as the only head coach to lead the Thrashers to a playoff berth. Thanks to the AS, LLC's lack of commitment to success, the team never came close to that level of play after he was released (AJC file photo)
From the day they took over the Thrashers, Hawks and Philips Arena, the AS, LCC members admitted they were not hockey people. But over the course of time we began to understand that they not only had no clue what they were doing as owners of an NHL franchise, they actually had a certain disdain for the them as well as their the fans. As such, they were treated as unwanted stepchildren.
The Spirit Boys took over at a time in the Thrashers history when the team was moving up in the hockey world. In the years leading up to that banner-raising night in the fall of ‘07, they had gone from 74 to 78 to 90 then to 97 points and a playoff spot. This team had no issues putting butts in seats on a regular basis back then…even to the point where there was talk on this blog about a “sellout jinx” as they had a habit of playing below par in front of a full Philips Arena.
It was a “jinx” the Spirit Clowns made certain we would not have to worry too much about in seasons to come.
A packed Philips Arena was not much of a worry here the past four years because Levenson, Seydel and the rest of the Great Octocluster choked off funds needed to keep top-tier talent, the main cause of the organization’s Player Retention Deficit Disorder. First it was Marion Hossa departing Atlanta at the trade deadline of 2008 along with Pascal Dupuis…who also scored for the Thrashers in their first playoff game…for such superstars as Erik Christensen, Colby Armstrong, Angelo Esposito and a draft pick. The revolving talent door continued to spin leading up to the departure of Ilya Kovalchuk two winters ago.
Ilya Kovalchuk departed Thrasherville in February of 2010. He was not alone in understanding the owners of the team he played for made playing here futile. It is they who should hang their heads in shame (AJC/Curtis Compton)
Hossa, Kovalchuk and others departed Thrasherville for pretty much the same reason…the owners lacked a commitment to do what was necessary to build a successful franchise here and so they decided to take their talents elsewhere.
All the while, the Octocluster remained distracted with their years-long legal battles amongst themselves.
As if this wasn’t enough to turn Atlanta area hockey fans sour to their product, co-owner Bruce Levenson…the person the rest of the Spiriteers deemed the most qualified to represent the hockey portion of their little investment…employed such PR skills as calling a season ticket holder a “smart ass” during a town hall meeting. Later in that gathering when he was asked by another paying customer about rising ticket prices at the same time the on-ice talent level was being lowered, Levenson said we would have to just “deal with it”.
Insulting the people who they expect to shell out major coin to enjoy their product…yup, Brucie boy, that’s an excellent way to endear yourself and your team to the local sports community.
The Atlanta Spirit ‘Disposes’ Of Its Unwanted Stepchild
But today, the most dysfunctional and pathetic ownership cluster flop ever to stain the fabric of professional sports delivered their final insult…final slap to the face…to those who supported and followed the Thrashers. After running the team straight into the ground…after running the team at bargain basement levels at or just over the league minimum…after lying to the fan base for six years about their desire to “dispose” of the team…after displaying a contemptuous demeanor towards you and I…the seven remaining co-owners collected their millions and spirited the Thrashers off to Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Whether Don Waddell was coaching from the bench or performing GM duties, the team he was responsible for placing on the ice was often times simply too painful to watch...for the fans and the players (AJC/Curtis Compton)
They will say that they had no choice…that there was not enough fan support to attract buyers intending to keep the team here. They’ll once again point the same finger of blame that was wagged in our faces last winter when Michael Gearon, Jr announced their desperate attempts to unload the team. They’ll say and do all of this, that is, if and when they acquire the intestinal fortitude to publicly answer such questions.
But to the notion that the fans here are to blame for what the Atlanta Spirit did to hockey in Atlanta I have but two words:
Bravo Sierra.
The responsibility rest squarely on the shoulders of the giant steaming pile of EPIC FAIL known as the AS, LLC…and I will toss in their willing accomplice Don Waddell, who for seven years merely serviced this team at bare bone levels and met payroll.
Unfortunately, none of this does anything to heal the pain that is felt by Atlanta hockey fans…and sports fans in general. You know what happened here, although so many across the continent may not. Anger, frustration…these words do not do justice for what we feel towards the individuals who inflicted this upon us.
One day I’d like someone to ask them all if they felt any shame for the damage they inflicted here…damage that could not have been any worse if they deliberately intended to do so. But feeling shame is a quality reserved for souls that actually give a damn about anyone outside of their own personal spheres. So looking for such with this group would be a bit much to ask.
And Finally…A Vow To You, Atlanta Spirit Boys
And so on behalf of the good people of Thrasherville, I would like to address the following to those directly responsible for this disaster…Mr. Seydel, Mr. Levenson, Michael Gearon Sr., Michael Gearon Jr., Ed Peskowitz, Todd Foreman, Beau Turner and even Steve Belkin.
The beginning of the end of the Thrashers. The Atlanta Spirit, LLC take over as owners in 2004 (AJC Staff Photo)
In the spirit of that now-infamous “vow” from Rutherford Seydel to fans on October 5, 2007, I now make a solemn pledge to each and every one of you.
We will not forget you and we will not forget your names. But most importantly we will not forget what you collectively did to destroy NHL hockey in Atlanta, nor shall we forgive you for your actions.
It is a promise…a pledge…that I am quite certain will be kept far better than the one you made to us that night when the one-and-only Thrashers championship banner made it’s way up from the ice of Philips Arena.
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516 comments Add your comment
Sean Grace
May 31st, 2011
8:48 pm
I will never enter the doors of Phillips again if it results in the AS LLC earning a dime. Heartbroken
Your Loyal Servant,
Sean G
Leave Dave Alone
May 31st, 2011
8:50 pm
Dave and others hit the nail on the head. Atlanta is not a hockey town. I was a three year STH and was amazed at the lack of interest. Instead of blaming everyone else the fans need to accept some blame too. During our November/December run we were lucky to have 10k in the seats. Never mind announced crowds..I’m talking butts in the seats. Even during our brief stay in 1st place in the SE no local interst was to be found. So all you sheep just look in the mirror and ask if you did everything possible to keep them here. Keep blaming the owners, the media, and Bettman but the true villians lie in these threads who now have come out of the woodwork.
Buck Belew
May 31st, 2011
8:50 pm
The biggest story in sports for Atlanta and I talked Braves, NBA and Bulldawgs instead. Well, we still are the voice of the Spirit group, eh hawks…….. can’t bite the hand that feeds you. If you want to dump on the Spirit group, go to 790 the Zone.
What Now
May 31st, 2011
8:51 pm
I hate to see Dan Kamal go. The voice of the Knights & Thrashers.
Dave
May 31st, 2011
8:52 pm
Farm Boy. No I am originally from Isanti and that is farm boy land so get it right. And no the North Stars did not leave because of empty seats. Averaged 14,500 the last year.
The Owner Norm Green was fondling his secretary who’s dad is a politician in Minnesota and moved the team. Get your facts straight. Norm Green was a bigger idiot than whoever is moving the Thrashers. There was no reason to move the North Stars except he would have been in jail if he didnt pay her and not let it go to press. The people in the know are in the know.
OmniFan
May 31st, 2011
8:52 pm
Some random thoughts on a very sad day in what was Thrasherville:
1. Let me join all the other viewers and participants in this blog in thanking you, Rawhide, for a job more than well done. You have been the best hockey writer in Atlanta for that time and treated us all to national caliber writing. Where’d you learn to get so good? I regret never having taken the opportunity at Philips to tell you that one on one. Maybe at Gwinnett?
2. Without singling anyone out, as much as the team, I will miss the community of characters who have frequented this site over the years. I hope we can all find another forum to talk hockey and continue the debates that were a daily delight.
3. Is it time for a few last over:unders? Who will be the last former Thrasher on the Winnipeg roster? Given geography, will place votes for Kane or Buff. When the season ends in April 2012, how many ex-Thrash will still be playing for Winnipeg? 10-12 sounds like a good guess. Will DWads still be with the organization by draft day? Smart money would say no. Open season.
4. Re:attendance and the $20M losses ASG claims…It would take almost 10,000 additional butts in the seats for 41 dates at $50 a head to close the gap. Given attendance of 13,500 at Phillips that’s impossible. It would take 41 Philips sellouts at $100@ (second only to Tronna) to cover the difference. And that’s with the bargain basement team salary. So, what what missing in ASG’s business model? What potential revenue stream could have closed the gap? Or is this a sign that most of the league will go belly up in the near future?
Hope we can keep dialoging somewhere but if not, it’s been a singular pleasure. Y’all be well.
Zed
May 31st, 2011
8:55 pm
I may be happy about a 7th team in Canada but I’m sad that they had to be the Thrashers. I’ve been to see the Thrashers play in Atlanta and I was pleasantly surprised at how knowledgeable the fans were. It should have been the Coyotes and it should have been Hamilton, Southern Ontario needs a team besides the Leafs. A good portion of fans in Canada thank you for your support of hockey over the years and we sympathize with you. We know what’s it’s like to be treated like dirt by the NHL.
We can all agree on one thing and that is our disdain for Gary “the tiny weasel-like commissioner” Bettman. The last thing he ever wanted to do was have another team in Canada so I hope this stings him as bad as it’s making you feel right now.
What Now
May 31st, 2011
8:57 pm
Let’s lay some of the blame on 680 the Fan. As the flagship station, they did a poor job promoting hockey. No hockey call in show, no update scores during the playoffs, no breaking down the teams like they do for the other sports …….. they didn’t help.
Dave
May 31st, 2011
8:58 pm
The NHL Playoffs this year have been the highest watched in a long time and the most entertaining. I hope Atlanta gets another team in a few years. Maybe Phoenix will move there. Phoenix is the worst team every year in the NHL. They are our Clippers. The high school in Anoka Minnesota uses the Atlanta Flames A for their main logo. Now that is a cool jersey and logo.
JT
May 31st, 2011
9:08 pm
People like RedHouseCat disgust me. The next Detroit, really? As bad as it is it’s hockey, we didn’t lose the NFL or MLB, in fact they thrive here. It was the worst economic climate in 70 years and Atlanta is STILL GROWING, just slower. Still better than Florida or the rust belt which are both losing people in droves. We have at worst the 3rd best corporate climate in America, and we have a diverse and young economy it would be nearly impossible for us to be Detroit. Nobody is going to say hmm… I was going to move to Atlanta but the hockey team left. If that’s how you make life decisions you have bigger problems. The MLS will be here soon and there will be owners who know how to build a following and the Thrashers will be a distant memory. Let’s not for get the Flames left in a bad economy in the 80s then the rest of the decade all Metro Atlanta did was grow faster than any human settlement in the history of earth, statistically faster than ancient Rome. Your logic is short sided and spiteful, do us a favor and stay OTP.
World Be Free
May 31st, 2011
9:08 pm
Rawhide, as usual you hit the nail square in the middle with this blog. In fact I can’t ever remember you being off base on any of your posts. A job well done my friend, again.
If this experience doesn’t turn you off to professional sports, nothing will. I can’t even explain to my Buffalo friends what it has been like under the current management, cuz you would have had to be here to experience it for yourselves. It’s like any traumic experience, except this one has had it’s fair share of highs too. Mainly the people on this blog and the fans that I have met along the way. Even Sage of Bluesland!
Mayor Kasim Reed needs to be taking some major hits for this one. Less people downtown, at games, eteries and hotels is not good for the city.
Joe
May 31st, 2011
9:14 pm
Detroit Red Wing fan here, came to some games only to laugh at the putrid display of fan support by Thrasher fans. I can only say that it’s pretty sad that we don’t have an arena like Phillips in Detroit. Why did you people allow this to happen? Very embarrassing Atlantans, very embarrassing. I read all your comments and can’t believe how you blame everyone else but yourselves. Read the Winnipeg Free Press, its all hockey and this won’t even be a story in Atlanta tomorrow. How sad your city is.
World Be Free
May 31st, 2011
9:16 pm
On the mayor again-
Seriously folks, I know too many people who are going to be hurt personally by this situation. For a mayor to not give a heck is a basic failure of duties. Do we have his home address too?
JT
May 31st, 2011
9:22 pm
No Joe, we just aren’t a hockey town believe it or not yank, there are other sports. The Braves have time and again shown the ability to energize this city like few teams can and Saturdays in the fall are like holiday. Not liking one sports doesn’t make us a bad sports town, now stay up north please.
Duston
May 31st, 2011
9:23 pm
I was never really into hockey, but always enjoyed going to Thrasher games when I was back in Atlanta on leave from the military. It was always something I look forward to. You will be missed Thrashers!! F THE HAWKS!!!
Flagstaff
May 31st, 2011
9:34 pm
Can we get Tim’s 9:18 spam deleted, please?
This Gets Old!
May 31st, 2011
9:38 pm
Dave I have my facts straight and I actually met Norm Green the day he purchased the Stars. Yeah, he’s a prick too like you. That situation is no different than Atlanta and as tight as Minnesotan’s are with a dime you and I know you wouldn’t be supporting a team as poorly run as the Thrashers. You’re an internet coward because you know good and well you wouldn’t be insulting so many in the South in person. I know the story that the old Met is now an IKEA and a parking lot. You act as if MN has rabid sports fans … forget it. The Twins under Cal were a candidate for contraction and nobody went to games because he sucked as an owner. That’s what happened with the Thrashers. Even if none of that were true you’re still a prick. What kind of person comes to a blog and starts trying to put everyone down? I had Wild tickets and Xcel isn’t always full. The facts are that you know nothing of this city. Did I mention that you’re a prick?
Dave
May 31st, 2011
9:41 pm
I agree. I used to think that Canadians were polite. I guess they are not.
Dave from Minnesota
May 31st, 2011
9:42 pm
Hi Dave,,,, I watched game 6 of the 91 finals from a sports bar in Chicago (went to see some Cubs games that weekend). It was bad enough losing 8-0, but to be wearing a North Star jersey in front of a bunch of Blackhawk fans that night was an experience. I think most of the ‘hawk fans were cheering for Minnesota that night -but they still had fun at my expense.
Dave
May 31st, 2011
9:44 pm
Dave….I had a friend who used to live in Pittsburgh who was a North Stars fan. Whenever he would drive through Chicago he would take his North Stars flag off of his car because he didn’t want to get shot…lol. I went to about 200-250 games at the Met and some up in Winnipeg. I have only been to four Wild games. The noise at the Met was deafening. The noise at the Excel Energy Center is not as loud with 4,000 more seats.
This Gets Old!
May 31st, 2011
9:48 pm
Stop blaming the mayor. Atlanta isn’t running a huge surplus and he couldn’t give it to AS even if he cared too. Did the governor stand up? Any businessmen? AS took the team and ran it into the ground. If Winnepeg wants them the let them go. Do you want to be around people (AS) that insult you when you’re giving them money?
Gwinnett Fred
May 31st, 2011
9:49 pm
Well, back to the Calgary Flames being my favorite team. At least they had the dignity to use the “A” logo of the Flames on their jersey’s for Alternate Captians. A real sign of class.
Despite being ultra bummed out like everybody else, I am thankful for a few things:
– I got to spend so many nights at the games with my daughter, from age 5 to her current age 12. So many great memories
– Thanks to Stub Hub, I got to go to a game and sit on the glass – something I always wanted to do
– Got to see my then 10 year old ride a Zamboni before the game – those pictures will last a lifetime
– Got to experience Game 1 of the long playoff series against the Rangers. NOTHING beats playoff hockey. The team lost that game (and the rest), but the atmosphere was off the charts
– One of the 10 or so games I went to this year was the shutout of Detroit. As close to a perfect game as any Atlanta hockey team has ever played.
– The last game I ever went to (the one I met you Bill), they won.
Hockey will return to the ATL, but not in my lifetime I’m afraid – a sad departure and I feel the most sorrow for the fathers that won’t be able to take their daughters to a few games a year like I have.
Bill, will miss your writings – enjoyed your columns more than anybody on the AJC sports staff, I can promise you that!
I now look forward to far more bland winters and won’t spend a plug nickle to go to any event in Philips Arena as long as that money would go to anybody in the ASG = they can all up and go to hell.
No more to write about, the final chapter has sadly been written, and in the famed words of Forest Gump – that’s all I have to say about that!
Ken
May 31st, 2011
9:49 pm
Should we be surprised midget man Bettman and wimps Leavensen and Gearsen hide behind letters. These Atlanta fans got screwed royally. I will never support anything Atlanta Spirit, Leavensen or Gearsen. Guess Beau Turner really isn’t a chip off the old block.
Dave from Minnesota
May 31st, 2011
9:50 pm
I went to two games at Chicago Stadium. I saw the North Stars return trip to Chicago which was a few weeks after the big pregame brawl. I think it was in December 1989 or 1990. In the rematch, the tough guys for each team (Basil, Tinordi, etc) stood at the center line the entire warmups to make sure nobody crossed the line. The old stadium was nearly full during the warm ups – lots of electricity in that place.
Canknucklehead
May 31st, 2011
9:52 pm
To all Thrasher fans
Although I am thrilled that Winnipeg has got a team I truly am sad it came at the expense of other hockey fans.
I know all too well the pain of losing a team. I will never forget when the jets left. Sitting there in disbelief when the reality set in. Please know any true fan feels your pain and would never troll your boards.
I do hope some of you stay with this team, and follow it. I will have a seat or two if any ever want to come to the peg for a game. It’s cold yes but I would love to show some northern hospitality, and why we choose to live here.
I remember something Eddie O said at the jets funeral. ” if this team ever wins a cup it’s coming
back to Winnipeg”. If it ever happens for the thrashers I echo his words and hope the cup makes a
tour in Atlanta
Dave
May 31st, 2011
9:54 pm
dave from andover look me up as i run aaa hockey in the north metro and more at aaahockey.co.
JoeKnowsIt
May 31st, 2011
9:54 pm
Give me a freakin’ break.
You lost your team because nobody showed up.
Enough of the crocodile tears.
Losing one team might be bad luck.
Losing two?
You earned it.
Dave
May 31st, 2011
9:56 pm
Dave Richter coached a team at the tournament I ran last week. Best fighter in North Stars history.
Dave
May 31st, 2011
9:56 pm
He said the only fight he ever lost was when a native american player (eagles?) sucker punched him. Go to youtube and check out his fights. Never lost on any one on there. Well dave email me from the site. I have to run. Sorry Atlanta on your loss. Hopefully you can get a better group to get you another team. Dave
Alan R.
May 31st, 2011
9:58 pm
… There are no words.
Rawhide
May 31st, 2011
10:03 pm
Just got in from my long drive home from Florida, (and dinner tonight). I listened to the proceedings via XM Radio.
As “Don Rickles” pointed out, the spirit clowns did not even clue in the employees before the announcement. Classless to the end.
For those who have offered up kind words of appreciation to me and this blog…it is I who thank you for your input and contributions. You are all the best.
Libby – Tell Pinhead hello for me….and tell him to give you a big hug for me.
Cousin Eddie – You are correct in your concern about youth hockey in the area. It is those kids and families I think about at this time…that and the people who will lose their jobs with the team leaving.
Former Nasty Nester – Yes, a giant Foxtrot Uniform to all the spirit clowns…every damn one of them.
CFC Brad Rob & Zed– One of the bright spots in this whole nightmare here in Thrasherville has been reading the mature, respectful, courteous remarks from many from Winnipeg and other parts of Canada such as yourselves. Yes, there are some infantile trolls that have come about, but we know they are in the vast minority. Thank you for your thoughtful words.
Zoomo, Mrs. Zoomo & Little Zoomo – I will miss seeing you three prior to games. I will forever remember the little guy always having something interesting to say about the team.
Whitaker – I am not one who believes for a second the BOG are not going to approve the relocation. This would not have happened had GB not already known the outcome of that vote.
injunjoe – Thank you my brother. (Actually I mean that gang…he’s my brother).
D3 – Thank you very much…and as always, GO FALCONS!! (If you guys are at all Falcons fans, please do yourselves a favor and check out D3’s Falcons Bird Cage…aka the Falcons’ Fan Blog… here on the AJC. Great stuff).
Flagstaff – Yes…that moron’s post from 9:18 was whacked.
Sorry I can’t respond to you all tonight. Like I said, drove all day and I’m beat. If I don’t catch up will ya’ll tomorrow, look for a new post in a couple of days.
Chris
May 31st, 2011
10:22 pm
Ice & Fire the Flames go higher, 73-74, man were those the days, at the Omni, AND YES, we will miss this club!!!
kracker
May 31st, 2011
10:23 pm
I’m late as usual….but today was just too painful to follow blogs and tweets…still is, mostly. Rawhide…Bill…thank you so much for all you did/do to keep the conversation going. Perhaps you (we) can keep it going this fall. I don’t know, now, how I will feel about talking NHL hockey w/ no team. Just can’t imagine it atm.
shawn a true jets fan
May 31st, 2011
10:32 pm
After reading all of your thoughts I as a Winnipeger do understand how you feel as it was 15 years ago that we lost our jets. I wonder though is it smart to not support your halks because it is even easier to move an nba team. I am happy to have the thrashers but with all the joy in winnipeg today I did have a bunch of thoughts over the loss to your comunity. Support what you have or it could be gone to.
kracker
May 31st, 2011
10:35 pm
One thing we know….Much as the Keynesian supporters now know (but will never admit) that massive federal deficit spending does not/can not spur national economic activity, we all now know that boycotting a sports franchise is one sure way to help usher the team out of town. The boycotters, like the Keynesians, will never admit that they WERE a part of the problem and most certainly NOT a part of the solution. They will bluster and sputter just like always.
But take heart, boycotters!! You now have a new team ownership to rail against. Not sure how well that will work out, as they are a couple thousand miles away but go ahead and try anyway. It is what you do.
atltwil
May 31st, 2011
10:42 pm
Beautifully said, Bill. Thank you for this and for everything. This is the worst thing to ever happen in Atlanta sports history. I am amazed how such a small group of people can scar a city. I’m 17 and have grown up loving the Thrashers like a family member. There is literally a piece of me that is gone. If I see any of these clowns (that’s putting it lightly) have the kahonas to walk the streets of Atlanta, it won’t be a pretty sight…
Brendan
May 31st, 2011
10:50 pm
Very, very nice blog, Rawhide. Our story must be told. I also hope ex-beat writer Craig Custance, now of the Sporting News, will also help tell the truth about what transpired here.
Let’s not forget something else, here. Gary Bettman “claims” that there is “nothing he could do” to prevent this move from happening? Really?? Nothing!?? How ’bout stepping in to run the club, after 2007. Or any point thereafter! I think, deep down, Commissioner Bettman saw Atlanta as a revenue producer, rather than a revenue consumer, when his focus group advocated Atlanta as one of the four new expansion cities. And it would have been, if it were properly-run, by an ownership entity properly VETTED through the ownership process. Instead, we got Turner, then Time-Warner, then the Octocluster. None of them, let’s be honest, know a darned thing about hockey. What Ted Turner had going for him, was a good reputation from owning the Braves.
As for “no local buy emerged,” well … how is that supposed to happen, when any prospective buyer cannot get their hands on any of the operating rights to Philips Arena?? Bueller? Bueller?? Bueller??? That’s right. They can’t. So, rather than lose millions, they bowed out. But did the Spirit, LLC, ever attempt to package the hockey team with the NBA franchise and operating rights?? Now, that’s the question, isn’t it? I believe the answer is, “They never attempted to package all three entities. They intended to take the best deal they could get for the Thrashers, in one sale, and Philips Arena and the Hawks, in the other.” And therein lies our fate. Some local buyer would have accepted all three. Bygones. We got sold down the river, by an ownership that hates us. And a Commissioner who was hot on the trail of a $60 million relocation fee, to offset his league’s losses propping up the Phoenix franchise.
And there it is, with no ’sugarcoating.’
Charles Anderson
May 31st, 2011
10:51 pm
I read the owners letter to the fans and it is pure bull—-. What do they mean that a sports team seldon makes money. Have they never heard of the Dallas Cowboys? The atlanta Spirit just murdered the second hocky team in Atlanta because of their own stupidity. With all this crap going on with Steven Belkin, they do not deserve any sports team nor the operating rights to Phillips Arena. I say to the Atlanta Spirit, your name is a misnomer. You are the Atlanta Scumbag. Atlanta deserves better than this. You dont deserve any team in Atlanta. Why dont you get out of town?
CRA
Hillbilly D
May 31st, 2011
10:51 pm
Well, I saw the last Thrashers game. When I was there, I figured that was pretty well it. Too bad the ASG didn’t give a damn.
kracker
May 31st, 2011
10:55 pm
I could not read the owners letter, Charles Anderson. Pure bull was all it could be.
VC
May 31st, 2011
11:16 pm
Atlanta Spirit Group should tremble from the approaching Ominous Dark Cloud of Shame. May the Lightning strike down and expose their cowardice and indifference to the loyal fans. They had the blessings in life to afford the opportunity to create heroes and legends for our beloved city. They made promises to do so yet never followed through with any sort of commitment. They held our precious NHL Hockey Life in their hands and gripped it around the neck and choked. They neglected it. Never nourished it. They despised anyone who cared for it. Deal with it. They Killed it.
Our life will go on. Atlanta will still be a beautiful city. ASG still made a lot of money and they will have a nice lunch at the Country Club. Winnipeg will go on to Win a Stanley Cup and the loyal fans of this city will remember those spoiled dysfunctional members who destroyed the Spirit of Atlanta Hockey Fans. Every time you see true blue or even our state bird, please remember who shamed our City. It wasn’t the fans!
Sage of Bluesland
May 31st, 2011
11:23 pm
As for kracker’s none-too-subtle bleating, it is pure economic reality to analyze this abomination of an organization in the simplest of levels; i.e., supply and demand.
It’s obvious to anyone who is not a biased lambchop that the product supplied by the uncaring ownership and inept management was desired by a population which decreased at an increasing rate.
But, it’s easy to look for scapegoats to assuage the masses like yourself. It’s simplistic and fits your level, much as a Sara-spweadsheet did.
Didn’t you feel it when Brunette was dared to go out on the free-agent market to better the pittance offered up by Don Waddell? When did the excuses grow old for you? When did you realize the initial “Five-Year Plan” was nothing more than a pipe-dream? When did you realize that accountability never existed in this organization?
Too late, apparently. I’m comforted in knowing I was doing the right thing almost all along….The drafting of the glass-groined Euroteen was the moment it hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks–and I’ve had to suffer from the sheepset’s excuses ever since…
(well, until recently, that is…Shame so late on that…Oh well)
R. Stroz
May 31st, 2011
11:31 pm
An ode to Bettman and the ASG…music to my ears:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj1-Fd3oibc&feature=player_embedded
CatThrashFever
May 31st, 2011
11:32 pm
Thanks Bill for all your blogs and your friendship & fan-ship! I’m so heartbroken… -_____- I wish I could move to a hockey town…I will NEVER attend a Hawks game or go to Phillips arena as long as ASG are the owners… Atlanta Spirit doesn’t have a soul…So this has happened TWICE in my lifetime in my home town..time to move… :*(
ATLThrasher
May 31st, 2011
11:33 pm
So, I wonder how much my 4 Thrasher hockey pucks are worth now?
Tom Lysiak
May 31st, 2011
11:39 pm
Loved seeing Junior’s Oscar-worthy performance on TV a few times today. The real hope I have is that when he was crying while talking about his own kid and how difficult this will be for his own family…..I hope against hope that it finally hit him that his own kid knows or will soon enough what the rest of us know about his Dad and his amateur partners. Choke on those millions pretenders.
Rawhide, let me chime in as well about your hosting us all here. I appreciate your enthusiasm, your knowledge of the game, and your grace under fire. I wish our paths had crossed at a game, but your style made the rest of us feel as though we know you anyway. Thank you for that.
Flagstaff
May 31st, 2011
11:41 pm
Look, Sage, the ASG is no more. Don Waddell will probably be out of a job soon. Mission accomplished. Now leave us in peace.
JImmy
May 31st, 2011
11:51 pm
I wish we were rid of ASG, but we have to continue to put up with them as Hawks owners.
They want to blame the FANS for the Thrashers departure?????
If those jerks had not ignored the team and allowed incompetence to manage it…we could have had a winner here.
When managent and ownership is as bad as those guys, do they really expect fans to keep subsidizing their bank accounts?
As much as I want the Hawks to win…they better sell the team quickly because I’m not supporting ANYTHING those jerks do.
R. Stroz
May 31st, 2011
11:59 pm
The master architect of the Thrashers destruction, Don Waddell, announced he would not be going to Winnipeg. In other words, Winnipeg didn’t want his disingenuous stupid ass.
Too bad he wasn’t forced out of a job in Atlanta as quickly as Winnipeg took care of the situation.
PMC
June 1st, 2011
12:08 am
I still don’t understand at all why Bob Hartley who actually tried his best to win was shown the door…. and they kept Don Waddell.
I wouldn’t let Don Waddell bag my freaking groceries.