Rejoice! New Hawks’ owner means end of Atlanta Spirit
We know little about Alex Meruelo. But ...
He is the right guy if for no other reason than he is a new guy.
“I will be in complete control of the team,” Alex Meruelo said.
And really, does anything else matter right now?
Because if Alex Meruelo is in charge, it means Bruce Levenson isn’t in charge. It means Michael Gearon Jr. isn’t in charge. It means Ed Peskowitz, Rutherford Seydel, the ghost of Steve Belkin, Topo Gigio and anybody else who ever was among the blur of Atlanta Spirit partners isn’t in charge.
They don’t call the shots any more.
Say goodbye to exploding clown shoes.
So ends the rule of the Atlanta Spirit. It’s too late to save the NHL franchise that the former ownership
... he has to be better than Peskowitz, Gearon and Levenson.
group destroyed, lied about and ultimately sold off to Winnipeg. It’s too late to save us from the absurdity of owner-vs-owner lawsuits and daily dysfunction we witnessed for most of roughly seven years — why does it seem like 27? — in the front office. But we’ll take it today because it’s better than waiting until tomorrow.
If the Atlanta Spirit wasn’t the worst ownership in the history of professional sports, it at least is in the argument. No sports town wants to be in that argument.
I don’t know a thing about Alex Meruelo, other than what I Google and read. Pizza restaurants. Construction. A casino. A television station. Dandy.
The guy could have made his fortune selling second-hand nuclear reactors and I’d be cool with it. Alex Meruelo suddenly emerging the top of Atlanta Hawks’ food chain is like popping a few extra strength Tylenol, knowing the headache is bound to get better.
I know. He’s not from here. He doesn’t live here. He never has owned a sports team before. He comes with no guarantees.
Sorry, there is no such thing as guaranteed perfect owners, any more than there are guaranteed perfect general managers, coaches and point guards.
For all we know, Meruelo could be another Levenson (get down on your knees and pray no). Or he could be another Arthur Blank (get down on your knees and pray yes).
But wouldn’t you rather take the unknown vs. the known?
Meruelo, who will be introduced at a 2 p.m. news conference Monday at Philips Arena, says he will own more than 50 percent of the Hawks and Philips Arena operating rights. That’s all we need to know right now. Logic says Levenson, Gearon and/or Peskowitz will remain as minority partners because the rest of the money has to come from somewhere. But when one man owns controlling interest, it means one votes and one man decides.
Know this: When all of the Hawks’ owners get together in a room, only one of them will have had nothing to do with the Joe Johnson contract. It’s the one now in charge.
The NBA is in a lockout. I kind of like that. It gives Meruelo a chance to assess the Hawks, assess Rick Sund, assess Larry Drew, assess the franchise as both a business and a potential competitor for an NBA championship. There should be no rushed decisions here.
Meruelo said: “I want to bring a championship to the city of Atlanta.”
Yes, this is standard speak from the new owner talking points manual. Everybody involved with the Spirit said they wanted to win championships, too. It just doesn’t necessarily mean they were equipped to.
Maybe the new guy will know what he’s doing. He can’t possibly know less.
By Jeff Schultz
♦
Follow me on Twitter @JeffSchultzAJC; friend me at Facebook.com/JeffSchultzAJC
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
238 comments Add your comment
Winnipeg Jets Morning Papers | Illegal Curve Hockey
August 8th, 2011
8:46 am
[...] Spirit Constitution: News Hawks’ owner means end of Atlanta Spirit. Looks like the guys who were responsible for selling the Thrashers to True North have completed [...]
SLAM ONLINE | » New Hawks Owner: ‘I Want to Bring a Championship to Atlanta’
August 8th, 2011
9:01 am
[...] media in Atlanta is excited about the new owner, mostly because this means the previous ownership group can’t screw things up anymore. And [...]
JROLL1
August 8th, 2011
9:02 am
Topo Gigio ……CLASSIC!!!! YOU NEVER CEASE TO AMAZE ME WITH YOUR WIT!
Mike
August 8th, 2011
9:06 am
Can he fix a bad 120 million dollar contract and players with no heart? I may consider becoming a Hawks’ fan again if that’s the case.
Kudzu
August 8th, 2011
9:18 am
Please take the Hawks back to CA with you……
B-Baller-4real-deal
August 8th, 2011
9:22 am
Maybe he will sign a true point guard for the Hawks that’s been missing since the 1980’s…
I hope he told Levenson this “I’
ve got to be in control. Morons like yourself pick Marvin Williams (another forward when we already had 6 forwards) over Chris Paul, a point guard when you had none.”
Moe Larry and Curly
August 8th, 2011
9:23 am
See you later ASG! You redefined incompetence in sports ownership.
RedandBlackDAWG
August 8th, 2011
9:27 am
I hope in the future he can eventually buy out the minority share of the ASG group. As long as they are even a small part of the team, it can’t be good. They have proven to be the most inept group, major sports has ever had the misfortune of seeing. Maybe this new owner, can get this team to the top.
PMC
August 8th, 2011
9:28 am
The best part of this is “controlling interest” It shouldn’t take literally 7 years to get decisions made.
These guys were in court for basically the last 7 freaking years, coming out of it, they’ll be all better off financially than they were while leaving one property the Hawks in slightly better state than they found them and the building they play in in much worse shape because they sold off an entire professional teams season worth of bookings.
If they are still 50% of the ownership, do we still want to support the product?
Well, I’m looking foward to reasonably priced stadium pizza anyway.
PMC
August 8th, 2011
9:29 am
The rest of the ASG is going to be parasitic to anything good the new owner would bring. Just having them in the discussion is poisonous.
bobby g
August 8th, 2011
9:29 am
Maybe in 2 years he will want to bring back an NHL team and Gary Bettman the snake will agree cause how he is running the hawks…( Yea wishful thinking…never going to happen)
D man
August 8th, 2011
9:38 am
Guy from California comes to the South where he probably thinks we are all hicks and he is going to keep the Hawks here? I bet as soon as the contract with Phillips arena expires, he moves the Hawks to California. The good news – I think that is a 20 or 25 year lease that will expire in like 16 years or so. Maybe by then, he will learn to love the south and keep the team here.
Larry
August 8th, 2011
9:50 am
So, if I may “axe,” will this mean the Hawks players will have bigger earrings, more tattoos, and more illegitimate children than before for all those suckers in the stands to cheer and idolize more? And then couple this with a 3rd grade vocabulary and double digit IQ’s?
Yea, I’m real excited…rather have a root canal that watch these animals hop up and down trying to slam a round ball into a slightly larger round hole for millions of dollars!
B-Baller-4real-deal
August 8th, 2011
9:56 am
Larry, you must really love watching players toss an oval shaped leather ball and try to hit a small round white ball with seams all over it. Face it, every pro player is overpaid not just NBA players…
JSS
August 8th, 2011
10:04 am
No, it is just “Larry Bedford Forrest” being “Larry Bedford Forrest.”
“will this mean the Hawks players will have bigger earrings, more tattoos, and more illegitimate children than before for all those suckers in the stands to cheer and idolize more?”
Who knows? I mean all of that pure living kept Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, Larry Jones, Tom Brady, Troy Biermann, and many other non-NBA players true to their wives and in one case true to his baby’s momma! You’re a clown!
Yum Yums
August 8th, 2011
10:10 am
I would rather watch paint dry than watch the Hawks or for that matter any team in the NBA.
Larry
August 8th, 2011
10:14 am
B-Baller-4real-deal,
Agree on most baseball players, but at least with people like Drew Brees with a degree from Purdue, Matt Ryan with a degree from Boston College, or Justin Blalock of the Falcons who scored a 41 on the Wonderlic.
Here’s a quote from Justin:
“As much as I love doing well in football, I also enjoy excelling in the classroom. My family promotes academics even more than athletics. When I graduated from high school, I was one of five finalists for the Watkins Award for the nation’s top scholar athlete. So in my junior year at Texas, when I had the possibility to leave school for the NFL, I chose to stay in school. I graduated in December 2006 with a degree in Youth and Community Studies in the School of Education. It was a proud moment for my family and for me
Blalock perfectly exemplifies the standards that African Americans should celebrate, not those that prefer to wear their pants down at their knees with their butt cheeks hanging out!
The NBA is a league of illiterates and thugs and I wouldn’t pay a penny to watch it!
Yeahsure
August 8th, 2011
10:15 am
@Be Informed,
Bradley is far from a homer when it comes to the Falcons. Let’s try to be informed a little better.
I’m glad we have a new owner. First on the list: Find a new GM.
Unfortunately, the ASG and Sund has created an impossible situation for Mr. Meruelo. Binded his hands with stupid players and stupid contracts. This will take some time to rebuild.
Larry
August 8th, 2011
10:29 am
Always predictable to hear from Just Simply Stupid (JSS for short), whom has yet to offer a single point or comment worthy of reading.
Now just wait, he’ll come back with another of his patented bizarre and irrelevant movie character references that only he and his grossly inadequate mind can associate with any topic.
Speaking of double digit IQ’s….
PMC
August 8th, 2011
10:33 am
yeah, illiterates and “thugs” like David Robinson with a degree from the Naval Academy and distinguished service to this country before being an NBA MVP and champion.
Illiterates and “thugs” like Wake Forrest’s Tim Duncan.
Larry
August 8th, 2011
10:41 am
Yes, Robinson and Duncan are among the more classy players; however they were drafted many years ago where more of the cerebral game was appreciated than now.
Let’s focus on today, shall we?
drmaryb .(*_*).
August 8th, 2011
10:50 am
Debt Ceiling!
The ASG were the equivalent of Congress in Washington. The sum of their parts rivals only the:
Republicans
Republican Tea Party
Democrats
The quintessential of dysfunctionality!
_______________
Good Writtens! To bad the linger like rotten limberger-sic cheese. Even the rats won’t touch that!
Bye-Bye! Go away on a one way world tour Carnival Cruise Ship!
drmaryb .(*_*).
August 8th, 2011
10:52 am
* Too bad they linger like limberger-sic cheese …
sam'l
August 8th, 2011
10:58 am
Hmmm….Blogman still wants to trade hinrich…..hasn’t figured out that maybe with hinrich we could have kept our LEAD IN THE CHICAGO SERIES in the fourth game…..quit picking on hinrich……..
Bringing in Dwight Howard would be a bad move…..bad personality…embodies thug basketball……sort of like Smith…Josh could be saved if only he wakes up……..
This team will not necessarily stay in Atlanta regardless of any bone measures of existing contracts…these contracts seem to go away in the face of economics…..so you can rejoice all you want, but you really don’t know where this team is going to be in a few years.
Have nothing against hockey fans, but I remember the first hockey team being given a royal welcome….i.e. first story on sports reports was hockey, not hawks, notwithstanding the hawks history….fans didn’t buy it then, and given a second chance hockey failed there too….
San Diego….god knows we all need mentally and physically healthy women….but even with Bill Walton you guys couldn’t fix the leak in the Sports Arena. Atlanta is a bigger market….not cut off by the ocean and Mexico…..otherwise, good idea….
Really the ASG kept saying they weren’t selling the Hawks….but really, that’s exactly what they did, regardless of the “seeking an investor” terminology. And we knew it. We knew they were fibbing. Why would anyone deal with this group for any business or service in or outside of the NBA? Sheesh….and you can thank Mr. CNN Turner for this mess in the first place. ..
Go Hawks….but not too far……
sam'l
August 8th, 2011
11:01 am
corrects previous typos/mistakes
lead in the FIFTH game of the Chicago series…..(which was tied at 2-2)
bone measures to bond measures
heat check
August 8th, 2011
11:01 am
Ahhhh what great news! So long DASG!
I’m assuming this will result in some much needed management changes, but hopefully this also means Nique won’t be bringing his Human Grammatical Error Show to the booth anymore. Someone get this man any local Hawks footage from the last 3 years ASAP!
Drop a few hundred thousand on a professional analyst (or just slide the Stinger back over) and the games would be much more watchable. Loved Nique as a player, but I’m confident the guy flipping pizzas at Mucho Macho Pizza in Riverside, CA would give Bob Rathbun more to work with. Whoever he is.
JSS
August 8th, 2011
11:02 am
Larry Bedford Forrest, I don’t have to come back at you… Your daily one trick pony show about the NBA wore thin a L-O-N-G time ago.
“Focus on today?” You must high on diesel fumes from the generator in your bunker. You keep preaching that 1995 vision of the NBA player demographic every time you crawl from under your rock.
You wit is about caustic as baby shampoo…
sam'l
August 8th, 2011
11:10 am
This is my only political statement…..Mary B….What happened to the party of Yes?
Tea Party is correct. Taxes, border and patriotism…..it’s not republican tea party…its tea party, for whomever (R or D or I) believes the country has financial and demographic problems. Or I guess you can say our finances are in good shape as gold zooms to 1700 from 1100 in just one year.
drmaryb .(*_*).
August 8th, 2011
11:14 am
Pants on The Ground!
“Blalock perfectly exemplifies the standards that African Americans should celebrate, not those that prefer to wear their pants down at their knees with their butt cheeks hanging out!” – Larry -
_______________
Enthusiastic Co-Sign! I was against the ordinance for fining young men who wore their pants on the ground – UNTIL:
I left the confines of the suburbs in Roswell, GA yesterday and trekked over to South West Atlanta. I went to The Pearl Bistro next to Greenbriar Mall for the first and last time. While eating dinner with some new friends, I looked up and saw a THUG leaned over the bar and his pants were belted underneath his butt cheeks. All up in my face was his azz covered in gray cotton under-roos and his butt crack clearly defined!
I’m a beautiful young black woman, who had NEVER seen such a disgusting display of disrespect for others in public!
I nearly barfed, became enraged and simply left to head back to the suburbs, where I don’t have to see that ISH!
I will NEVER go to SWATS again! NEVER!
I now, fully support the ordinance. As a matter of fact? The ordinance is not strong enough. These THUGS should be arrested for indecent exposure! (smdh)
Clean up your act – my brothers! Do it NOW!
Bernard
August 8th, 2011
11:15 am
GGGGGGGO Hawks:-)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dr. Warren
August 8th, 2011
11:18 am
Atlanta is nearly tied for the 7th biggest TV market in the U.S. There are 28 cities represented in the NBA. And Jeff is correct about Atlanta’s NBA viewership. Does anyone really think the Hawks will be allowed to move? And if they did, we’d probably get a new franchise a couple years later anyway.
drmaryb .(*_*).
August 8th, 2011
11:27 am
Sam’l
You make some very fine points up there. But, here is my point:
Systemic Dysfunctionality! And, there is a plethora of blame to go around? Did I leave anyone off that list? If so, then add them!
No industrialized country in the world leverages paying their past due bills (owed to creditors) along with their deficits! NONE! If I am wrong please list those countries?
You PAY your past due bills! First and fore most! It has nothing to do with budget planning for tomorrow! Those are two well defined dichotomies and should/must be handled separately, even though one does impact the other!
Again, the point is DYSFUNCTIONALITY at the highest level. Aye Congress! Stop bickering and do the peoples work! Stop fighting and slinging feces! Balance the BUDGET already!
Will
August 8th, 2011
11:28 am
Let’s withhold judgement about the new owner until we learn more about the new owner.
Yes, it would appear that anything would be better than the “yoyos” who ran the Thrashers out of town and made the Hawks a laughing stock for most of their period of ownership but the new owner has got to do something more than not being the old owners.
The Hawks will not progress beyond the second round of the NBA playoffs with the current coach and current roster.
Of course, worrying about the Hawks for the next year is most likely a moot point as it appears the union and NBA are hell-bent on losing the upcoming season so that the billionairs and millionaires can quibble over becoming greater millionaires and billionaires.
TheAntiMe
August 8th, 2011
11:41 am
Cool, now maybe we can get that guy from here who plays center for a team in Florida. What was his name again? Oh yeah, that’s right… Dwight Howard. I’ll even by him a crazy pizza if that happens.
TheAntiMe
August 8th, 2011
11:48 am
Not only that, I’ll also buy him a crazy pizza, as well. Unless, of course, Dwight prefers something else, then I’ll bye his pizza and substitute in it’s place any darn type of food he prefers.
da'boomer
August 8th, 2011
11:55 am
Too bad we had to lose the Thrashers. There will be a special place in hell for these ASG clowns. I hope the next time I read about them the phrase ‘fiery plane crash’ is part of the article. I hope the Hawks move, too. The NBA is the worst sport on earth.
big don
August 8th, 2011
11:56 am
I live in Stone Mountain and if I want to see large black folks, all I’ve got to do is open my door. Why in the hell would I PAY to see them? Never spent a dime on Hawks, never will. However, I do agree that the ASG sucks big time. Hope you season ticket holders are happy with JJ and Marvelous Marvin.
Larry
August 8th, 2011
12:01 pm
“You wit is about caustic as baby shampoo…”
I rest my case…spelling, diction and syntax are completely absent from Just Simply Stupid’s (JSS) comprehension. Talk about self incrimination! LOL!
drmaryb .(*_*).,
Touché, Madam, for your standards and values so abundantly absent from ALL races! I’m just as hard on the “goobers” and bubbas–like “JSS,” for example–as I am on the “brothers!”
Ok
August 8th, 2011
12:05 pm
Bet mommy and daddy bought that 1st pizza place.
A lot of money in pie?! I remember something in the ’80’s about “the mob and the pizza connection” in Philly…didn’t sell a lot of pies, but did a lot of other business out of those parlors.
Herman Cain did some things with pizza too…How appropriate, “Godfathers pizza”.
I’m selling all my stock and getting into pizza!
Where's the Logic?
August 8th, 2011
12:06 pm
“If we American people ever allow monopoly banking to control the issue of currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, these banks and bureaucracies that will grow up around them will deprive we, the people of all our property until our children will wake up homeless on the continent which God gave us for stewardship.”
~ Thomas Jefferson
“Mission Accomplished!” bubba jr/bummer sr
I’ll take a Burrito and a Tequila please…
djthescorpian
August 8th, 2011
12:10 pm
Clean house-from the top to bottom-let’s gettim while we gottem!
Ok
August 8th, 2011
12:18 pm
HAIL PIZZA!
Ok
August 8th, 2011
12:19 pm
How good could the pizza be? It’s California for crying out loud…
maybe he can buy Braves
August 8th, 2011
12:27 pm
Then we can get all the Cuban players!
Prince
August 8th, 2011
12:27 pm
TRADE JOE JOHNSON NOW!!!!! and pay a real superstarplayer the money he makes.
Oh, FL tried that
August 8th, 2011
12:28 pm
Huzeinga tried to buy Cuba…look at Marlins now.
Maybe he can bring boxing to Phillips
August 8th, 2011
12:29 pm
the cubano variety
Great food!
August 8th, 2011
12:31 pm
Maybe he can bring some great Cuban food to town….
I don’t get the pizza thing, not their dish.
Ray
August 8th, 2011
12:32 pm
This is great news for the Hawks– and for the thousands of NBA fans in Atlanta. Jeff you’re right, Atlanta is a great NBA town and deserves a winner. The fans will support a team that plays hard, and smart and wins. I’m tired of hearing these stupid comments by people like Yum Yum about “thug ball” being played. There is no such thing as “thug ball”, nor are there thugs playing professional basketball. If you don’t like the NBA then say that! I don’t like hockey because it’s boring to me and I don’t watch it. But I would never insult the players by calling them a bunch of thugs– even though they fight all of the time and sometimes go after each other with sticks. Anyway– the sale is GREAT news… GO HAWKS!!
Atlanta native
August 8th, 2011
12:54 pm
ASG- You DESTROYED the hockey franchise here and we will never forgive you for your incompetence. We will remember each of your names and will dislike you until the day we die.
signed,
The Hockey fans of Atlanta