Despite flying under the NBA radar, Joe Johnson and the Atlanta Hawks are challenging the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
Considering that the Cavaliers, Celtics and Magic have dominated the headlines in the Eastern Conference of the NBA, you might be surprised to discover that following their win Friday night over the old men from Beantown, the Atlanta Hawks actually have the second best record in the East and the fourth best record overall in the NBA.
They punctuated that fact against the Celtics with their fourth victory over Boston this season to register an improbable season sweep over the squad many just assume will be facing Cleveland for the right to play in the NBA Finals in June.
After the continued performance of the Hawks, basketball experts might have to rethink that assumption.
Though they don’t have the household names and marquee superstars of the Cavaliers, Celtics and Magic, the Hawks are quietly going about their business of creating a consistent team that could be a threat come playoff time.
While it may appear to the casual fan that the Hawks have come out of nowhere, in reality this is not an Atlanta team that suddenly has risen from the dredges to become a surprise contender. In contrast, the Hawks have actually been building to a crescendo over the last couple years.
It started during the 2007-2008 season when they finished with just a 37-45 record, but still took the eventual champion Boston Celtics to a seven game series in the playoffs.
Last season Atlanta improved to 47-35 and advanced to the second round of the playoffs before being unceremoniously swept by the Cavaliers.
The Hawks appear to be ready to make more noise this season as, in addition to the sweep of the Celtics, they have wins over the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz. Read the rest of this entry →
Kurt Warner is announcing his retirement after 12 years in the NFL.
As word spread in recent days of the inevitable announcement by Kurt Warner of his retirement, I have been surprised by some questions of whether Warner deserves in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Now that he has officially announced the end of his playing career, I have just one thing to say to those who question his place among the all-time greats: “Are You Crazy?”
I’m not looking to declare Warner among the 10 greatest quarterbacks of all-time (though a case could possibly be made for the lower half of that list), but there is no question that in five years time he will be taking his place among the immortals of NFL history.
In some ways, you could call Warner the modern day Johnny Unitas.
You may recall that after being rejected by his hometown Pittsburgh Steelers, Unitas spent time honing his skills on sandlot fields full of glass and rocks. He then made his way to Baltimore where an injury to starting quarterback George Shaw thrust the 23-year-old into the starting lineup during the 1956 season.
In his second season, Unitas led the Colts to their first winning record in the five year history of the franchise. The next season, Unitas led the Colts to a 9-3 record and their first NFL Championship in what has often been called the Greatest NFL Game Ever Played. Read the rest of this entry →
In the wake of a rather gray day in the brief history of the WPS, following yesterday’s announcement of the league’s decision to discontinue operation of the Los Angeles Sol, Atlanta Beat General Manager Shawn McGee was quick to remind fans of the WPS a few very important lessons.
Lessons like ‘When you fall down you need to brush yourself off and get back up’ and ‘Every problem has a soft spot’ and everyone’s favorite, ‘What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger’ resonated from McGee’s message during a phone interview this afternoon. Read the rest of this entry →
SAN FRANCISCO, CA (January 28, 2010) – After several weeks of negotiations with a potential new ownership group fell through at the last minute, Women’s Professional Soccer discontinued operations of the Los Angeles Sol on Thursday. The rights to the 19 players currently held by the Sol will be dispersed during a special draft for the league’s eight franchises on Thursday, February 4 and will be announced later in the day.
“While it’s regrettable to lose the Los Angeles market as part of our WPS footprint, we are pleased to have two new teams coming into the league in 2010,” said WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci. “The league and our ownership committee worked incredibly hard over the past month to complete the transaction. In the end, we ran out of time and came up short of where we needed to be funding-wise for the Sol in 2010.” Read the rest of this entry →
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Butch Johnson's acrobatic catch in Super Bowl XII helped lift the Cowboys to a title, but it would not have been ruled a catch based on today's rules.
Welcome to Part 2 of the series that ranks the Super Bowls from 43rd to 1st.
In this installment, we take a look at 30 through 16 with some Super Bowls that competitive for about a half or were not put out of reach until the final minutes of the game.
There are also some blowouts included in this installment that are more memorable because of a historic individual or team performance.
So, here is part two:
30. Super Bowl XII Cowboys-27 Broncos-10
The first half of this Super Bowl was perhaps the most bizarre 30 minutes in Super Bowl history.
Broncos quarterback Craig Morton was intercepted four times as Denver turned the ball over seven times in the first half but only trailed 13-0 at halftime as Cowboys kicker Efren Herrera missed three field goals in the half.
It took two spectacular touchdowns in the second half for Dallas to put the Broncos away; a 45-yard diving, fingertip catch by Butch Johnson in the third quarter to make it 20-3, followed by a halfback option pass from running back Robert Newhouse to wide receiver Golden Richards for a 29-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.
29. Super Bowl IX Steelers-16 Vikings-6
This game marked the first of four Super Bowl championships in the 1970s for the Pittsburgh Steelers and their famed “Steel Curtain” defense.
Of the four Super Bowl wins, this was the best performance by the “Steel Curtain” as they recorded the first safety in Super Bowl history and limited the Vikings to 119 yards of total offense, 17 rushing yards, nine first downs, and did not allow an offensive touchdown (Minnesota’s touchdown came on a blocked punt).
However, it took until 3:31 to go in the game for the Steelers to put the Vikings away as quarterback Terry Bradshaw found tight end Larry Brown for a 4-yard touchdown that put the game out of reach. Read the rest of this entry →
