Inside_Man

How much will ownership spend on players? Are they comfortable laying out the big bucks? Since the Hawks and the Thrashers are owned by the same group, how the Thrashers are being managed might give some clues about Spirit's spending plans. For you Hawks fans who don't follow the Thrashers, yesterdays' Heatley trade saw the Thrash take on an extra $4mil in salary in the deal. Their team payroll is now over $30 mil and they've yet to sign Ilya Kovulchuk. Plus, they're making a move on getting aging star Peter Bondra for a 1 year deal. The Thrasher's payroll looks to be in the range of the top hockey teams and it now looks like Atlanta will have a serious contender this year in hockey, thanks to the Spirits willingness to spend. This link lets you compare hockey payrolls across the NHL. The Thrashers are now spending like the big boys. They're serious about winning. Building a hockey team is a lot different than building a basketball team. In hoops, the pieces may just not be available no matter how much dough you have. So Hawks fans need to be patient, but the Spirit ownership group showed yesterday that when the time is right, they will open their wallets. That's good news.

Quote: That's one of the worse jokes i've ever heard...and it's very racially charged...horrible...you should be kicked off this board for that joke. I personally think it's great that we don't know what color most people are on this board. Cuz it really shouldn't matter. btw, I'm pink in the summer and then pretty much a frosty shade of blue in the winter.

OK - think about it. The reports are he can't get insurance on the heart unless he plays trouble-free for a year. That means he's pretty much limited to playing for the qualifying offer - which is $5. mil. Obviously - the family thinks it's a risk he pulls a Reggie Lewis. He's completely crazy if he doesn't have the DNA test now to see if he might have the condition. If he doesn't, then he can play worry free for the $5. mil. If he does, then consider retiring, but either way, there's no way taking the DNA test now hurts his chances or his wallet.

to the Senators for Hossa and an unnamed defenseman.

lookin for 1 or 2 vets still on the board - primarily up front - can't mention names. ----------------------- Q. "I assume you're not sending a Christmas card to Steve Belkin?" A. "Steve who?"

"let them play together and see how they gel" "JJ will improve our team game - Zaza will help too" "Tryin to get Tyronn Lue back." "JJ is just one piece of the puzzle." "Zaza has a chance to be good - physical - tough - growth potential" on the photo - "taken on the life of it's own. didn't know the photog was there - he was aways away - i'm straightforward with people." "everyone know's GM's job - if it doesnt' work, i get fired - that goes with the job - i just want to pass or fail on what i do - i am willing to take the consequences" on JJ on point - "it would be great to have one dominating guy - but if you don't have that - you have to construct your team differently - there's growth and potential in JJs game - it's not necessary to have protypical position by position team." is this a playoff team today? - "I don't know." "you want the answer now - I can't do that - let's play the game - it's the microwave age - people want it now - but I say wait and play the game." "I'm not going to make predictions - we're going to continue to add players - in the middle of the summer, I don't make predictions." about the picks they gave up - " i don't think you can get a player like JJ with those picks."

Charlotte NEVER NEVER NEVER would have given us #5 and #13. This nonsense has to stop.

I'll wait til we finalize our roster - we still need more bigs. Another decent big and we can be over 30.

Can't see it here.

Quote: Philips Arena made a profit of 95 million this past year WITH most of the dates being lost to the Hockey strike... Source?

Al can't hit free throws. For that reason, he should not be part of our long-term plans. At this point, however, we need him.

Quote: I would guess that Belk made about 210-300 Million out of this deal from his original 75 Million he put in. Diesel, With all due respect - you're absolutely NUTS! First off, the partnership aggreement had contingencies in place if someone had to sell out and it's based on appraised market value. After the NHL strike, the value of the Thrasher's franchise HAS to be less than it was when Belkin bought in. I'd bet there's no way Belkin sold for more than $100 mil, and more likely it's less than $95.

the press conference is only about introducing Joe Johnson.

Mr Levenson, You're showing a lot of class to come on a message board. Your ownership group and Mr. Knight have my support. The only other professional sports owner I've seen post on an internet fan site is Mr. Henry, owner of the Boston Red Sox. And you know how that story turned out!

THe jury is very much out on whether BKs unorthodox philosophy of accumulating players who are overly atheltic and overly long and then playing them out of position will be a winning philosophy. We just don't know. But we do know he doesn't like short PGs. I don't think he ever would have drafted Paul. He probably still wished he got Livingston last year. And he took Ivey in the 2nd round because of his height in part. I think BK believes that the value of length in a player changed when the zone defense became legal. That change makes long athletic players worth more than they ever were in the man to man world. A team of long, athletic players, who play defense together can shut down passing lanes and close off routes to the hole. BK's theory might be radical - and it might be wrong. But he's saying the change to zone defenses makes for a radical change in the type of players a team needs to field a good defense. I just think it's exciting to see someone have an idea and then be able to put it to work and see what happens. He might change the way all teams look at defensive skills if he's right. Right or wrong, I applaud BK for having a vision and an idea. How refreshing it is after the directionless Babc0ck years.

Yup - the same goes for cub games - they are never blacked out in Atlanta on WGN.

Dude, That's cuz they're not on TBS anywhere tonight. Tonight's game is on Fox Sports South. TBS doesn't carry that many games anymore, they're split between Turner South, Fox Sports South and TBS. I'm just saying when they are on TBS, they are on nationwide. Tomorrow's game is on TBS - I just plugged in a Houston Zip Code into the DirecTV website and guess what. the game is on in Houston. DirecTV listings Houston Tomw night.

Braves games ARE shown nationwide on TBS. The Bravs certainly aren't the Manchester United of baseball. The Red Sox lead the majors in away game attendance, having recently taken over the lead in that stat from the Yanks who were #1 for many years. Note - the all-time attendance record for Turner field was last July 3 when the Sox were in town. All of a sudden, everybody's from Boston.

50 next month. I saw Russell v Wilt in the finals when I was 9. I saw Bird v Magic in the finals when I was 32.

Why not a point gourd? (sorry - couldn't resist)

If you assume that he gets 5 days from the time he receives written notice, then it depends when he got the notice (maybe as late as today) and whether it's 5 business days or 5 calendar days. It might all drag out til Friday. And yes, if he now approves the trade, he remains governor, but he still must follow the wishes of the majority and anytime he doesn't they can get rid of him. I still think this judge was bought and paid for by Belkin and the five day crap just gives Belkin time to figure out who to sue next.

I think 32 might have been the old minimum. The minimum is 75% of the cap. The cap is now 49.5, making the new minimum 37.

The scumbag Judge gives Belkin an out. The Commish says that Belkin not approving the trade is a 'removable action.' The judge says Belkin has to be given 5 days to rescind the removable action. Here's what I think this means. If Belkin now approves the trade - then they can't remove him as governor. Note - I am not a lawyer. I only pretend to be one on Hawksquawk.

I met Chillzatl a few years ago when another squawker gave away 4 club seats. I used 2 and chillz used 2. That was Dermarr's best game as a Hawk when he drained that late 3 against the nets.

Quote: we have probably spent close to 44 million on the team already. Please do the math. hoopshype shows us having spent 17. Add about 4 for Marvin 4 for Zaza and 12 for Joe That brings us to 37. Which leaves about 12 - But there's no Royal, Salim, or Donta in those numbers.