Just WOW! (Levenson will sell Hawks)

[ATLHawks3]

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[capstone21]

Capstone do you even live in Atlanta? Do you even no how much the. Tax paying citizens have put towards this team?

No one attends the games. We have had a winning team for many years and still no shows up. The support for the team has been a running joke by commentators. U can blame the ownership but this team can have Mark Cuban and still people are not going to come. I bet a large percentage of the people on this board watch the hawks on tv as opposed to attending the games live except for a few times a year. Even during the nique years you could always see the many empty seats.

It seems that the only time fans show up is during the playoffs. Which is excellent but not enough.

Edited September 8, 2014 by capstone21

[DJlaysitup]

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.

[Vol4ever]

I've said the whole time this is a cheapass ownership group. This could be a good thing for the Hawks organization.

[Jody23]

Apparently, the ownership's definition of "winning" doesn't match the fans definition of "winning". Not sure how many more ways the fans can make it clear that they're not interested in mediocrity and status quo. It's been pretty evident for some time now.

[Wretch]

How about that...  Been unplugged from the net all day working on my house.  I got so much things to day right now..............lol

Just wow.  I'm happy, but WOW...explains a lot too.  Man I gotta get to reading....

[ATLHawks3]

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[ATLHawks3]

Ferry is getting disciplined. Wow. 

[Hairydawgz]

Good lord people, take a minute and think.

For one, this only relates to Bruce. He doesn't own an absolute majority of the team. The way the ATL Spirit is set up, this team also does not make decisions based solely on your % stake in ownership. In other words, the Hawks are not up for sale, but only a stake in the Hawks. There is no imminent danger for this team to move. So don't chicken little this situation.

If you want to comment on Bruce as a racist, then read the entire email first: http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/basketball/complete-e-mail-sent-by-levenson/nhHbD/

Nothing from Bruce resonates to me that he is a member of the KKK or even on the same level of Sterling. I'm more shocked at the number of typos than on the perceived racism within the email. It is more stupid than racist. Which should be a light bulb for people...maybe Bruce just wants some money?

I would agree. From the email text, it seems like more of a fan demographics observation.

He was trying to come up with ways to generate season ticket sales and he had the idea that middle aged white fans would have more $ to put into season tickets and merch.

Also that said fans were uncomfortable with other races being the majority at an event.

I wouldn't put this into the same category as what Sterling did (not that anyone has suggested it was)

It seems as though he was remorseful (unlike Sterling,who defended his words and fought to remain an owner) about his assumptions in the email and recognizes you can't make executive decisions with such ideas and attitudes. I'm assuming this based upon his statement released as well as Adam Silver's statement.

Hopefully this will be an opportunity for him to grow and learn to respect others, as well as an opportunity for society to forgive and allow him to grow and better himself.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bahamut]

I don't think he's got that kind of dough and as impressive as his resume is, he fell right in lock step with the other owners by pointing the finger at the fans for not supporting the mediocre product on the floor during his radio interview. There needs to be an owner who understands that the product on the floor needs to change and who has the assets and patience to make it happen.

 

Bingo.  He's another corporate shill that only looks like a better option because of how much ASG sucks.

[AHF]

We need more facts before judging Ferry but it is hard to think that no one surrounding Sterling was disciplined with the absolute #$*& storm of racism that must have come out of that guy's mouth for 30 years and Ferry would be hammered for sitting on an email like this that is wrong-headed but not in the same ballpark as Sterling's comments.

[Eddielives]

So how is this all going to play out?  Are we now deemed a racist organization?  Will Ferry have a press conference to try and minimize the damage this is doing to the organization?  Tune in tomorrow for another exciting episode of how the atlana spirit group can embarrass this franchise even more.

[Jody23]

From CViv's report, Ferry's discipline had nothing to do with Levenson's e-mail. During a June meeting for free agency, Ferry read a background report on an unnamed player that contained an offensive and racist remark which he uttered out loud.

Ferry's comment prompted an independent investigation by an outside firm. It was during that investigation that the e-mail was discovered.

Edited September 8, 2014 by Jody23

[Plainview1981]

This is a whole lot of bullshit. People don't go to Hawks games because of a history of terrible playoff exits, traffic, and shitty ownership. The Braves have the same issue when it comes to traffic. And what is this Southern Leadership trash? A true Southerner is the last person I want running anything, especially a country.

African Americans are the biggest spenders in this country. I'm tired of people using racial ideals to further divide our people. Look at what Arthur Blank did with the Atlanta Falcons. White folk and black folk tailgate and party in the Dome together. And did i not mention the Dome is downtown.

Yeah,what about the attendance for the playoffs? I guess the fans stop being scared then.

[Sothron]

Sounds like I was right, so were others, in that Bruce was already wanting out and I guess this is his reason for it to happen. What a joke.

[Johnnybravo4]

These days Rap music is pop music. Rock music as a commercial genre is pretty much dead. You're not going to get White fans just because you play Kiss at timeouts.

[Jody23]

That is not how I read the Vivlamore report. I read it that Ferry reading that report triggered the investigation. Then the investigation found the email from Levenson. In addition to Levenson, Ferry was also penalized. It is a little unclear if Ferry was penalized for reading the report OR for his involvement with the Levenson email...I lean towards Ferry being punished for the initial Levenson email but I can see how one would claim it was for reading the report.

It was pretty clear Koonin stated Ferry was disciplined for the incident regarding the racist comment he uttered in the background report. That is what started this ball rolling which makes both Ferry and Levenson look pretty bad and unprofessional.

[RWF]

Is relocation something Hawks fans should be worried about?

[GameTime]

These days Rap music is pop music. Rock music as a commercial genre is pretty much dead. You're not going to get White fans just because you play Kiss at timeouts.

 

Exactly. Everything on the radio is EDM these days.

[sillent]

To be honest it looks like a drunk email of him expressing the truth as he saw it. It's new times though & as a business man he should be coming up with better ways to work with the demographic he has rather than trying to make moves of old. You understand your base okay so how do you capitalize? What he doesn't understand is we are the biggest consumers regardless of our money situations but how do you appeal to our interest? It's not a color thing might be a cultural thing & yes Atlanta is a unique city made-up of plenty culture's & transits. I was a season ticket holder last year & couldn't get as much as a t shirt or a cup holder for my drinks. How does that make your season tickets sale when we don't feel any more special than the average fan? The college kids were a great idea although they can get offensive at times but why not have 2 sets on opposite ends of the court? I cheered with them because they got me excited but our section would be the only ones cheering in the whole building at times. Why is one side of the arena full & the other side empty & we constantly choose to show the empty side on our broadcast? Simple business strategies could correct or improve our crowd that just wasn't being made.

Edited September 8, 2014 by sillent