By Kelly Dwyer
nationally televised game that, if I'm allowed comment, is quite compelling.
The
Hawks have completely and utterly turned things around. They have the best
record in their conference, the fifth-best point differential in the NBA, and
the team seems light years removed from the dull, jump-shooty mess that put us
to sleep in the playoffs last spring. Sure, they got off to a hot start last
year (winning six in a row to start 2008-09), but that felt like smoke and
mirrors.
This feels ... different.
And the Hawks are playing the Magic. The team that made it
to the Finals last year, and decided to replace all sorts of rotation parts
with all sorts of compelling, intriguing, new parts. The team that employs Stan
Van Gundy. The team that employs a center that can dunk on a 12 and a half-foot
goal. The team that employs a center just a few years removed from getting his
braces off.
Tell me you're not loving this. Then tell me that you don't
know where this is going. You should know by now.
The "what I'm thankful for" column is the third-biggest
gimmick of the calendar year for us, just behind "what I'll give _____ for
Christmas" and "New Year's resolutions for _____." It even carries over, past
the sports page. It's a cheap trick.
But if you're not thankful for the era you're living in, the
time and space you're spiraling through, and you're an NBA fan? There's
something wrong with you.
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