Popeyejones":hz7cv52b said:
Just from an outsider's perspective (and sincerely not trolling):
The Hawks have been well-deserved national media darlings since late into the 2012/2013 season. Even after losing to Atlanta in the divisional that year the team was still (deservedly) getting the majority of offseason love. To be clear, I think this is how it should be because the Hawks delivered on their promise and have been awesome since midway of 2012/2013.
Here's the part where I'll be accused of trolling: I think as fans you guys have a well worn narrative of being underdogs and ignored and not given the respect you deserve. I think to some degree that narrative has been forced to butt up against the reality of the last two years. As such, for some folks there's some cognitive dissonance, and any time someone says something incredibly benign (i.e. the Hawks are the best team in the NFL but going back-to-back is really hard) it's taken by some as "more of the same" and "yet another" epic slight. It's just not, though.
If we've learned anything in the last two years, it's that it was never an East Coast media bias or a legacy team media bias or anything else, it's just that the Hawks weren't ever consistently great for an extended period of time. The 9ers were crap through the first decade of the 2000s but in terms of media attention they still got it because of the 80s and 90s. It's the same story with the Cowboys now. If the Hawks put a few more great seasons together it will be the same story for them. And right now, when someone says the Hawks are the best team in the NFL but repeating is really hard, that's them giving the team their due. It's not a slight (they're acknowledged by almost all as the best team in the NFL!) even though some Hawks fans are well-trained in trying to hunt slights out.
Good post and I agree. For the record, I never claimed disrespect, and my last comment was meant that I hoped the players felt disrespected as that's their biggest motivator.
It IS lazy journalism though, whether by King or whomever. The analyst will say we're the most talented team in the NFL, the deepest, they talk about a healthy Harvin and how many weapons we have on offense, how good Wilson looks and how we have the best defense in the league, then go "well, since it hasn't been done in 10 years, they won't do it" What ?
The 04 Pats have nothing to do with us. We don't play the same division, the same teams, we have different personnel, depth, etc. So claiming something hasn't happened in 10 years, or a team that did something 10 years ago has no bearing on us specifically. Yes, we know it's all hard, but to say we're the best team, yet generally discount our chances is lazy. You don't have to bring specific analysis because "well hell, it hasn't been done in 10 years".
People said the same thing about Wilson. He wasn't going to be any good because historically, short QBs struggle. It didn't matter how well Russ read defenses, his athleticism, leadership, intangibles and tangible physical talent didn't matter as 'you have to be over 6' to be successful at QB".
There's ALWAYS an outlier. Being lazy doesn't change that.