Kovy and Waddell and ASG Oh My

I was originally going to post about the loss last night to Tampa and how Nittymaki was an enigma that the Thrashers couldn't seem to solve. How the Thrashers must not understand the full meaning of the term "must win" and so on and so forth. I wake up, instead, to renewed news of Kovy's imminent departure and the fractured state of the club and yada yada ya

I'm going to take this time instead to dedicate to not really discussing Kovy on a specific level, but really to address instead, Don Waddell and the ASG with regards to the team.

Excuse me while I pull out my soap box..I don't normally like to do this..but it is my blog and fuck it

I, for the most part, have been a supporter of Don Waddell. I have tried to find the upside to most all of what he has done and have felt like he's had to make some decisions based on situations outside of his control and has tried to make the best of some situations that were tough. I've also felt like that he's gotten a bad rap with the fans and the media and that some times his hands were tied by the ownership. I still think that to some degree.

I can't, however, support him any longer. We all know Kovy is about to be gone and with him the face of our franchise. That in itself doesn't bother me all that much, fact is that Kovy is a good scorer but what he lacks is a sense of defensive responsibility and that has cost this team time and time again, but enough on that.

What is more disturbing to me is that this will be the 4th superstar that has walked out of Atlanta and it's negative effect on this team's reputation and what that does to being able to get in high caliber talent. We've already seen in the past great players turn down lucrative deals to play in Atlanta only to take less to play somewhere else. Why is that? because the management of the team is terrible. That doesn't end at just the GMs door step either. The fact is that the ownership is fractured, spread out over several cities and has no sense of what it wants this club to be other than the bastard child of the Atlanta Hawks.

The other thing about this that pisses me off is that I'm sick and tired of hearing/reading Northern and Canadian media and fans say that Atlanta as a hockey market sucks and that we don't support our team and that our stars are waiting for the fist opportunity to bolt because it sucks so hard here. I was hoping to re-sign Kovy so we could give those people the finger..and instead it gives them fuel to keep saying it. I don't think that's the reason Kovy is leaving...I don't know if it's money or he isn't sure about the future of the club or the equipment guy keeps starching his jock...I really don't care..what I care about is the fact that I get to hear them continue to say that about us fans. They obviously didn't make the trip to Nashville and couldn't see that we have got some great fans...but they don't care about that shit either.

What this club needs, at least to retain any semblance of the fan following it currently has, is at the very least some new leadership in the front office. It also could use some restructuring of the ownership to something that actually made sense.

With this all said I don't want to give the wrong impression about how I feel about Don Waddell. He's a genuinely nice person and all the people out there that spew vile insults in his direction because of the way he has run this team really piss me off. He's a human being and deserves some respect, I may not agree with what he's done...hell I might think he needs to be replaced but that doesn't mean that I have any right to say some of the things I have seen others write or say about him.

 I do think it's time for a new future in Atlanta..I think that we are at a crossroads in what this club should do. To see Kovy depart will not change my love of this team. I will still buy tickets..I will still scream and chant for my team. I'm used to this...I've been a Braves fan my entire life too. I do want to see the club make a change in management though..then maybe I will have some hope that things may change because if Waddell stays in control then we're going to be looking at another 5 year plan to "rebuild" the team 5 years from now and then 5 years from that...shit..something has got to give.

I don't want to hear about possible trade scenarios...we can all play arm chair GM...tell me how this bullshit has made you feel as a fan.