Although I love the play of Zaza Pachulia, I wouldn’t describe him as an enforcer in the paint.

According to this morning’s reports on NBA Fanhouse, Shaquille O’Neal is no longer in the Hawks’ plans for next season. That means that the team isn’t looking to pursue any more big talent and the likelihood of Atlanta being a feared city in the NBA is slim. Unless Atlanta Spirit Group green-lights a trade that would send Marvin Williams alone, or in a package, to another team for a significant role player, the Hawks’ offeseason is over. They still have 3 roster spots to fill and they have roughly 4 million dollars to do that, according to their speculated budget.

What can we expect from the Hawks this year? Probably a similar season to what we had in 2006 or 2007. Atlanta might be able to get into the playoffs without home-court advantage. Our team might be able to take the Celtics to 7 games in the playoffs.

With this week’s sign-and-trade of Josh Childress (a fan favorite), the Hawks aren’t likely to contend for any titles against Orlando, Boston, and Miami. Don’t forget, Chicago and Milwaukee are on the up-and-up lately.

With all that being said, I have an announcement for all the bros at Atlanta Spirit Group: Don’t bother calling me about Hawks tickets this season (or the next 6). I can’t pay to watch one money-sucking player hog the salary of an entire roster; much less support watching him repeatedly dribble out 20 seconds of clock and toss-up a brick in the 4th quarter of a close game. I don’t care if it’s Chick-Fil-A family night or some other lame-ass promotional event. I just want to watch the Hawks bitch-slap LeBron James. Is that too much to ask? If that’s not a possibility you are working towards night-in and night-out, then y’all aren’t doing your jobs right! Pay ME.

The Dirty South Crunkball All-Stars won the Beat Brooklyn International Kickball Tournament last Saturday in Brooklyn, NY. What makes the victory even sweeter is how they are proudly wearing the shirts we designed for them last month. Can we attribute this win to the confidence they felt in their threads? Maybe?

Keep a look out, we might have some DSCA shirts available for sale in the Process online boutique in the coming weeks.

One of the best things to cool off with this summer is this mystery drink at The Local. No one I spoke to knows what it’s called, but they can all agree that it tastes amazing. Just ask for the drink that comes in a mason jar and pace yourself!

Pixel Pistol from Contra

In a never-ending quest for nostalgia, local artist Ashley Anderson, has created a series of unique pieces inspired by the classic Nintendo games such as Contra and Bad Dudes. Check out other pieces after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

You might not be worthy of that Atlanta cap, sir.

It’s been less than 24 hours since LeBron’s ego-maniacal TV special and more importantly for Hawks fans, since Joe Johnson signed a $123 million dollar contract for 6-years of service with the Atlanta Hawks. I still can’t believe he’s going to be making the most out of all the free agents out there, considering that many of them are so much more talented than JJ.

Are we to assume the Hawks’ summer isn’t over, and that they’ll be making more moves to improve? Will there be more money to spend on Al Horford and Smoove in the upcoming off-seasons? As far as I’m concerned, those 2 players are definitely more fan-friendly than the bro who dissed ATL fans last post-season.

In an interview yesterday with AJC’s Michael Cunningham, Joe explained himself saying, “It was just in the heat of the moment. We had a tough battle against a great team in Orlando. I think I can speak for a lot of guys on the team [that] there was some frustrating moments. I was just really speaking out of frustration.” and “There is nothing I can do about it now. I just look forward to the season and getting out there and playing. This is my job; this is what I do. I am going to come out and try to have fun and hopefully change their minds.”

Having fun only matters if they win! I think the only way to make us change our minds is if he actually takes over this team as a leader and they win the games that matter. I’m talking about beating LA, Orlando, Boston, and Miami.

Dominate Joe. We have no choice but to continue backing the Hawks and we’re certainly not switching our allegiances over to Miami.

We just created some letterpressed business cards with our good friends at Red Bird Ink in historic Conyers! We’ll have a video of the process coming soon!

Summer is so hot in the Dirty South that you sweat through several tees a day. Luckily, our summer collection of PROCESS focuses on our favorite article of clothing and is in production right now. It’s just a few short weeks until our next drop. For now, enjoy this teaser of one of Georgios’ best illustrations to date.

I would definitely cop one of these babies!

As most of you know, the Atlanta Hawks plan on inking Joe Johnson to a max-contract upwards of $120 million for 6 years. I honestly don’t see how this benefits anyone other than Joe Johnson. With the current state of the Hawks, it’s hard to understand why they would want to keep the current floor general unless they are committed to making further moves to win NOW. Certainly, the current ownership group doesn’t plan on owning the Hawks when Joe’s deal runs out. Joe will be 34 years old and making entirely too much for a 34-year old NBA player.

We could talk about Joe for days, but a recent rumor that the Hawks have offered Shaquille O’Neal a 2-year deal might just be the move the Hawks need to make to show everyone in ATL (and beyond) that they are committed to winning in the short term.

One can argue that Shaq brings a lot of negatives with him, but I don’t buy that. I’m one to think that the positives will outweigh those negatives. Think about what Shaq-Fu in an ATL jersey means:

1) He’s a true center. Something WE DON’T HAVE & NEED!

2) Finally, media attention will be brought to ATL.

3) Veteran leadership. Shaq has won before and can give our young Hawks more of a killer instinct, instead of laying dead on the road.

4) Even at limited minutes per night, Shaq dominates the paint and allows Horford to slide over to power forward. Ultimately, this helps Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia so much. Zaza could change from a solid back-up center to an outstanding back-up center. Our big guys’ confidence will go up with Shaq around.

5) Can you imagine the block-party that would ensue with Smoove and Shaq on defense?

6) Ticket sales will go through the roof with Shaq on the floor every night.

7) I can’t wait to hear what Ryan Cameron’s nickname for the big dude will be. “Big Bird”? Can we steal that from Chris Anderson from the Nuggets?

8) More personality from our Hawks. Finally, we’ll enjoy the opposite of lackluster and monotone post-game soundbites that we’re used to hearing from Joe, Smoove, and Marvin.

The good people at Plywood have asked us to present at their event called Making Ideas Happen. Not only are we honored to be included in the same breath with the other presenters (Scott Belsky, Michael Tavani, Luma Mufleh, Aaron Fortner, Steven “King of Pops” Carse, and Jeff Shinabarger), but we’re also very excited to hear more about what they do. Find out how to be part of this unique day at Plywood People.com

More evidence of the madness from the other day…

photo by Lee Starnes

Even though Ghana knocked Team USA out of the World Cup on Saturday, it didn’t prevent us from having a great time. I’m proud of how the team represented themselves and everyone stateside on the world’s stage. As always, it’s smashing to hang out with the Esperanza and Whynatte crews.

Some loyal Hawks supporters are shown here reacting to the 1st round pick, Damion Jones, who was later traded to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Jordan Crawford from Xavier. Crawford is better known as the guy who dunked on LeBron James while in high school in the summer of 09. Great, we have some Highlight Factory material, but still no plans have emerged for a big man to work the paint for ATL.

Hawks management drafted 2 more players, only to sell their rights off to other teams for cash. What will they do with that cash? Hopefully they use that money to help patch some holes in the leaky-mediocre boat that is the Atlanta Hawks organization, but most likely they’ll spend it personally on some authentic Diego Maradona bidets.

Local artists send a message to BP. This is a time-lapse of their installation on the Krog Street Tunnel in ATL.

Disregard Iran from Farshad’s lineup. What a homer!

Last week, I was asked by a few friends to join this elitist World Cup Fantasy League and it’s been consuming my life ever since.

A quick rundown of the rules: 8 people pick 4 teams each, and you get points for wins, draws, and knockout tournament advancements.

The whole idea of a “World Cup League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” is a first for me, and definitely verging on psychotic. I was out of town when the draft took place, so I had to rely mostly on gut-instinct and Joe Martinez’ iPhone to do some quick scouting (during an industry dinner, nonetheless). Luckily, I was sitting next to a few sports nuts (@BrianYarvual & @edthesportsfan) and they didn’t mind the chaos too much.

Despite being “randomly picked” to draft 6th overall (total conspiracy), I think I ended up with a decent lot:
1) Italy
2) Portugal
3) Australia
4) Honduras

After the first week of games, my teams have had 2 draws and 2 losses. Horrible!!! Hopefully my teams will start “Writing the Future” in a good way this week. Especially Italy, the really need to get it together! I think the hideous Puma goalkeeper kits are holding them back.

My buddies Adam, Hadi, and Patrick play on a highly-regarded kickball team here in ATL. Over the past few years, they’ve traveled and won 1st place at 4 tournaments. They’re going to Brooklyn this summer to defend their title as the Dirty South Crunkball All-Stars and they asked me (& PROCESS) to not-only sponsor their efforts, but to design a crest for them. This will be featured on their uniforms (screen-printed tees) in some fashion that’s yet to be determined.

These days, many international football teams now feature their opponent or a date of a special match on the actual uniforms (kits). I’m not 100% sure who this trend is attributed to but I think it’s England who brought it back recently with the introduction of their amazing Umbro kits in 2009. Anyway, I wanted to follow-suit and allow for the Dirty South Crunkball squadron to customize the banner on their crest to allow for special mentions on the crests of their tournament uniforms.

Do y’all like it? If there are any extras, we’ll throw them up for sale in the PROCESS Online Boutique.

Larry Drew. No one is looking forward to the mediocrity that you’ll achieve.

The Hawks lose to the Magic in a historical beatdown and Atlanta Spirit Group decides not to re-up on Mike Woodson’s contract. I can understand that. I wanted that to happen. Many fans and analysts believe the team has reached their pinnacle with Woody as the coach and JJ, Bibby, Smoove, Boss, and Marvin as the starting five. So nix Woody, but hire Woody’s assistant? I mean, how different are things going to be with this bro? I was pulling for a high-profile hire so that Atlanta could attract a star to bring further success to this organization and city. So far, I’m not impressed with the moves the Atlanta Spirit Group has been making this off-season.

I have a few points (rants) and questions to get out into the open before we move any further into this off-season. Please feel free to comment and leave your thoughts:

1) Larry Drew must’ve come off sounding like Phil Jackson during his interview -or- Atlanta Spirit Group is cheap-cheap-cheap. He’s going to be the lowest paid coach in the league. Can you believe that the Hawks wanted a white-out at every playoff game, but then turned-around and charged fans 5 dollars for a lame white Hawks Playoff tee? Are you serious? If you want a white-out, then do like the Oklahoma City Thunder did by GIVING AWAY playoff tees to fans and making your employees say, “WEAR THIS DURING THE GAME”. Let’s not even start on the design that was printed on the white tee… gross.

2) Are they trying to save money on a coach so they have money to spend on bringing a superstar to ATL? If they let Joe Johnson walk, then they better bring us a superstar. This isn’t the time to “rebuild”. Smoove and Horford are only under contract for a couple more seasons. This is the time to make forward progress. Can the Hawks win more than 53 games and/or NOT get bitch-slapped by Team LeBron or Team Howard next season? Probably not with a rookie coach and no Joe Johnson (or a suitable Joe Johnson replacement).

3) The Milwaukee Bucks’ John Salmons’ name has been tossed around as a replacement for Joe Johnson. That’s not going to do it for this team. He might be a great addition if you bring him in for cheap (which seems to be a trend with Atlanta Spirit Group), but he is not going to bring this team to the next level. Can you imagine seeing “Iso Salmons” over and over? I’d rather smell farts.

4) This message goes directly to my friend and ticketing agent that I’ve had for the past few seasons, Brenden Collins. If JJ leaves and there is no suitable replacement for Joe Johnson, then don’t call me this season. I’m not interested in supporting a product that doesn’t care about the pride and reputation we’re trying to build for our city. National credibility and “shocking the world” is what a lot of ATLiens strive to achieve on a daily basis, and we want to see a reflection of those goals we have on the court at Philips Arena. If Atlanta Spirit Group isn’t feelin’ it, then I’m not either.

Listen closely and realize how amazing this sounds: ATL’s own, Andre 3000, covering the Beatles in a way only Swoosh could produce. Wow!

If you think you know how it’s all going to play out, you should join the Process World Cup Bracket Predictor Group! We’ve set up a Private Group on ESPN.com for our communal trash-talking and braggadocio.

1) Click here to go to the sign up page.
2) Search for PRIVATE GROUP, “We Are The Process”.
3) The PASSWORD for the group is “123456″.

Sent to us by @nikkiisreid

A-Trak has released this Dirty South Dance 2 Mixtape that’s full of our jams. It’s highly recommended y’all. Thanks for Froso for the heads up!

Download (via Bandcamp): A-Track - Dirty South Dance 2