For the Atlanta Hawks, the 2017-18 season was always going to be about finding silver linings in the most inconspicuous of places.
Though they found a treasure in the 19th overall draft pick John Collins and the continued development of Dennis Schröder and Taurean Prince are both headlines worth keeping an eye out for, there was an even more amazing development that occurred this week that was truly mouthwatering.
As most of you are aware, the Hawks have an NBA G-League affiliate, the Erie BayHawks. We love the BayHawks here at Soaring Down South, as evinced by our weekly Flyovers covering the goings-on in the world of the BayHawks.
We also love pizza here at SDS, so when it was announced that the BayHawks will play a game as the (pause for effect) Erie Pepperoni Balls on March 9th, we could not have been more elated.
No, that’s not a typo. The Erie BayHawks, a real-life NBA G-League team, will play a game that features this grinning pastry snack on their uniforms on March 9th 2018:
Have you guys checked out our OFFICIAL Erie Pepperoni Balls website yet?
— Erie BayHawks (@ErieBayHawks) January 26, 2018
Learn about the history of the pepperoni ball, see the uniforms and shop for some pepperoni ball merch! #GoBiteWinhttps://t.co/vuZYtTxk8E
This promotion is part of the team’s “What Could’ve Been Night,” in which the BayHawks organization “imagine what the team could have been named if the chosen identity was something truly unique to the Erie region – such as pepperoni balls,” according to a release from the team.
There’s never been a more meaty promotion in the NBA, and all benefits from it will go to United Way of Erie County’s Imagination Library.
“We’re going to let the world know about delicious pepperoni balls that originated right here in Erie, PA while helping the United Way of Erie County’s Imagination Library, a program that’s having such a positive impact in the Erie community,” said BayHawks (and Pepperoni Balls) team president Matt Bresee.
This is honestly some of the best news for the Atlanta Hawks franchise this season, and even though rebuilding is hard, you can at least be safe in the fact that there are licensed shirts for a professional minor league sports team that look like this:
I would also fully support an actual long-term renaming effort for the BayHawks, as Pepperoni Balls just has a better ring to it.
Despite that sau-sage advice, I suppose that’s why I don’t own a pizza the team.