So here we are. Again.
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The Hawks, cap in hand, begging the community to save them.
It really is an appalling situation, to be just nine months into James Spenceley's reign as owner and already using the corporate politics of fear in a bid to flush out potential investors and sponsors to keep the club alive.
Though they had little alternative at the time, Hawks members willingly, rather than begrudgingly, voted in July to accept Spenceley as a white knight.
Before placing the Hawks into voluntary administration, club officials knew about Wollongong Coal's urgent desire to reduce their sponsorship commitment, given their difficult financial situation.
They've known since late last year.
Spenceley's involvement was meant to wean the NBL club off a reliance for cash sourced from the black diamond, which started when Arun Jagatramka stepped in at the last minute to save the Hawks last time.
Now Spenceley is one year into a three-year master plan to win a title - a blueprint which he volunteered to the Mercury when he took over - and the Hawks are already at crisis point again.
So much for a bold plan for the future.
So why can the Mercury offer such pompous grandstanding about the future of the only remaining 100 per cent Illawarra-based elite professional sporting team?
Because it was the Mercury which stood at former captain Mat Campbell's shoulder, facing into the blizzard when the deathwinds of winter were closing in, less than six years ago.
It was this organisation, chiefly basketball writer Tim Keeble and former editor Stuart Howie, who fought to the last for Campbell's 'Save the Hawks' campaign.
It is also because the Mercury provides bigger and better NBL coverage than any other news outlet, only rivalled by the media in Perth, given the phenomenal crowd numbers the Wildcats can attract.
NBL chairman Graeme Wade might be "fine" with the prospect of Wollongong's exit, but it would clearly be a massive blow for the competition, whether or not a Brisbane team returns.
Sure, participation numbers and the game at the grassroots level might be in reasonably sound condition and the NBL has attracted some wonderful marquee names recently, like James Ennis, Rotnei Clarke and Josh Childress.
But the league cannot secure a meaningful television rights deal and NBL. TV and live statistics on the website spend as much time on the blink as they do actually providing coverage.
The NBL does have one regular weekly game live on a Sunday afternoon, but in the final round of the season, Network Ten broadcast an insignificant contest between Sydney and Melbourne, instead of the top-of-the-table clash between Cairns and New Zealand.
Former chief executive Fraser Neill triumphantly proclaimed there will be a team in Brisbane next season at the pre-season competition, but now they're not so sure. The Hawks' survival should be vitally important to the NBL and the Illawarra region.
Gordie McLeod and Oscar Forman, two genuinely nice guys who put their heart and soul into the team both on and off the court, deserve better than to have their livelihood under constant threat.
The nay-sayers will point to the crowd numbers and lack of corporate support and shrug their shoulders.
Why bother save the Hawks again? Check out the crowd at a game at WIN Entertainment Centre and it's not just diehard NBA fans getting their fix of live basketball from the Hawks.
Most are families who invest their time in the Hawks, because they provide an entertaining game-night product and they are 'our' team.
Without a team in Wollongong, the city will host just four sporting fixtures a year, when the Dragons play at WIN Stadium, plus the odd A-League or W-League fixture thrown our way as Football South Coast builds towards a return to the national stage.
Wollongong is on the verge of being an elite national sporting wasteland, at least in the short term. The Spenceley era has already made a couple of vital missteps in terms of recruitment.
Import Jahii Carson complained on Twitter on Friday about having "no freedom to play my game" as he struggled all season to adjust to the McLeod system.
The handling of Dave Gruber's sacking - which allowed Luke Nevill's arrival and Rhys Martin's return - left a bad taste for teammates and fans alike.
Spenceley's next moves will decide the very existence of the club.