Poll time: Which Atlanta team is closest to a title?
Who is more likely to win a title this year: Matt Ryan or Chipper Jones? (Curtis Compton/AJC)
The NBA championship will be decided tonight between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics. This comes a day after the New Orleans Saints received their $30,000 Super Bowl rings Wednesday and a week after the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup.
Feeling a little left out of title celebration nirvana?
Loading ...I do this every once in a while — seemingly every time somebody wins a championship — but here we go again. If you had to pick the next Atlanta pro sports team to win a title, who would it be? (I could’ve thrown college teams into this debate, but I figured we have plenty of time to have every blog devolve into a you stink/no you stink drunk argument between drunk frat boys from Georgia and Tech, and I mean disrespect to drunk frat boys, especially the ones on game days who offer me a beer when I walk by their house.)
Anyway, we’re in baseball season now and there has been this general feel-good atmosphere around the Braves in the past six weeks. It would be one of the greatest stories in Atlanta sports history if the Braves could somehow win their second World Series in probably the final season for both Chipper Jones and manager Bobby Cox.
But if I’m ranking the four teams right now, the Braves’ title chances are No. 2. Here goes:
♦ 1.) Falcons: They’re coming off a season during which almost everything went wrong, including injuries, and they still won nine games. They’ve improved their defense this offseason (signed cornerback Dunta Robinson; drafted linebacker Sean Weatherspoon) and bounce back seasons are expected for quarterback Matt Ryan and running back Michael Turner. One NFL expert already has picked them to win the NFC South, ahead of the Saints. Ryan obviously is the biggest key.
♦ 2.) Braves: They’ve managed to take over and hang onto first place in the National League East despite slow starts from several key players. Starting pitching (on non-Kenshin Kawakami nights) will keep them in the race this season, regardless of how the offense goes. If improbable success stories like Troy Glaus and Eric Hinske keep hitting like this, they could win the division. If Jones, Yunel Escobar and Brian McCann come around, they have a real chance to win it all. But I still see the Philadelphia Phillies as the best team in the league, notwithstanding their problems over the past month.
♦ 3.) Hawks: They’ve made the playoffs the last three years, which puts them ahead of the other three franchises. But there are too many uncertainties right now: Joe Johnson’s impending free agency; the development of point guard Jeff Teague; the lack of a legitimate NBA center; and the transition of new head coach Larry Drew.
♦ 4.) Thrashers: General manager Rick Dudley still hasn’t hired a head coach, the roster needs proven scorers and ownership is expected to provide him with a Walmart budget to work with (again). Dudley’s eye for personnel will help, but there are limits to what the team can do in the short term.
So, what do you think? Agree with the rankings, or do you think the Braves (or another team) are closer than the Falcons?
♦
Follow me on Twitter @JeffSchultzAJC and Facebook.com/JeffSchultzAJC
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298 comments Add your comment
hiramsaint
June 17th, 2010
8:49 am
rekingball- hard time putting one thought together at a time? @ pepe- isure did , he looked really good at the ring fling last night actually he looked like a superbowl winning owner.whats blank look like? a mamma hen pacing the sidelines dis-rupting the game
hiramsaint
June 17th, 2010
8:51 am
@ JSS–i like your CUTTING edge style. keep it up
Buzz29
June 17th, 2010
8:57 am
Georgia Tech,of course! That was a silly question Jeff!
GetwhatUpayfor
June 17th, 2010
8:57 am
The Atlanta Dream is the Best as of now. I hope the “Dream” do win the Championship asp. If you have not watched them play you have missed a treat.
Tech Frat Boy
June 17th, 2010
9:08 am
Mark’s a GDI. Hater. Take some pointers: http://frattinghard.com/
GT65
June 17th, 2010
9:09 am
Hope you mean Football at GT because GT Basketball under the Leadership of Paul Bewitt will not win crap. Bewitt is disgustful.
Buzz29, Go GT!
Tech Frat Boy
June 17th, 2010
9:09 am
Jeff*
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
June 17th, 2010
9:10 am
I put Falcons first- maybe Braves a distant second. If this were open to all athletics in the state of Georgia- i would go with UGA in FB, possibly GT in BB.
hiramsaint
June 17th, 2010
9:18 am
@ the dr.– surely the falcons are not your ray of hope in this city for a championship with all the other quality sports going on
Buzz29
June 17th, 2010
9:19 am
I don’t reference GT bball anymore. They are to me what sugar is to a diabetic. So yeah, I was talking about football.
Marky Mark
June 17th, 2010
9:21 am
I see the part-time pool boy’s been at it again today.
Ramon
June 17th, 2010
9:27 am
Sorry Jeff, but there are over 30 starting centers in the NBA. Al Horford was one of only four chosen to the All Star game while the other 26 NBA caliber centers fell short. So if our PF, who’s playing C, is better than 24-27 other starting centers, I don’t see how he falls short of being a NBA caliber center, especially when he was putting up his averages and career numbers against true 7 footers. With our undersized front court, the Hawks still managed to out rebound majority of the teams they played, and were always one of the top teams in rebounding.
wxwax
June 17th, 2010
9:28 am
The Braves may get lucky.
But the Falcons have to be the favorite. A terrific management team and as much money as is needed.
In the topsy-turvy world of the NFL, the Falcons have all the qualities necessary to be champion. Injuries and luck willing, one day this group of men will hoist the Lombardi trophy.
The Big Guy
June 17th, 2010
9:30 am
“No legitimate NBA Center.” What? Was I dreaming or did Al Horford go to the All-Star Game this year? Weird…wake up Jeff, also I take offense to your disrespecting frat guys offering you a beer on game day. IT’S GAME DAY!! Stop being such a doofus.
Pedro Cerano
June 17th, 2010
9:37 am
The Braves are 100% more likely to win a title this year Jeff. Mainly because the Super Bowl is played in 2011.
robertussen
June 17th, 2010
9:41 am
hiramsaint i think youve been drinking too much of that oil water again, or maybe its the ammonia coming from the lovely smell of pee in the street youve been inhaling again… anyway there is 0 chance the AINTS repeat this year. by the way why do you find your way to a falcons and atl sport blog all the time. you have nothing better to do over the summer huh. i pity you dude, and just remember when you start talking your trash that 8-8 and 13-3 werent that far apart. i respect the saints as a fun rival to hate and a good football team as of late. expect more from your rivals this year and RESPECTFULLY shut the **** up
rob
June 17th, 2010
9:41 am
the Thrashers, as that is the only true sport you listed…..all the others are just boring, mind numbing, egotistical wastes of time IMO
Iceman
June 17th, 2010
9:52 am
Falcons are presently the most likely, I think
Dawglasville
June 17th, 2010
9:54 am
The Falcons. I thought that even during the year of the Vick/Petrino disaster. The ownership of the Braves, Hawks, Thrashers is what is keeping those teams back. The Falcons have one clear voice and one pocketbook. There is no accountability with the Spirit group and with Liberty Media blah, blah.
hiramsaint
June 17th, 2010
9:56 am
i agree with you that the chance is small for the saints to repeat but our team has a chance of repeating whereas the falcons have no chance of repeating since they DID NOT win it last year, or any other year. i’ll give you props for having been there though. actually i live here now, and it would really pi$$ you off if you knew how i made a living, so the only thing i smell is that creek you call a river. since your atl. public school education is rearing it’s ugly head again , allow me to educate you. the oil leak is in the gulf of mexico. south fo n.o. the city gets it’s drinking water from the miss. river which flows from north to south. that means it flows many miles south into the gulf which is also south. therefore due to the laws of physics [ i know- thats greek to you] the oil has no chance of going up river against the flow to contaminate the drinking water there. go to your teacher and let her know you learned something today other than how to build a crakpipe
hiramsaint
June 17th, 2010
9:59 am
the above was for robertussen
PMC
June 17th, 2010
9:59 am
As of June 17. The Braves are the closest to a title. October comes before January.
This year Atlanta goes for the Double!
hiramsaint
June 17th, 2010
10:00 am
double what? inflation, property taxes, unemployment thanks to obama
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June 17th, 2010
10:04 am
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robertussen
June 17th, 2010
10:11 am
well duh….im just talkin crap dude. and i dont live in atl. im just a fan who likes to read about the falcons and comment sometimes. it seems all you do is come here to troll a rival team. if thats what you do for fun then enjoy it man. i cant think of any other reason you’d be here. but like i said i pity you if this is your only sense of enjoyment. and no i would not be “pi$$ed” at how you make a living. i mean if you are doing well for yourself good for you. i suggest you take that money and go do something fun, well more fun than talking sports trash on an atl spots site. you have to admit the oil and pee jokes are funny though. even though there really is nothing funny about an oil spill.
Manny
June 17th, 2010
10:13 am
I don’t see a championship in the future for any of those franchises, but the Braves are the closest. The Hawks were close, but they moved some steps back due to letting Mike Woodson go and replacing him with his assistant. That move guarantees Joe Johnson’s departure and that no real strong free agent will want to play for the Hawks.
The Falcons won’t win a championship with Matt Ryan at quarterback. He has some good instincts, but he’s skittish and easy to read on defense. Michael Turner can mask his shortcomings pretty well, but he’s injury-prone. I think Matt Ryan is going to wear out his welcome in 2 years.
The Braves has the best chance because all things are clicking at one time. There’s a perfect balance of youth and experience. The Braves pitching looks good. There’s a good shot there. The only problem is that we have a dinosaur as our closer and that the Braves aren’t going to spend the money to get the pieces to win in the postseason. We need an explosive closer to win in the postseason and we have Billy Wagner.
Thrashers? Really?
really??
June 17th, 2010
10:15 am
Sean Weatherspoon?? Im sorry but I
Archie
June 17th, 2010
10:18 am
Braves and Falcons both have excellent chances to win it all THIS year!
The Braves finally have a roster built for October success instead of April thru September success. A 5 man rotation does nothing for you in October since only three of them will ever see the mound in the postseason. So a rotation of Hudson, Hanson and Jurjenns (if healthy) is as good a rotation as you’ll see in October. The team is also not built around power hitting like it was in the late 90’s, power hitting is inconsistent in October, contact hitting is what gets the job done and the Braves are built that way this year. Lots of questions and if’s so far this year, but they’re in first place with little contribution from McCann and Escobar, a good second half from those two and the Braves are in great shape.
The Falcons have grown into a remarkably consistent team, which truly is remarkable given their history. With no lucky breaks or fortunate bounces, most difficult schedule in the league and lots of injuries, the team still stayed in the playoff hunt and finished with a winning record. With health and an easier schedule, it’s not that much of a stretch for the Falcons to win the division and get a home game or two in the playoffs.
hiramsaint
June 17th, 2010
10:20 am
agreed robertussen. the pee was funny cause i know . the only good thing katrina did was give my city a good , well needed pressure washing. i have lots of fun but unfortunately i’m required to sit in front of this screen waiting for some thing to happen. i also like to talk crap here cause the falcons and the saints are rivals and ironically i live here now. i would be on the n.o. sites more but their posting system was invented by ben franklin so it’s a pain to use. anyway, good yakin’ with you . hope you have a good day and i hope it’s cooler where you are than it is here
PMC
June 17th, 2010
10:25 am
World Series…. Super Bowl. We’ve got a great shot this year at both.
Still need some pass rush and a kicker and general team health in football and consistant hitting in baseball but It’s June the Braves are in First and the Falcons are in as good a shape as an organization as they have ever been.
robertussen
June 17th, 2010
10:31 am
you as well, but alas, im in charleston, sc, and i was in atl yesterday to pick up my daughter from the airport. it is much worse here but at least we have beaches. i do plan on trying to make the monday night football game this year because i think it will be the best game of the year. ive been talking with some saints friends of mine (oxymoron i know) on making the trip. good luck(well no that good) and good day
Matt "Choke" Ryan
June 17th, 2010
10:39 am
You have to crawl before you can walk.
Until the Falcons get a quarterback with an NFL arm that can stretch the field, there will be no playoff success or even make the playoffs for that matter.
It has been 6 years since the Falcons have won a playoff game. How can someone label a player elite when they only have 13 more tds than PICKS and has no playoff wins or pro bowl selections?
The Hawks by far is the superior franchise in the city, with 3 straight trips to the playoffs and for that effort, the coach gets fired, yet they hang onto a baseball owner who hasn’t come close to a title since Grissom, McGriff, Justice, Pendleton, which is ironic in itself considering that there has only been a small handful of African American players on the roster since. Now they turn to Heyward to be the savior – anothe big irony.
Now you have a football coach who has more temper than substance and likes to attack other team’s players, because he is so frustrated with his CHOKE of a quarterback, he wants to take his anger out on someone else.
The Falcons are a JOKE and their quarterback is a CHOKE.
The Jets and Ravens seemed to get it right in the draft, as both of their rookie qbs and head coaches went to the championship game in their rookie seasons.
No more excuses for the CHOKE, he is a 72 million dollar failure. He is a 2nd string qb at best and the sooner the Falcons realize that, the sooner they can reach another championship game, but they are FAR from a title.
The Ravens were in the same situation that they were in in 2007 and now the Ravens are superbowl picks and the Falcons are talking about a 3rd straight winning season.
hiramsaint
June 17th, 2010
10:47 am
one thing the nfl got right was putting the saints / falcons on mon. night football for 5 of the last 6 yrs. i think. it’s always a good game and who beside me is sick of the patriots, chargers and vikings . don’t get me wrong ,i don’t hate the teams- just tired of seeing them all the time
JuniorBridgeman
June 17th, 2010
10:49 am
The Hawks were the closest to the title UNTIL THEY QUIT PLAYING in the playoffs and threw in the white flag and literally gave up. The Hawks had the talent this year to win the NBA championship. The Hawks could have beaten both the teams who are remainding in this years finals. I’ll prove it. The Hawks record against the Celtics this season was 4-0. The Hawks record the last time they faced the Lakers was 1-0. The Hawks should have won the title because they have showed clear dominance over the two teams who are left standing. It doesnt matter because the season will be over tonight anyway and I dont care who wins it.
Just A Reminder
June 17th, 2010
10:50 am
Please Do Not Feed The Trolls.
Matt "Choke" Ryan
June 17th, 2010
10:58 am
Just A Reminder
June 17th, 2010
10:50 am
Please Do Not Feed The Trolls.
——————————————–
Then why are you here?
HA HA HA
Remember crack kills!
The Realist
June 17th, 2010
11:01 am
M. D. Cain wrote:
“The Realist: “The Braves will never win a championship with Bobby Cox”. I Didn’t realize someone else was managing the team in 1995. Please give us some more of your great insights.”
It is most obvious when one has to respond to such a small brain; I’ll help your brain grow a little free of charge.
It was not Bobby Cox who won the 1995 world series. It was won in spite of his typical blundering calls. Remember, had not Tom Glavine pitched a one hitter is game six most likely Mr. Cox would be sporting an 0-5 world series record and an unblemished 0-15 record in the last game of the postseason. His is, indisputably, the worst post season manager is history.
Remember, small brain, when a team reaches the championship series and world series they are usually facing the similar elite pitching they also enjoy. This is when the little things and strategic, in-game decisions by a sharp manager can make the difference. This is when Bobby has been a complete and utter failure as he sits, mines his nostrils, barks out cute little nicknames, and hopes for the big home run.
Lastly, it is didn’t, not “Didn’t.”
Don
June 17th, 2010
11:02 am
To win the Division with Cox managing, the Braves would have to be at least 10 games better than the other teams. Pitching is the name of the game, and the Braves pitching is good enough to win – but probably not with Cox managing. Absurd things that he has done this season has probably already cost the Braves at least 5 games, probably more.
boots
June 17th, 2010
11:03 am
You never know. Who would have thought the Celtics would be a game away or that the Saints would have won the Super Bowl before each season started? The good thing is that we even have legit conversations about the Falcons, Braves and Hawks being in the hunt. That doesn’t even count the Dawgs being legit contenders for a NC in the next couple of years. Atlanta is a good sports town and is only getting better the longer the transplanted Yankees and Left-coasters live here. In 20 years, there will be a solid fan base for all four pro teams. And, Jeff, thanks for not listing the “Dream” as one of our pro teams.
Johnny DangerDawg
June 17th, 2010
11:04 am
The future is bright for the Falcons because they have a solid head coach and a great GM.
The defense will be better this year, but I’m not sure Michael Turner can ever repeat the success he had in his first season as a Falcon.
boots
June 17th, 2010
11:05 am
I think “Matt ‘Choke’ Ryan = Terrance Moore. What’s up, Terrance?
pardon the interruption
June 17th, 2010
11:08 am
Everyone remember to vote out the pond scum in Congress this year. Two years from now, let’s get Jimmy Carter out of office with a resounding HELL NO vote.
falcons are a joke
June 17th, 2010
11:10 am
should have changed the poll to: Which Atlanta team is farthest from a championship? Atlanta Falcons, please stand up! I see Arthur Blank has started passing out the “kool-aid” early. How anyone with any kind of football knowledge thinks that the Falcons are in any way, shape or form in contention for a Superbowl is beyond me. Don’t you actually have to have a DEFENSE first?
Ted M
June 17th, 2010
11:11 am
Mark Fox will a championship before Paul Hewitt
mountain_jim
June 17th, 2010
11:15 am
Go Falcons! (and hurrry up football season!)
Ted M
June 17th, 2010
11:16 am
oops – Mark Fox will WIN a championship before Paul Hewitt
Dave In Tampa
June 17th, 2010
11:16 am
Sorry, but the Braves would have the best chance. The Falcons will be be lucky to win 8 games this coming season. Their choke collar is thicker than the Braves.
j. naismith
June 17th, 2010
11:17 am
the atlanta dream is the only team close to winning a title.
GT Alum
June 17th, 2010
11:33 am
I offer the following reading for all the Matt Ryan haters. Enjoy!
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=5292216
UGABasketball
June 17th, 2010
11:33 am
We own Hewitt’s Team. Please keep CPH because he’s outfoxed by the Fox!