How they really stand, from Braves (1) to Weasels (12)
Hey look, the Braves have new uniforms. So how about a new finish? (AP photo)
Welcome to this year’s edition of “How They Really Stand,” my ranking of all area sports teams, taking into account wins, losses, direction, potential, coaches, general managers, owners, recruiting coordinators and whether anybody provides us with more civic pride than, say, The Big Chicken (the bar is low).
I’m unveiling this a month earlier than usual because it seemed like a natural break in the sports schedule with the Braves getting ready to start spring training and the Hawks taking an off day between personalities. Two tweaks this year: I’m adding Georgia State football and basketball and replacing the Thrashers with a new entry. (Last year’s ranking in parenthesis.)
1. Braves (1): The best team in town lost 20 of its last 30 games. How about a nice embalming smoothie to go with those chicken fingers? But the Braves looked like a potential World Series team on paper last season until the paper caught fire, and they still seem closer to a title run than anybody else. Then again, that assumes everything that went wrong last season goes right this year.
If you're wondering what the faces of a franchise that is 0-3 in the playoffs look like, well, here you go. (Curtis Compton/AJC)
2. Falcons (2): We know the good (three playoff appearances). We know the bad (three playoff losses). Here’s what I don’t want to hear: “But they’re so much better than they used to be!” The Falcons’ measuring stick should be the rest of the NFL, not franchise history. The heat has been turned up on Thomas Dimitroff and Mike Smith.
3. Dream (8): I still have not been to an Atlanta Dream game. I’ve either had something else to do that day or I didn’t want mess up my perfect nothing-to-do-today day by watching women’s basketball, or stabbing myself with a fork. But I can’t ignore a franchise that has been to the WNBA finals two straight seasons, which I again must note is a long way from getting displaced from Philips Arena because Sesame Street Live was already booked.
4. Hawks (3): Al Horford’s injury should’ve doubled them over, but coach Larry Drew has done a nice job holding things together (save the occasional bizarre out-of-body experience like the Miami game). The biggest problem: duh. Joe Johnson’s contract means little roster flexibility. On a related note: Johnson, the All-Star, scored six points at Phoenix. Josh Smith, the non-All-Star, went for 30 points and 17 rebounds. What’s wrong with this picture?
Mark Richt has been a popular guy on national signing day. Now it's about carrying that through the season. (AP photo)
5. Georgia football (6): Mark Richt will go two straight years without having to face Alabama, LSU or Arkansas in the regular season. Nice lottery hit. Last year’s 10-4 season was a nice bounce-back from 6-7. But losing to Michigan State in the Outback Bowl after getting slammed 42-10 in the SEC title game wasn’t easily digested by BowWow Nation. Celebrations need to extend from signing day to January.
6. Georgia Tech football (7): The Jackets started 7-2 and upset No. 5 Clemson. Then they dropped three of their last four, including blowing a two-touchdown lead to Utah in the last seven minutes of the Sun Bowl. Next season will be an interesting tipping point for Paul Johnson, who went 20-7 in his first two seasons, 14-12 in the next two. And then there’s the matter of trying to win with his recruits.
7. This Space For Lease (5): Our annual dividing line between the general population and ICU.
8. Georgia basketball (4): The Dogs drop four spots from last year. But that’s less about coach Mark Fox as a coach than it is how this season has exposed just how weak the talent base was after the departures of Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie. Fox needs a gravity-defying, 360-slam in recruiting.
9. Georgia Tech basketball (10): The Jackets won in Athens early this season. They probably should’ve stopped the season then. Brian Gregory is ahead of Paul Hewitt in that people like him, but he’s behind Hewitt in that he needs to prove he can recruit in the ACC. It’s not easy selling kids on “potential,” especially when your arena site is a construction zone.
It all seemed so promising back then for the Thrashers-- and then Don Waddell started picking players. (AJC photo)
10. Georgia State basketball (new): The early euphoria of an 11-game winning streak has faded (the Panthers are 7-6 since), but State could make things interesting in the CAA tournament. Worth noting: Rod Barnes did a nice job cleaning up a mess before getting fired, prior to Ron Hunter’s hiring.
11. Georgia State football (new): It’s impossible not to like Bill Curry. But he took on a difficult job, and going from 6-5 to 3-8 in Year 2 with a slight step up in competition speaks volumes. Next season the Panthers start playing conference games. Buckle up.
12. Team Weasel (surrogate): This entry replaces the Thrashers, now of Winnipeg, or some place on the dark side of the moon, and the three people primarily responsible for the franchise’s floundering and eventual move: Gary Bettman, Bruce Levenson and Don Waddell. If you golf and all of your associates consider you spineless, devious and a general tool, the three will be looking to round out their foursome at the Eternal Damnation Country Club.
By Jeff Schultz
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250 comments Add your comment
GFJacket
February 19th, 2012
10:23 am
Based on sellouts and fan interest, UGA football has to ranked 1st. With the 2012 schedule, UGA also has the highest probability of winning a title.
Braves have too many questions.
Falcons have yet to win a playoff game with Ryan.
Hawks have limited fan interest.
Tech is Tech.
All the rest are irrelevant.
Col Reb is Cryin'
February 19th, 2012
10:23 am
Are you on CrAcK??? The Dream is #3 in Atlanta? I am an avid sports fan and I barley know they are a womens basketball team. I have no idea where they play and thought they were disbanded like The Thrashers. The Hawks at #4??? you just write this stuff to get 1,000 comments. The Hawks are terrible. I can’t name one player or name the coach who changes every year. You write garbage all the time to get people fired but this is over the top. Ask any true sports fan in Atlanta. Better yet count bumper stickers. UGA football is # 1, Braves are a fairly close second. Tech is probably # 3. Falcons a distant 4th and nothing else is even on the radar.
clean out
February 19th, 2012
10:24 am
i only buy tickets to these miserable atl teams secondhand for $5-10 max–I will not give any money to these incompetent billionaires owning these teams who keep putting mediocre products on the field and will not buy any of this food or beer at obscene prices.
Gladsfan
February 19th, 2012
10:25 am
No Gladiators on that list? Come on Jeff, they may not play in Atlanta but they do play in the metro Atlanta area are first in their division and conference. Time the AJC showed the Glads a little more hockey love.
Duke of Flatbush
February 19th, 2012
10:27 am
Glads should be on the list-best value for the $$$ in town
j
February 19th, 2012
10:31 am
actually agree with some posts … as an Atlanta Native and fan, jeff got this one wrong:
1. Dream
2. Ga Southern Football
3. Hawks
4. Braves
5. Falcons
6. UGA
7. Ga Tech
j
February 19th, 2012
10:32 am
it doesn’t matter if you care about the Hawks or Dream (i wouldn’t go see a Dream game if you paid me) BUT if you’re ranking the best teams pro/college in GA, that is how it should go based off playoffs/record/etc
Brookhaven Commodore
February 19th, 2012
10:34 am
Great article, Jeff! Where can I pick up some Team Weasel merchandise?? I think Bobby Petrino’s birthday is coming up, and he would look great in a TW hoodie!
j
February 19th, 2012
10:37 am
if you go by what southerners think, regardless of if their team wins or not, this how it would rank:
1. UGA football
2. Nascar
3. Braves
4. Falcons
6. uhhh, whats basketball?
yeah, most southerners are idiots and shouldn’t even be sampled to ask what are the best teams in atlanta b/c all you’ll get is their biased garbage … see above
j
February 19th, 2012
10:41 am
well, that was fun … let the idiots have at this blog now
G
February 19th, 2012
10:48 am
Davenpoop is on to something:
Hawks = best men’s pro team in Atlanta.
1. Dream
2. Hawks
3. Falcons
4. Braves
This should be an annual report, not what ’s been going on the past three years. The Dream is the only team that knows what it takes and has what it takes to be a championship contender. Angel McCoughtry is the only proven leader on an Atlanta sports team.
What does Chipper, Matt Ryan, and Joe Johnson have in common? They all disappear when the team needs them to make big plays for a win. They’re also overpaid for what they bring to the table.
G
February 19th, 2012
11:01 am
Better yet, here’s the production report for a few teams around here:
Dream = championship appearance; only realistic team to win a championship
Hawks = 2nd round playoff appearance; means they actually won a playoff series. Lost in game 6, and maybe a game away from a conference appearance.
Bulldogs football = SEC championship game appearance
Falcons = playoff appearance; all of those pro-bowlers and no points in a playoff game; Matt needs to make the stats count for something
Braves = a winning season; no pennant, not playoff; no young talent at 3rd base.
Nativebird
February 19th, 2012
11:06 am
“the matter of trying to win with his recruites”? Is that some sort of excuse? Are we really still trying to cling to the sad consolations of “okay yes he cant recruite…but boy is he a GENIUS football coach”!
Are you kidding me? Recruiting IS THE job of head coach in major college football. this guy is done. Hope they’re already planning the succession down on the plains. the time is now for 2013.
Jim
February 19th, 2012
11:07 am
Jeff…
Good stuff. Careful what you say about recruiting rankings. Your colleague Mr Bradley feels UGA should be favored to win the BCS title in 2012 because they scored the 19th rated recruiting class in America.
P Rose
February 19th, 2012
11:26 am
G @ 11:01 AM: “What does Chipper, Matt Ryan, and Joe Johnson have in common? They all disappear when the team needs them to make big plays for a win. They’re also overpaid for what they bring to the table.”
Agreed. Especially in the playoffs.
ab initio
February 19th, 2012
11:56 am
The Braves, and their lousy organization and tepid farm system, were exposed last year.
DB
February 19th, 2012
12:12 pm
The Flames
boots
February 19th, 2012
12:29 pm
1. Falcons (made playoffs), 2. Hawks (made playoffs), 3. GA Football (made SEC Championship game), 4. Braves (good but choked), 5. Dream (uh… it is women’s basketball, and I cannot name a single person I know that has ever seen a game or who could even name a player…), 6. GA Tech Football (they need to actually win some, and they play in the ACC, so it should not be hard), 7. GA Basketball (on the upswing, maybe should be higher), 8. GA State Basketball (they are winning, I think), 9. GA Tech Basketball (they are mostly losing, I think), 10. GA State Football (seriously?), 11. Thrashers (why are we even talking about them. Go Flames!)
Tomahawkin
February 19th, 2012
12:47 pm
Bronx Mike
“atlanta-a city of losers. Come to NY for championships! I miss the bronx–best pizza in the country.”
STFU and Sit Down! Or Better Yet? Take Your A$$ Back to The Rotten Apple!
marcus
February 19th, 2012
12:49 pm
this is, of course is your ranking. everyone knows that the “pecking order” for georgia is: braves, uga football, falcons, hawks, uga gymnastics, uga baseball, tech baseball, uga women’s b-ball, tech women’s b-ball, tech b-ball, uga golf, ga state baseball, anything else is a non factor. of course track and field has a following, but it does not get as much play.
dawgfan
February 19th, 2012
12:50 pm
hawks
braves
uga football
falcons
marcus
February 19th, 2012
12:55 pm
i’d never buy season tickets for the hawks as long as they have the most over-rated, priced, belligerent player in the nba (joe johnson). i buy only individual tickets to see a particular team and watch the effort that smith, horford put forth. atlanta will always be a joke when it comes to basketball, they are duped by weak franchises like new york in paying too much for players who lack the character needed for leading this franchise out of the duldrums. i guarantee you that if the hawks were somehow able to find a sucker for j johnson’s contract, you’d see a significant rise in fan support.
Tomahawkin
February 19th, 2012
1:00 pm
J-Hey Rocking a Mini-Afro at Camp this Year?
Love It! I haven’t seen one of those Since Brian Jordan had a Mini-Afro in Early 2001
dude
February 19th, 2012
1:17 pm
Atlanta is lame without hockey. It sure fits the demographics of this city without it though!!!!!
Peter
February 19th, 2012
1:22 pm
1. Braves
2. No other sport really matters.
What a Joke
February 19th, 2012
1:24 pm
Jarvis… In point of fact, I am an Auburn fan. I am just pointing out that putting a run of the mill basketball program (UGA) in front of a storied program like Georfia Tech is foolish. Look at all the great pros the Yellow Jackets have had. Keepin’ it real, the ACC is just a better basketball conference and until recently Tech has been in the better half of the conference consistently. UGA is another story. They are at the bottom of the pack of a solid, but not great, conference.
Drive on down 85 south of you want to see a National Championship trophy in football that still has the shine on it.
Supersize that order, mutt
February 19th, 2012
1:25 pm
Nobody cares about the Glads or whatever. Or hockey at all. Tech should be number 1 on this list. Let the dawg fans chew on that and then shut the hell up forever.
Falcon 228
February 19th, 2012
1:36 pm
The Falcons seem to be getting it. Watching them the past four seasons has been a pleasure. But watching the melt downs in the playoffs is not only frustrating it’s insanity (repeating the same mistake over and over and over again expecting different results). Defensive talent is out there. Take a look around the league and you see the late round picks that wind up all pro. Can you say “Better Scouting”? Coaching changes are only the begining. It’s not the fix.The old cliche’ “Offense will sell tickets but Defense wins championships” still applies. The next 3 months will be quite interesting to see what comes out of Flowery Branch.
“Mark Fox has got a ton of talent here in this state.” I’m sick of hearing that tired old statement. So what. I don’t care if a point guard comes from North Dakota. If he can average 15 points and 18 assists per game and get UGA into March Madness then as Dr. Hunter S. Thompson said, “Buy the ticket, take the ride” and recruit him. (I wonder if he was related to David Thompson.)
Supersize that order, mutt
February 19th, 2012
1:41 pm
The Falcons have only figured out how to embarrass us more often in the playoffs. At least Tech gives this city something to be proud of.
Trump Card
February 19th, 2012
2:00 pm
Georgia Tech Golf is the most consistent winner in town. 3 players in the Top 15 on the PGA.
Falcon 228
February 19th, 2012
2:01 pm
Since when, 24 years ago? Get a ticket to Philly. Now that’s embrassing.
Uncle Willie
February 19th, 2012
2:34 pm
Why not rate the teams on the food offered at the venues.
hbcuclassics
February 19th, 2012
2:41 pm
1. Falcons
2. Hawks
3. Dream
4. Braves
5. Georgia Southern
6. UGA
7. Ga Tech
8. Albany State
9. Valdosta State
10. Fort Valley State
11. Morehouse
http://www.hbcuclassics.com
Jason in Gainesville
February 19th, 2012
3:29 pm
1, UGA Football
2, UGA Football
3, UGA Football
.
.
.
24, Girls Scouts Badminton
25 Georgia Tech Football.
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
February 19th, 2012
5:47 pm
The question should read:
Who is the highest paid player in Atlanta & still has not won a playoff game
Duke of Flatbush
February 19th, 2012
6:57 pm
Supersize, I am afraid that $17,000+ that came to Thrashers’ games when they were good don’t quite agree with you. And alotta hockey fans are Southerners like me, not just transplants. Besides, it’s their choice not yours.
The team is gone because of ownership, not the fans. And there’s plenty of us left that will support another hockey team with the right owners in the future.
Supersize that order, mutt
February 19th, 2012
7:29 pm
That $17,000 wasn’t enough to keep that boring sport in town. Losers. If you want hockey, at least watch Tech’s team. Tech is the only sports program in the city with class. And to the dawg-jerk that thinks Jawja football is #1, 1980 was a long time ago, Bubba.
G
February 19th, 2012
9:12 pm
I’m a Georgia/Atlanta sports fan as much as anybody, but I’m not in the business of fooling myself. The biggest downfall of Georgia sports teams is that our highest paid players are holding us back. At the end of the day, Georgia/Atlanta sports is stuck!
Chipper’s been one of my favorite all-time Atlanta sports athletes. We’ve held on to Chipper too long to get anything worthwhile for him. His time for leading the Braves back to a World Series is over. We probably won’t get better until he’s gone. Braves are stuck!
Joe Johnson is a good complementary player for a squad with other superstars. Rick Sund is a fool for paying JJ like he’s going to lead the Hawks to a championship. Throwing money at a tier 2 player will not make him a tier 1 talent. We can’t afford to improve the team. Hawks are stuck!
Matt Ryan has been a great stat stuffer in his first four seasons. If it wins post season games and ultimately a Super Bowl, then I’m happy. However, Matt the Stat is not winning when it counts and he’s getting paid a lot of money to get the job done. May not be popular, but we need to think about creating a safety net at the QB position. What if Matt doesn’t improve? I don’t want to be 6 yeare in, and 0-5 in the post. Until Matt the Stat’s contract is up, Birds are stuck!
As far as Mark Richt…..if Saban had our talent, we would have at least one championship by now.
suckville
February 19th, 2012
10:39 pm
all the atl teams suck almost every year, including tech. Chokes, bad management, bad ownership, bad trades, overpaid contracts–it just never changes in this loser city. I can’t wait to move back up north when the economy improves.
Douglas
February 20th, 2012
12:09 am
For those saying the Falcons are in the best position remember they have 1/2 a draft and 17 players up for free agency, new offensive and defensive coordinators and an aging running back. I’m not saying they are going to take a step back but the cards are stacked against them doing anything more than what they have the past 4 seasons.
As for Greggory not proving he can recruit in the ACC, did Paul Hewitt ever prove he could? I mean he pulled in some great classes but his greatest teams were products of his first 2 seasons on the Flats (03-04, 04-05 seasons), after then he pulled in a lot of talent but spent way too much time building around 1-and-doners who not surprisingly to everyone but him it seemed, were gone after one year (every year he seemed convinced that they were coming back).
Greggory has proved he can recruit already, the thing he has to prove next is whether or not he can build around them, will he develop his players like Hewitt did at the start or will he rely on the strength of his class like Hewitt did unsuccessfully during the 2nd half of his tenure.
Larry
February 20th, 2012
7:47 am
Now we know how really dumb are Najeh Poop for Brains and all the cool goobers who use a single initial as their name.
The Hawks are back to being the Hawks as evident by their great showing to a tired, reeling Portland team after tow nights of rest. When, since the Michael Vick / Jim Mora era, have the Falcons been dominated by inferior teams?
Don’t let the dumb make you dumb!
BLK09GT
February 20th, 2012
9:40 am
Wow Sonny. I use to frequent the comment sections just to find your posts because they were funny. Now you are just an angry troll. Your persona is becoming tiresome now. Time to come up with something new. Chipper has more talent in his pinky toe. Time to call up the ole coach and hit the field. Once you complete your hall of fame career let me know.
Matt Riddle
February 20th, 2012
9:40 am
Georgia State has a team for what 2 years and make this list? Schultz you have no measure of Georgia sports if you really think that there are more Georgia State football fans than Georgia Southern. They’ve won multiple championships and have a storied tradition with a national fanbase. Southern football should be in the middle of your list.
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
February 20th, 2012
10:02 am
72 Million for ZERO playoff wins vs 30 Million for 5 playoff wins……..
HA HA HA
ItAintMe
February 20th, 2012
10:40 pm
mark this down—the falcons will not make the playoffs in 2012. Carolina will beat ATL 2 times and dallas and detroit will be the 2 wild card teams. NY, GB, NO and SF are the division winners.
Keith
February 21st, 2012
1:19 pm
All you people complain about players getting to old to play and then 2 years later wishing he was bad playing again. Yep you guys are real fans. Also nutcases!
D-Todd
February 22nd, 2012
12:07 am
If anybody in there right mind thinks that GA State football ranks ahead of GA Southern football you are one of the biggest idiot sports fans to ever have an opinion. Don’t be bias be real. If they played today Southern would beat them by 30. And how many championships does Southern have?? 6 that’s right, and the past two years they have gone to the semi’s!
Jonas Grumby
February 23rd, 2012
7:25 am
It’s not logical to compare Hawks and Braves playoff records. There are 30 teams each in the NBA and MLB. The Hawks have made it no further than the final 8, same as the Braves. If the NBA used the same standard as MLB — division winners and the top 2nd place team — the Hawks would have made the playoffs twice, 08-09 and 09-10. And the Hawks have absolutely no chance of getting better.
Duke of Flatbush
February 23rd, 2012
8:56 am
Supersize-
Tech is the only sports program with class?
You sound like a real bright guy-NOT!
Duke of Flatbush
February 23rd, 2012
9:29 am
Hey Supersize-your first class GT football program has ONE GUY – Stephen Hill that has a hope of getting drafted in the 2012 NFL draft. at least that’s what the experts say…..