There’s another side of this issue that your column didn’t address: Atlanta’s great weather makes it a great sports town FOR RECREATIONAL SPORTS, not just spectator sports.

Think about it: If you’re a golfer and live in Boston or NY, you’ve either got to have $100k or more to join a country club–or be willing to hoof it as much as an hour into the suburbs to play at a muni (and wait 2-3 hours for a tee time, and that’s if you’re lucky). The general lack of green space forces sports fans to be spectators, rather than players.

Consider my life in Atlanta: My nine-year-old son plays baseball alongside probably 600 other boys at Murphey-Candler, and you’ll find similar turnouts at Buckhead Baseball, Shaw Park, and East Cobb. We play golf together on weekends at Legacy and Foxcreek, and yes, we still take in Hawks, Falcons and Braves games together (and with friends). I help judges my kids’ dive meets (Georgia State Class C Certified judge, that’s me), and attend my daughter’s ALTA matches (did I mention that Atlanta has the largest tennis league in the country?) My wife played ALTA until her knees gave in, but she’s still trying to get me out on the courts. Oh, and my son plays flag football, and both kids played soccer.

And we’re probably just an average Atlanta family.

I hear the criticisms that Atlanta is a bad sports city, mostly by the transplanted Yankees on the AM sports talk stations. But if Louie from Younkers is more of a sports fan because he forks out $110 for bleacher seats at Citi Field off StubHub, where he quaffs six beers and 3 brats while cursing and throwing batteries at the right fielder for the other team (or for his own team, mind you)…then by that standard, I guess I’m not much of a sports fan. And Atlanta isn’t much of a sports town.

I think you make some good points Mark. I can see the argument either way. I think Atlanta fans can be fickle. But I also think Atlanta fans will get behind their sports teams when it’s warranted( the Braves in the early 1990’s had a great following). The thing about Atlanta’s pro teams is that they have lacked consistent success as opposed to other places like Pittsburgh or Boston. And the way I feel; if Braves players get paid millions of dollars to go out there and half ass, then they deserve a band wagon following, you know? I think Atlanta fans are just tired of being let down. A team like the Falcons will give us something to believe in one year and then mail it in the next. Or our teams will be good for a period of time( Braves and Hawks), but then choke in the playoffs when it counts. If Players play hard and have success, fans will support them. It’s a two way street.

Love ATL or leave ATL!