Atlanta’s sad sports history: One lousy title in 149 pro seasons
The initial response to the sight of Atlanta patrons leaving an NFL playoff game with a quarter still to play — this happened only last weekend — was to loose the boilerplate harrumph. “Nothing new here! These people are the fairest of fair-weather fans in all the land!”
That’s always the reaction from national voices, and there was a time when it was the belief of this correspondent. Atlanta’s the city that can’t sell out playoff games and then, when finally it does, the crowd goes home early when the scoreboard gets ugly, et cetera. But 26 years and 10 months of residency have had an erosive effect, and now this neutral-by-profession can say:
Folks, I feel your pain.
Since big-time professional sports arrived in 1966, teams sailing under the Atlanta flag have completed 149 seasons. (We won’t count baseball in 1994, when the World Series was canceled by a players’ strike, or the 2004-2005 NHL campaign, which was scrubbed due to a lockout.) Only one has yielded a championship. That’s a batting average of .007, which is nice if you’re James Bond, less nice if you’ve invested financial and emotional capital in any of those 148 misses.
(Just to clarify: I haven’t included the Atlanta Chiefs’ 1968 NASL title because soccer wasn’t a major American sport. Nor is the Knights’ 1994 International Hockey League championship factored, the Knights having been by definition minor-league.)
The history of major Atlanta pro sports is of the cosmic whiff. Our teams build us up to let us down. The Hawks have never won more than one playoff series in any season since moving from St. Louis. The NHL Flames, who left for Calgary in 1980, didn’t win a single series in six tries. The Thrashers, in operation since 1999, haven’t yet won a postseason game.
The Falcons have won six playoff games in 45 years of trying. The two times they held the No. 1 seed resulted in flops of wildly differing flavor. On Jan. 4, 1981, the Falcons led Dallas by two touchdowns after three quarters and lost. (See YouTube video below.) This January the Falcons led 14-7 only to watch with benign neglect as they were outscored 35-0 in a span of 18 minutes, 25 seconds.
The one time the Falcons graced a Super Bowl — this after the epic overtime victory in the Minneapolis Metrodome that stands as the greatest performance by any Atlanta team — they messed it up. On the eve of Super Bowl XXXIII, safety Eugene Robinson got himself arrested for solicitation hours after receiving the NFL’s Bart Starr Award for citizenship. Was it any wonder the game’s key play — an 80-yard touchdown pass from John Elway to Rod Smith — featured a late-arriving Robinson?
Andruw Jones chases the Leyritz blast -- to no avail, naturally. (AJC file photo)
The Braves, to their credit, reached the World Series five times in the ’90s. They lost four, the first three in excruciating fashion. Bobby Cox, manager of those teams, would later say, “We played better in three of the ones we lost than in the one we won,” and it was just Atlanta’s luck that its one professional title was achieved the year after the players’ strike of 1994, a debilitating event that served to sap some of passion from the moment of long-deferred (and never-repeated) moment of arrival.
We Atlantans know the drill: Whenever one of our teams gets close, Lucy snatches away the football and Charlie Brown goes flying. With a chance to take a 3-1 lead in a World Series, Mark Wohlers throws Jim Leyritz a slider. With a chance to close out the Boston Celtics at the old Omni, the Hawks’ final shot is taken not by Dominique Wilkins but by the sub Cliff Levingston, who offers up a running lefty hook. With a chance to take a 2-1 series lead on San Francisco, the reliever Craig Kimbrel is removed but the shaky emergency second baseman Brooks Conrad remains on the field in what will be the penultimate ninth inning of Cox’s managerial career.
One hundred forty-nine seasons, one victory parade. (Although the worst-to-first Braves of 1991, who lost the World Series when Lonnie Smith dallied at second base in Game 7, held a parade, too. And so, on a predictably rainy day, did the Falcons after their lost Super Bowl.) Over the same span, the modest city of Pittsburgh has won 11 championships — 12 if you count the ABA crown taken by the Pipers. Long-suffering Philadelphia has six titles since 1966. Denver has four, one at Atlanta’s expense.
Really, can anyone blame us if we’re jaded? Even if we don’t know what will go wrong this time, we’ve seen enough to know something will. We live in Atlanta, where something always does.
By Mark Bradley
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491 comments Add your comment
Patman
January 22nd, 2011
10:11 am
Mark Bradley, you’ve finally hit the nail on the head! This is what us locals have been saying about Atlanta teams for decades now and the Falcon’s sorry performance against the Packers is just another in a long line of chokes and screw ups! Thaks for getting it!
Patman
January 22nd, 2011
10:15 am
But that was kind of petty to mention that the Braves ‘championship came aftger a strike. A championship is a championship is a championship is a championship. I’ll take it! I do agree that they should have won more and contrary to popular belief among local sprotswriters, they would have won more if it weren’;t for Bobby Cox’s ineptitude.
Robert
January 22nd, 2011
10:29 am
MB: Would you say it’s accurate to describe Atlanta as a transient city? Non-native Georgians moving in and out at a rate higher than the national norm for a big city? Maybe the rather obvious fickle fan base can be attributed to the transient nature of Atlanta residents.
Robert Barron
January 22nd, 2011
10:32 am
No one will believe this but I was planning to submit “The Falcons are Lucy which makes us all Charlie Browns” to the Sportsvent.
Meaning I think like Mark.
No wonder I’m not rich.
billybob
January 22nd, 2011
11:03 am
Almost watched the youtube video, but why pick at that scab? Considering there is nothing connecting that 81 team to the 2011 version why does this continue to happen? Two owners, fifteen coaching changes, thousands different players, forty six different teams. Maybe it a collective Atlanta psyche that can’t over come the past. And to think there are people who blog here about some kind of dynasty in the making….boggles the mind.
Oh Boy
January 22nd, 2011
11:04 am
Mark – I had forgotten just how PAINFUL that Falcon loss was. As I have said before it was the day I became emotionally detached from the FALCONS…..I just could not take it anymore. Now – I just don’t care, I’ve given up. Did not see one play of last weeks game v. Packers, chose instead to go have a nice dinner. I KNEW they would lose, the only question was by how many points.
KakNiqueTree
January 22nd, 2011
11:17 am
Do you all find it coincidental that Eugene Robinson and Cliff Levingston won championships in other cities. Brooks Conrad probably will, too. It’s like ‘Play for an ATL team, so you can screw around and not take it serious enough.’
Bradley=Asshole
January 22nd, 2011
11:20 am
Leave it to Bradley to trash our city and sports teams for no reason other than to have something to blog about. You are a hate-mongering piece of filth, Bradley. Our teams can suck and I will still love and support them. But you just suck and do nothing to deserve anyones respect.
P Rose
January 22nd, 2011
11:34 am
You can’t sat Cleveland is a losing sports town because (#1) the Browns were the best team in the NFL in the 50s and early (pre-Super Bowl) 60s, and (#2) the fans there sued the owner for moving the team to Baltimore, and won the rights to keep the team name, colors and history — which makes them winners, in my book.
P Rose
January 22nd, 2011
11:36 am
At least we have a great airport, the world’s biggest and best aquarium, the most beautiful springs and autumns on earth, two college football teams with rich histories, and the best-looking women in the country!
Grim Reaper
January 22nd, 2011
11:39 am
Atlanta lost its first championship and the “opposing fans” were the ones to party and burned the town down, turned over the carriages, blasted the windows etc., and since Disney World wasn’t built yet, they celebrated lying around the beaches of Savannah instead. Yes, the Yankees won it all, led by Manager William T. Sherman, the Yankees dressed in their road blue uni’s swept through Atlanta in the biggest lopsided victory in “history”, you can look it up! Never bet the house with arrogance when too many mint juleps distort reality, con’prende?
P Rose
January 22nd, 2011
12:02 pm
@Grim Reaper: you damn yankee, it’s a little insensitive to take glee over the burning of an American city, con’prende? I mean, didn’t your city burn in 2001? Of course I would never laugh about that, but then, I’m a southerner.
yo mama
January 22nd, 2011
12:04 pm
mark, your research needs work. the atlanta chiefs won an indoor title, the atlanta ruckus played for the title in 1995, but a title is a title, and therefore these franchises need to be included. sorry, but soccer is a major sport. americans just dont know it. ever heard of the world cup?
BraveGirl325
January 22nd, 2011
12:05 pm
Consider this:
Atlanta teams may not be the championship champions, but many teams haven’t been in the postseason half as much as we have. Just making it to the playoffs is an exclusive, exciting accomplishment that many teams don’t experience frequently.
When the Braves won the division 14 years in a row, we took it for granted. In 2010, we were foaming at the mouth at the possibility of winning the wild card. We couldn’t make it past the first round, but that scrappy, fledgling little team played their hearts out in Bobby Cox’s final season. In my book, that effort is worth more than any routine championship.
PHILLY FAN IN TEMECULA CA
January 22nd, 2011
12:15 pm
this might make you atlanta whiners feel better, the calgary flames formerly the atlanta flames won the stanleycup in 1988, LOL HHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH LOL HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA LOL HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA LOL HAHAHAHAHAHAH LOL HAHAHHA LOL HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Wantangious Rivooten
January 22nd, 2011
12:16 pm
Who dat likes dem losing falcons?
Wantangious Rivooten
January 22nd, 2011
12:16 pm
Atlanta sucks
P Rose
January 22nd, 2011
12:17 pm
Philly Fan, your air stinks and your women are butt-ugly.
jdawg
January 22nd, 2011
12:19 pm
And we jump on Pro Sports now, UGA is on the back burner…always something, still say that college is king in the area, and that really hurts some. The truth is, I see no major pro sports reacing the big dance. The Thrashers will be the next to leave..
P Rose
January 22nd, 2011
12:19 pm
Wantangious, repeat after me: “Who is THAT? Who IS that?” Don’t be ashamed, there’s nothing wrong with having a speech impediment. But your city is a swamp and it stinks.
PHILLY FAN IN TEMECULA CA
January 22nd, 2011
12:20 pm
ATLANTA=
A= ATROCIOUS
T= TERRIBLE
L= LOSERS
A= AGAIN ATROCIOUS
N= NEGITIVE TOWN
T= AGAIN TERRIBLE
A= AGAIN, AGAIN, ATROCIOUS
PHILLY FAN IN TEMECULA CA
January 22nd, 2011
12:21 pm
P ROSE I LIVE IN TEMECULA CA, FOR LAST 11 YEARS AND I CAN ASSURE YOU CA WOMAN ALOT PRETTIER THAN THOSE GEORGIA PRUNES
P Rose
January 22nd, 2011
12:22 pm
Philly fan, you may be dumb and your wife may be ugly, but at least you had the sense to get out of that stinkhole and move to California.
P Rose
January 22nd, 2011
12:24 pm
P.S. Philly fan, your caps lock is calling. It wants you to turn it off. (Just like Philadelphians, always screaming and yelling like a dumb barking dog.)
Gurgaon
January 22nd, 2011
12:27 pm
Try being a Vanderbilt graduate living in Atlanta.
Cecil34
January 22nd, 2011
12:30 pm
Funny Story – I was in college down at West GA when the Falcons-Cowboys game was on, and being a Cowboys fan, caught unmerciful hades from all in the room for 3 quarters.
Then, as things got tighter, they all started to become quiet.
When the Cowboys finally won, I turned around the room to each one and said FU, FU, FU, and FU too!
I will never forget that as long as I live ha ha!
PHILLY FAN IN TEMECULA CA
January 22nd, 2011
12:34 pm
I THINK THE THRASHERS I MEAN TRASHERS, WILL BE THE NEXT ATLANTA TEAM TO WIN A TITLE AND WE KNOW THAT IS NOT HAPPENING IN THIS CENTURY,
GO PHILLIES, GO FLYERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PHILLY FAN IN TEMECULA CA
January 22nd, 2011
12:38 pm
P-ROSE YOU OBVIOUSLY NTB, DID IT EVER OCCUR TO YOU I NEVER LIVED IN PHILLY, IM FROM SOUTH JERSEY, IN CASE YOU DONT KNOW SOUTH JERSEY SUPPORTS THE PHILLY TEAMS IN ATTENDENCE, DONT ASSUME IT MAKES AN ASS OUT OF YOU, GO ANSWER YOUR PHONE AND DEAL WITH YOUR CREDITORS SCUMBAG
PHILLY FAN IN TEMECULA CA
January 22nd, 2011
12:43 pm
CECIL34 THERES A PLACE FOR GUYS IN YOUR SITUATION ITS CALLED A PHCIATRIC HOSPITAL, I ADVISE YOU TO CONSIDER IT
P Rose
January 22nd, 2011
12:47 pm
Philly fan, south Jersey is the only place on earth that stinks worse than Philly. The women there are so ugly because you all drink contaminated water. So I understand your rage, but for God’s sake, STOP YELLING!
PHILLY FAN IN TEMECULA CA
January 22nd, 2011
12:48 pm
VILLANOVA UP ON SYRACUSE AT HALF 40-29 YOU
GO NOVA 1985 NCAA CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Escaped from Email Purgatory
January 22nd, 2011
12:50 pm
Ownership. It’s gotta be ownership. Preferably local ownership that’s committed to winning a championship and has the moxey and money to make it happen. Outside of Arthur Blank, does that sound like anybody who fills the role in this town? Maybe Kathy Betty (Dream) fits the bill too.
The Falcons often floundered when the Smiths’ owned the team. Although we did experience one of teams high-points in 1980 – and an all-time low point – the loss to Dallas. The Smith’s heart was in the right place. They just couldn’t get it done.
The Hawks flourished (relatively speaking) when Ted owned them. Particularly after he turned the reigns over to Stan Kasten. Of course Stan left the Hawks to revive Ted’s other team – the Braves. Maybe Stan gets credit for hiring Scheurholz – good move dude. Or was that Bobby Cox who brought in Jon?
Despite the Braves one World Series in five tries, they were a model franchise when Ted owned them. But soon as the team became a subsidiary of a multi-national corporation, the will to win it all disappeared quicker than Chipper’s name from the starting lineup due to a thumb cramp.
The Flames and Thrashers? Who cares?
Arthur Blank, our beleaguered sports town turns its lonely eyes to you. And you too Kathy Betty.
P Rose
January 22nd, 2011
12:51 pm
Philly fan — you mean you grew up in south Jersey, root for Philadelphia teams, and live in California. So WHAT THE HELL are you doing on an Atlanta sports blog?? Do you troll every sports blog in the country, or is there some reason you are particularly obsessed with Atlanta? Get a life, loser.
PHILLY FAN IN TEMECULA CA
January 22nd, 2011
12:52 pm
P-ROSE IS THE YELLING HURTING YOUR EARS, AND WHAT WOULD YOUR SAME-SEX PARTNER THINK OF YOU DISCUSSING WOMAN, A HOMOSEXUAL AS YOUSELF HAS NO CREDIBILITY OF WHETHER A WOMAN IS PRETTY ITS LIKE ASKING A DOG IF AN ALLEGATOR IS SEXY, NO RELIVENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
P Rose
January 22nd, 2011
12:53 pm
Escaped from Email — you are dead-on, sir.
P Rose
January 22nd, 2011
1:00 pm
Philly fan — calling another man gay, whom you’ve never even met and therefore have no reason to believe he is gay, is the last resort of an immature and simple-minded fool with some major masculinity issues. A nut who resorts to this kind of childish futility, can’t spell, always types in all-caps, and trolls sports blogs in cities 2,000 miles away is obviously deranged and not worth arguing with. I’m signing off for the day now, so I won’t see your “comeback.” But please try to make it witty this time, for the poor other readers who will have to continue to be subjected to your mindless rants.
PHILLY FAN IN TEMECULA CA
January 22nd, 2011
1:02 pm
NOVA,SYRACUSE 2ND GETTING READY TO START, GET YOUR POPCORN,
GO NOVA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PHILLY FAN IN TEMECULA CA
January 22nd, 2011
1:05 pm
I GUESS THE SAME APPLYS TO YOU FOR CALLING SOMEONE YOU NEVER MET CALLING THERE WIFE UGLY, AGAIN IRREVELENT AS YOU DONT LIKE GIRLS YOU DIG DUDES ESPECIALLY THE ONES RELATED TO YOU, WE KNOW HOW IT IS IN THE SOUTH
PHILLY FAN IN TEMECULA CA
January 22nd, 2011
1:07 pm
GOTTA GO TROLLS, NOVA 2ND HALF STARTING
GO NOVA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FALCLOWNS and the HAWKS are the SAME
January 22nd, 2011
1:16 pm
Atlanta teams will be always be Second…most people living in the metro area are transplants and have a first team…applies to me and I am only interested in watching them lose…would never pull for them..i thoroughly enjoyed the Saints win, the Hornets BIG win last night and the complete domination of New Orleans over Atlanta…you may have a bigger city, but you don’t get the bigger game wins when they count…and, we don’t boo our teams and leave early like I witnessed last night at Philips and the Packers win…pathetic, bandwagon second-rate homer fans…..can’t be refuted….
Pete
January 22nd, 2011
1:33 pm
And………………….fans………………….people…………………. are still stupid enough to spend their hard earned money to support professional athletes, the most spoiled, pampered, over paid, over hyped, egotistical, out of touch babies on this planet.
Beyond dumb.
Nate
January 22nd, 2011
1:45 pm
Sad but true.
GW Salzer
January 22nd, 2011
1:52 pm
I love it Atlanta, Miami has won two NFL Super Bowls, two MLB World Series, one NBA Championship and runner up in the NHL Hockey Championship plus the UM has won five National Championship in football and three in baseball.
D man
January 22nd, 2011
1:54 pm
Wait till next year…
Mike In Woodstock
January 22nd, 2011
2:10 pm
Thank you Mark Bradley!
One week after another Falcons embarrassment, you run an article reminding us that we live in Loserville!
Dontavius Supremo
January 22nd, 2011
2:14 pm
Well, it’s better than none.
hack
January 22nd, 2011
2:34 pm
It’s the coaching. The mgt. It stinks. They couldn’t design an offensive play if they were on the goal line and the other team was taking a bathroom break.
that’s truth there, folks.
Wilbo
January 22nd, 2011
2:35 pm
Remember the Sports Illustrated article LOSERVILLE, USA? That’s us.
To me, the most embarrassing part of it all, the saddest waste of opportunity, was taking one of the best rotations in the history of baseball and leaving the team built around it in the hands of a man who proved early, he was a terrible post-season manager. ANYBODY else, and I do mean ANYBODY, and at least the city would have 3-4 World Series titles to point to. That, of course wouldn’t be much help to the incompetent Falcons. Please, PLEASE, get that goofy looking man off the sidelines!
devildog0300
January 22nd, 2011
2:41 pm
So we’re back to Loserville. We covered that pretty good in the ’70s, so maybe it IS time for a recycle.
Cecil Newton
January 22nd, 2011
3:55 pm
The only thing sad about Atlanta sports is we only have people like you, who hate the local teams, to write about them. Most Braves fans loved the 90s with division titles and world series trips. You see it as a decade of losing with one win.