Atlanta sports: So lousy we can’t even top the misery index
"Oh, yeah? Well, our one team is better than all four of yours!" (AJC photo by Jason Getz)
Not long ago, this correspondent was moved to bemoan the forlorn fortunes of our local pro teams – 149 completed seasons, one championship. Now comes Forbes magazine to make like Smokey Robinson and second the emotion, and I do mean second it.
Forbes rates the nation’s most miserable sports cities, and Atlanta — that’s us, people! — is No. 2!
And who, you’re asking, would be ahead/behind us? Seattle would. And why? Writes Tom Van Riper:
The loss of its NBA club was just enough to nudge Seattle past Atlanta, a city with one sports title in 153 cumulative seasons, to the top of the misery list. Atlanta’s postseason misery is legendary, led by the Braves’ failure to take home a world championship in 13 of 14 playoff appearances from 1991 to 2004.
You might have noticed that Mr. Van Riper’s second sentence above contains an error. The Braves won 14 consecutive division titles over completed seasons — the 1994 season was truncated by the players’ strike — from 1991 through 2005. He also has the Atlanta Hawks reaching the Eastern Conference finals twice, when in fact they haven’t made the Eastern finals at all. (They did make the Western finals in 1969 and 1970.)
And I’m not sure how Mr. Van Riper comes up 153 pro seasons for Atlanta teams. The Braves and Falcons have each been here for 45 seasons, but we can’t count the 1994 baseball year as being completed, can we? The Hawks have logged 42 and the Thrashers 10 — we don’t count 2004-2005, lost to the NHL lockout — and the Flames were here for eight seasons. That adds up to 149 completed seasons, not 153. (I’m sensitive on this point because I, too, miscounted the first time around. We had to run a correction, and woe was I.)
The only way it adds up to 153 is if we count the aborted 1994 baseball season, throw in the NHL lockout and assume the Hawks and the Thrashers won’t win a championship in 2011. And that really would seem to fit the definition of misery: Being ruled out when there are still games to be played.
Oh, and maybe you’re asking: Where’s Cleveland? Astonishingly enough, that charming city ranks only eighth — this with no championships since 1964 — on the Forbes list.
- Seattle
- Atlanta
- Phoenix
- Buffalo
- San Diego
- Houston
- Kansas City
- Cleveland
- Denver
- Cincinnati
I guess the good news is that the only way we could sink below Seattle is to lose one of our teams, and we all know that could never happen. Don’t we, Thrashers fans?
By Mark Bradley
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234 comments Add your comment
Stew
February 28th, 2011
11:13 pm
We have fantastic surounding counties to Atlanta. Big sport fans but no one wants to go to downtown Atlanta to see pro sports. Thats The problem.
tommy
February 28th, 2011
11:18 pm
DUH!!!! our teams always give up in the playoffs!! ALL OF THEM!!! They wonder why our fans dont leave the house……. WE ARE ASHAMED OF THE LAZINESS OF ATLANTA TEAMS DURING THE PLAYOFFS!!!!!!
Robert
February 28th, 2011
11:21 pm
Thanks Mark. As a native Atlantan living in Seattle for the last ten years I was already bummed out about the seemingly non-stop rain and cloudy days; not to mention being unemployed for more than a year. Now you tell me my two sports cities are on the bottom of the barrel. Thanks for the good cheer!
Rx
February 28th, 2011
11:22 pm
The validity of such a list depends on the criteria. Some folks would have Dallas at the top of the list. How could a sports town worth its salt run out of strippers during Super Bowl week?
mirandalambert2012
February 28th, 2011
11:23 pm
The Hawks made the Conference (Western) Final in 1970 (not 1969). Perhaps you meant to refer to the 1969-70 season. That year the Hawks beats the Bulls in 5 games and then lost in the western final in four games to the Lakers.
tommy
February 28th, 2011
11:28 pm
oh yea. The City of Atlanta is run by uneducated crooks that only get a position because of their race. Unqualified People run this city! Have you been downtown lately??? or in the city ??? it is garbage.
Chuckles™
February 28th, 2011
11:31 pm
It must be a slow Monday for inferior sportswriters, Mark. As you know from radio, the classic ‘what make us a good/bad sports town’ topic is a lazy man’s topic. You’ll get opinions on both sides of the issue, the fans will think they’re defending or trying to diss the city in question, and the hosts don’t have to work. It’s a favorite topic of hung over, pudgy, 40-something sports talk hosts.
You are not one of those guys. I appreciate your opinions, and your knowledge of the sports you cover. It’s a testament to the quality of the AJC’s coverage of sports in general.
And I still think you’d do great on GST with a permanent gig (perhaps with Mike?)
GwinnettDad
February 28th, 2011
11:58 pm
All depends upon how one defines “most miserable sports cities.” I barely know the Thrashers exist. High School Football gets 10 times more publicity than the Thrashers. The Atlanta Hawks get 1/10th of the space that UGA or GA Tech get for college sports. This is a football crazy city that has a pretty good baseball team. The Falcons stadium is sterile, indoors, and ordinary. The Braves stadium is state of the art. But regarding misery, Atlanta fans can’t possibly be as miserable as Cleveland fans. Lebron + 2 Cy Young winners evacuated the city in just three years. Lebron had his evaculation on ESPN. Atlanta knows nothing like it, and no other city does either.
Mitchell
February 28th, 2011
11:59 pm
It says a lot that the primary reason for our collective misery is not the middling Thrashers of the NHL or the underwhelming Atlanta Hawks, who along with the Falcons have certainly given us little to cheer about, but the once mighty Atlanta Braves.
This affirms the belief by most people that greatness in the sports world is measured by post-season performance.
Based solely on that Bobby Cox has no place in the Hall of Fame.
Even if the Braves win the World Series this year, it won’t come close to making up for ‘91, ‘92 and ‘96… not to mention every other year over the past twenty in which the they finished first in their division and choked in the playoffs.
Those three World Series though, that will never go away. Those are wounds that may never be healed.
Word.
Dogham
March 1st, 2011
12:09 am
Last time i checked Seattle has won both an NBA championship and an NHL Stanley Cup (Many, many moons ago)….
Sandra
March 1st, 2011
12:21 am
I’d say we could be number 1. Atlanta has a lot of band wagon fans. I am a St. Louis Cardinal fan first and foremost…then the Atlanta Braves. But to win that many divisions and only have 1 title stinks. Look at the Yankees, even Boston after the curse broke….
JASon
March 1st, 2011
12:24 am
Ranking Atlanta the “2nd most miserable” is a bit ridiculous, but I think we can all see where he is coming from. Atlanta = build-up then let-down, usually in embarassing fashion
philthecat
March 1st, 2011
12:34 am
It doesn’t matter what pro sports teams are in Atlanta, the number one game in this town is Georgia football and they also believe mediocrity is an art form. And their fans are almost as bad as Gator fans. Oh wait, the Gators win championships and kick Georgia’s ass every year. At least they have something to be brag about. Two strikes and crowding the plate.
blue_moon
March 1st, 2011
12:45 am
Forbes needs to take another look at Charlotte!
James
March 1st, 2011
12:55 am
Atlanta sucks as a sports city.
Pete
March 1st, 2011
12:57 am
14 division titles and 1 world series to show for it we are a pathetic sports city.
Terry Forster "fat tub of goo"
March 1st, 2011
1:06 am
How soon we forget the 1968 Atlanta Chiefs.
winnipeg thrashers
March 1st, 2011
1:38 am
maybe when we lose our 3rd hockey team to Canada shorly and yes fingers crossed we will move into first. hopefully unlike most of atlanta Tom Van Riper will actually notice they are gone and care
AFDawg
March 1st, 2011
1:39 am
Coach Grohbo, You sound jealous of all of UGA’s championships. The UGA baseball team has a national championship to its credit — how many does Tech (who are supposed to be relevant in baseball year every year) have? None.
Reptillicide
March 1st, 2011
2:05 am
I think Billy Ray pretty much said all there is to say. I’d just like to add that since Atlanta is miserable in so many categories, there’s no reason for the arrogant yanks to continue migrating down here.
Let’s face it, most of the time stuff like this is written, it’s by pretentious northerners perpetuating pre-civil war hostilities. Burning Atlanta to the ground wasn’t enough for those cretins; they won’t be happy until it’s completely wiped off the map.
And yet, as soon as they need a job, they’ll be on the first Delta flight.
sprtsluvr
March 1st, 2011
4:23 am
How immature to equate success ONLY with championships. Most cities have very few championships – they are very difficult to come by unless your team can afford to buy them – i.e. Yankees, Lakers.
Luke
March 1st, 2011
5:37 am
AFDawg, sounds like you’re jealous Tech football then. Tech has four. How many does UGA football (who are supposed to be relevant in basically everything every year from the way I hear it) have? Two. 30 years ago.
Mr. Negative
March 1st, 2011
6:33 am
I got a freezer full of steaks ready on a moments notice
shaggy
March 1st, 2011
6:33 am
Well said Billy Ray.
The sundress girls observation is especially true. Atlanta has the prettiest females on the planet, bar none, and plenty of them. I’ll take that over a yankee honker new york fan’s “scenery” any day.
G'Vegas Dawg
March 1st, 2011
6:45 am
I guess we are just following the lead of our local journalists.
shaggy
March 1st, 2011
6:49 am
“1eyedJack & Paul in RDU”
Yeah man, I remember buying Atlanta-Fulton County $2 outfield seats for Braves games, and by the 4th inning, I was sitting behind home plate watching some major league ball.
Plus, does anybody remember the picnic area on the 1st base side? You could bring in a cooler, with the necessary beer for sitting in the sun watching b-ball, and whatever food you could carry in…for the price of admission to the area.
Good times indeed, and a fantastic atmosphere, better than any other major league city. Then, came success and the pretend fans from the burbs, whose whining ruined it for the rest of us.
MitchC
March 1st, 2011
6:59 am
Mark, just before the Braves started winning division titles in 1991, you may remember the Sports Illustrated article about Atlanta, calling it “Losersville”. Ernie Johnson Sr was still announcing games for the Braves back then, and, in the Braves 1991 highlight video, he makes reference to this.
Sadly, the Braves could have, and probably should have.. won at least one.. or two.. more championships in their fourteen year run. 1992 comes to mind, when Reardon served up Ed Sprague’s homer in Game Two of the WS, and.. of course.. we all know about the little faux pax by Mark Wohlers in Game 4 of the 1996 WS. If he saves that game, I think the Braves finish the Yankees the next night.
“What ifs” aside, Atlanta is what it is in terms of sports cities. It seems unfortunate to rub it in. At least in baseball and basketball, I dont see any championships coming anytime soon., especially with the Phillies being so good, and the Celts, Lakers, Spurs, et all, being better than the Hawks.
So, it seems we may have to endure more articles like this.
Bubba
March 1st, 2011
7:00 am
First!
How are we worse than New Orleans?
March 1st, 2011
7:00 am
Both of our football teams historically suck. They lost the Jazz and got the Hornets..we lost the Flames and got the Thrashers. but now the Hornets may move, and the thrashers may move..but the tie breaker is they dont have and have never had a baseball team while the Braves have drawn in excess of 2.5 mil annually fans for 20 yrs.
Ive been here for all of em
March 1st, 2011
7:03 am
149 or 153..it still has been torture since I moved here in 1966.
This poll doesnt take into acct though that Atlanta is the best college sports town in USA, especially football, and it obviously doesnt take into acct participatory (golf,ALTA, etc) sports since Atlanta would be in the top 5 there for sure..
Bone
March 1st, 2011
7:07 am
What do you expect from the Corporate town of Atlanta…where the upper business class can only afford the tickets, and buying them is just a write-off and they could care less about the teams.
The people in and around Atlanta, and this is including the owners of these teams, have got to look at the teams more than a tax write-off. They have to play to win. The notion of “playing not to lose” has got to be taken out of the mix. Simple as that.
Joe
March 1st, 2011
7:07 am
Bradley, You should be thankful Atlanta is so bad. You would have to write about something else since you cannot do so except about something negative. Thanks for the help in making Atlanta and Georgia something great….With your help we will soon be number 1 in this rating.
Dave
March 1st, 2011
7:10 am
Not only did the Chiefs win the NASL championship in 1968, this little hick town (back then, anyway) actually outdrew the so-called “soccer hotbed” at the time called St. Louis (Stars) four out of the eight years (1967-1973) that both cities had teams! And the years they didn’t, they weren’t far behind most of the time.
what a crock
March 1st, 2011
7:11 am
Hmmm….every city on that list is worse off than Atlanta.
Ted
March 1st, 2011
7:12 am
Atlanta has a bunch of fair weather fans who only care about their teams when they’re winning.
bro
March 1st, 2011
7:21 am
You really earned your pay with this article. If this was in a paper from any other city it might be back page. Why would the AJC or any writer who cared about their city write this kind of trash. Must be a slow news day and your brain must be leaking. You are just like a computer-garbage in garbage out.
woebegong
March 1st, 2011
7:29 am
Buckeye,
Did you not read the article. IT is about pro sports, not college ball. Man you really need to quit hitting the hootch. LOL. A number one seed in the NCAA in college basketball has proven to be a death sentence for most of the big college teams if you look at the history. Something about that first round bye knocks these teams for a loop. I believe it was coach K. that said a few years back that he hated the first round bye. I seem to remember that OSU had a kid a few years back that was going to take you folks to the promised land by the name of Odom. How did that work out for you.
Ekim
March 1st, 2011
7:31 am
Florida Marlins have won two World Series championships since we got our one. The year after each, they blew up their team and (I think) finished below .500.
I’d rather be sitting in Atlanta. A consistently competing team to me is more enjoyable to watch than one that gets hot every once in a while.
Can’t speak to the sports other than baseball, though. They don’t matter to me. Which means maybe I shouldn’t be posting on a blog about overall misery index.
Good day!
World Be Free
March 1st, 2011
7:44 am
People should be thankful of what we have here in 4 major pro sports and major college football. This is the place to be if you are a fans of sports, not necessarily a fan of winning though that would be nice! It could be much worse Mark, much worse.
Patman
March 1st, 2011
9:16 am
Oh how terrible! I think I’ll move to either Pittsburgh, Boston or Cincinnati. Pitiful weather and an unfriendly climate are worth it as long as the city I live has championship teams (sarcasm).
ConVick
March 1st, 2011
9:25 am
Keep your money people. The rest of the nation bitches about Atlanta fans, but this article states why. The pro teams have given us no reason to support them, yet we still do. I bet if we kept our wallets closed for a couple of games, these pro primadonas would understand they need to get off their butt and produce.
Cant wait for the spring “college” football practice to begin.
ATLfan15
March 1st, 2011
9:38 am
excellent comments by Billy Ray…even if this city had championship teams every year, some fans and sportwriters would find something to bitch about regarding that. what a waste of space on AJC.com
TD stinks
March 1st, 2011
9:52 am
Who cares?
The Nerd
March 1st, 2011
9:54 am
Yes, Seattle won the Stanley Cup, but they’re not in the NHL, but in a another league. (They would have won their second if it wasn’t for the flu outbreak!)
VolGuy
March 1st, 2011
10:01 am
What possible difference does it make where some jerk ranks Atlanta on some absurd list. If you really think that wins by an Atlanta pro sports team will put any money in your pocket or make your life better, you should rethink your life. The Braves are owned by a faceless conglaomerate in another city that cares only about their bottom line. I think it’s a minor miracle that they can still contend with the other teams in their division that have owners who really care about their teams and their cities. As far as the Atlanta Spirit goes, they are a bunch of inept rich guys who seem out of their depth when it comes to professional sports. With the exception of the Falcons who have an owner who actually lives in Atlanta and cares about the team and the city, our pro sports teams are consistently mediocre to outright lousy. A lot of folks in Atlanta are so used to it that they don’t care much whether the teams win sometimes because they know they will ultimately fail. Life goes on anyway. The athletes are rich, the owners are richer and the fans continue to pay more and get less. On top of everthing else,now we don’t even have a transit system in Atlanta that can get people to Turner field to see a Braves game. What a boon for the gypsy parking lots!
Buck Commander
March 1st, 2011
10:09 am
I’m just happy to be here and if you so-called fans dont like it you can kiss my @ss.
Dominique Forever
March 1st, 2011
10:23 am
The Hawks did make the eastern conference finals against the Celtics in 86 and lost in seven games. It was the series where ‘Nique was dueling with Larry Bird.
jon
March 1st, 2011
10:29 am
Given the HUGE number of Florida,Bama, LSU and Auburn fans here we should be allowed to claim the 2006-2010 BCS Championships.
Robert
March 1st, 2011
10:31 am
With Bobby Cox finally gone, Atlanta’s sports fortunes should improve significantly, at least in baseball
Vic
March 1st, 2011
10:32 am
I think this article is spot on. It’s talking about CHAMPIONSHIPS. Not eastern conference finals and the like. Just like the Buffalo Bills and its fans remember that it’s not good enough to get there. You have to win. Atlanta’s teams continue to fall short, so the transplants will never switch sides and get on the bandwagon. The falcons fooled us into thinking they were about something last season and choked their way out of the playoffs. It’s like a broken record around here.