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
Cousin Curtis
March 1st, 2011
10:35 am
This list is baloney, Mark. For one, if there are eight post-season teams in baseball each year, statistically each team has a one in eight shot at the title (unless you are the Yanks or Sox and your payroll is >$200M – then your chances are probably better). So by the numbers, one in eight or two in sixteen is about right. One in fourteen falls in the range, whether we’re happy about it as fans or not.
By comparison the Bills played in the SuperBowl four times IN A ROW where they had a 50-50 statistical shot at the title and lost all four. That kind of misery can’t be touched.
Obviously, there are some collegiate sports factors that should knock us down the list in my book, too. I’d say we ought to be middle of the pack.
sulley
March 1st, 2011
10:46 am
Yea, Second is 1st loser for having loser teams.
Mark Bradley
March 1st, 2011
10:58 am
That wasn’t the Eastern Conference finals, Dominique Forever. And it wasn’t in 1986, either. It was the Eastern Conference quarters in 1988.
bill
March 1st, 2011
11:11 am
To the buckeye guy. See you after March Madness when the Big 10 lays another egg. Didn’t you guys get the crap beat out of you when they stupidly put you in the big game PLUS no place between Cincinnati and Cleveland will ever be anything good because you are always down wind of one or the other. And by the way rust bucket state thanks for giving us the US representative you guys lost.
Jim R.
March 1st, 2011
11:14 am
We’re #2! We’re #2! We’re #2! A few more horrible draft picks, some mediocre coaching, throw in some fickle fans and rapid transit that avoids the basebal stadium where overpriced food and beverages are served and I think we have a chance to hit #1 next year. We’re #1! We’re #1! We’re #1!
bill
March 1st, 2011
11:29 am
Its all PR anyway. The most underachieving team in baseball history is the BIG RED MACHINE which won only 2 championships when it was a two series playoff. The crap shoot,high payroll started after their two wins with hall of famers at first(undesrved), short stop, catcher( one of the best ever) starting pitcher, and Pete Rose. Must mean Sparky Anderson (HOF)was not much of a manager til later in his career.
bill
March 1st, 2011
11:32 am
If you look at our coaches we look even worse. Wilkens most loses in NBA history. Petrino,and the seven dwarfs that preceded him most of the guys before Cox including Joe Torre who later became a genious in NY( must be the water). Boom Boom,where are you when the thrashers need you
souppysales
March 1st, 2011
11:37 am
atlanta is miserable regardless of sports
mike
March 1st, 2011
11:39 am
What a city full of excusers and excuses. No wonder the teams here always run out of what it takes when they get near the end. I think next year I will start selling brown bags to the fans of this city. You guys remember those bags with the faces drawn on the front used to cover your face while sitting in the stands. At least you can get a laugh while the teams lose as usual.
Old_Skool
March 1st, 2011
11:51 am
At least we aren’t known as the “mistake on the lake” (at least until we run out of water in a few years). Rather than say we indifferent, I would rather think we have a little better perspective on things than do some of out counterparts in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, et.al. Our life isn’t ruined just because our team loses a football game or basketball.
If you are one of those that let the outcome of a football game or baseball game affect your hapiness than I feel sorry for you.
kFolsom
March 1st, 2011
11:55 am
Like I tell people all the time — we’re Atlanta; we don’t need a sports team to make us feel like somebody! World-class cities do not depend on any one facet of their culture to make them go ’round and ’round! Plus, we’ve already had the ultimate sports experience, the Olympics.
dirtyo11
March 1st, 2011
12:03 pm
Like I statement last month, fans in ATL hollar who they want and who they don’t want to come to the teams. We need to win a few Championships in the state of GA. Once we do that then top players in each sport will want to play in ATL. We are the laughing stock in every sport. Why you think players want to play in NY, TX, Cali and Fla these states are known for winning.
Bulldogs haven’t won a National Championship since H. Walker days and can’t beat our biggest rivary Fla. Richt chokes when it comes to preparing his players for big games or making adjustments during the game
Hawks have the talent but can’t get out of the 2nd rnd. True Center and PG away from being the best team in the East, oh & adjust J. Smith attitude to where his head is always in the game
Braves look good for the 1st or 2nd half of the season but can’t beat Philly and they got a old player name C. Jones that should of been traded 4 yrs ago.
Thrashers…..DANG THEY JUST SUCK
G.T they just can’t win
Falcons almost there but a few players away from being an elite team
Old_Skool
March 1st, 2011
12:06 pm
woebegong.
The name is Oden not Odom
Toke
March 1st, 2011
12:23 pm
Man screw this guy i love ATL its where it at .
dade
March 1st, 2011
12:27 pm
ATL is where its at regardless of sports
SID
March 1st, 2011
12:51 pm
It’s the curse of “Michael Vick”!!!!!
Bid Daddy Pearl in the Sky
March 1st, 2011
12:58 pm
Oh yea….were number 2….WHY????????????? There are only 2 Fans that really give a sh!t about Atlanta pro teams
Milburn Drysdale
March 1st, 2011
1:04 pm
Did Terrence Moore write this column?
Taylor
March 1st, 2011
1:35 pm
I’ve lived in Ga. my entire life. I LOVE Atlanta sports.
mike
March 1st, 2011
1:52 pm
I assume Forbes is just considering “professional” sports.
If we consider college and high school it would probably be different.
What reasonably intelligent, sane person gives a hoot about the pros anyway. Professional sports is no longer about sports, its about entertainment. The owners and leagues have twisted all their sports to make them more profitable. The pure sports is a the local level.
Bull Butter
March 1st, 2011
2:04 pm
Atlanta pro sports teams will never be able to compete with the large market teams,its all about money!
Thogwummpy
March 1st, 2011
2:10 pm
Is there anyway we can get credit for the Atlanta Chiefs NASL soccer title back in the 60’s? Eh…I guess not.
BravesFan79
March 1st, 2011
2:52 pm
Dont agree with this at all. The Braves have been Great/ Solid for the past 20 seasons. The Hawks are again a top 5 team in the East. And the Falcons havent been that bad in the last 10 years. And were just the top seed in the NFC. I think were closer to Philly as a sports city, than Cleveland or Seattle.
Dream fan
March 1st, 2011
3:47 pm
Last year the Dream made it to the championship in just its third season, so I’m not miserable at all.
Neil
March 1st, 2011
4:21 pm
What is the fascination with college football in Atlanta, and the apathy towards pro sports? Why do folks who never even went to college care so much about college sports? That’s one “southern-ism” that I just don’t get it and have never seen anywhere else. Before I moved to Atlanta, I never even knew that anyone cared or watched college football, except maybe the students or alumni of that school. Seems kind of silly. Why root for the minor leagues when you have an NFL team in your city?
danny
March 1st, 2011
4:35 pm
Yes, we should have won several World Series, but 14 years of championship baseball is an accomplishment any city in America would relish!
Jay
March 1st, 2011
5:38 pm
Why is soccer NEVER included when a city’s teams are mentioned? Is it because, since the US didn’t invent it or can’t be the best at it, it doesn’t count. Seattle DOES have an excellent soccer team and very rabid fans…the best in the league, so That alone should Atlanta to the top. By the way, for all the Atlanta transplants here, the ATLANTA CHIEFS won the national championship in 1968 (over Cleveland no less), being Atlanta’s FIRST champion. Again, I know, it’s soccer…THAT doesn’t count. Just a note, the article said SPORTS, not MAJOR sports, so soccer should be included as well as the WNBA.
Jay
March 1st, 2011
5:41 pm
Thogwummpy…THANK YOU!! I just saw your post. I guess that makes two of us that remember….
BillingGA
March 1st, 2011
6:35 pm
Being from the Tampa Bay Area, its so hard being surrounded by such losing teams here in Atlanta. This list just confirm’s what I have always believed. And someone said that Atlanta really was a winner because it has pretty girls and great weather. Right. You have been to Florida, right? Where its thong weather pretty much 365. Keep dreaming.
Patrick
March 1st, 2011
9:27 pm
The problem with Atlanta sports is that nobody pays any attention to it except when a team is in the playoffs. THEN, oh my, it’s suddenly hot to trot and the crowds show up and there may even be a sellout or two. But during the actual games, the fans only cheer when the hometeam scores a point or a run or a basket. They are silent when the visiting team scores. Deafeningly silent.
And should the Atlanta team look headed to a loss, the fans pack up and leave early. Part of that can be blamed on the awful traffic -but fans in other cities face that too and still support the team. Fan is really the wrong word. There is NO support here for the teams; only for numbers in a win column. The players know it and it affects their mental attitude and so they start losing and there it goes.
You are either a winner or you are nothing. That may be true in many ways but a team plays part of skill and part on mental attitude of thinking they CAN do it. They need support from the fans to get that going.
It’s worse during something like the World Series. Our teams can’t take the intense media pressure and super boistrous crowds -because they never encounter it during the regular season- and they quake and fold and collapse and get steamrolled. And by the end of the series, the stands aren’t even moderately full any more. The “fans” don’t even bother to show up for the end.
Other problems include the local sports announcers, some of whom have been phoning in the same performances for decades. Look, I know some of you like to hear the same voices on the radio but you ought to listen to sportscasters in other towns, where the have decades of winning streaks and a real ’superfan’ base. Those people know how to work up a crowd and that helps keep the fans around even when there’s a loss every night for a week. You need that base, that glue. And we have only gluetraps here.
woebegong
March 2nd, 2011
5:16 am
I wonder how Atlanta could be rated so high, and the Twin cities not even in the top ten. What is it, 4 super bowls and the brides maid all four times? And I do not believe the Timberwolves or Twins have torn up their respective leagues in the years past. We might get a little freezing precip. or rain for the most part in the winter, but when was the last time our dome roof fell in due to snow? Land of 10,000 lakes and every one of them frozen over 9 months out of the year. I will take the 2nd place any day on this list, compared to that.
Brendan
March 2nd, 2011
12:19 pm
I think Atlanta is ranked too highly on the misery index. Our teams have been in the playoffs in the past decade. All of them.
SAINTS LSU
March 2nd, 2011
9:45 pm
THIS IS NEW ORLEANS (DREW BREES)
Chip Phillips
March 2nd, 2011
11:22 pm
MOVE AWAY & STFU BRADLEY!