Atlanta as the most miserable sports city? Guilty as charged
Been there, done that. Been there a lot, done it way too often. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
Take a bow, A-T-L. After an agonizing near-miss last year — we finished second to Seattle — we made it this time. We’re now No. 1 in Forbes magazine’s listing of America’s Most Miserable Sports Cities. Time for another ticker-tape parade down Peachtree!
Here’s the rationale of Tom Van Riper, who compiled the rankings:
Since last spring, the NHL Thrashers left town for Winnipeg, baseball’s Braves blew a near-lock playoff spot on the final day of the season and the NBA Hawks and NFL Falcons got bounced out of the postseason early yet again. That was enough to push Atlanta, always among the top finishers in Forbes’ annual ranking of America’s Most Miserable Sports Cities, back to the top spot for the first time since 2008.
And what can we say in rebuttal? All of the above is, alas, true.
The Forbes “methodology,” to invoke Van Riper’s word, concerns “misery as defined by heartbreak — teams good enough to win a lot of games and advance through the postseason, only to disappoint fans in the end by falling short of a championship.” That’s not the same as being, say, the Cubs over the past century or the Cavaliers after LeBron. But it does describe Atlanta.
The Hawks were a hot ticket in the late ’80s, same as the Falcons were in the late ’70s, just as the Braves became in the early ’90s. But disappointment broke the Hawks’ and Falcons’ waves — our NBA club couldn’t close out Boston in 1988 and flopped in Round 1 against Milwaukee in ‘89; our NFL franchise couldn’t get past Dallas — and the players’ strike of 1994 cooled our baseball ardor more than any postseason defeat every did.
That’s the part outsiders don’t get. From September 1991 through the summer of ‘94, this city was as crazy for a team as any city has ever been. (Remember the rush to buy foam tomahawks?) The Braves could have sold two million tickets to the 1992 postseason, but after the strike and the washed-out World Series, demand wasn’t the same. In October 1995, even as the Braves were en route to winning it all, you could walk up to the box office and buy tickets to single games for both the NLCS and the World Series.
Attendance at the old stadium dropped from 3.88 million in 1993, the year before the strike, to 2.9 million in 1996, the year after the World Series was won. Even the bump that came with the 1997 opening of Turner Field waned by 2001. Not since 2003 have the Braves finished higher than 14th in home attendance. It’s not that we stopped caring altogether; it’s that we don’t care quite enough to pack the stadium on a nightly basis.
I know, I know. Every other baseball city suffered from the strike, too. But Georgia is a right-to-work state, and the distrust of unions is higher here. Besides, the Braves simply won too often to hold us through every game of the 14-year run of division titles. We came to bide our time until the playoffs, and the playoffs came to yield Round 1 exits.
And those, I submit, hardened our predisposition to wait and see. We’d gotten excited about the Falcons and then the Hawks only to have hopes dashed. Then the Braves, who were the best Atlanta pro team ever, started doing it, too. Leeriness became our default civic stance. Thus was the Braves’ epic September collapse met with the same cry that had greeted the Falcons’ blowout playoff loss to Green Bay: “See? Told you so!”
Loading ...We’ve had major-league sports teams since 1966, and only once has an Atlanta major-league team hoisted the big trophy, and that came a year after some among us swore we’d never watch that particular sport again. Our teams have since been undone by Jim Leyritz swinging and Aaron Rodgers flinging and Eugene Robinson getting arrested, and we have become fatalistic. We’re kind of like Red Sox Nation before Dave Roberts stole second in the ninth inning of Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS: We expect the absolute worst, and we’re seldom disappointed.
But here’s the difference. Even if the Red Sox went 85 years between World Series titles, folks in Boston still had the Celtics, who won 11 NBA titles in 13 years, and the Bruins, who won two Stanley Cups in three years, and the Patriots, who’d started on their run of Super Bowl victories. We’ve had only the Braves in 1995, and we’ve come to see that as the exception — the clincher was the function of a 1-0 one-hitter — that proves the rule.
America’s most miserable sports city? By Forbes’ definition, we absolutely are. But I would offer one quibble: We’re not the worst sports city. Our pro teams aren’t nearly awful, and our fervor for college football is unparalleled. So there’s that.
If/when another Atlanta pro team takes a title, our joyful deliverance will be unconfined. Until then, we’ll remain skeptical. We’re Atlanta, and it’s what we do.
By Mark Bradley
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247 comments Add your comment
GTBob, Jr.
March 1st, 2012
2:11 am
Dad! The Bulldogs made it to the SEC Championship! That trumped our Jackets Final Four under David Braniac…
hbcuclassics
March 1st, 2012
4:08 am
HBCU Classic Sports
2012 HBCU Draft Preview
Christian Thompson, S, SC State
http://hbcuclassics.com/meac
Monroe
March 1st, 2012
5:01 am
atlanta is an African-American city–the teams need to do more to get African-Americans to the games. They need better marketing and should use Samuel Jackson more in commercials.
dawg tired
March 1st, 2012
6:43 am
“We are the champions… of sucking!!!
Funny Bunny
March 1st, 2012
6:52 am
The dugout looks like Athens after a home game. A loser is someone who can’t use a trash can.
alex
March 1st, 2012
7:28 am
@monroe:”rise up” with s. Jackson REALLY motivates me to shell out big bucks and brave sunday traffic,,,, sheeeesh! Mabye I need better sense of humor
SSS
March 1st, 2012
7:44 am
I had a dream that the Falcons beat the Browns in the Super Bowl. I woke up really depressed.
john
March 1st, 2012
8:26 am
@Rob – Glad someone said it. People can’t stand when others are not politically correct, so they call it ignorance. I agree for the most part with your assessment. @ JSS – last I looked the Braves do a pretty good job of marketing Jason Heyward. Chipper is a HOFamer, so of course they are use him in marketing. But, players like Andruw Jones, Heyward, and Rafeal Furcal have been marketed quite well by the Braves. Just because the best players in Braves history are white doesn’t mean they should market other players instead.
bill
March 1st, 2012
8:31 am
@ Monroe – That is a racist statement at its core. Are you saying that cities around the country that are majority white should market more to white adults? If I posted that, I would have hundreds of replies calling me a racist. They Braves use Heyward in marketing. The Falcons are nearly all black except at QB. The Hawks are all black. What else do you want? Stop being a racist. MLK said to judge by character not color of the skin. Quit worrying about skin color and support your team.
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
March 1st, 2012
8:51 am
Baltimore isn’t a miserable city…………….
HA HA HA
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
March 1st, 2012
8:54 am
It doesn’t matter how good your marketing department is. If you have a product that plain SUCKS you will only attract LOSERS and CHOKE is the reason why the Falcants will never win another playoff game…………….
HA HA HA
Arnold Ziffel
March 1st, 2012
8:57 am
Things that wouldn’t happen in a city that values championships. (A) 15 years of the same losing postseason strategy from Bobby Cox. If you’re not willing to make a change, get out. Cox should have been moved to the front office in 99 after the Yankees WS sweep. (B) Retaining an NBA GM- Billy Knight- and coach- Mike Woodson- for years with no proven success or team building strategy. Billy missed on everything he looked at and would still be drafting bust PFs today if still around today. Woody was never head coaching material as evidenced by the fact it took 3 years just to get an assistant’s job after finally getting canned by the Hawks. Championship teams hire personnel known for building winning teams, not on how cheap you can get them. (C). Shotgun team building strategy by the Falcons. Winning teams decide who they want to be and what they want to be best at before acquiring the pieces. The Falcons seem to have no identity and really excel in no area. They’ve assembled this team like a patch-worked quilt hoping it will look good in the end. Championship teams have a plan for where they’re going and don’t rely on hype or dumb luck to get the job done.
The rut
March 1st, 2012
10:38 am
I agree with everything Rickster posted except I don’t have a problem with how the cheerleaders dress. I, too would have included Ga. Tech’s ineptness (i am a GT fan). What other school would be estactic over 7-8 wins a year?
Statick
March 1st, 2012
10:47 am
Speaking of fan support for the teams, it really doesn’t help when a city, like Atlanta, has so many transients from around the country. So it’s no surprise when a bunch of fans show up enmasse when the team they support shows up to play in the ATL. The remedy for this that the Atlanta teams just have to start winning when it counts and do it consistently. When that happens, then those transient fans will start having TWO teams to root for while they’re here.
A Saints fan
March 1st, 2012
10:54 am
Don’t worry, Atlanta fans. Your current drought can’t last forever. You’re just on the cusp of something really happening.
Heck, just look at my Saints as the paradigm of hope. If it could happen to us…
Dawg 96
March 1st, 2012
11:58 am
Add UGA football to the miserable list. Not to say we’re bad – we’re never terrible – but often we have talent and high expectations and disappoint – hence the definition of frustration that begets “miserable.”
Sad Sack
March 1st, 2012
1:59 pm
At least the weather here is nice…
Atlanta will continue to be......
March 1st, 2012
4:37 pm
With the low level, low mentality of the current manager of the Braves and the Disabled Veteran Gimper Jones still limping along…..we will continue to be the worst sports city…..no improvement this year.
sainthiram
March 1st, 2012
6:19 pm
nobody believed me when i said it !
Disgusted
March 1st, 2012
7:26 pm
We have the worst sports talk of a major market city—John Kincaide is unlistenable, arrogant and never can be brought down when he is wrong.
Your prediction on the Balkan really worked out hey Kincaide?
Chuck and Chernoff care about recruiting only, Buck does not offer much and the zone is nothing but a bunch of wanna bee comedians.
I get to Fla from time to time and Tampa has far superior sports talk radio. The Sports Animal is a real station.
The AJC could be worse. At least you guys do give a page of decent NHL coverage a week and that is something considering we do not have a real hockey team anymore.
Liberty Media and Time Warner were part of the disconnect wtih the fan base and we need to lose corporate ownership of the team—it does not help.
No one trusts the Leveinson/Gearon group once knows as the Spirit–worst owners in all of sports.
Its pretty hopeless, cities like Cleveland and Seattle may have worse teams, but ATL finds a way to disappoint its fans in the big games more.
And when has Chipper ever really taken this team anywhere in the post season—even Bonds had a signature post season in 2002 and that Giants team should have won it all that year.
The heart and soul of the 90’s Braves got traded away when Grissom and Justice were moved after ‘96. And thanks alot Wohlers and Mc Micheal for ruining a budding dynasty.
Bobby Cox should have been fired after that blunk up vs the Padres in 98.
There is NO hope.
New York Nick
March 2nd, 2012
8:48 am
Come to New York for championships, best clubs, best restaurants and real sports talk. Atlanta—loserville.
Mitchell
March 2nd, 2012
9:35 am
Wow, this is the first time I haven’t been miserable after reading one of Mark Bradley’s columns in I don’t know how long.
The question is why do we have a media that do nothing but pat these organizations, specifically the Braves, on the back for making no efforts to change their pathetic circumstances?
Why after penning this article is Mark Bradley still the first guy trying to sell us on all the Braves empty promises?
Maybe this is what makes Atlanta truly Loserville USA after all.
I say it’s high time the collective sports media in Atlanta stand up and take a bow here.
I can only hope they realize what a terrific supporting role they play in this fabulous distinction.
Us fans have had all the fun watching our teams fall apart in the clutch year after year… after year… but if it wasn’t for the little people, Mark Bradley, Jeff Schultz and so many others like them, writing countless articles about how the lame duck Braves might still win the division they trail the Phillies by ten games in August (’cause, you know, they did it in ‘93, right?), we wouldn’t be nearly as miserable as we undoubtably are.
Thank you Mark! Thank you AJC!
You’re tops!
Mitchell
March 2nd, 2012
9:57 am
And when has Chipper ever really taken this team anywhere in the post season—even Bonds had a signature post season in 2002 and that Giants team should have won it all that year.
The heart and soul of the 90’s Braves got traded away when Grissom and Justice were moved after ‘96. And thanks alot Wohlers and Mc Micheal for ruining a budding dynasty.
Bobby Cox should have been fired after that blunk up vs the Padres in 98.
There is NO hope.
Wow, I could not agree more with any of this except maybe for the last line.
We’re at least smart enough as fans not to have hope in the first place. Which is not to say there is none, we just are better off not bothering ourselves with it.
The four players you mention were absolutely pivotal to the downward trajectory the Braves have taken since that World Series.
That trade hurt every bit as much as Jim Leyritz’s home run and it was McMichael and Wohlers specifically who opened the door for the Yankees just enough to give them life.
We always talk about Game 4 but how you outscore the Cardinals and Yankees 48-2 over five games and come home and lose Game 3 scoring two runs is just astonishing.
It might have been nice if Tom Glavine pitched another one hitter but anybody who continues to label him as anything but one of the best post-season pitchers in the past 25 year fail to notice how many games he lost by no more than a run.
But even less remembered is the bomb McMichael gave up to Bernie Williams that put the game out of reach and essentially brought about one of the biggest choke jobs in sports history.
Okay, I’m done.
Rod Paradise
March 2nd, 2012
11:14 am
I have seen large groups of people engrossed in college football in bars in Atlanta on Saturday nights during college football season. The same usually does not happen with the Falcons on Sunday. So yes Atlanta is a college sports town. Does that play a big part? I believe that Atlanta is in a postion that is very much like other Cities/States in terms of college football vs. pro football. Look at the way the south is set up in terms of the ACC and SEC having very good football and basketball teams. Then examine their pro-teams. Charlotte pro teams…not so good. Tennesse pro teams…not so good. See a trend? People in the south love college sports. Also I don’t want to pay full price for a ticket to the Braves stadium to begin watching the game in the second or third inning. So yes traffic does factor in attendance.
Also, transients do not help. I despise them the most walking around home depot wearing Pittsburgh,NY, Chicago and Green bay t-shirts. If you are such a big fan why don’t you continue to live there if it so great. Oh yeah thats right crappy weather and over priced living. The worst thing is they continue to live here and pull for those sports teams. All of you should either get on board with local pro sports teams or go back to where you came from. Also one more point the fair weatherness of said fans. They show up wearing their crappy gear when their team is in town and show up the next weekend wearing local teams gear. Bunch of losers. Seriously if anyone that is from North of the Mason Dixon line decided to go back up there, people in Atlanta would not care.
One other point too is here in the South you can enjoy the outdoors almost year around so people do other activities besides watch sports. IE Golf, Hiking, etc. Also there is another sport that does not get addressed…NASCAR. Many people in the south like watching that on Sundays.
Robert
March 2nd, 2012
11:44 am
“It’s not that we stopped caring altogether”
It’s that we knew that no matter how teasingly good it might appear, theend result would always be failure as long as the donkey Bobby Cox was managing the team
Cox is a donkey
March 2nd, 2012
11:46 am
Keeping Bobby Cox as manager was an illustration that Atlanta is loserville
ChillyMutt
March 2nd, 2012
12:42 pm
I SOOOOOO disagree with Bradley.
Northern Bird
March 2nd, 2012
12:52 pm
If this were extended to ‘North America’ I would say Toronto would take top spot. I share your frusturation with the Falcons, as I love them to death but I also love my home town Blue Jays, Maple Leafs, and of course the Raptors. The pain we have experienced with these 3 pro sports teams is more then any fan should have to endure in 3 life times!
kcfoster90
March 2nd, 2012
2:56 pm
well said. not the “worst” sports city. but definitely the most miserable.
i’m always the skeptic, rarely the optomist. i thought little of matt ryan when he was drafted. less of mike smith when he was picked up. i always expect chipper to blow out his knee rounding second. i get up and grab food/use the bathroom when jason heyward gets up to bat — even if there is a man on. if josh smith shoots a three i scream at the television. if the hawks lose a game, it’s joe johnson’s fault for not being more aggressive.
all of this aside, i love every minute of it. i tune in for the top of every braves game i can. i drool at the oppurtunity to make it to a game (i’ve been away from atlanta for years now, and only return to visit family). i’ll support my teams till the bitter end, and i’ll always look forward to next season.
thus is the life of an atlanta sports fan.
willie windgate
March 2nd, 2012
6:25 pm
in a world with real problems,i wouldn’t give a fast fart if all pro sports went bankrupt! You pathetic deadbeats need to get a life. Pro players for the most part are miserable, arrogant, selfish, and boastful about their God given talent. While our society pays these people millions to play a game, other far more important professions are dreadfully under paid; EMS workers, policemen, teachers, and many others contribute way more service to their fellow man than these freaks of nature.
Wilbo
March 2nd, 2012
11:05 pm
Any town that loves Booby Cox, the worst coach/manager whatever in the entire history of pro sports, has to be a terrible sports town. All the local media are 1/2 wit homers, nobody demands excellence so we get what we deserve– lazy, unfocused, timid teams that don’t really need to care if they wilt like steamed spinach when the games REALLY count. Bad sports town? The Worst. Loserville, GA, USA
Disgusted
March 3rd, 2012
10:05 am
“The question is why do we have a media that do nothing but pat these organizations, specifically the Braves, on the back for making no efforts to change their pathetic circumstances?”
Mitchell—The sports talk is worse than the print media at sucking up to the ownership and sports execs who run our sorry teams.
The print media has been honest about how the Spirit rruined hockey in this town & Bradley and esepecially Viviamore and Schultz gave them the print media they deserved.
The print media also was vocal on the incompetent Billy Knight.
Our sports talk has recycled the same personalities like Kincaide, Bell, Belue, Oliver, Chernoff the Stewart Brothers & and others since we have had 24 hr a day sports talk. Not to mention the uninformed infamoous Jerry Glanville loving Beau Bock.
The worst apologists are Mazzone and Lenke for the Braves. I am disappointed about Leo.
The personalities on the Fan treat callers like its some kind of priviledge they are around. Screw them And those guys are never wrong. (most of the time)..
The AJC is not a bad paper at all, I still think they do too much on recruitin’. .
Disgusted
March 3rd, 2012
10:07 am
Only in Loserville would we have a group like Gearon/Leveinson owing a proffessional sports team.
And they go out do a bad job with the hockey team and they get exactly what they want. They are likely here long term like it or not.
Disgusted
March 3rd, 2012
10:12 am
They why are you posting here willie windgate. There are plenty of people ho do care about pro sports.
Why are you even on a sports blog.
And do not give me that union protceted pension comfy school teacher argument, I have had it for yrs with teacher apologists. Their lessons and textbooks are discarded 90 pct of the time once the ids graduate–because much of what is taught is useless.
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
March 4th, 2012
9:59 am
0-3 in the playoffs……………
Does it get any more miserable than that?
HA HA HA
Phalcon Phil
March 4th, 2012
12:42 pm
The fact that guys like matty melt get the praise they do gives you a clue just how low standards for sports greatness are in this city.
Disgusted
March 4th, 2012
12:52 pm
Matty melt is good but not great.
He is better than what we have had. Better than Vick, Chandler, Chris Miller, Batrkowski, and lesser names.
WNBA????
March 5th, 2012
9:41 am
What about the WNBA? The atlanta dream are one of the top teams in it.
So?
March 5th, 2012
10:20 am
Makes no never minds to me. Losing feels bad only when the team I’m playing on is doing the losing. Likewise, winning only feels good when the team I’m playing on is doing the winning. Nothing else matters.
Eric C.
March 5th, 2012
10:11 pm
blazerdawg, “it’s not that difficult to get to” Turner Field,
Ha, don’t forget “I-285″ Pascual Perez!
Eric C.
March 5th, 2012
10:12 pm
Of course, that was in regard to FC stadium
Go Go Pilots
March 6th, 2012
8:16 am
Ah poor AJC writin a so we can be Miserable again tell what is AJC not coverin atlanta sprit ownin team when could reported hearin old levenson n other clod we hate hockey n want out so that why don waddell was there to make team bad to leave here and now they could make stanley cup playoffs in 1st year in a worst then Miserable city winnipeg Manitoa ….how long till owners be askin for a new arena more space n office’s and clubs and better locker rooms….and winnipeg moves to Quebec city! Now its a fact we been crap by awful teams bad owners and lousy players…and don’t get me started on sports radio AM sheesh they go off air n never hear NHL team after 7pm..Put Gwinnett Gladitors in Phillps some and u see 11,000 plus show NHL we can draw for ECHL hockey but do not let atlanta sprit group run it..If arena was sold to Blank n he had Gwinnett playin at one in Gwinnett still and Phillips u see near full crowd Gwinnett is drawin nearly 9,000 a game hockey do work if have owners who care…..Braves well since choke so many times why we stay away and Hawks (insert finger in throat) we know why guess who owns them and u see why!We will never get a NHL team here maybe a Minor league hockey team move at Phillips be as a draw with new owners takein over….Calgary will stay where at no matter what city want let go as are dam mayor here did!
KarenT
March 6th, 2012
12:18 pm
Location of Turner Field, bad traffic, and unreliable parking are huge deterrents to attending the game in person. I used to live in Buckhead and could drive downtown in less than 10 minutes in rush hour traffic, but it took 45 minutes to get to the stadium from the capital. It was also a crapshoot as to whether the parking lots would accept cash or only permits on any particular day (other lots are in very undesireable locations), and public transportation is ridiculous considering the MARTA trains don’t come close enough to walk (the shuttle bus system is a big hassle). The next time a stadium is commissioned, the city planners need to secure a location near a MARTA line and in a location that is desireable for restaurants and pedestrian traffic. It would be great to grab dinner or drinks before or after the game at nearby venues to avoid pre and post game traffic. I now live in the San Francisco area and can’t believe how fun and festive it is around the stadium around game time. People are milling in from all the nearby restaurants and chanting together after a big win after the game because walking to the various, restaurants, bars, parking structures or trains is easy and safe. In Atlanta, I stayed a little later than ususal shopping at the team store & once I left the stadium, I was seriously concerned for my safety. I love the Braves with all my heart, but it was tough getting to the games. Is Atlanta a miserable sports city because of the fans or because of the poor city planning? I believe it’s the latter.
ATL-GA
March 6th, 2012
1:34 pm
somebody name another sports market will as many choices as ATL, within a 60 mile radius you have two major colleges and several small colleges, pro football, 3 pro baseball teams (ATL, Gwinnett and Rome), pro basketball (NBA and WNBA), hockey in Gwinnett and we live in the middle and some of the best high school athletics in the country…..what else can we ask for
Reason
March 6th, 2012
7:26 pm
Those who use race in sports mainly Baseball are, in simple term crybabies. One gets sick and tired about blacks this, and whites that, grow up, and get off that race-go-round people, flash race down the toilet, once and for all.
Sports, in Georgia, are not taken serious or at heart by their owners. The Braves team is one prime example of secondary thinking owners, who don’t care about their team or Atlanta for that matter.
Disgusted
March 7th, 2012
3:44 pm
Karen T—You hit it on the nail about the poor city planning, the neighborhood around the stadium is about as bad as you can get, and they tried to spruce it up around the time Turner Field was built. They put in some new townhouses where it was run down, but Atlanta is just not a downtown oriented city.
I have been to SF, it it a different atmosphere around the park now and both Turner Field and the Giants ballpark are about the same age.
The city planners put something into the China Basin area, but you just could not move some of the elements around TF out of the area.
Buddy Greene
March 7th, 2012
4:45 pm
im not one to usually bash the columnist but how many times have you written this story over the last 10 years?do you save a copy and print when one of our sad sack teams lose?i usually like what you write but this topic is about as dead as talking about george bush.