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
Aaron
February 29th, 2012
12:43 pm
First miserable post.
J.J.M.
February 29th, 2012
12:44 pm
wow
Rob
February 29th, 2012
12:47 pm
Can’t ignore the racial component. A lot of Whites won’t support the Hawks or the NBA in general. A lot of Blacks don’t support the Braves and deserted the Falcons after Vick left. Atlanta is more divided along racial lines than any other major city. Fans here look for reasons not to support the local tems, unlike say Cleveland who has been through just as much if not more hell.
Big D
February 29th, 2012
12:49 pm
And for all those who will point out ATL and GA are all about “big time CFB” let’s point out no National Champ in CFB for over 20 years. Unless you count Ga Southern. Which I do, so that makes it only 10 years.
zgoldatl
February 29th, 2012
12:52 pm
I’ll take Atlanta sports over most cities any day. Strongly disagree with the forbes article. Look at Cleveland or Cincinnati, or Charlotte just to name a few
PMC
February 29th, 2012
12:53 pm
WE WON SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!
maharajiean shorts
February 29th, 2012
12:54 pm
I gotta be 8th at least
maharajiean shorts
February 29th, 2012
12:54 pm
Dang, I wish I could count.
ViningsDawg
February 29th, 2012
12:55 pm
I stopped going to a lot of games in Atlanta ( except the Hawks… Never seen a Hawk game at Phillips, and proud too)…. However, still go to Dawgs games here and on the road when I can…
maharajiean shorts
February 29th, 2012
12:55 pm
OK, 8th…..now I am happy.
DetroitBraves
February 29th, 2012
12:56 pm
You can go back and look at one play or another from just about every sport but for the Braves everything seemed to change when Leyritz hit that homer. They had won the year before. They had lost in the WS in years past too, some of those games as gut-wrenching as could be. But I don’t know. Those other losses as tough as they were just didn’t take away the feeling of inevitability that they would win it all one day. Which they did. But that Leyritz homer got everyone wondering if they would ever win it again, even though that just tied that game and that game just tied that series. I’m probably being overly dramatic but it just hasn’t seemed the same since.
Thrasher Fan
February 29th, 2012
12:56 pm
this is so embarrassing.
Mark Bradley
February 29th, 2012
12:59 pm
Kudos, Aaron.
Steve
February 29th, 2012
1:00 pm
I know it is pro sports but they should mention Georgia Tech for annually losing to UGA and annually losing their bowl game. That and they can’t fill their stadium and they only play at home 7 times a year.
reality Gator
February 29th, 2012
1:01 pm
This is history, for the first time M. Bradley I agree with you, but you journalist need to take some of this responsiblity in this state, you do not hold these sports teams in Atlanta to a higher standards like other sports cities, Ny, LA, Fl.
When these teams win a few games during the year, you sports writers in Atl start telling them how good they are and will win the championship before they even play for it, look at UGA 30 years with no NT and you journalist give Mark Richt a pass, for a sub par season, in Fl, Al LSU he would have been fired.
Neil
February 29th, 2012
1:01 pm
No NHL and no Major League Soccer. Poor attendance and results most years in NFL and NBA. Sadly, Georgia Tech the Braves aren’t enough to make ATL a decent sports town.
go-BRAVOS
February 29th, 2012
1:03 pm
“We expect the absolute worst, and we’re seldom disappointed.”
Great line MB. That says it all about living in Georgia and rooting
for the state teams, painful.
Hollywould
February 29th, 2012
1:03 pm
I agree with the report but look on the bright side. You can get a ticket anytime you want to!!! Still won’t buy anything that has to do with the so called (spirit)
Matt Ryan's Dad
February 29th, 2012
1:04 pm
Mark, can you save these depressing articles for maybe a Monday? I think our next closest option for holding a championship trophy will be the Atlanta Dream.
Not much to be proud of.
February 29th, 2012
1:06 pm
Atlanta is the Most Miserable yes, but it’s also one of the worst. The sports teams are an afterthought here to the majority, and the media. Each team has it’s fans, but no team is ingrained in the psyche of the area. Nobody cares, and that’s too bad. Being fans of College Football is not something to be proud of. There is a skewed perception of the importance of the FBS Championship here, and the only reason for that, is that Atlanta is a natural big city hub for the SEC. Nobody outside of the SEC, cares about the SEC. They care about what is local to them. That alone, diminishes the value of being the ‘best college football fans around’ .. and even that last statement, is subjective, and easily debatable.
Steven
February 29th, 2012
1:07 pm
Its more than just one championship. I have been an atlanta homer since my dad let me stay up to watch the 1991 Braves run through the playoffs. What has been really tough to take is all the disappointment. Hey at least the Pirates aren’t disappointed every year they miss the playoffs. There was Charlie giving up home run, jack morris out dueling Smoltzie’s amazing performance, the yankee collapse, the crazy strike zone vs the marlins. And those were just the braves, lets not forget the other pro teams. I will never forget the excitement over the thrashers having a budding super star in Dany Heatley all crushed in one joy ride. I will remember defending how good Vick was in the field to my friends, and then to be crushed by his betrayal.
Being an atlanta sports fan is tough, but I don’t give a damn. Its my home and my passion, and I will still get emotional when I hear the sid bream call, or watch my old recorded 98 championship game where the Falcons played above their heads (that game really was amazing). I will remember Chipper carrying us on his back beating the mets all by himself, and smoltz in obvious pain still giving it his all on the mound in the playoffs.
I believe because thats the joy of sports, there’s always next year.
Done
February 29th, 2012
1:07 pm
Braves misery goes back to the Mark Bradley editorial after game 2 of 96 World Series proclaiming the Braves a dynasty.
NUNNA!!
February 29th, 2012
1:08 pm
God help us
Tommy Maddox
February 29th, 2012
1:08 pm
HEY! What about my alma mater – Georgia State?
Oh never mind…
NUNNA!!
February 29th, 2012
1:10 pm
We need a bailout..
More money..Better people in the front offices..And……….OBAMA
LETS SEE IF HE COULD DO FOR US LIKE HE DID FOR THE AUTO INDUSTRY AND MAKE US NUMBER ONE IN THE WORLD..OF SPORTS!
GTBob
February 29th, 2012
1:10 pm
Our pro teams aren’t nearly awful, and our fervor for college football is unparalleled. So there’s that.
Yeah, but college sports are limited in national appeal compared to pro sports and none of our college teams have achieved anything to be proud of since GT made the final four. We just need some team to get behind. I am still hoping the Falcons can push to that next level.
Tommy Maddox
February 29th, 2012
1:10 pm
I am still excited for them however.
PMC
February 29th, 2012
1:10 pm
LA? Higher Standards? Have you seen the Dodgers??????
Stiffneck
February 29th, 2012
1:10 pm
Still miss the Atlanta Flames…..back then they were fun to watch. Better than the Hawks, Braves and even the Falcons. They had to go, they were winners….
boots
February 29th, 2012
1:11 pm
All true. I do think our professional teams fail too often, but we do have our college teams. I going to the UGA basketball game this weekend and am excited about it even though the team is young & not winning much at the moment. I would never dream of going to a Hawks game, much less dream of going to the Dream. (I don’t even know where the Dream play or when the season is.) I would much rather see the Dawgs play between the hedges than the Falcons, and I’d rather watch my kids play baseball than the Braves. Still, Atlanta is still a beautiful city, and I’d rather live here than Cleveland, Washington DC or Boston.
PMC
February 29th, 2012
1:11 pm
Steven (applauds)
Jim 70
February 29th, 2012
1:11 pm
Atlanta fan stuck here in Virginia where we have the Washington DC teams on tv all the time. Atlanta residents, consider yourself lucky. You could be watching the Redskins, Wizards, Nationals, and the Capitals – the only team to make it into a playoff game (although even as a 1 seed loses to an 8 seed).
This city has to be the worse ever for sports. How PTI with Tony and Wilbon can do a nationwide sports show is beyond me.
Steve
February 29th, 2012
1:12 pm
Well “Rob” is obviously a moron. Every time I go to Hawks games I usually see more white people then black people. As far as baseball goes, that’s their choice not to like the sport.
Walt Frazier
February 29th, 2012
1:14 pm
I agree with this assessment, however-that assessment doesn’t have to be permanent. Although it is based on historical facts, new effective winning management willing to spend money, and players that are sympathetic to the Atlanta fans could change that dynamic. Transplants who just arrived in this city are not able to see the suffering the Atlanta fans have undergone over the past 25 years to see the dissappointment and disgust with Atlanta teams. Yes, they may be entertaining and better than a lot of other teams, but they should be; this is Atlanta-you’re supposed to do big things here. Tony Gonzalez: I hope your reading this blog. I want this year to be the year you get a ring.
DetroitBraves
February 29th, 2012
1:14 pm
@Done, I remember that story. I think he concluded it with somthing along the lines of this is no longer a series, it’s a coronation.
That said, I don’t think the Braves misery is due to Mark Bradley, nor do I think the Atlanta sports teams have failed to win because Bradley, Schultz, and co. have failed to hold them to a higher standard.
boots
February 29th, 2012
1:15 pm
Not much to be proud of… “No one outside the SEC cares about the SEC.”
That is ok, because no one in the SEC cares about those outside the SEC. We are happy on our own, thank you, and we would just as soon the rest of the country and its pro sports teams go blow it out their ears. We even fought a war to prove the point long before our teams faced-off on the gridiron.
Walt Frazier
February 29th, 2012
1:17 pm
Where is my last post?
Jethro
February 29th, 2012
1:19 pm
One thing seldom mentioned is how hard it is to get in and out of the venues in Atlanta. I think a reason Atlanta has been ranked so high is the poor stewardship of the city.
Walt Frazier
February 29th, 2012
1:21 pm
Like a was sayin…I hope Tony Gonzalez gets his Superbowl ring. Tony was a loyal Chiefs TE for many years. I know he wants it bad and I felt bad for him, because of the blunders of the Falcons; they put themselves in a position to make it to the next level-and then they imploded-from being t-owe-n up to the floo r up on national tv and burst like a bubble.
Jeff
February 29th, 2012
1:26 pm
Outside of the Falcons the ownership of these franchises are just as guilty as the fans. The Braves made no moves worth mentioning in the offseason while watching the Marlins and Nationals make moves to upgrade their talent. Ted used to spend with the big boys but Liberty doesn’t care about the fans and just view the Braves as a part of their business portfolio.
The Hawks are in the exact same boat as the Braves. Why should fans go spend $100 dollars to see an average product?
Falcon’s fans have no excuse for not showing up though. Arthur Blank is doing everything he can to make them a better franchise. I wish he owned the Braves.
Until Atanta fans and Media (talking to you AJC writers) start holding the ownership accountable on a regular basis nothing will change. Liberty Media would not be able to pull this crap with a New York or Boston franchise because the papers would kill them daily and the fans would riot.
Rickster
February 29th, 2012
1:26 pm
One other thing to mention is the fact that it’s a miserable experience to get to games. Traffic stinks going and leaving. Parking at any of the downtown venues is expensive (if it’s even available.) Off site parking is in less-than-desirable locations where a Kevlar vest is a necessity.
While at the game… concession prices make convenience stores look like a bargain. Loud music between plays/innings is more annoying than inspiring.
“Cheer leaders” dress like hookers.
No wonder people don’t want to go to games.
dawgfan
February 29th, 2012
1:28 pm
“Nobody outside of the SEC, cares about the SEC.”
Sure. That’s why ESPN and CBS fork over millions upon millions of dollars for the rights to broadcast SEC football games to the entire nation, because nobody cares. Maybe you should write them a letter and tell them they haven’t done their research and are wasting their money. They probably need a good laugh.
Thanks Techie.
Rankin Smith
February 29th, 2012
1:29 pm
Atlanta has not had good ownership of any team since maybe Ted Turner. It’s hard to be excited by a team that you know is going to choke when it counts — and that includes the Braves. The Hawks are a joke; the Thrashers were a joke. Arthur Blank is a smart guy, and he obviously wants to win, but he hasn’t yet. Making the playoffs is great, but when you lose year after year the fans catch on.
Guy Bailey
February 29th, 2012
1:31 pm
Y’all are forgetting the ‘68 Chiefs, the first national championship team the ATL ever saw…http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/4749/29/
JPM
February 29th, 2012
1:32 pm
There are a lot of factors at play, least of which is that the recession has hit Atlanta very hard and that affects attendance. But, let’s put blame where it belongs. Th Spirit are directly responsible for the failure of the Thrashers. As a former season ticket holder, they were among the most expensive tickets in sports in their early years, and despite that goods crowds were found on most nights. The place could rock. (anybody remember the 1-0 shutout of the Flyers? The Thrasher fans were delirious that night…) I find the Falcons and Hawks to be the most disappointing, as one hardly ever hears really bad or really good things about them. They seem to just be there, but not a threat. In terms of the Braves, we collectively got tired of waiting for World Series Champs II. They consistently had the promise of winning it all, hence the decade plus of division titles. But the stress of waiting for the repeat seems to have worn everyone out. If I could only go back and bottle the excitement of ‘92 and ‘93. Those were truly magical years, and anyone here during that time would have said, in response to this article, that Atlanta was a world class sports town.
Mark Bradley
February 29th, 2012
1:35 pm
I’m not forgetting the Chiefs. I also didn’t forget the Atlanta Knights. But I don’t think either could be construed as a champion in a major-league American sport.
Birdman of Falcatraz
February 29th, 2012
1:37 pm
Nicely written piece that sums up the reality of the Atlanta sports fan. However, if and when the Falcons or Hawks win a title, the impact will much deeper and longer lasting than the Braves title ever could have been. Baseball may be a pastime, but Football is our passion. And we have proven to the NBA we are fan base interested in championship caliber basketball. Baseball does not draw out the fanatics that I know are here, as I am part of a small very loyal group of Falcons fans that watch every move they make with hope, but that overriding sense of doom you speak of.
Atl Teams = CHOKE
February 29th, 2012
1:37 pm
Its so sad.
Atl Teams = CHOKE
February 29th, 2012
1:39 pm
Championships are for the other cities, never my city. I just want to feel what Saints fans felt in 09, what Packers fans felt last year, what Giants fans are feeling now.
GTBob
February 29th, 2012
1:39 pm
Sure. That’s why ESPN and CBS fork over millions upon millions of dollars for the rights to broadcast SEC football games to the entire nation, because nobody cares.
There is a small segment of the nation that cares about the SEC. Just like every other conference. That is why college sports money is dwarfed by professional sports. If the SEC really was huge nationally then their TV contracts would be much, much larger.
Atl Teams = CHOKE
February 29th, 2012
1:41 pm
We always expect the worse to happen and it always does. Yet, it still feels like crap when it does happen.
SawThat1nce
February 29th, 2012
1:44 pm
Don’t know how many people care about the SEC, but they sure do win a lot of National Championships, don’t they.
TD1992
February 29th, 2012
1:45 pm
I won’t attend another Hawks game until ATL Spirit sells the team….they sold my hockey team after not even trying to put a winner on the ice the entire time the team was here. I’d rather spend my $$ going to UGA football, basketball, baseball, tennis, softball, soccer, & gymnastics than attend any pro sports in town. Much more entertainment value for the $$ than the pro sports teams.
Rodster
February 29th, 2012
1:46 pm
We are not the most miserable sports city. I’d place Seattle and Cleveland ahead of us for sure.
reckingball
February 29th, 2012
1:47 pm
I think that the 2012 Braves are going to kick a lot of that misery out of town this year, when they win the WS.
ChopAttack
February 29th, 2012
1:48 pm
Braves fans can’t blame ownership. The team is 14th in attendance and around the same level in payroll. If Atlanta had the same amount of support as the Cardinals the payroll would be higher.
It’s a shame because nationally the Braves are one of the top 3 most popular baseball teams, but it hasn’t translated to sell outs in Atlanta. Obviously, Atlanta has some issues with the Ted’s location, the lack of a real transportation strategy, and the fact that the city isn’t like New York. Atlanta is a big city but the population is spread out.
Dr. Warren
February 29th, 2012
1:50 pm
This is why I have become a Shanghai Sharks fan. After over 5 years in China, an Atlantan deserves to follow a winner.
Sonny Clusters
February 29th, 2012
1:52 pm
Mark, all you have to do is ask Mr Schuerholz and he will tell you the Braves have won 14 championships in a row and added another in 2010. What? Doesn’t that count for something? You mean people in other cities don’t think that 14 division “championships” and a wild card “championship” make this a winning sports town? How about Bark in the Park? That should count for something and Derek Lowe and Kenshin Kawakami and Linebrink and Proctor and McLouth and more that we won’t mention. This “storied” organization has produced so many glorious moments that we should ignore all their failings and give ‘em a pass on the one thing that really distinguishes them in the game of baseball and that is the EPIC Collapse that they probably should be known for going forward (and probably will especially if they put up a little EPIC Collapse flag in the outfield). The other franchises in the city share the blame but the Braves are the ones that have failed again and again and again all the while telling us what a classy winning organization they have assembled. We always thought the winners won the last game of the post season.
Hoopster
February 29th, 2012
1:52 pm
Ah, I see your alarm went off to trot out this material for………..what the 6th or 7th time?
JSS
February 29th, 2012
1:53 pm
@ Rob and his ilk…
The Braves pandering to the scared of their own shadows suburbanites is what ran away some of the most loyal African-American baseball fans in the MLB… I grew tired of Chipper Jones and his act too… But they market to everyone except African-American and Latinos… It is sad beyond belief to look at a Braves ad campaign…
reckingball
February 29th, 2012
1:53 pm
In my opinion, the Braves should have won the WS in ‘91, ‘95(and did)
, & ‘96.
But, I think some of the games that the Braves have played in the playoffs, have been fixed.
billy mac
February 29th, 2012
1:54 pm
the reason i don’t support my “home teams” in person is that it costs a fortune to attend a game then you gotta worry about getting mugged or hit up by some panhandling bum,and also downtown ATL is a very dark and dangerous place,would’nt go downtown without an uzi.
Old School
February 29th, 2012
1:55 pm
MB, thanks for bringing back the painful ‘88 Hawks/Celtics memory
Bird and ‘Nique put on the greatest show I’ve ever seen on the hardwood. I used to love the Hawks with Spud, Doc, Kevin Willis, even Moses “Hands of Stone” Malone. Now it seems like I’ve lost all interest in the NBA. Maybe I’m just getting old but players like Jordan, Magic, Malone, etc. were much more likable than the players today. I’d still place Seattle and Cleveland ahead of Atlanta.
Paul in NH
February 29th, 2012
1:55 pm
Rickster
February 29th, 2012
1:26 pm
One other thing to mention is the fact that it’s a miserable experience to get to games. Traffic stinks going and leaving. Parking at any of the downtown venues is expensive (if it’s even available.) Off site parking is in less-than-desirable locations where a Kevlar vest is a necessity.
——–
Wow Rickster – I didn’t realize you lived in Boston.
Andy
February 29th, 2012
1:57 pm
The only thing I agree with what you wrote is the second to last paragraph. I would use the word frustrated instead of miserable. The problem is that most people equate miserable and worst and this is only perpetuating the sterotype of Atlanta as the worst sports city in the country when it certainly is not. Making the playoffs in multiple sports is better than not making the playoffs at all. There are pleny worst cities than Atlanta. Anyone who says otherwise is an idiot or has an agenda.
Mark Bradley
February 29th, 2012
1:57 pm
I wish I could think of another term besides EPIC Collapse, Sonny C., but somehow EGREGIOUS Flop doesn’t bear the same amount of oomph.
Warts by Brooks
February 29th, 2012
1:58 pm
Thanks for not mentioning Game 3 vs. the Giants in 2010, Mr. Bradley.
Mark Bradley
February 29th, 2012
1:58 pm
One difference between Fenway Park and Turner Field: There’s a T stop within walking distance up there. I’ve walked that distance.
Mark Bradley
February 29th, 2012
2:00 pm
I thought about mentioning Game 3, Warts by Brooks. Decided against it. But I will tell you that, having been in the ballpark for both that game and Game 4 of the 1996 World Series, Game 3 of the 2010 NLDS felt worse at the moment.
WAS
February 29th, 2012
2:01 pm
Great article, Mark and unfortunately, absolutely true for us miserable life-long ATL fans…
Sonny Clusters
February 29th, 2012
2:03 pm
We was at a game and a mugger came up to us planning to mug us but we used our Clusters quickness to jump out of his way and confuse him about whether we was in front of him or in back of him when he was getting ready to mug us. We cannot imagine a city with rail transit that doesn’t have a station at the ball park and as badly as MARTA has been operated and continues to operate we don’t think there will ever be service to the Ted and if there was look at all the entrpreneurs that would lose their jobs watching our cars for us while we’re at the game. The game day experience has improved from what it was awhile back but there’s only so much Bark in the Park can do for a real baseball fan when the team goes into EPIC Collapse and the little dogs can’t go on the field and bite somebody who deserves biting like Lowe or Fredi or Linebrink. Well, two out of three of them are gone this season so we can send the little dogs down to bite the guy that’s tipping his cap in the late innings.
Tide Rising
February 29th, 2012
2:04 pm
Don’t forget that the local college football teams also suck and are dominated by that state to the west- you know the one that has hoisted the bcs national championship in college football for 3 consecutive years now.
ChopAttack
February 29th, 2012
2:09 pm
Tide Rising,
The Alabama titles hurt less in college because college sports aren’t a level playing field. Joe Nameth couldn’t get into Maryland but Alabama had no problem taking him. That hasn’t changed that much today.
Educational requirements are different at each school and some schools are ethically challenged when it comes to over-signing. I don’t like Florida, but at least they haven’t sold their souls to win like other schools in the SEC.
Atlanta87
February 29th, 2012
2:10 pm
Didnt Shultz already do an article on this? Add the AJC and it’s writers to the list of miserable things to come out of Atlanta.
Steve
February 29th, 2012
2:10 pm
I have never heard Turner Field go from so loud (Hinske’s HR) to so quiet (Conrad’s collapse). Talk about a swing of emotions. R.I.P Conrad. Take McClouth with you.
Old School
February 29th, 2012
2:10 pm
Tide Rising, the pro teams here should pay our pro athletes as much as Alabama and Auburn pay their players
JSS
February 29th, 2012
2:12 pm
Scared of the shadow suburbanites proving my point… Not you Clusters, wit has it place… “Uzi?” You can’t shoot straight or something? Lot of firepower doesn’t equal skill to use it!
reckingball
February 29th, 2012
2:13 pm
“R.I.P. Conrad. Take McLouth with you.” ?????
Alabama did not dominate UGA last year.
Sonny Clusters
February 29th, 2012
2:14 pm
Magical Meltdown. Immaculate Implosion. Fredi’s Fiasco. Wren’s Washout. Lowe’s Lowest.
Atlanta87
February 29th, 2012
2:15 pm
Hey stevo, mclouth is not on the team so you don’t have to worry about that.
Steve
February 29th, 2012
2:18 pm
I know this, thanks!
Mark Bradley
February 29th, 2012
2:19 pm
Epochal Exit? A September Not To Remember? One-sixty-two Skidoo?
DawgFan
February 29th, 2012
2:20 pm
Something else hurting us, Mark, that you left out is ownership. Owners of Atlanta sports teams have a tendency to suck. The Braves owners haven’t really spent to build a winner lately, and as a result the Braves have lived off a farm system that is beginning to show signs of depletion(it was recently ranked very low). The Hawks and Thrashers, owned by the same group(ASG) never really stood a chance. The Thrashers were marched out of town by an ownership group that paid more money to a single basketball player than it got for the entire hockey club. The only owner that seems to give a crap about his team is Arthur Blank.
tmc
February 29th, 2012
2:24 pm
I agree w/ reality Gator. (1:01 pm post).
The sentiment in this town is largely determined by the media (not just the ajc, but radio/tv too). NONE of these people do any hard hitting reporting on the local teams and hold them accountable to what they spew to their fans. So the fans are routinely disappointed by every pro team in this town because of the build up and soft parachute landings the media allows.
I don’t blame the teams because if you don’t have to answer tough questions… why would you. (ALL of the local media is extremely SOFT)
Until the people of Atlanta change their tunes toward the local media and the local teams demanding accountability and asking/answering hard-hitting questions… nothing is going to change.
Sonny Clusters
February 29th, 2012
2:25 pm
Playing ball is what we do best but we have found good work on the second shift and we like the benefits. Being second shift means we get to watch all the Braves’ evening games and we feel like we stay on top of the game by doing that and by reading Mark all the time. Having said that, we did not know how much hogwash we was being fed until we started thinking about watching other teams playing in the National League Championship Series and the World Series while our players was out huntin’ and then we realized we wasn’t really champions at all. It was all a homeboy dreamup and we fell for it. Then, we got to thinking like another blogger said that we never saw Heyward hitting those cars outside the park and breaking their windshields. If he was going to damage something last year they’s have to park it out by second base and when the ball got there it would have already bounced a couple times and probably wouldn’t even leave a dent. We thought like a Clusters sometimes thinks . . . “this is a bunch of hogwash.” When the Braves say they’re going to excite the fans with lower concessions prices and Bark in the Park we think maybe they have their priorities wrong and somebody needs to remind them about the EPIC Collapse and not let them think they can continue to get away with sloppy baseball like FrediBall appears to be.
blazerdawg
February 29th, 2012
2:37 pm
This is the year it ALL changes-
Despite P-nicky setting the MLB record for errors at SS, the Braves will average 5 runs a game and relay on the young guns in relief to beat the Rangers in 7
GM Dimitroff will find just the right pieces for the OL and DL putting the finishing touches on the Falcons team which will go 12-4, get hot in the playoffs, and beat Steeler in the SB
ASG will take shocking initiative and realize the potential to rebrand the Hawks by trade/sign Dwight Howard and will make it to the Eastern Conference finals, losing respectfully to the Heat in 6 games
Rumors out of Calgary will be that the Flames are not happy with their facility lease and will consider relocating to Atl. The Carolina Hurricanes will beat the Calgary orgainization to the punch by signing a lease with Philips Arena. Calgary will negotiate a new arena deal in Alberta and sell the Flames name to the new Atlanta franchise and will become the Calgary Broncos.
Happy 2012-13, everybody!
Lester Green
February 29th, 2012
2:39 pm
Hawks regular season nationally televised 13 games (not including playoffs). Also were in the final 6 teams playing last year.
UGA football is nationally televised with the exception of at the most three games.
This makes both pretty relevant on the national stage.
Rk Warren
February 29th, 2012
2:39 pm
I read this and I hear it. And then I go out and I see so many people doing attractive things all over Atlanta. It cities sports participation may be average, but the overall quality of life here is great.
JPM
February 29th, 2012
2:40 pm
I agree with DawgFan entirely. Only Mr. Blank seems to be an owner willing to pursue a title. The rest, particularly the notorious Atlanta Spirit, are worthless. As a town and a fan base, we were literally robbed by the AS organization. If ever there was justification for the return of tar and feathering, they deserve it.
dc
February 29th, 2012
2:45 pm
What a stupid article…..Buffalo, Cleveland, Charlotte, SL, the list goes on and on. Falcons just made playoffs. So Thrashers left….who cares. Hockey doesn’t work in the South unless it’s a bunch of snowbirds/Northern transplants, or a city with absolutely no decent alternative (Raleigh)
Frank Lane
February 29th, 2012
2:45 pm
College sports is alive and well here.
ATL 4 LIFE
February 29th, 2012
2:46 pm
Is everyone just missing the obvious? Atlanta has no ownership that’s “comitted” to winning. Arthur Blank is probably the closest thing to a passionate owner like Ted Turner was ATL has had since the 80’s. Can anyone name one real SUPERSTAR on any sports team right now? Absolutlely not. Certainly not Joe (The Mute)Johnson for the Hawks, nor even is Matt (Checkdown) Ryan for the Falcons,or anyone on the Braves Team. Fans will pay to see Superstars play. They come out in groves when Teams like MIami, Boston, Lakers, Cowboys, Yankees, etc come to town, not to see our Teams but the Superstars on other teams.
Frank Lane
February 29th, 2012
2:51 pm
ATL 4 LIFE is correct. There are only a few cities and teams with Brand loyalty. Everyone else has Player loyalty. Atlanta has none for either.
blazerdawg
February 29th, 2012
2:53 pm
Re: Marta @ Turner Field-
Almost half of MLB cities do not even have a train system, much less a stop at their ball park. For heaven’s sake, get off at Georgia State and take the short walk.
Or, if driving and traffic on the expressway is congested, then take Nside from Cobb, Piedmont from N Atl, Oakdale or DeKalb Ave from Decatur, or Moreland or Stewart Ave from the Southside.
It really is not that bad or dfficult to get to TF. Heck, Ernie Johnson used to brag that all roads lead to Atlanta Stadium.
Go Braves!
GTBob
February 29th, 2012
2:53 pm
College sports is alive and well here.
People pay attention to college sports here, but can you name any team that has accomplished anything to really be proud of? That just makes the Forbes opinion even more accurate.
George Stein
February 29th, 2012
2:55 pm
Game 3 of the 2010 NLDS felt like a college football game. I thought the place was going to blast off into orbit when Hinskie hit that bomb. But that 9th inning was a stomach punch like I’d never felt in a baseball game.
blazerdawg
February 29th, 2012
2:59 pm
C’mon GTBob – the Braves are an organization to be proud of – I know that you must have stayed-up to 1:00 AM with the rest of us watching those games against the Dodgers and Giants in the early 80s and 90s. They’ll be back. Falcons are working on it.
Section 303
February 29th, 2012
3:00 pm
I agree that college football is big here, but I think it is not as big as many claim. Georgia Tech has a small football stadium that sits half full for many games. If the town is so crazy about college football, how can that happen?
Curt
February 29th, 2012
3:02 pm
Much depends on how you define success. If you define it as winning championships then yes, sports teams in Atlanta have let their fans down. The promise each year of something big happening allows fans to dream big; only to be let down by what seems to be an endless array of mishaps and missteps.
On the other hand, Atlanta teams win more often than they lose. A fan can go the ballpark, stadium, or arena and expect to see a good game and there will be a better and 50% chance that the home team will prevail. There are cities who can only dream of having the kind of success that Atlanta teams as a whole have had.
We all woild like to have a chamionship team in Atlanta, ever year but there are so many factors that contribute to winning and losing games and some of those are out of a team’s control. Take Green Bay for instance. They had the best team for the entire season, were penciled into the Super Bowl and yet did not get deep into of the playoffs. the Phillies likewise seemed like a shoe-in for the World Series. Imagine spending the amount of money the Phillies, Yankees and Red Sox teams do, only to be let down.
I think that Atlanta fans are far too demanding when it comes to sports and especially when to attend and event. Why stay away, waiting for a team to win a championship when people can attend an event and expect their team to play hard and in most cases, win.
George Stein
February 29th, 2012
3:02 pm
From the math is hard department: Tech was at 87.6% capacity last season, Section 303.
blazerdawg
February 29th, 2012
3:03 pm
303 – GT is a small, national university that lost much FB tradition (rivalries) with their departure from the SEC. Not many schools with enrollments of 18,000 draw 48,000 a game.
Hillbilly D
February 29th, 2012
3:03 pm
Didn’t we have this same basic column a while back? Who cares what anybody else thinks of us (and I don’t even live in Atlanta)?
ChopAttack
February 29th, 2012
3:04 pm
Section 303,
Because of UGA?
blazerdawg
February 29th, 2012
3:11 pm
MB – where does the Atl media stand in this?
Back in the 70s, 80s, 90s the AC or AJ would put the Braves and Falcons on the front page for any game or personnel move that was of any significance. Jim Viondi used to get six or seven minutes of a 30 minute newscast on Channel 2 for local sports. Every big radio station used to do live remotes from the Omni for big Hawks games or from the Stadium during the Braves pennant races.
Check out the walls of the older bars and pubs around town where the framed front page special editions feature two inch headlines for the Braves.
What happened? Is there something different with the teams’ PR efforts? Nationalization of media?
Frank Lane
February 29th, 2012
3:11 pm
George, that was sold tickets, not attendance.
GTBob
February 29th, 2012
3:12 pm
blazerdawg, I love the Braves and the Falcons, but you have to admit that they have been pretty disappointing lately. This year being the worst. I agree with you that they can turn it around though. It’s not a lost cause, we are just in a bad time right now.
GTBob
February 29th, 2012
3:14 pm
If the town is so crazy about college football, how can that happen?
Because the town is not quite as crazy about college football as people make it out to be.
CB
February 29th, 2012
3:15 pm
ATL 4 LIFE, there is one team in GA that win a NT every year and that great team is UGA. Oh I forgot I’m dreaming, just like the UGA fans has been for the last 30 years. WAKE UP!!!!!!!!
blazerdawg
February 29th, 2012
3:16 pm
GTBob – I absolutey agree with you that ALL of the teams have been a disappointment, especially lately. I feel good about the Braves, and you make sure you get the fall season off to a good start for us up in Blacksburg. Gonna be great year!
George Stein
February 29th, 2012
3:17 pm
Right, Frank. What’s your point?
yellow britches
February 29th, 2012
3:18 pm
Mark, I know this is a rifle shot when your article was a shotgun blast at all Atlanta sports teams but the Atlanta Braves under Bobby Cox have played a boring brand of baseball for years. Solid starting pitching and station to station offense hoping for a big bop. We didn’t put pressure on other team’s defense and we seldom if ever drafted or retained speed. Maybe the idea of the Braves Brass was to put such a mind numbing team on the field that the fans had to buy beer just to make it past the seventh inning.
jj
February 29th, 2012
3:20 pm
Yeah, we get it. We suck as a sports town. How many times is this theme gonna be rehashed?
If the Braves, Hawks and Thrashers all left (1 down, two to go) I’d survive. Falcon’s I would miss
a lot. As long as there is UGA football and SEC football, my sports needs are nicely met.
Dallas Tx, Dawg
February 29th, 2012
3:21 pm
While I am a Georgia native, I was raised and grew up in Dallas, Tx. I am a Bulldawg through and through, but put my professional loyalties with the Cowboys, Mavricks. It may have been a while since the Cowboys won a Super Bowl, but we have 5 titles. My wife loves the Falcons, but while not as bad as they used to be, they will never, and I mean NEVER, win with the regularity of an organization such as the Cowboys. The fans are luke warm at best and turn off at a heartbeat. The people of Dallas, cherish their sports teams, and live and die with them every season. Unlike here, where the Hawks are BORING, hockey moves ot of the country, and the Falcons fold every postseason. Just sayin……. Article was right on the money.
Frank Lane
February 29th, 2012
3:26 pm
George, real fans go to the games to support the team. GT alumni buy tickets, don’t go, and leave seats empty because they cannot find someone who wants to buy the tickets from them.
My point is that GT football is a shadow of what it was under Bobby Dodd when I was growing up.
Duh
February 29th, 2012
3:27 pm
ATL is like a train wreck that you cant turn away from. We watch them almost daily just to see how they will self implode.
Hollywould
February 29th, 2012
3:27 pm
Dallas, That regularity has been how long now without a playoff?
Troy Aikmannn
February 29th, 2012
3:29 pm
Cowboys fans are bandwagon jumpers.
George Stein
February 29th, 2012
3:35 pm
I suppose it’s difficult to argue that, Frank. The world has changed in 50 years.
All I know is I go to the games every week and the comments about the stadium being half full are nonsense unless they’re intended as hyperbole. The available metrics say we sell 87% of our seats and I’ll roll with those.
PMC
February 29th, 2012
3:35 pm
Same level of payroll? These Braves have an effective payroll of 84 million this year.
It’s not about payroll. It’s about interesting.
The Braves (and Atlanta sports teams in general) have a hard time employing talent that people in this area feel they need to plunk down thier money and put forth the time and effort to go see.
Atlanta sports teams don’t sell themselves well because they don’t win, and many times they aren’t interesting. This is a star driven town with no stars.
Miss Priss's Feline Emporium
February 29th, 2012
3:36 pm
There’s a reason ATL is known as loserville, USA.
glsjunior
February 29th, 2012
3:36 pm
Bradley, the Atlanta Sports scene has been going downhill ever since you shaved off your stache.
Time
February 29th, 2012
3:36 pm
I think what happened is this year Forbes took into account the local sports columnists, which easily pushed ATL to the top spot. Great job AJC.
Atlanta Spirit Sucks
February 29th, 2012
3:44 pm
Gearon and Levenson, also known as the Spirit Clowns, deserve half the blame. Those two donkeys make the Smith family, in retrospect, look like model owners.
Charlie Leibrandt
February 29th, 2012
3:51 pm
That meatball I threw still has not landed yet.
Ekim
February 29th, 2012
3:51 pm
Tip to Forbes’ editors: Go investigate Wall Street or something; why this counts as journalism is beyond me. Guess it’s all about page views.
Ekim
February 29th, 2012
3:53 pm
I went to five Braves games last year; they won four of them, two in walk-off fashion. I had a GREAT time. Put me down as not miserable.
10 Bears
February 29th, 2012
3:55 pm
After following the Braves and Falcons (sometimes Hawks-can only take so much) for 30 years, I’ve concluded that championships are for other cities. Winning is a zero-sum proposition and our teams are the reason that other fan bases can enjoy multiple championships. No matter the season, the stars or the sport, the symbol of losing has forever been etched on our lodge.
Stinger2
February 29th, 2012
4:01 pm
Clusters has done it again as he has in most recent blogs.He is blaming the Braves as being the team soley responible for Atlanta being the most miserable sports town. Obviously, he has become obsessed with his dislike for the Braves (particularly Chipper and Freddi). This fellow is losing his ability to think reasonably before he posts. Hopefully, he will soon realize that everyone including the writers have gotten his message. Maybe he will find another team to write his negative stuff about.
jerry
February 29th, 2012
4:13 pm
Look no further than the people responsible for winning. We had the Spirit, the Smiths, UGA and their refusal to hire top flight coaches, and Liberty Media. Our only hope is Arthur Blank.
Heath
February 29th, 2012
4:22 pm
Gloom, despair, and agony on me
Deep dark depression, excessive misery
If it weren’t for bad luck, we’d have no luck at all
Gloom, despair, and agony on me
Maybe the Falcons will learn to throw (and complete) a vertical pass.
Maybe the Braves will stop having 36 relivers combine to pitch the last four innings.
Maybe the Hawks will be bought by someone who cares.
The Knights were good. Maybe they’ll come back.
doggoneit
February 29th, 2012
4:24 pm
If I was in charge of the AJC I would fire the lot of ya.. SOunds like Falconssorry got the best of ya. Go be a teacher or something Bradley
KBB
February 29th, 2012
4:31 pm
Most of these BillyBobs that live outside the city (no Newnan is NOT Atlanta), wont support anything but a team that is 70 miles away (the Dawgs). They have a distaste for basketball because it features too many flashy, empowered, arrogant negroes (but support college football, i know….stupid). They can only tolerate baseball until Dawgs football comes back around. Its almost like they are incapable of enjoying more than one sport at one time. The problem is that unlike Chicago, Boston, New York, Philly etc etc…..most of metro Atlanta contains about 23 yokel towns full of country hicks that only like one sport. Most actual ATLANTANS enjoy all sports
Wet Willie...keep on smiling
February 29th, 2012
4:38 pm
The Braves much like the UGA bulldogs talk great during the spring but don’t play so well when the games start to be counted. Ga Tech ,Bobby Dodd, and the Atlanta media thought they would teach Coach Bryant a lesson in the 60’s and boy did they. Bryant beat his soft azz like a rented mule each year with 62 the exception. The day Tech left the SEC they sheet the bed and they’re still stumbling thru life today. Blank tried the Black QB to draw more the fans and what did he get in return. Really to be ranked below Cleveland,Detroit (Oh my Lord), and Cincy is amazing. 75% of the stadiums aren’t full in the NFL each week and getting worse each year and that with stadiums that hold less than 75k. Heck we have more at the spring game at Bama than tech has for the 1st three home games. Maybe the owner of the Falcons,Hawks, and Braves should passout more of the applications for free housing. Just saying.
blazerdawg
February 29th, 2012
4:40 pm
KBB-most folks OTP support the college teams because they know and relate to the players, or their coaches, or their families. I know MANY Braves fans OTP and die hard Hawks fans in the North Georgia hills – but the college teams are easier to identify with for most folks out here in the sticks. Your assertion that most folks outside of the city are racist is a joke – I work for a Chicago based company and my northern colleagues never stop with the race talk and “jokes”.
blazerdawg
February 29th, 2012
4:42 pm
KBB – my apologies to you. Wet Willie has made your point. A shame, a great band.
Arno
February 29th, 2012
4:42 pm
We are not a miserable sports city. What keeps us fans is that we have plenty of players on our teams with great heart.
Josh
February 29th, 2012
4:47 pm
How much does ATL traffic have to do with it? I have no interest in going to Braves game during weekday and fight traffic…. Unlike Boston, which has much larger in city population and easy subway access, Marta is just as inefficient/slow as the highway.
Josh
February 29th, 2012
4:52 pm
I am not old enough to drive
Sonny Clusters
February 29th, 2012
4:53 pm
Stinger2 if you was trying to run us off the blog with your personal attacks on this Clusters you need to know that we just ignore your stuff and we invite you to ignore us. We are not a cheerleader like you and we almost never say golly or gee whiz when talking about Chipper Jones or Fredi Gonzalez. In fact, we know that the Braves organization is getting away with hype telling us how good they are and ignoring failures on the field. Was you here for the EPIC Collapse or was you busy that month?
KBB
February 29th, 2012
5:01 pm
@Blazer,
Ive been in this city for many years. I have “wet willies” in my own families. They use sports as a outlet to vent some of their racial frustrations. The thing that always shuts them up when they go on their “NBA is full of thugs……” rant is when i ask them succinctly “your a diehard UGA football fan, how many arrests have they had in the last 5 years? Isn’t being arrested, doing drugs, beating up your girlfriend, and fighting the definition of a thug? How many Hawks have been arrested in the last 5 years?”
KBB
February 29th, 2012
5:01 pm
*families = family
DEAinATL
February 29th, 2012
5:02 pm
I happened to see this headline on Google News (who reads the AJC?).
I was born in Atlanta 60 years ago. I haven’t read a sports page in 40 years. The one b’ball I went to (Hawks) I fell asleep. I can’t afford to go to an NFL game.
If professional sports were cancelled tomorrow, I wouldn’t know or care.
Bread and circuses (’cept I like bread – spongy white bread, none of that dark whole grain stuff. Good with ribs).
When are sports fans going to wake up to the fact that most of the population doesn’t care about sports?
Lester Green
February 29th, 2012
5:07 pm
Dude if you havent read a sports page in 40 years and saw this on google news you should just throw in the towel (if you know what that means) and go give your partner a hug.
Transplant
February 29th, 2012
5:11 pm
It’s strange. I moved from Cincinnati which by all measures should be “worse”. However, the fans there have a sort of pride in having stuck with them through it all. Attendance is horrible but there is a feeling that the city still has pride in its teams, possibly because as a smaller city it doesn’t have the other entertainment and national notoriety that we get here. Atlanta, on the other hand, seems to be a city largely comprised of fair-weather fans who would let something like traffic prevent them from wanting to see their “favorite” team. I often hear it blamed on transplants like me but I think deeper there is a lack of commitment to these franchises that is just kind of sad. Maybe its well deserved but it’s lame. There is no reason Atlanta can’t be better, it just isn’t.
Stinger2
February 29th, 2012
5:12 pm
If Atlanta is the most miserable sports city, everyone who is a fan, a player, a coach,manager,GM,owner and the media should share the blame. IMHO the term “miserable” is not a good adjective to describe most Atlanta sports fans, etc. More accurate terma would be flustrated or disgusted
blazerdawg
February 29th, 2012
5:13 pm
KBB – know what you mean – cannot stand willful ignorance – Go Hawks! (and find a center)
Tumbledown
February 29th, 2012
5:14 pm
DEAinATL . . . Why are you posting in a sports blog? I would never post such a comment in any blog discussing something in which I have no interest. Go away.
Hillbilly D
February 29th, 2012
5:18 pm
Sports teams are businesses and nobody owes them anything. They have to give people a reason to want to buy tickets. Winning is usually the thing that makes most folks want to buy tickets but there are numerous other things that play into it. For me, it just costs too much. I go to minor league baseball games. Same game; true, the level of play isn’t quite up to MLB but it’s close enough and the tickets are reasonable. Heck, the Southern League doesn’t even raise their prices for playoff games.
Stinger2
February 29th, 2012
5:20 pm
Clusters: Nobody is trying to run you off this blog. I am just stating that you have made your point about you dislike of the Braves so many times that everyone knows it. And yes, I am aware of the Braves collapse but it was not EPIC. There can be only one epic in the same category and thatt was provided by the Boston Red Sox. Check the numbers. Come up with some other tean to dislike I all that I am saying.
Sonny Clusters
February 29th, 2012
5:41 pm
Oh, Stinger2, you are something else. If the only opinion a true Braves fan can express is golly gee aren’t they special then we must not be a true fan or a real fan – we must be a fan that expects better baseball and less Bark in the Park. Now, telling us to get another team just because we have higher standards than you is not going to run us off. We invite you to just jump over our posts like people do with yours. Have a nice day.
wxwax
February 29th, 2012
5:41 pm
The Hawks made the payoffs.
The Falcons made the playoffs.
The Braves almost made the playoffs.
How is this a miserable sports city? Not even close. Crazy talk.
Disgusted
February 29th, 2012
5:54 pm
For the last 12 months (or at least since May of 2011) we have had a miserable time.
First we lose our NHL team; and more people cared than given credit for.
Then, the Braves choke bad. The Falcons have a pedestrian regular season then get blown out in the post season, and insult of all, we are stuck with the ATL Spirit with the Hawks.
And the Hawks, well, its an up and down injury prone yr and we are stuck with those same lousy owners.
College Basketball is a disaster and College Football, TEch and GA okay but nothing special.
I can take or leave college sports anyway.
Worst thing was the Thrashers leaving and the Spirit staying. Having Liberty Media also helps with the misery.
Disgusted
February 29th, 2012
6:08 pm
I won’t attend another Hawks game until ATL Spirit sells the team….they sold my hockey team after not even trying to put a winner on the ice the entire time the team was here.
TD 1992—I feel the same way. I do not have the same feeling about ATl sports since the Thrash left. But, there were problems with the Thrashers before the Spirit got in, notably Dim Waddell’s incompetence at player decisions in free agency and player development. Andrew Brunette was the first big blunder they made and that was before the Spirit got into existence. That was after year 2. He would have been nice secondary scoring behind a young Kovalchuck and Heatley.
The Spirit did not build on the momentum of that division winning team. What alot of people forget is that they came a hairs close to the plaoffs the year before. If they had any goaltending in 05-06 we would have had 2 playoff teams in a row. .
And no other GM would have drafted Alex Bourrett (traded down twice) and Boris Valabik where they did. Those were the worst picks, even worse than Patrik Stefan.
Disgusted
February 29th, 2012
6:10 pm
wxwax—The Braves gave us a monumental collapse in September and that almost is not good enough. Unless you are accepting of mediocrity.
The Braves are a civic embarrassment after September. And Liberty Media does not try to make them better. Garbage ownership.
Oh, yea, the Falcons really distinguished themselves in their last 2 playoff games vs the Pack and Giants, heh…..
Disgusted
February 29th, 2012
6:14 pm
DEA in ATL–If you were cancelled tommorrow, I would care less.
Go read the girlie living section. What in the #$%# are you doing posting in the sports section.
Pro sports are everything and to me its more important to have major league sports than public eduction.
Slick Richt
February 29th, 2012
6:50 pm
I agree we have the most miserable writers in sports.
David
February 29th, 2012
6:53 pm
That Eric Gregg strike zone in 1997 was disgusting.
BravesFan79
February 29th, 2012
7:10 pm
So this article means we have the most teams likely to make it to the 2nd round of the playoffs? Sounds great to me! Ill take that anyday over the misery of DC with the redskins, nationals, capitals… etc. This article is stupid.
dean
February 29th, 2012
7:29 pm
I’m in my late 50’s. No one is going to tell me squat about ATL sports misery.
Ekim
February 29th, 2012
7:37 pm
Amen, BravesFan79
Disgusted
February 29th, 2012
8:10 pm
I would be glad to take the Capitals. That is better than what we will have in that sport.
The Braves just plain stink. September proved it. They almost frittered it away in September 2010, thanks to the much maligned D. Lowe, his September pitching kept the Braves from choking that one away.
September of 2011, not a thing to just forget.
loserville
February 29th, 2012
8:16 pm
atl—city of losers! Come to NY to see champions—-I miss the bronx–hopefully I can move back next year if the economy picks up.
Spud
February 29th, 2012
8:32 pm
Who cares what that guy at Forbes thinks? One reason attendance is not what it could be, is the lack of MARTA trains going right up to the fields and and that getting to, in, and out of Turner Field, GA Dome, and Philips Arena is basically a PITA! For those of fans that live outside of ATL, it takes a lot of consideration before we commit to the time consuming and fairly expensive choice of coming to any pro game in ATL. I enjoy being at the games, absolutely hate the process of getting there and getting away.
If I could park say at the South Lake area, and catch MARTA and go directly to the games without changing trains, riding buses, and walking two miles, I bring my family more.
The challenges that ATL sports team face are not just on the field.
Charlie S
February 29th, 2012
8:34 pm
“We’re Atlanta, and it’s what we do.” This summed it up well. And as far as that Leyritz homer being the beginning of the end, it was. I watched it and felt it live (well, at home). Unfortunately, I think the Braves players and organization did the same thing. It took away that thought that we could be actually become a dynasty. Like in “Inception,” once that seed was planted, it took root.
D man
February 29th, 2012
8:36 pm
World champions of being the worlds worst sports city. Yeah baby yeah. “Celebrate good times come on”…
D man
February 29th, 2012
8:39 pm
Loserville – we hope you move back to NY so you’ll stop honking all the time and yelling and being rude and complaining about everything… Maybe some of our southern manors rubbed off on you so you can teach your friends up north how to act.
Atlanta fans… do we truly live in the most miserable sports city the nation??? « I got somethin to say!
February 29th, 2012
8:45 pm
[...] more about it but then when I woke up this Wednesday morning and went about the day and read Mark Bradley’s blog (local sports writer for the Atlanta Journal Constitution) agreeing with the article and it made me [...]
Nativebird
February 29th, 2012
8:49 pm
Shuerholz has perfected the Barnum-rule in business here in Atlanta. All he had to do was to give these long ti
The truth....
February 29th, 2012
9:05 pm
How many guys that play for the Celtics, Pats, Bruins, Sox are from New England or even the Northeast? Few if any. How many Pirates, Pens, or Steelers are from western Pennsylvania? Cardinals from St. Louis? Packers from Wisconsin?
The bottom line is that this stuff is entertainment. By in large, professional athletes care about the city they’re in……so long as they cut the check. Sports is entertainment, it’s not something to tie your self esteem to. The people of Atlanta and surrounding areas spend their money on that which is entertaining. When you take a team like the Hawks, they have a 0% chance of winning the NBA championship. If I can clearly see that it’s a foregone conclusion you have no chance in the playoffs……I’m just not interested. You want people to get interested? Go sign Dwight Howard.
Atlanta baseball fans are bored with early exits in the playoffs, do something about it to entertain or captivate the fanbase and people will attend. The bottom line is that people in Atlanta have other stuff to do. They enjoy college sports, they enjoy high school sports, they play golf, they hunt, they fish, the go to the beach, they go to the race, they hike, they bike, they canoe, they have stuff to do.
The Falcons are a good team, but they don’t really scare anybody, and like Georgia they don’t win championships because the suck on the offense line of scrimmage. The Falcons suck on both lines. If they fix that, they’ll both win championships and have more fans than they can contain.
Disgusted
February 29th, 2012
9:10 pm
Hey loserville, the Bronx slum should not be that expensive for u to move back to. There should be a vacant burned out crack building u can occupy.
Pls, go back to NY and stay in ur rathole of a city. Better yet, why not move to Sewark aka Newark, that is not too far from ur promised land.
I would rather be in a trailer anywhere in GA than within a 100 mile radius of the NY sewer s#ity
IceColdATLien
February 29th, 2012
9:13 pm
As a man who cries about virtually nothing, I will likely have tears if our falcons can ever grab a ring.
Brave Oldie
February 29th, 2012
9:20 pm
Dang we finally won something!!!!
Really though just to echo previous posters, the Hawks and Braves ownership groups are the worst in professional sports. Heck the Hawks dont even have a NBA head coach.
What is really pathetic is that the ASG has screwed this franchise up so bad that Dwight Howard doesnt even want to come home and play the Hawks! That is a huge statement.
$10 and a trip to WalMart
February 29th, 2012
9:21 pm
And you too can be a Yankees, Lakers, Red Wings, or Steelers fan. Again…….how many guys that play for the Yankees are from New York…….right. Steelers from western Penn?
The “Yankees” are all from Georgia, Florida, California, Texas, and the Carribean. They damn sure aren’t from the Bronx.
If you tie your self esteem to the results of a team you don’t play for, you don’t recieve a check from, they don’t consult you about team moves, you don’t get a ring, you don’t get a bonus…………..but they will take $10 for that beer and why don’t you buy a few more….the New York Yankees would like to thank you for your continued patronage. You are important because you paid the bills, but make no mistake, the Yanks are a corporation that doesn’t give a damn about you that happens to be in your home town.
1966 Falcon
February 29th, 2012
9:23 pm
Love the Falcons, could care very less about the ATL
Brave Oldie
February 29th, 2012
9:26 pm
The cheapass Braves will not be contenders this season. No LF or SS and a broke down has been 3B.
Hillbilly D
February 29th, 2012
9:34 pm
As the late, great Leroy Powell once said, most of these guys wouldn’t even lived here, if they weren’t paid to. (That goes for any professional sports team).
Angry Bird
February 29th, 2012
9:47 pm
Sadly this is Loserville USA. Even players from here such as Dwight Howard do not want to play for this miserable sports town.
Midtown Mike
February 29th, 2012
9:53 pm
Heeeeeeeeeey!
Dwight Howard would love to play here because he is on the down low. You heard it here first.
alex
February 29th, 2012
9:54 pm
with you loserville, as for manors, first learn how to spell…(good atlanta public schools). Atlanta is loserville because the population doesn’t buy into it. People come here to make some money and have a job and then leave as soon as anything comparable or better comes up somewhere else.. Team owners are greedy and reflect the “fans”.
Timbo
February 29th, 2012
9:54 pm
The AJC is the most miserable “big city” hometown newspaper as well. Thanks Mark for contributing to the decline of “professional” journalism. I actually remember when the AJC was a source of pride among the citizens born and raised in the metro Atlanta area. Now it’s just a rag news sight that attempts to get “hits” by inciting the emotions of the mouth breathers that get overly emotional over nonsense. I rarely buy the paper or visit this site anymore. Every time I break down and take a peak, it’s like deja vu. Same ole crap.
Sorry @ss
February 29th, 2012
9:57 pm
The hawks suck,the braves suck, the falcons suck. bird of a feather flock together……
ATL Sports Fan
February 29th, 2012
10:06 pm
I agree with the Forbes article. Our sports history is drenched in heartbreak and disappointment. I have waay more bad memories than good when it comes to ATL sports, not even close. 95 was sweet, but how many World Series’ did the Braves get to and LOSE? Even the Braves in the glory years ended in disappointment and heartbreak for the most part. Twins pushing Lonnie off the bag, Joe Carter and the Blue Jays, the freaking Yankees…and the Falcons? Where do I start. Mediocre my whole life and then we get the first pick in the draft and get this incredibly exciting player that takes us to an NFC championship and then…well, you know how that story ended. They’ve been good as of late thankfully but getting blown out on Natl tv and in the playoffs every year is more heartbreak/disappointment. And the Hawks? They have been bad pretty much my whole life. Then they get good enough to make the playoffs and get blown out in the 2nd round each year. Good enough to be almost there but with a dfysfunctional ownership group and bad management and Woody for way too long and not getting a center and trading our draft picks for Kirk Heinrich and paying Joe Johnson Michael Jordan money…Miserable
ATL Sports Fan
February 29th, 2012
10:07 pm
Btw, can someone please open comments for the story about the girl shoving hashbrowns down her pants. Thank you.
kingdaddy
February 29th, 2012
10:15 pm
M.B.
At least we’re consistent. It’s good not to suck at everything. We are Great at being Bad. Your article really brightens my day. Oh yeah, I’ve been married 3 times and divorced 3 times too.LOL Maybe you can do an article on AJC/Sports Journalist not having anything to write about …
NtheNo
February 29th, 2012
10:17 pm
Count me as one that said good-bye to MLB and the NFL after the strikes….haven’t bought a ticket to either since. Don’t plan to.
kingdaddy
February 29th, 2012
10:22 pm
Atl.Sports Fan
She was just keeping them warm for her roommate. Ever since the story broke, I’ve had a hard time ordering the hashbrowns at Denny’s.
Ed
February 29th, 2012
10:24 pm
Atlanta can be considered a miserable sports town in one sense. We live in a Major League City with a Bush League Newspaper with about a four page sports section. You idiots want to write about ownership. What marquee free agent would want to come here? So he could read Mark Bradley’s dribble and listen to John Kincade talk about how great Philadelphia is? Give me a break. I heard the “face of the Braves” on satellite radio tonight and he said as much for the world to hear.
dawg4u
February 29th, 2012
10:26 pm
Mark I am glad that you made the distinction between “most miserable sports city” and “worst sports city” because there is definitely a big difference there. Good analysis and as much as I hate to say it, absolutely true!
extremus
February 29th, 2012
10:42 pm
Think we could get a few more butts in the seats at Turner Field to see Liberty Media’s CEO push a baseball around the bases with his nose ala’ Ted Turner?
It’ll never happen; a corporate, Denver-based ownership is also a big part of the disconnect for Braves fans right now. At least even back in the 1970s and mid-late 1980s when the Braves were awful, they had an enthusiastic human owner who gave a care.
As for Atlanta pro team sports in general, I wholeheartedly agree; having the full expectation of getting to the playoffs in a given sport year after year only serves to magnify the agony if it results in early exits. You win it all or you failed, whether that’s fair or not, and after awhile people tend to wrap their hearts in concrete to prevent them from being crushed yet again. The seeming apathy and skepticism of Atlanta sports fans is a product of unparalleled disappointment, heartbreak, and even bitter schisms created within the fanbase over the past 15-20 years; after that long maybe we’ve earned the right to it.
atlantato seattle2015
February 29th, 2012
11:00 pm
went to the playoffs when the falcons played Green bay..we were hyped and excited driving through iced over roads to get to the Georgia Dome ..and the DOME WAS LOUD AS WELL..Falcons scored first place went crazy then after it went down hill we were dissapointed bitterly..i,m a big Falcon fan the let down lingered for weeks ..the falcons were 13/3 that was thier chance to pull this racialy divided city together ..they failed big time..bottom line win and the fans will respond big time ..put a product on the field and play with emotion the fans will in turn feed off that..best game ever Atlanta vs minnesota vikings winning and going to the super bowl in minneapolis SHOCKING THE WORLD..remmeber the response from the city then ???thier were tons at the airport and fans in droves at the falcon headquaters
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
February 29th, 2012
11:03 pm
And CHOKE is the most MISERABLE qb impersonator…………….
HA HA HA
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
February 29th, 2012
11:05 pm
Remember the days when the Dome used to be sold out before the start of the season?
Remember when playoffs didn’t end with 1 & done?
Remember when the team was respected?
HA HA HA
4dabirds
February 29th, 2012
11:10 pm
Oh no, once again the media says we are a terrible, miserable, (pick your own adjective) sports city. Looks like we are #1 at being bad fans again. Millions of us have pulled together to say we don’t like our teams enough to show up for any games, much less any of the significant games. I want to thank whoever it was that got us all organized for this historical feat. The millions of disappointed have spoken, so suck on it America and call us what you like, because we refuse to embrace mediocrity.
As for me, I’ll get excited when football rolls around again, and I’ll go to my usual 5 or 6 Braves games. Meanwhile, I’ll go play some golf, mountain bike, and chase the hot women of Georgia, because I will certainly be more entertained by those activities than anything coming from our pro sports franchises.
MyPatootie
February 29th, 2012
11:16 pm
There’s always Jacksonville and Nashville. Neither even has a MLB team and the NFL teams stink to high heaven! I think either one of them would take what ATL has in a “Georgia second”!
4dabirds
February 29th, 2012
11:17 pm
Matt “CHOKE” Ryan, you’re going to give Vick a groin injury with all the jock ridin you do.
Your hero is part of the misery. For every one thing he did great, he did 5 bad things. He quit on his team, never dedicated himself to getting better, and then embarrassingly went to jail. Good times.
MyPatootie
February 29th, 2012
11:20 pm
BTW, who is that in the photo at the top of the article? Looks like #15 on the helmet. AND why are the Braves’ players such litterbugs? Don’t they put any trash cans in the dugouts? Wonder if they do that at home?
Hillbilly D
February 29th, 2012
11:22 pm
can someone please open comments for the story about the girl shoving hashbrowns down her pants.
That gives a whole new meaning to “scattered, smothered and covered”.
Arnold Ziffel
March 1st, 2012
12:16 am
I’m an ATL native and can say our sports scene really stinks. I used to think it was just a matter of time but reality says different. So much disappointment has me where I don’t really care anymore. I get less invested with our teams each year both in wallet and results. The Forbes article finally brings to light the unique level of suffering we endure here that no other city has experienced to the level we have. Our teams excel in maxing out at “above average” and providing total embarrassments in national performances. Nothing is going to change because this is the ATL.
Najeh Davenpoop
March 1st, 2012
1:07 am
If ATL isn’t the most miserable sports city it’s up there near the top. I think Cleveland and Seattle fans have more to complain about than ATL fans, but that’s probably about it.
So why, then, do ATL fans get clowned by the national media? If our teams are obviously such disappointments, why are ATL fans then expected to shell out hard earned cash to go see these disappointments in action? Are fans expected to dutifully pay to see bad products?
Najeh Davenpoop
March 1st, 2012
1:10 am
“the falcons were 13/3 that was thier chance to pull this racialy divided city together ”
The race thing is so overrated. Everyone in this city rallied around the 1998 Falcons quarterbacked by lily-white Chris Chandler. Everyone in this city rallied around the Vick Falcons. The current Falcons haven’t yet won over this city because they are frauds, not because of race. If Aaron Rodgers had taken over at QB in 2008 the Falcons would be the toast of the town.
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.