Atlanta isn't the awful sports town everyone makes it out to be. It's just another boring narrative that was reported once and now everyone buys into it. And it gets a little tiring, so I'm going to defend the ATL once, and let the subject slide into oblivion. Do we have empty seats at baseball playoff games? Yes. The division series is seriously old hat down here. No other team anywhere has had this kind of run, so any comparison is apples and oranges. And we know full well the Braves history of disappointment. I guarantee that the Ted would be rockin' when (if) they get back to the World Series (Heck even the NLCS at this point). Atlanta is no where near the bottom attendance over the course of the year. Do we not sell out basketball games? Have you seen how bad the Hawks are? Seriously. I'd go if I thought they had a snowball's chance in hell of even slightly contending for he playoffs. Right now, they are a joke and everyone here is knowledgeable about basketball to know this. I don't even want to see a good team take apart a crap team like the Hawks, because they are just going through the motions. I offer as evidence the home games in the Thrashers late push (on TV Saturday even). Capacity crowds brimming with energy. I know tons of Thrashers fans--all of them are passionate fans who go out of their way to see all the Thrashers games either in person or on TV (which can be pretty hard at times). The Falcons have sold out the Dome every game for a couple of years now too. Fair weather fans you say? I say, how many years of sucky teams has Atlanta had to endure. Only recently have any of them had any kind of sustained successs. People pay to see teams that entertain them. Teams that may post successive winning records perhaps. Atlanta is a good sports town. It may not be the most passionate place (no excitement please we're southern), but people here are knowledgeable and interested in all kinds of sports. Where else do you have access to so many sports with somewhat competitive teams (err, except for the Hawks) at both the college and pro level? And don't forget The Masters is just down the road. All we lack is an MLS franchise, but the Silverbacks did just build a new stadium.
Yeah - the Cup isn't an delicate flower. It's the perfect pinnacle for it's sport. Guys worship it - then drop kick it into the swimming pool of a rock band. That's a big part of the cool; the ownership. The tradition dictates that only those that win it get to hoist it over their heads in the classic pose. Lil' Jon isn't quite doing that. It's close, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. However, his near hoist is likely the reason that Altanta slipped out of the 8th spot in the East. The Hockey Gods are serious as cancer. Karma dude, kar-ma.
Trox, congratulations. You've just described Atlanta as it is in relation to sports -- frontrunning and uninterested. The Hawks: 29th in attendance in 2004-05(72.3%), 28th this season (74.8%). The Thrashers: 23rd in 2003-04 (81.5%), 25th this season (83.9%). The Braves: 15th in total attendance in 2005 and 18th in percentage of seats filled in 2005 (62.9%), 9th in total attendance this season and 12th in percentage of seats filled this season (69.4%). I'm not going to use the NFL's stats because I believe them to be unfair to Atlanta. The Falcons ranked 17th in 2005 by filling 99.2% of their seats, but Green Bay ranked first by filling more than 115% of its seats. Layering fans may be how they stay warm at Lambeau. I'm also mystified at your explanation of the playoffs being "old hat" for Atlanta. Can you back this theory up by finding other cities where the playoffs don't sell out because the fans are bored of the postseason? Red Wings fans? Yankees fans? Blues fans (okay, bad example for this season)?
yeah i think lil jon jinxed a-t-l hopes of makin lord stan's show....maybe next year,eh?
I'm just saying my experience actually living here doesn't match the accepted narrative (and I've spent a fair amount of time in supposedly great sports cities such as Boston and they didn't seem that didn't seem that much better overall--not enough to make the distintion between great and awful). 15 years of postseason for the Braves make the divisional series like an extension of the regular season, one where the Braves usually lose lately. Even the Yankees run only goes back to 1996. I never said Atlanta was a great sports city, but it certainly isn't awful.
But the Thrashers have not won, so this guy has no business carrying on with The Cup and should to be drawn and quartered. njsk8tr, are you trying to whip up a hiphop-hockey blood feud? Both crews have some fierce playas but I think guns beat sticks most days of the week.
Just like a hockey-player, bringing a stick to a gun fight.
A gun only wins if the person holding it knows how to aim. Of course by the time you get in close enough with a stick aim isn't that important. However a well placed slapshot would remedy that. *no hockey players or rappers were harmed during the filming of this movie. These are trained professionals. Do not try this at home.
Please don't soil the Stanley Cup by having non-NHL'ers carry it down the street and put it in their car like it was a bowl from Walmart. I have to disagree here. The fact that this is not only possible but desirable is one of the crucial things that separates the Stanley Cup from other trophies. (Can you imagine the World Series Trophy being brought to parties? Too many easily breakable parts. And the Vince Lombardi Trophy might be sturdy enough, but no one gets to go near the thing. It's just how the NFL is. They treat it like the Nucular Launch Button is inside it. And the FIFA World Cup? Well, that's made of solid gold, so no touchee there for sure.) This, more than any other trophy on any other continent, is a prize in which the people get to share, and that's no small part of why, regardless of what's happening in the game, far as I care, the Cup itself is beyond cavil.
Like, totally chico-dude. Totally.
