The Truth About Atlanta Apathy

Fans of Atlanta teams have had a bad rap from national pundits for far too long. I for one am sick and tired of the hog wash that is, “Atlanta fans are terrible.” It’s not true at all. Fans of Atlanta, or as Awesomevile from Dawsonville of Squidbillies fame would say “Etlanta,” teams are an extremely passionate bunch. The problem is we have been repeatedly tricked into believing that our team, be it the Braves, Falcons, Hawks, and soon to be relocating, Thrashers, will actually end a postseason holding up the championship trophy; only to watch as our team losses, often in embarrassing fashion, yet again.What most people outside of the Peach State don’t understand is that Atlanta is a college football town fist and foremost. Every Saturday flags are flown of various teams all over the state. Sports bars and bbq’s are full of passionate fans who love their teams.

We love our pro teams as well, we just wish they loved us back. I have repeatedly told my friends and fellow fans that, “I’m done trying to kick the football.” I will no longer fall for the okey doke, a la Charlie Brown when Lucy places the football on the ground, just to watch good old Charlie end up on his back ruing the fact that he let her do it to him again.

It’s not that we’re not good fans, we’re just tired of our teams pulling the proverbial football from under us. Look at the Braves, 14 straight division titles, and ONE WORLD SERIES WIN. ONE! How is that possible? The Atlanta Hawks have NEVER MADE IT PAST THE SECOND ROUND OF THE PLAYOFFS. Once again, how is that possible?

Most casual fans across the country think that, outside of the Braves, Atlanta franchises are perennial cellar dwellers. That is no the case. Atlanta has had a great deal of regular season success, but the postseason is a totally different story. I am sick and tired of hearing (insert whatever Braves player’s name) say, “we just got to tip our cap to them.” It is beyond maddening.

The Falcons went 13-3 last season, and got body slammed like that Australian bully. The Hawks didn’t even show up in an elimination game at home. Again I ask, “how is that possible?”

I’m done trying to sip the Kool-Aid that is the promise of championships. The Saints, who I despise more than Reggie Bush abhors contact and competition, and the Rams both have a SuperBowl win. The Falcons just recently recorded a third straight winning season for the first time ever in the history of the franchise. That’s beyond embarrassing, that’s worse than the first day of school in your draws dream, embarrassing.

How can people say we are bad fans just because we don’t support bad product? I’m sorry but when our teams’ postseason success is harder to find than Lindsay Lohan’s AA chips, that’s bad product. It’s about winning championships, and until our teams begin to do that, we fans will always have a certain apathy that can’t be cured with cool Sam Jackson commercials