As we prepare to celebrate and honor the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington where Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have A Dream Speech” I ask this question; Has ownership of our Atlanta sports franchises defaulted on a promissory note given to fans?
In other words has the Atlanta sports fan been given a bad check that continues to comeback marked Insufficient Funds?
Last weekend I had the opportunity to do an air shift on Atlanta’s 92.9 The Game; during the show we discussed the Atlanta Falcons and I made the BOLD prediction that the Hometown Falcons would go 9-7 on the season and needless to say I was crucified by the majority of our callers, which got me to thinking about the Atlanta sports fan, myself included.
Every year either the Falcons or Hawks, sometimes both of them sell the fans on speculation.
What do I mean?
Let’s take a look at the Atlanta Hawks, a team that faced penalties by the NBA for sending out letters to perspective season ticket holders urging them to purchase season tickets or they would miss out on something great i.e. a championship season via Dwight Howard & Chris Paul.
Ha…
Howard nor Paul signed with the team and we ended up settling for Elton Brand & Paul Milsap, two player that I have no desire to see in a Hawks uniform. As a matter of fact we couldn’t even land arguably the worst #1 pick ever in Greg Oden.
On the flipside we have Daddy Rich a.k.a. Arthur Blank owner of the Atlanta Falcons, who continues to do the right thing by the franchise but continues to have the same results; a great regular season and an early exit from the playoffs. Giving credit where credit is due we do have one of if not the most prolific offenses in the league with Julio, Roddy, Tony G, Jackson, & Ryan but that’s only on one side of the ball. Over the past few years the deficiencies on the defensive side of the ball are well documented and yes we did sign Osei Umenyiora but he’ll find himself in the same situation as John Abraham in not having real help on the opposite end of the defensive line. Add in the youth at cornerback plus what I consider a below average linebacker core and I predict the upcoming season will be successful but not the Super Bowl season that fans want nor the ownership is billing it as.
However as a lifelong Falcons’ fan I remain hopeful but I’m not holding my breath and I ask that you do the same… As far as the Hawks go, I’m done!
So has the Atlanta sports fan been given a bad check that continues to comeback marked Insufficient Funds?
Until things change I’d have to say yes we have…
Rob Calloway can be reached at robert.calloway@cbsradio.com; Follow him on Twitter at @robcalloway3
