The Sports City Debate
by BirdGT on May 4, 2010 10:15 AM EDT
Email
Print
Growing up in the Atlanta area, it's hard to talk about memorable sports moments without referencing the Sid Bream slide, Jamal Anderson's Dirty Bird touchdown celebration, or the Human Highlight Reel. The Braves, Hawks, and Falcons are synonymous with the City. It's hard to imagine Atlanta without the Hawks or Falcons. It's impossible to imagine Atlanta sports without the Braves.
Now, the relationship between the three professional teams and Tech is sometimes blurry or overlooked but it's definitely there. Tech hoops has played a few games in Philips Arena and used to play Georgie in the Omni every year. Tech baseball scrimmages the Braves every other year while also playing the annual Georgie series finale at Turner Field. The Dome and Fulton County have hosted Tech four times in Peach Bowls. Bobby Dodd Stadium actually hosted the Peach Bowl for its first three seasons. And despite Tech's home venue being Alexander Memorial Coliseum, Tech is considered the hosting university when the Dome hosts the Final Four. Tech all time has had 27 Draft selections between the Hawks, Falcons, and Braves. The professional sports in our town provide Tech a unique resource for recruitment and marketing. Not only do we live in a growing metro, we have access to the vast resources of every professional sporting league within the perimeter.
Now, let's look at all of the other cities in major sports. There are 32 NFL host cities. If you consider Foxborough and Boston separate (I do),(Winfield's note: WAIT WAIT HOLD ON! Much discussion has said that Boston needs to be included. I have added Boston to the poll) then there are eleven NBA host cities without NFL franchises. None of the thirty MLB cities lack an NBA or NFL franchise. And finally, there are eight NHL cities that don't have an NBA, NFL, or MLB squad (mostly Canadian cities). So that gives us a list of 51 upper echelon professional sporting cities. And honestly, let's forget hockey as I'm not much of a fan.
Atlanta fits into my "Perfect Storm" scenario, which means the City hosts a combination of NFL, MLB, NBA, and I-A football teams - quality sporting events year round. There are only nine other cities with this great distinction: Boston, Minneapolis, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Oakland. If you don't feel Cal-Berkeley deserves to be considered in Oakland, then by all means scratch them from the list. Here's a quick review of the ten Perfect Storm cities that really should be your only viable candidates for any and all future moving plans:
Personally, I'd throw out Philly, Houston, and Dallas as their CFB teams are all historically pretty bad. Thus, we're left with 6 Super Cities. Which city of the Super 6 is the best sporting city? Did my criteria leave out your favorite sporting city?
114 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Arbitrary geography?
I mean, I understand wanting to throw out Boston because Atlanta wouldn’t be able to top them … :)
But if you throw out Boston because of Foxboro, consider:
- The Texas Rangers play in Arlington, not Dallas. The distance between Arlington and Dallas is almost as far as Boston-to-Foxboro …
- Northwestern plays in Evanston, not Chicago. Evanston to Chicago are about 30 minutes apart …
- ASU in Tempe, sports teams in Phoenix
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Don’t get me wrong .. great post. Just pointing out that you could tighten up the geography argument.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
I knew...
Bostonians would be upset and I was going to change the post but got caught in a meeting this morning.
Features of the Perfect Car: 201 cubic inch displacement, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
What's the question?
That is the question. When I was a child in Atlanta there were only two sports concerns -the Atlanta Crackers and the Tech teams. When the Braves came in ’66 it was huge. I listened to them on the radio almost every night and the games were packed. When pro sports started taking off in Atlanta attendance at Tech games began to sag as people had more options and places to go than previously. Then the attendance at pro events began to sag, mostly because of mediocre teams.
Finally Atlanta matured as a sports city but one problem remained -fair weather fans. I now live in the Boston area and you would have a hard time convincing me that these are not the most knowledgeable, loyal and enthusiastic fans one could find anywhere. Boston is a real sports town. Kind of like Atlanta was back when it was just the Crackers and Tech.
by Atlanta's original team on May 4, 2010 2:54 PM EDT up reply actions
I personally can’t stand the Boston pro sports teams. Doesn’t mean I don’t tip my hat to them for their fan knowledge and loyalty. That being said, there are a large number of fair weather Boston sports fans, just like in Atlanta it seems.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Whole lot of empty seats at the most recent Pats playoff game.
At least that doesn’t happen here.
Longest Atlanta Falcons winning-seasons streak: 2008 - current
The Falcoholic · Blog · Twitter
What frustrates me about Boston
is that they are a total pro sports town, no love it seems for the college teams.
by Winfield Featherston on May 5, 2010 10:28 AM EDT up reply actions
I think same could be said for Atlanta, in terms of the college team that actually play in the city. I don’t know from experience, but I would imagine UGA has more clearly won the hearts and minds of those sports fans living in Atlanta. Much moreso than GT.
This could be said about a lot of these college teams. Unless you went to some of these schools, the city isn’t going to give a cr*p about the college team …
- Boston – BC is a small, private Catholic school in a city filled with colleges .. unless you went to BC, you probably don’t care
- Dallas – SMU / TCU … same story. UT and the state schools are a much bigger deal
- Philadelphia – tons of small schools but state’s attention is solely on Penn State
- Chicago – unless you went to Northwestern, you probably root for the Illini or another Big Ten school (Chicago is a hub for B11 alum)
The only cities on the list whose college team really dominates the sports scene are Minnesota and Oakland/Berkeley, largely because they are the state schools that either a lot of people living in the city went to or are affiliated with through the state school system.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Atlanta is a crossroads city for SEC and ACC alum. You will find alumni hangouts for every major D-1 school in the south east. I think that is what Winfield is saying. Its no secret that people in Boston really couldn’t care less about college sports.
yeah that's about right
ATL loves its college sports, whether GT, uga, Auburn, UF, etc etc. In Boston, I get the feeling that the number of people who care what BC does is much smaller.
by Winfield Featherston on May 5, 2010 12:33 PM EDT up reply actions
Well said.
As my avatar with the New England foliage suggests there is a lot that goes into making a sports atmosphere and support of a college team is only one small part, a part that rarely exists in pro towns.
by Atlanta's original team on May 6, 2010 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions
it pays to be a manager
Boston has been added to the poll
by Winfield Featherston on May 4, 2010 11:10 AM EDT up reply actions
Version 2.0
updated.
Features of the Perfect Car: 201 cubic inch displacement, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
I would personally throw out Chicago anyway since Northwestern (B10, 11, or whatever) sucks balls.
Maker's Mark--nectar of the gods...
It may not be phrased that way
but its more of a comment towards the Big 10 than it is towards Northwestern.
Maker's Mark--nectar of the gods...
Big 10 sucks, sure. Northwestern is a damn good school if I do say so myself, at least academically.
Academically, Duke:ACC::Northwestern:Big Ten
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
League estimated revenues
NBA – 6.7 billion, NFL – 6.8 billion, MLB – 6 billion, NHL – 2.27 billion
NHL is not in the same league as any of the Big 3.
Features of the Perfect Car: 201 cubic inch displacement, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
attendance and ratings
are both up this year and are right there with the nba. the blackhawks outdrew the bulls this year. who knows the last time that happened. first round playoff ratings are up 24 percent. revenue doesnt tell the whole story.
A bullhorn, a bottle of whiskey and a dream. GobblerCountry.com
by furrer4heisman on May 4, 2010 1:15 PM EDT up reply actions
Agree with F4H here.
For a number of reasons, if you include the NBA, you also have to include the NHL. Or go the extreme other end of the argument and also include MLS.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Hockey eliminates...
only one city – Oakland. Oakland was easily the worst of the group already…
Features of the Perfect Car: 201 cubic inch displacement, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
and if the a's ballpark deal falls through
including mlb will eliminate oakland in the future as well.
A bullhorn, a bottle of whiskey and a dream. GobblerCountry.com
by furrer4heisman on May 4, 2010 4:02 PM EDT up reply actions
It’s a stretch, but you could include the San Jose Sharks in either the SF or Oakland markets.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
My guess is the biggest disparity in revenues is the TV deal. Once the NHL works out a new TV deal, my guess is you’ll see NHL revenues commensurate with the NBA.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
its a matter of opinion
i hate watching all forms of basketball on tv. but ill watch major-junior hockey if its on tv (ps – memorial cup starts in 10 days on nhln) because i think hockey’s awesome on tv, especially if its in hd and you can actually see plays develop in the offensive zone. its much faster and much more physical than basketball and right now with the playoffs and an important game on every night im in heaven.
its still one of the four major professional sports leagues. i will admit that for the most part its a regional sport (with a few outliers like san jose). what it needs a tv deal that gets at least some games on espn and national games that arent on at 12:30 pm on sunday. that second part may be tough to do with abc’s nba deal, but at this point ill take anything other than mike milbury and nbc’s horrendous coverage.
A bullhorn, a bottle of whiskey and a dream. GobblerCountry.com
by furrer4heisman on May 4, 2010 4:01 PM EDT up reply actions
As soon as they start showing hockey highlights on TV, I flip the channel. This is coming from a guy who enjoys both baseball and soccer(suck on that, Bird).
The biggest punch in the balls is watching the Sports Center top 10 plays, and the #1 play being some hockey game where I guess they score a goal (I wouldn’t know because I can never see the puck. I just wait for one team to start cheering around the goal).
the problem with hockey isn't tv
It’s hard for anyone that didn’t have a frozen pond in their backyard as a kid to really enjoy. I grew up playing football, basketball, and baseball. The only people that played hockey were the rich kids or imports from Ohio/PA. No one in the South played hockey as kids so there’s the same nowhere near the amount of knowledge base compared to Northerners. Nor is there any sort of childhood bond with the game itself. Hence, we don’t care when a bunch of Canadians beat each other up.
The only complete hockey games I’ve ever watched were a hand full of live Atlanta Knights and Thrashers games and the two USA-Canada games this past Olympics.
Features of the Perfect Car: 201 cubic inch displacement, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
I grew up in Oklahoma
and can’t skate. I have no problem following the puck and understanding what’s going on. Boo-f***in-hoo.
A bullhorn, a bottle of whiskey and a dream. GobblerCountry.com
by furrer4heisman on May 4, 2010 5:19 PM EDT up reply actions
If the Thunder
can keep up those big attendance numbers after the novelty wears off and they have one or two bad seasons (cough… Sacramento… cough), then we might have an argument for being a legitimate “Big League City”
A bullhorn, a bottle of whiskey and a dream. GobblerCountry.com
by furrer4heisman on May 4, 2010 5:24 PM EDT up reply actions
This
is the closest Oklahoma City has to an NFL-ready stadium. Unless they play in Norman it ain’t happening.
A bullhorn, a bottle of whiskey and a dream. GobblerCountry.com
by furrer4heisman on May 4, 2010 6:03 PM EDT up reply actions
Wikipedia says Ann Arbor is Detroit
but I don’t believe it. Google Maps says 43 miles from Ann Arbor to Detroit. 90 miles from East Lansing to Detroit. I think they’ve got a few D-I hoops teams but that’s it.
Features of the Perfect Car: 201 cubic inch displacement, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
No Division 1 football in Detroit. Ann Arbor doesn’t count.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Then you've crossed yourself
Foxborough is equivalent to Ann Arbor, so how can one be ok but the other not? Either the close ones all fall in or they all fall out.
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
I think Ann Arbor is definitely out
I originally said Foxborough shouldn’t count but since Boston is the New England Mecca, I gave it to ‘em. I think it’s still slightly debatable.
Features of the Perfect Car: 201 cubic inch displacement, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
The difference is the college isn’t located near Detroit, but the NFL team is. Maybe Foxborough is debatable but the Patriots are Boston. The equivalent would be saying that the Giants and Jets aren’t considered to be based in New York because they play in Jersey.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
with the dallas bash, Take TCU as its D-1. Arlington is in the middle between Dallas and Fort-Worth which are a whopping 30 minutes apart and only 15 mins from arlington.
and since im from houston i gotta say UofH football program is on the rise, however no1 cares about it as the Houstonians are primarily University of Texas or Texas A&M fans anyways.
I can't seem to change my vote, so ...
Count one of those “Other” votes for Boston, please.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
You guys remember when Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, Miami, Phoenix, and Boston hosted the Olympics?
Yeah, that was awesome.
Longest Atlanta Falcons winning-seasons streak: 2008 - current
The Falcoholic · Blog · Twitter
by Jason Kirk on May 4, 2010 2:23 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Oops, Boston twice.
Because they didn’t host the Olympics twice, or once.
Longest Atlanta Falcons winning-seasons streak: 2008 - current
The Falcoholic · Blog · Twitter
by Jason Kirk on May 4, 2010 2:24 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
This is a burn how exactly?
I must have missed the memo that said hosting the Olympics makes you a great sports city. Because top of mind U.S. sports cities obviously include Salt Lake City, Lake Placid, NY, Squaw Valley, St. Louis and L.A. (who don’t even have an NFL franchise because the NFL is a monopoly).
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Also, if you are going to throw the Olympics card
Let’s also talk 1994 World Cup.
Host cities: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, Detroit, Orlando, Washington D.C., New York, Boston
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Could you imagine the opening ceremonies if Boston ever had the Olympics?
We had chrome pickup trucks spelling YALL and Vancouver had singing beavers in canoes — how would Boston find a way to outstereotype these efforts?
Longest Atlanta Falcons winning-seasons streak: 2008 - current
The Falcoholic · Blog · Twitter
They’d all be dressed up like the caricature of Sam Adams on the beer label.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Name Summer sports that are better than...
bob sledding, slalom, biathlon, or curling…
Features of the Perfect Car: 201 cubic inch displacement, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
I agree. Winter Olympics are infinitely cooler than the Summer Olympics, on the strength of curling alone.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
I'm obviously biased towards Atlanta
But DC would be my next favorite city, though it doesn’t fall in line with the requirements of choosing on this poll.
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
Plus...
the Wizards and Nationals are not much to look at. The Nats are doing okay but they’ll eventually level off and crash midseason.
Features of the Perfect Car: 201 cubic inch displacement, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
For a sports town?
Jesse, I love ya like a brotha, but dayum thats a reach, brohammer
I despise that place and everything about it.
Maker's Mark--nectar of the gods...
Agree.
DC is a terrible sports town. Wizards (nee Bullets), Nationals, Redskins and Caps … if it weren’t for the Caps and Ovechkin, the city would be a pro sports wasteland.
Plus, college …? Maryland? Navy?
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Guys, read my comment again
But DC would be my next favorite city, though it doesn’t fall in line with the requirements of choosing on this poll.
You are absolutely right, it’s not a great sports town. I’m just saying if I had to choose another town to live in (and I would because Jacksonville, FL sucks for a sports town too) and it couldn’t be Atlanta, it would be DC. I like DC for many other reasons unrelated to sports.
Also, if we are debating the proximity issue, could we not also roll Baltimore and DC together since they are about 30 minutes apart? That would give you 2 MLB teams, 1 NHL, 1 NBA, and 2 NFL teams, unless I’m missing anything.
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
You could combine Baltimore and DC, but their sports teams collectively still suck.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Crackers, Chiefs, Jackets
That’s what we had before Tommy Nobis and the Falcons, John Drew and the Hawks, Phil Niekro and the Braves, and Boom Boom Geffrion (on radio) and the Flames.
Chiefs won the North American Soccer championship in the mid-1960’s and Atlanta was considered the Soccer center of the East Coast. Now that accolade goes to almost any city with 30,000 kids kicking soccer balls all weekend.
Now we’ve skewed to the older demographic….
by DressHerInWhiteAndGold on May 4, 2010 3:34 PM EDT reply actions
WOW!
I get back from a fantastic day floating down the Chattahoochee River (yes, a muddy and very high current one at that) and this post completely blows up!
Anyways, Boston should be included, DC would be a good one but overall, all-sports cities are awesome.
by Winfield Featherston on May 4, 2010 5:09 PM EDT reply actions
shootin' the hooch
= amoebic dysentary
Features of the Perfect Car: 201 cubic inch displacement, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
Agreed
You should fix that, haha!
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
It is almost embarrassing that anyone would pick Atlanta
The Braves are known as fairweather fans that struggled to sell out past opening day for many years the last 5-10 years
Falcons are never in the “best fans discussion”
Hawks had laughable fan support until they started winning
Pick Atlanta? Huh?
Unless I misread the intent
Fan support wasn’t a requirement for picking another city to live in, instead it was simply the level of the sports in said city. And did you really think that a poll that has Atlanta has an option wouldn’t get support on a site dedicated to a team that resides in Atlanta? Cmon now.
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
yeah fan support is irrelevant
The Rays are awesome and have no fans.
Features of the Perfect Car: 201 cubic inch displacement, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
I doubt very many of us here like Nascar
But it’s at least the third most popular sport in America. 170k at a race > 18k at a basketball game. Atlanta hosts annual Nascar races. How about the other five cities on our list?
We have the third best college football bowl of any city on the list, plus college football season starts here. Super Bowls, Final Fours, the SEC Championship Game…
And I think the Atlanta fairweather fan LOL trope has a flipside — it’s to our credit as a sports town that we have so many fans of non-local teams here. Of course the Braves don’t sell out every game — half the town’s from somewhere else, which means no matter who you root for, you’re not alone around here. Try finding a Florida Marlins bar in Green Bay.
Longest Atlanta Falcons winning-seasons streak: 2008 - current
The Falcoholic · Blog · Twitter
While ATL may not have the success that some sports towns have had
We do have the quantity and that is how I look at this discussion and poll. If you want to see quality professional sports, you can take your pick in Atlanta. Not saying its the absolute best but Atlanta will give you product.
by Winfield Featherston on May 5, 2010 12:17 AM EDT up reply actions
Agreed
Right now you have plenty of capable options to choose from. The Hawks are back in the playoffs now, the Falcons are going to contend for their division every year, and the Braves are still a good product because even when they aren’t winning divisions they are still pushing for it. I mean, it’s not like we are dealing with the Clippers, Raiders, or the Orioles.
Atlanta isn’t a bad choice if you are only picking for the sports.
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
Despite the lack of I-A sports ...
New York is the country’s best sports town.
- Two MLB teams
- Two NFL teams (Meadowlands are closer to the city than Arlington is to Dallas)
- (Soon to be) two NBA teams – Brooklyn Nets and the Knicks
- An NHL team and two a train ride away (Islanders and Devils)
- MLS soccer team with a brand-new stadium
- The best college basketball tournament in the country (the Big East Tournament at MSG)
- This year, a college bowl game at Yankee Stadium
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
But
the lack of major college sports is pretty huge in my book…and most of the readers here, I’m guessin
Maker's Mark--nectar of the gods...
to use the common phrase
It’s a southern THANG. Y’all wouldn’t understand.
by Winfield Featherston on May 5, 2010 1:21 PM EDT up reply actions
Counter-point
Maybe you guys just don’t understand the NYC thing and you need to be a Yankee to appreciate.
I mean, “if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere …”
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
BLASPHEMY!!!!
If Boston counts because they get to keep Foxboro, then Ann Arbor should qualify Detroit for your survey. Otherwise fuck Boston.
by MaizeAndBlueWahoo on May 5, 2010 9:26 AM EDT reply actions
this is a hotly contested issue
we may need to revise the poll. Who deserves the awarding of a major franchise due to proximity more? Boston (Foxborough), Detroit (Ann Arbor), Both, or Neither.
Features of the Perfect Car: 201 cubic inch displacement, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
Both, IMO
The Patriots clearly are “Boston’s football team.” It’s only fair to allow U-M to count for Detroit, though, especially since you’ve eschewed the NHL, which adds far more luster to Detroit than most of those teams do for their cities. From the Atlanta perspective it’s easy to dismiss the NHL, but that’s like saying London is a lousy sports town because we in the States don’t care about soccer like they do.
As a final point, it is granted that Foxboro is closer to Boston than AA is to Detroit; however, Foxboro is closer to Providence than it is to Boston, so any proximity Nazis out there should award the Patriots to Providence instead.
by MaizeAndBlueWahoo on May 5, 2010 10:36 AM EDT up reply actions
Boston counts. So can Ann Arbor/Detroit for that matter, but it’s not like it’s going to make a difference. The franchise in this country’s most popular pro sports league (NFL) is GOD AWFUL.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
And by the way
Name the only three cities that have hosted, in their metro area, the World Series, Super Bowl, NBA Finals, and Stanley Cup Finals. Answer: Detroit, Miami, Los Angeles. Now, which of those three has also hosted the Final Four, Frozen Four, the FIFA World Cup, and to boot, the Ryder Cup?
by MaizeAndBlueWahoo on May 5, 2010 9:29 AM EDT reply actions
Hosting a Super Bowl shouldn’t count, because for the most part that rules out cold weather cities.
Hell, the reason why the NFL has been gun shy about hosting Super Bowls in cold-weather areas is BECAUSE of Detroit. The 1982 Super Bowl at the Silverdome was a disaster in terms of logistics, and only recently has the NFL been considering cold-weather venues (Indy in 2012, possibly new Giants Stadium in 2013).
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
It could also be argued that the reason the NFL has been returning to putting cold-weather cities under consideration is also because of Detroit and the first-class job in hosting Super Bowl XL. The NFL is against cold-weather cities not because of the logistics of snow, but because they want people to take a vacation to a warm-weather city and have a good time in the sun. Detroit should get a bonus rather than vice versa for being the only cold-weather town the NFL has put the game in – not once, but twice.
Besides, if you take away the Super Bowl, Detroit still retains the distinction of being one of the few cities to host championships of all four major sports.
by MaizeAndBlueWahoo on May 5, 2010 10:59 AM EDT up reply actions
The NFL might want people to vacation in a warm-weather city, but the logistics surrounding the 82 Super Bowl in Detroit definitely had something to do with the move away from cold-weather cities. Snowstorms made it hard for lots of fans to get out to Pontiac and the Niners team bus was also delayed.
I don’t think a cold-weather place like New York needed a Detroit to pave the way for cold-weather Super Bowls, because on the whole hospitality note, there’s actually things to do in NYC.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Supposedly, ATL Super Bowl
was one of the coldest Super Bowls ever. They couldn’t have any of the events outside because of terrible wind chill. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_XXXIV#Game_time_and_weather_conditions
Features of the Perfect Car: 201 cubic inch displacement, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
Yeah it was a freak storm. The NFL pretty much won’t come back because of that, which really sucks.
Ray Lewis also killed Buckhead that weekend.
All of it I hear...
Haha!
"You could spend the next fifteen seconds of your life watching a man and a tiger scream together, or you could be an idiot."
Fact.
Detroit would be awesome
if it wasn’t located so close to Detroit.
A bullhorn, a bottle of whiskey and a dream. GobblerCountry.com
by furrer4heisman on May 5, 2010 2:38 PM EDT up reply actions
If the allowed proximity gets any wider, we'll be able to claim Auburn, Clemson, UGA, Augusta National, the Braves' whole farm system, and every Appalachian Trail hiking club.
Longest Atlanta Falcons winning-seasons streak: 2008 - current
The Falcoholic · Blog · Twitter
...
I propose a new criteria that allows all teams within 70 miles radius of the city’s core. This will exclude Athens from inclusion in Atlanta’s Sporting Metropolis.
Features of the Perfect Car: 201 cubic inch displacement, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
Not sure if it’s a strict proximity play though. Definitely has to be a judgment call.
Berkeley-Oakland questionable, Boston-Foxboro definite.
As another example of where the proximity argument falls a bit short is Minneapolis. I know you didn’t include the NHL but the Wild play in St. Paul, not Minneapolis. The Twin Cities are right next to each other, sure, but historically the two cities don’t like each other. That’s why all the sports teams in the Twin Cities are named “Minnesota” so as to not choose sides.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
I don't think favoring nuance and psychology over numbers is going to fly here.
Longest Atlanta Falcons winning-seasons streak: 2008 - current
The Falcoholic · Blog · Twitter
70's a good cutoff.
At 70 we still get to claim Tallapoosa’s casino and Talking Rock’s creek resort, thus nudging us ahead of all other cities.
Longest Atlanta Falcons winning-seasons streak: 2008 - current
The Falcoholic · Blog · Twitter
Seattle
Seattle should have been on the list, if Howard Schultz didn’t sell the franchise and the Sonics didn’t relocate to OKC.
Seahawks, Mariners, Sonics and Washington Huskies. Good combination of teams and a really good sports town overall.
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Fun Cities
Portfolio.com just came out with their list of the top 100 U.S. fun cities, ranking them on criteria ranging from culture, shopping, gambling, popular entertainment (including pro sports), food and drink and high- and low-impact sports.
Not completely on topic but I thought it was interesting (below your cities under consideration) …
2. Chicago
3. Boston
4. Miami
9. Philadelphia
10. Minneapolis
14. Detroit
16. Dallas
34. Atlanta
43. Houston
57. Phoenix
NR Oakland (ouch!)
BC Interruption, SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
Clearly pretty girls were not a factor in the fun, otherwise Boston and Philadelphia wouldn’t be ranked as high.
I remember
a cute girl sitting behind me at BC who was a recent alum of BC. I also remember being hit on by an incredibly ugly “model” at a bar in Boston. I thought she could’ve been a hand model but she kept telling me that her hair was disheveled because the photographer had a fan blowing the models hair back…
Features of the Perfect Car: 201 cubic inch displacement, 40 horsepower, 3.77:1 drive ratio, single barrel carburetor, top speed of 65 mph
My head is swimming with the different threads here
so I will just jump in. Since the question (which I think has been lost in the discussion) is a subjective one let me reiterate my problem with Atlanta as a sports town.
This week I surfed several different TV sports events in the Northeast including 4 baseball teams and 2 hockey teams. All of the games were packed with spectators. That just doesn’t happen with most Atlanta pro sports teams.
When I was young Tech had no problem filling the stadium but that was before all of the pro teams came in. Also, Tech was considered Atlanta’s hometown team. That is no longer the case. Georgia seems to get far more love on a local level than the original hometown team.
But, to be sure, the Northeast does not get into college football like the South. There are old historic reasons for this but love of college football died out along with a lot of college footballs programs that were huge up until the 1920’s. What is surprising, and something I haven’t figured out an explanation for yet, is that high school football seems in some ways to be even bigger up here than in parts of the South. Go figure.
by Atlanta's original team on May 6, 2010 12:38 PM EDT up reply actions
Wow. What do you not have in Atlanta to be more than twice as far down the list as the D?
Only thing I can think of is that casinos give a city’s rank a major boost.
by MaizeAndBlueWahoo on May 6, 2010 1:13 PM EDT up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
SHOP THE FROM THE RUMBLE SEAT STORE
