For love of the game

In this fast paced, high tech world one is never far from a recap or article about their favorite teams latest game, and while having a wealth of information at our fingertips is great it also has its downsides.  In very few places is this more evident than in sports.

As an avid sports fan I follow multiple teams, some to a higher degree than others but to only one of them am I truly devoted.  Even in my early teens I would sit mere inches from the television, refusing to go to bed until all nine innings had been completed.  While our family moved from state to state, my heart has always belonged to the Atlanta Braves.

To this day -some ten years since first discovering baseball- my pulse still quickens each hour we grow nearer to opening day.  I wait with baited breath for the season’s first pitch and then its first home run and so on and so on.  Through the sweltering southern summer months my life consists of tomahawk chopping and roster rotations. 

Perfectly good days can be ruined by a tough loss and bad days can be reversed just as easily.  In years past being a Braves fan was easy (before that you practically had to be a masochist), and while we’ve gone through a rough patch these last few seasons every March the slate get cleaned.  Yes, the game has changed and so has the way we follow it but my love for it still remains.

There are a lot of people who get paid to tell the fans what is happening in the world of professional sports and of late it seems as though picking on those of us in or near Atlanta is in vogue.  Admittedly I spend very little time reading articles not released by the clubs themselves, however I have still managed to come across several that paint Georgians as fans not deserving of the teams we have because of declining attendance (even though we rank near the middle of the pack when you look at the actual statistics). 

Now, it would be easy to blame the increase in empty seats in our arenas on the economy or the lack of recent championships from any of our teams but I think there are many other factors to consider.  As what could easily be defined as a die hard fan I am willing to admit that there are times when the decisions made by some Atlanta organizations make me want to pull my hair out or just leave me plain confused. 

Although I will always remain loyal to my Braves, for some of the more casual fans being told by so called experts that your team has little to no hope of winning can turn you off for the entire season.  Responsibility however cannot be solely be placed on the shoulders of analysts and broadcasters who spread these disheartening opinions throughout the preseason and beyond.  

If fans and professionals a like would stop pretending or expecting to know what the future holds perhaps we could return to the days where writers talked about what actually happened during the game, in the locker rooms or the front office; and in return fans might once again pack into stadiums hoping to witness the amazing plays that their less fortunate friends and families will only get to read about or watch on television.

In short, times are hard and we all need something to believe in, something to bring us all together again.  I feel that something can once again be sports as it has been so many times in the past.  We all know that booing the other team is a big part of the fun of being at the game, but tearing down their fans shouldn’t be.

Sports mean something different to all of us, and that fact is no less true in the south than it is in NYC.  We love our professional teams here as much as the next city, but college football also holds a special place in our everyday lives and if you’ve never been south of the Mason-Dixon line on a Saturday in the fall you’ll never really understand   So, let’s agree to stop pointing fingers and start trying to fix the problems (if any actually do exist that is).  Oh and of course let’s not forget…  GO BRAVES!!!