Terence Moore took a buy out calls out Atlanta Sports

In his last column for the AJC (my home town paper), long time sports columnists Terence Moore take a final stab at the Atlanta sports franchises. He calls them good, but not great, and that good is for losers. He recalls all the close calls and the good teams but only one great team, the 95 Braves who won the world series.

Elite NBA teams have an elite player, such as the Heat’s Dwyane Wade, and Joe Johnson is the Hawks’ best player, but he’s only good, just like the Hawks.

The Falcons also are only good. Still, with suddenly enlightenment management and coaching, they have a chance for a breakthrough, but they need back-to-back winning seasons first. They’ve yet to do that in their existence.

Elsewhere, courtesy of decent starting pitching, promising youth and future Hall of Famers Chipper Jones at third base and Bobby Cox in the dugout, the Braves are only good (see a pattern here?). The Thrashers, not so much. Ilya Kovalchuk is the only overwhelming star on a flawed roster, and he could bolt after next season as an unrestricted free agent.

I don't really agree with Moore. Living in philly, this city has 3 championships (in recent times) in just two sports: Hockey and Baseball. A lot of cities have none (New Orleans comes to mind), and some have only one, like Atlanta. You can't expect Atlanta to be like New York or LA or for that matter St. Louise. In baseball, something like 40% of the world series are split among 3 teams. In football, it is just a crap shoot, yet again certain organization dominate others. In basketball it is even worse. If you don't live in Boston, LA, Chicago, or San Antonio your lucky to have a single championship. Can you really expect Atlanta to win every year?

I like good. I love great. But if I had to choose between celler dwellers and playoff teams, I would take the playoff team any day, even if they don't win a championship. It is a shame that Moore is leaving on such a sour note. At least we got one, and people still care about the teams. Even the hawks are selling out. Championships are hard, but at least we are competing. That is more then a lot of places can say.