Worse than Losing

[RonMexico]

Finally, game night is here! Hawks vs. Celtics. Spent my whole paycheck on my tickets and I'm excited. All week i've been picturing Josh Smith doing a windmill jam, and me and all my fellow hawk fans going crazy. Me and my girl finally get there and I can't wait to get to my seats. I grab a beer and sit down and look out...ALL CELTICS FANS. I was surrounded by celtics fans. What's worse is, when it got gritty in the 4th quarter, all the Hawks fans left and there were only Celtics fans. It was so disappointing and depressing. I feel like the last little rally could have been a game changer if there were any Hawks fans left in the building. Is this a bandwagon thing because the celtics won the championship or a Atlanta thing? I've noticed the same thing with the thrashers, there are usually more fans of the other team than the thrashers. Is it because the Hawks are just now doing good and people haven't caught on? At a lakers game or something i could expect this but not when we have a "rivalry" with the Celtics. I was expecting everyone to be against the Celtics...

[MrRyda]

Celtics fans have been everywhere since acquiring the big 3, so don't feel bad. I actually felt the crowd came on great during the little rally in the 4th, but of course it was too little too late. And as for those who left...can you blame them? The hawks didn't do squat up until about 5 minutes left in the game. Bob & Nique would've left if they could.

[tonegully]

Phillips sucks. I mean even at the Omni when Jordan came to town he had tons of dam fans. But i mean we have to put a constant winner on the court.

Wait until Kobe gets here and watch how loud the crowd is when Kobe scores.

[JackB1]

I was there and couldnt believe how many Boston fans were there! It had t be at least 25%.

The Hawks fans wanted something to cheer about all night, but the Hawks gave them nothing until late in the 4th, but by then it was too little too late.

[tonegully]

Dude i know its not that many Boston people living in the A, is it?

The Hawks problem is they dont give us nothing to cheer about early. We dont get the fans involved in the game early.

[LOL_Hawks]

It's defniitely bandwagon. I went to a bunch of C's games before they got the Big 3, and there would probably be 20 or 30 Celtics fans in the building. Hell, I even took in a Celtics game in Boston when I was up there on a college visit, and the place was damn near empty. Bibby was spot on when he said that their fanbase is mostly bandwagoners.

Edited March 28, 2009 by LOL_Hawks

[AtLaS]

Teams like the Celtics and Lakers (when they have good teams), and teams with superstars will always have a big following on the road. The Steelers are like that in the NFL. The Lakers road games are essentially home games (except for a few arenas) because they have so many fans, especially Kobe fans.

Regardless, if we meet the Celtics in the playoffs it won't be like that, the ATL fans will show. The Celtics fans were completely overwhelmed when I went to game 3.

[Johnnybravo4]

Ergo see my Tracy McGrady thread in the Trades section. Unless you believe that one of our young players becomes a bankable "superstar", we'd better trade for one. I am tired of being a second class franchise. It is time to get into the big time and stop hoping that a draft pick will get us there.

[dlpin]

Well, there is a very large number of NE natives here in the ATL.

If I remember correctly, about 70% of emory students, for example, are from the north east.

[cam1218]

Well, there is a very large number of NE natives here in the ATL.

If I remember correctly, about 70% of emory students, for example, are from the north east.

I wouldn't be surprised if that was true. I have more friends that aren't from here than people that were actually born in Atlanta. It's just how it is down here. A lot of folks from up north come down south and pick Atlanta as their destination to live. It really hurts all of the sports teams down here--not just the hawks.

[LOL_Hawks]

Even if there's a big number of NE natives, they definitely didn't rep their team until recently.

The Lakers I can understand, just because they're the Lakers. 1: They're fun to watch, so they attract people. 2: They have Kobe, so they attract people. 3: They have a rich history, which attracts people, and 4: They're winning right now, which attracts people.

[Wretch]

I don't know about the 'A', but living in Georgia my whole life...I've never met many Hawks fans. At least not people my age. Back in the day, old dudes gave them props and supported Nique and Co. But I have only EVER saw bandwagon basketball fans in this state. Even on the radio here, it's always about the hot teams.

Right now, it's the Celtics. When Sacramento was hot, it was them. I also know home grown GA people who are die hard Pistons fans and Lakers fans. And of course, it goes without saying that my hometown was saturated with Bulls fans during their heyday.

The thing about the Hawks is that outside of Nique, we've never been relevant. Even then, nobody gave this team it's props (what a disgrace that he wasn't one of the 50 greats). Then we turn around and unceremonisouly dump the face of the franchise.

Our best teams since Nique were not exciting. They won, and us diehards loved them, but there was no flair. They were a defensive team with good shooters. Though, it was hard to get excited about them unless Deke was waving his finger...and even then we only managed a bunch of first round exits and 2nd round poundings.

I blame much of the lack of fan support on Pete Babcock. He gave up on our most exciting piece (for an uncommitted marshmallow) at arguably the closest we've ever been to greatness. We never got a chance to draft the exciting players of the 90's because Babcock and Wilkens' philosophy was "win without losing." Then we ended up in the lottery (where nobody cares about ANY team)...but at the hands of a mad scientist who for the sake of argument we'll say just missed the chance to grab quite a few game changing players.

...and I'll never forget the arguements that we had about the "mercenary" team led by Sura. What great wins we got and what an exciting finish to that season. All of those guys, and that coach who got the very best out of them, played such a VITAL role in Hawks history. Had we bombed that season...maybe we could have drafted Howard, Okafor, Harris...

I digess though. The next time we put a fan favorite team on that Atlanta home court will honestly be the first time. The way we play going forward will determine the fate of the fan base. Until we can create some basketball history in Atlanta, and some excitement while doing it, we will always host a homecourt for the more popular teams in the league.

*History lessons for those who forgot:

We love our mercenaries!

We love them!

/end_rambling_rant :(