Atlanta: my rant.

[macdaddy]

http://youtu.be/NipEsSQmh6w

[M3xpress]

Being in Alabama, I try to come to a handful of games a year and when it's a game against a big name that brings out star watchers & band wagon fans it can be aggravating but I'm glad to be there.

Wretch said it above, it's not just an issue of bandwagon fans or star watchers, having a city that has a professional sports outlet is going to attract casual fans. My friends aren't Hawks fans but they will go to the games with me because they enjoy going to an NBA game. I'm sure there are people in Atlanta that go to games just because it's something to do.

Being in the south, I believe the interest in college football doesn't help basketball any. I think with Memphis it helps that there is a love for basketball with the university and the Grizzlies are the only pro game in town.

[Bahamut]

You guys may have really hit on the big picture, especially from what I see outside of Atlanta and the lack of loyalty to their sports teams.

Maybe it isn't the teams that they're not loyal to, but the city itself.

When is the last time MOST people were proud to be from or in Atlanta? The 1996 Olympics?

Maybe the true problem is that Atlanta ( the city itself ) is actually smaller than any city in the NBA. The actual city itself only has a little over 400,000 people in it. All of the growth in the area has taken place AROUND Atlanta, instead of IN Atlanta.

One of the things I've noticed over the years is that the residents in the counties outside of Fulton Co. will almost never reference themselves as "being from Atlanta". They'll tell you quick that they're from Marietta or Decatur or Dunwoody, but never say "in general" that they're "from Atlanta".

Maybe one of the issues from a loyalty standpoint, is that the rest of the metro area purposely separates itself from Atlanta.

I agree with this for the most part, but the difference is people from the burbs claim Atlanta anytime they're talking to someone outside of the state. (And I give them hell for this every time I heard it: "Oh, you're from Atlanta NOW, but not when you're at home?") When they're here, they sh!t on the city every chance they get. Not all burbites, but many of them.

As far as Memphis, they only have one pro sports team, and they've only had it since 2001. They're loyalty is pretty easy to get because what else is there sportswise in Memphis besides U of Memphis bball?

Edited March 15, 2013 by Bahamut