present company excluded, everyone is right when they say ATL fans are horrible

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, NBASupes said:

my crew.

My crew:

Warriors, Lakers, Knicks, Celtic, Bulls, and Rockets fans.

[thecampster]

14 hours ago, shakes said:

sorry everyone, but as a non ATL resident with no connections to the city other than my 4 year love for the Hawks I can confirm that everyone is correct when they say ATL fans are horrible.

Last night, elimination game to get in the playoffs and the place is 2/3 empty in the 1st quarter.   And of course the team came out flat to start the game.    

 

I don't want to hear any excuses about traffic or anything like that.  It's the F-ing playoffs and 2/3 of the people cvan't get to the arena on time?   We've NEVER had that problem in Chicago and we have much worse traffic than you have in ATL.    For Bulls games during playoffs the place is packed for the INTRODUCTIONS.   For Blackhawks playoff games the place is packed for the friggen national anthem.

 

Obviously if you post here you are a diehard fan and not the target of my scorn, but I don't want to see @Sothron or @Spud2nique or @JayBirdHawk or @kg01 on the real GM general board talking about how woah is me why does everyone talk about how bad ATL fans.   Don't embarrass yourself trying to defend what is very obviously and clearly a really shitty sports town with terrible fans.  Just accept the truth and take solace in the fact that no one is talking about you when they say that, just the other 90% of the people who call themselves Hawks fans but don't think it's important to show up to a playoff game on time.

 

I was disgusted for the entire 1st quarter just seeing all the empty seats.

 

Same on you Atlanta (but not you guys and gal)

I'll bite.  Why did you become an Atlanta fan?

 

You're obviously no fan of our city. Have no ties and a disposition way more angry than the typical southerner?

 

Lemme explain this is I can.

Atlanta proper is a circle and that circle takes more than 30 minutes to drive straight across. Now I know the picture looks tiny on your phone but in rush hour traffic leaving that circle is >30 minutes.

About 750,000 people live in the circle.  Another 5.3 million live outside the circle and Atlanta metro is as much as 2 hours in rush hour traffic outside the city.

 

Yes, greater than 80% of Atlanta people live between 15 minutes and 1.5 hours from down town.

If work gets out at 5 PM.  The a typical 9-5 cat can't get home changed and back to the stadium faster than 45 minutes and the vast majority more like 2.5 hours. That puts their return time to the stadium at 7:30.  This is why typical Hawks and Braves games start at 7:30 not 7.  

You see, Atlanta doesn't have any natural borders on the left, right, up or down. The city does not experience regular snowfall or temperatures cold enough to freeze water pipes under ground (unlike say, NY or Boston). So as the city grew, there was no impetus to building houses on top of each other as tightly as possible.

Also, Atlanta is built in the foothills of the Appalachians.  This means unlike NY or most norther cities, cities blocks have to be built around terrain. This led to the city being spread out to incorporate the natural terrain into the city's natural beauty and that style followed out into the suburbs.

Lastly, this prick Sherman burnt the whole area to the ground in the war of Northern Aggression (I kid). So whereas NY, Boston, Philadelphia are built based on designs dating back to the 1700s, Atlanta's main development is all post 1900. Houses aren't in rows, on top of each other. We are spread out here.

But last night's game was an NBA event and NBA East Coast events start at 7:00 to satisfy our NY, Boston and Connecticut TV overlords. Now I know not being from around here you believe southerners still hate each other based on color, are 70% illiterate and can't drive in snow (okay that last one is true), but most Atlantans these days are imports from northern cities. The metro area was a scant 1 million back in the 80's and is now 6 times larger. You don't have a 500% population increase in 40 years due to a lack of family planning education in schools, but instead because Yankees like myself (hangs head in shame) moved here in the 90's and 2000's. We aren't native Atlantans but fans from the same cities you propose are probably the best fans in the world. That population increase in a city that grows out not up leads to traffic challenges, plain and simple.

The main difference here is in April, its 70+ degrees outside and we have outdoor restaurants open. Whereas in NY, they're wondering about snowfall this weekend. Atlanta life is outdoors. Northern life is indoors 6 months a year.  If you adopt the team because of a man crush on a player, have the decency to adopt the town and learn a smidge.

[NBASupes]

7 hours ago, Spud2nique said:

My crew:

Warriors, Lakers, Knicks, Celtic, Bulls, and Rockets fans.

Mines: Kings fans(CWebb era), Bulls fans who was Kings fans in the C. Web era, Lakers fans, Heat fans, and for the most part, player fans like they loved T-Mac, Kobe, LeBron, KG, Dirk, Iverson, etc. Even I was a Dallas fan. I used to cheer for them heavily. When Atlanta was tanking and drafting poorly, even as a diehard, you had a team you cheered for as a secondary team. Even now, my secondary team is Team LeBron. Wherever the GOAT is, I generally am a fan to a degree. I don't go out my way to watch their games but you know, generally your secondary teams are the ones that's talked about in the barber shop and I love to SAS/Skip it in the barbershop. 

[NBASupes]

42 minutes ago, thecampster said:

I'll bite.  Why did you become an Atlanta fan?

 

You're obviously no fan of our city. Have no ties and a disposition way more angry than the typical southerner?

 

Lemme explain this is I can.

Atlanta proper is a circle and that circle takes more than 30 minutes to drive straight across. Now I know the picture looks tiny on your phone but in rush hour traffic leaving that circle is >30 minutes.

About 750,000 people live in the circle.  Another 5.3 million live outside the circle and Atlanta metro is as much as 2 hours in rush hour traffic outside the city.

 

Yes, greater than 80% of Atlanta people live between 15 minutes and 1.5 hours from down town.

If work gets out at 5 PM.  The a typical 9-5 cat can't get home changed and back to the stadium faster than 45 minutes and the vast majority more like 2.5 hours. That puts their return time to the stadium at 7:30.  This is why typical Hawks and Braves games start at 7:30 not 7.  

You see, Atlanta doesn't have any natural borders on the left, right, up or down. The city does not experience regular snowfall or temperatures cold enough to freeze water pipes under ground (unlike say, NY or Boston). So as the city grew, there was no impetus to building houses on top of each other as tightly as possible.

Also, Atlanta is built in the foothills of the Appalachians.  This means unlike NY or most norther cities, cities blocks have to be built around terrain. This led to the city being spread out to incorporate the natural terrain into the city's natural beauty and that style followed out into the suburbs.

Lastly, this prick Sherman burnt the whole area to the ground in the war of Northern Aggression (I kid). So whereas NY, Boston, Philadelphia are built based on designs dating back to the 1700s, Atlanta's main development is all post 1900. Houses aren't in rows, on top of each other. We are spread out here.

But last night's game was an NBA event and NBA East Coast events start at 7:00 to satisfy our NY, Boston and Connecticut TV overlords. Now I know not being from around here you believe southerners still hate each other based on color, are 70% illiterate and can't drive in snow (okay that last one is true), but most Atlantans these days are imports from northern cities. The metro area was a scant 1 million back in the 80's and is now 6 times larger. You don't have a 500% population increase in 40 years due to a lack of family planning education in schools, but instead because Yankees like myself (hangs head in shame) moved here in the 90's and 2000's. We aren't native Atlantans but fans from the same cities you propose are probably the best fans in the world. That population increase in a city that grows out not up leads to traffic challenges, plain and simple.

The main difference here is in April, its 70+ degrees outside and we have outdoor restaurants open. Whereas in NY, they're wondering about snowfall this weekend. Atlanta life is outdoors. Northern life is indoors 6 months a year.  If you adopt the team because of a man crush on a player, have the decency to adopt the town and learn a smidge.

He's a Trae stan. He said as much on RealGM. He's a RealGM transplant. He's a good poster, glad to have him here. 

[kg01]

1 hour ago, thecampster said:

I'll bite.  Why did you become an Atlanta fan?

 

You're obviously no fan of our city. Have no ties and a disposition way more angry than the typical southerner?

 

Lemme explain this is I can.

Atlanta proper is a circle and that circle takes more than 30 minutes to drive straight across. Now I know the picture looks tiny on your phone but in rush hour traffic leaving that circle is >30 minutes.

About 750,000 people live in the circle.  Another 5.3 million live outside the circle and Atlanta metro is as much as 2 hours in rush hour traffic outside the city.

 

Yes, greater than 80% of Atlanta people live between 15 minutes and 1.5 hours from down town.

If work gets out at 5 PM.  The a typical 9-5 cat can't get home changed and back to the stadium faster than 45 minutes and the vast majority more like 2.5 hours. That puts their return time to the stadium at 7:30.  This is why typical Hawks and Braves games start at 7:30 not 7.  

You see, Atlanta doesn't have any natural borders on the left, right, up or down. The city does not experience regular snowfall or temperatures cold enough to freeze water pipes under ground (unlike say, NY or Boston). So as the city grew, there was no impetus to building houses on top of each other as tightly as possible.

Also, Atlanta is built in the foothills of the Appalachians.  This means unlike NY or most norther cities, cities blocks have to be built around terrain. This led to the city being spread out to incorporate the natural terrain into the city's natural beauty and that style followed out into the suburbs.

Lastly, this prick Sherman burnt the whole area to the ground in the war of Northern Aggression (I kid). So whereas NY, Boston, Philadelphia are built based on designs dating back to the 1700s, Atlanta's main development is all post 1900. Houses aren't in rows, on top of each other. We are spread out here.

But last night's game was an NBA event and NBA East Coast events start at 7:00 to satisfy our NY, Boston and Connecticut TV overlords. Now I know not being from around here you believe southerners still hate each other based on color, are 70% illiterate and can't drive in snow (okay that last one is true), but most Atlantans these days are imports from northern cities. The metro area was a scant 1 million back in the 80's and is now 6 times larger. You don't have a 500% population increase in 40 years due to a lack of family planning education in schools, but instead because Yankees like myself (hangs head in shame) moved here in the 90's and 2000's. We aren't native Atlantans but fans from the same cities you propose are probably the best fans in the world. That population increase in a city that grows out not up leads to traffic challenges, plain and simple.

The main difference here is in April, its 70+ degrees outside and we have outdoor restaurants open. Whereas in NY, they're wondering about snowfall this weekend. Atlanta life is outdoors. Northern life is indoors 6 months a year.  If you adopt the team because of a man crush on a player, have the decency to adopt the town and learn a smidge.

This is actually a brilliant rundown.  Even though it comes from a carpetbagguh.

I kid, I kid.  I kid? 

@shakes it may seem improbable that traffic would cause the problem(s) you illustrated in your post but, for reasons thecampst listed and more, that is the reality in this city.

And I will never forget the Yankees failing.... FAILING... to sell out playoff games not that long ago.  So folks can miss me with the concept that they're super fans or w/e up norf.

20 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

He's a Trae stan. He said as much on RealGM. He's a RealGM transplant. He's a good poster, glad to have him here. 

Agreed.

Now you have to do a rundown on all of us.  I'll write mine for you, "Yeah kg's a good poster.  I model my life based on his musings."

[NBASupes]

3 minutes ago, kg01 said:

This is actually a brilliant rundown.  Even though it comes from a carpetbagguh.

I kid, I kid.  I kid? 

@shakes it may seem improbable that traffic would cause the problem(s) you illustrated in your post but, for reasons thecampst listed and more, that is the reality in this city.

And I will never forget the Yankees failing.... FAILING... to sell out playoff games not that long ago.  So folks can miss me with the concept that they're super fans or w/e up norf.

Agreed.

Now you have to do a rundown on all of us.  I'll write mine for you, "Yeah kg's a good poster.  I model my life based on his musings."

Kg is a skilled veteran poster with a smart mouth who's very quick witted. Graduate from Georgia Tech, kg is a GT lifer. Smart poster, he always stands for what he believes in and never will allow you to sway him even if it's the popular opinion on the board. 

Kg cannot stand the average RealGM poster and is much more comfortable around here with other elite posters like Jay and AHF. Kg and Supes are cool with each other but they have a tendency to fight as both can be hotheaded and maybe hardheaded as well. 

[kg01]

13 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Kg is a skilled veteran poster with a smart mouth who's very quick witted. Graduate from Georgia Tech, kg is a GT lifer. Smart poster, he always stands for what he believes in and never will allow you to sway him even if it's the popular opinion on the board. 

Kg cannot stand the average RealGM poster and is much more comfortable around here with other elite posters like Jay and AHF. Kg and Supes are cool with each other but they have a tendency to fight as both can be hotheaded and maybe hardheaded as well. 

[JayBirdHawk]

1 hour ago, thecampster said:

The a typical 9-5 cat can't get home changed and back

Most of them probably go the game straight from work and end up smelling like arse cheeks.  Nothing worse than sitting next to someone smelling like arse cheeks for 2.5 hours.

[shakes]

2 hours ago, thecampster said:

I'll bite.  Why did you become an Atlanta fan?

 

You're obviously no fan of our city. Have no ties and a disposition way more angry than the typical southerner?

 

Lemme explain this is I can.

Atlanta proper is a circle and that circle takes more than 30 minutes to drive straight across. Now I know the picture looks tiny on your phone but in rush hour traffic leaving that circle is >30 minutes.

About 750,000 people live in the circle.  Another 5.3 million live outside the circle and Atlanta metro is as much as 2 hours in rush hour traffic outside the city.

 

Yes, greater than 80% of Atlanta people live between 15 minutes and 1.5 hours from down town.

If work gets out at 5 PM.  The a typical 9-5 cat can't get home changed and back to the stadium faster than 45 minutes and the vast majority more like 2.5 hours. That puts their return time to the stadium at 7:30.  This is why typical Hawks and Braves games start at 7:30 not 7.  

You see, Atlanta doesn't have any natural borders on the left, right, up or down. The city does not experience regular snowfall or temperatures cold enough to freeze water pipes under ground (unlike say, NY or Boston). So as the city grew, there was no impetus to building houses on top of each other as tightly as possible.

Also, Atlanta is built in the foothills of the Appalachians.  This means unlike NY or most norther cities, cities blocks have to be built around terrain. This led to the city being spread out to incorporate the natural terrain into the city's natural beauty and that style followed out into the suburbs.

Lastly, this prick Sherman burnt the whole area to the ground in the war of Northern Aggression (I kid). So whereas NY, Boston, Philadelphia are built based on designs dating back to the 1700s, Atlanta's main development is all post 1900. Houses aren't in rows, on top of each other. We are spread out here.

But last night's game was an NBA event and NBA East Coast events start at 7:00 to satisfy our NY, Boston and Connecticut TV overlords. Now I know not being from around here you believe southerners still hate each other based on color, are 70% illiterate and can't drive in snow (okay that last one is true), but most Atlantans these days are imports from northern cities. The metro area was a scant 1 million back in the 80's and is now 6 times larger. You don't have a 500% population increase in 40 years due to a lack of family planning education in schools, but instead because Yankees like myself (hangs head in shame) moved here in the 90's and 2000's. We aren't native Atlantans but fans from the same cities you propose are probably the best fans in the world. That population increase in a city that grows out not up leads to traffic challenges, plain and simple.

The main difference here is in April, its 70+ degrees outside and we have outdoor restaurants open. Whereas in NY, they're wondering about snowfall this weekend. Atlanta life is outdoors. Northern life is indoors 6 months a year.  If you adopt the team because of a man crush on a player, have the decency to adopt the town and learn a smidge.

thanks for the explanation, it was an interesting read.  But it's nonsense as it relates to the topic.   Bad traffic is not unique to ATL.  Early start times also not unique to ATL.    

 

It's the playoffs.  Stop making excuses for your fan ambivalence.  Be in your seats BEFORE the game starts.  It's not hard to do if you make it a point to do it.

[shakes]

1 hour ago, NBASupes said:

 Even now, my secondary team is Team LeBron. Wherever the GOAT is, I generally am a fan to a degree.

[shakes]

11 hours ago, jy23 said:

Chicago traffic is not worse than Atlanta…let’s just get that out the way to start.  

  yea ok.  It's probably 2-3x worse than ATL traffic.  Campster says it takes a whopping 30 minutes to drive from one end of ATL to the other.   Add 1.5 hours to that if you try doing the same thing in Chicago during traffic which is pretty much from 7am through 8pm.

[shakes]

8 hours ago, Spud2nique said:

My crew:

Warriors, Lakers, Knicks, Celtic, Bulls, and Rockets fans.

My crew:  stopped acknowledging basketball as a sport when MJ retired

[JayBirdHawk]

4 minutes ago, shakes said:

thanks for the explanation, it was an interesting read.  But it's nonsense as it relates to the topic.   Bad traffic is not unique to ATL.  Early start times also not unique to ATL.    

 

It's the playoffs.  Stop making excuses for your fan ambivalence.  Be in your seats BEFORE the game starts.  It's not hard to do if you make it a point to do it.

I'm speaking to this game specifically...A Norfolk Southern freight train was stuck on the tracks somewhere around State Farm Arena which I think delayed fans on time arrival for the early 7PM start.  It even affected the Hornets team bus, they were delayed getting to the arena and this is with them leaving early - the players eventually walked to the arena. 

So imagine the ripple effect of that one train to fans further out.

[JayBirdHawk]

6 minutes ago, shakes said:

Campster says it takes a whopping 30 minutes to drive from one end of ATL to the other. 

...that's on an early Sunday morning with no traffic going to the posted speed limit.

I am 17 miles from my office.  Make a guess on how long it takes me to drive to and from work daily?

[shakes]

1 hour ago, NBASupes said:

He's a Trae stan. He said as much on RealGM. He's a RealGM transplant. He's a good poster, glad to have him here. 

thanks Supes.  Yea, I was in a pretty unique spot when I became a Hawks fan.   I had just ended my 15 year boycott of the game of basketball.  The boycott started when I was told I could never play basketball again at the age of 30 after my 3rd back surgery.   As a diehard hooper and fan I can't even explain how devastating that was.   Made me sick to even watch the sport.  That combined with the Bulls becoming the worst run franchise in the NBA caused me to walk away from the sport for good I thought.

 

15 years later my attitude softened and I decided to give basketball another shot.   No longer had an attachment to teh Bulls.  Started watching my first love college ball again and tuned in for the first tournament of the season, the PK80 in November.  Saw a little freshman guard at Oklahoma I never heard of and it was sports love at first sight.  Became a diehard Trae fan immediately and watched every game he played that year.   Decided I was going to follow him to whatever team drafted him.  So when you drafted Trae it was actually a twofer deal cause you got me too 

 

Been all in ever since.  Haven't missed a Hawks game since he arrived.

[kg01]

26 minutes ago, shakes said:

thanks for the explanation, it was an interesting read.  But it's nonsense as it relates to the topic.   Bad traffic is not unique to ATL.  Early start times also not unique to ATL.    

It's the playoffs.  Stop making excuses for your fan ambivalence.  Be in your seats BEFORE the game starts.  It's not hard to do if you make it a point to do it.

I spoke with the judges and we agreed to dock you cool points for failing to go 'fan-bivalence' here.

But you're wrong about traffic here not being unique.  tcampst mentioned it a bit in his post but the manner in which the city was built greatly exacerbates the problem.  Even in cities like Chicago which are essentially built in a grid-like format (for lack of a better descr.), traffic can be bad but manageable.

Atlanta is built like a bowl of spaghetti.  Doesn't take much to completely throw things out of whack.  Even under normal circumstances traffic is not manageable for that reason.

Now, if you told us the arena was half-empty for most of the game, I'd be in lock-step with you.  That was the case pre-Trae, for reasons we can discuss another (series of) day(s).  Fan support has been markedly better these days, traffic-related issues notwithstanding.

Edited April 15, 2022 by kg01

[macdaddy]

I"ll just reiterate what others have said.  I was born here and it's been this way my whole life.  For all teams.  Braves used to get killed for not selling out playoff games after about 96.   Showing up late is just the Atlanta way but here are the main bullet points to remember.

- it's a small city - yeah it's a huge metro area but unlike Chicago not that many live near the stadiums and only a tiny % can practically take transit to the game.   

- transplants.   So many jackwagons around here cheer for opposing teams whether they are from here or elsewhere

- corporate tickets - For Hawks i'd venture to say that close to half (and almost all the good seats) are corporate owned.   Which means they get doled out to whoever that doesn't really care that much and those seats you see on TV are people moseying to the game or sitting up at a bar somewhere.   For proof just look at how much more filled the upper level is in the first quarter.  Those are people who bought their own tickets.

 

[AHF]

20 minutes ago, shakes said:

  yea ok.  It's probably 2-3x worse than ATL traffic.  Campster says it takes a whopping 30 minutes to drive from one end of ATL to the other.   Add 1.5 hours to that if you try doing the same thing in Chicago during traffic which is pretty much from 7am through 8pm.

We don't have to rely on anecdotes.  Both Chicago and Atlanta are among the worst 10 US cities for traffic.  Chicago is consistently rated as worse but not close to 2-3x worse.  

Having lived in Atlanta and several other areas, the main difference I see in Atlanta is the lack of mass transit (compared to Chicago, NY, etc.) and lack of central planning which leads to more focused congestion (due to lack of alternative routes).  

There is some truth in both camps here.

[thecampster]

35 minutes ago, shakes said:

thanks for the explanation, it was an interesting read.  But it's nonsense as it relates to the topic.   Bad traffic is not unique to ATL.  Early start times also not unique to ATL.    

 

It's the playoffs.  Stop making excuses for your fan ambivalence.  Be in your seats BEFORE the game starts.  It's not hard to do if you make it a point to do it.

No really please....tell me more about my bad choices and poor values system. Tell me how traffic and commutes are exactly the same in each city. How age/family demographics play no part in a city and how they support their teams. No really, I'd love some insight on exactly what's lacking in the hearts and minds of 6 million people you've never met.  Pot meet kettle!!!

[JayBirdHawk]

6 minutes ago, AHF said:

the main difference I see in Atlanta is the lack of mass transit

This^.  I take MARTA to the games but I still need to drive at least 25 minutes to get to that stop to board the train.

Love that the train arrives at the State Farm stop, up the escalators and I'm right at the gate.  Where MARTA really helps is leaving the game, I'm on a train within 10 minutes after the game ends, if I drive there takes me at least 25 minutes to get on the highway to head home.