Atlanta Braves, Hawkes or Falcons? (Jackson, Jacksonville: retiring, work, basketball)

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by coming2america

Im from Melbourne and we have an unofficial race track every friday and saturday night in a street called Chapel Street where we get young guys in hotted up cars doing "laps" (as oppose to driving in circles) up and down the street!

Oh another question in each of the sports (i.e baseball, basketball and grid iron) is there a team in the comp that everyone loves to hate except the fans themselves? In Aussie rules we have a team called Collingwood which everyone loves to hate except the Collingwood fans themselves. (and no I too hate Collingwood my team is Essendon).

Yes. Definitely.

Baseball: The New York Yankees. This is arguably the most polarizing pro sports team in America.

Basketball: As of this next season, probably the Miami Heat.

College football: Depends on where you go. Around here, it's probably Alabama or Florida. There's also a huge in-state rivalry between Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia.

Pro football: We don't really have one right now. Used to be the New England Patriots.

Ice hockey: Depends on who you ask. Used to be the Detroit Red Wings, might be the Pittsburgh Penguins now.

[testa50]

College football is quite a compelling sport, even to outsiders. It's probably the most popular sport in the southeast US (just look at wikipedia's list of the largest sports venues in the world if you want proof of this), so you should probably try to follow a bit.

As a result of its popularity it's difficult and expensive to go to games of popular teams. You can go to Georgia Tech games relatively cheaply because it's a less popular program in a smaller conference compared to the big boys of the southeast (Georiga, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee), which are among the top programs in the country by many measures and sell out every game in their stadiums with capacity of nearly 100,000. Rivalries are huge--Georgia's main rivals are Florida, Auburn, Georgia Tech, and Tennessee. You'll start to notice you see college football logos just about everywhere, and from tons of different universities. Atlanta is the nexus of college football in the southeast, and several championship and postseason games happen here. It's great fun.

[kayrob]

Originally Posted by K'ledgeBldr

Go with the Braves-
They have an Aussie on the team; Peter Moylan (relief pitcher). He's from Perth.

Falcons SUCK!- enough said.

Basketball- organized team sport for convicts, thugs, and uneducated street hoods.

Thrashers- not the best hockey team ever- but, it sure is great to have the sport here!

You're obviously the enlightened type. Basketball is full of thugs( code language anyone) yet hockey has legalized fighting with a slap on the wrist and time out as the penalty. There are more players than there are total teeth on the ice at your average hockey game.

[K'ledgeBldr]

The fighting is just a "man-up" thing! They usually keep the helmet on and the gloves come off just so they can grab ahold of something. It's not like anybody gets hurt from that!
It's the "HARD CHECK IN THE GLASS" that can hurt someone. Or the up-ending that sends an ice blade at a face or neck-
"That's gonna hurt!"

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by kayrob

You're obviously the enlightened type. Basketball is full of thugs( code language anyone) yet hockey has legalized fighting with a slap on the wrist and time out as the penalty. There are more players than there are total teeth on the ice at your average hockey game.

And how often do hockey players commit major incidents off the ice?

[kayrob]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

And how often do hockey players commit major incidents off the ice?

And I guess you have a bunch of former NBA players doing 15-20 for armed robberies, rapes or murders.

[coming2america]

Originally Posted by kayrob

You're obviously the enlightened type. Basketball is full of thugs( code language anyone) yet hockey has legalized fighting with a slap on the wrist and time out as the penalty. There are more players than there are total teeth on the ice at your average hockey game.

Kayrob - I went to a basketball game once here in Australia and actually enjoyed (though we had awful seats) Basketball is a game of skill and growing up I did enjoy playing it but Im too short (5 foot ha ha). I agree with you about ice hockey - isnt more like fight club on ice skates ha ha. Besides correct me if Im wrong but doesnt a lot of the NBA stars been to college and that is how they are recruited to the NBA!

[neil0311]

Baseball is the national pastime and my personal favorite. Teams like the Red Sox, Yankees, and Cardinals have deep roots, history, and devoted fans that span generations. No offense to any Braves fans, but the depth of following and passion for the team is just not there.

I was just out in Seattle for a couple of weeks, and the Red Sox were in town to play the Mariners. I got tickets for a couple of the games, and found that even clear across the country, the stands were packed with Red Sox fans...all decked out in Sox shirts and hats (myself included). The scene is repeated all over the country and if you go to New England, you see Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, and Bruins shirts, hats, bumper stickers, license plates, etc....all over. Same is probably true for the Yankees on road trips. The love for these teams is deep. Closest thing that comes to mind is the way Europeans love soccer (aka football) clubs and pass that love down for generations. In Georgia, the closest thing is for UGA, where people who have never been to college (or went to a different college) love college sports.

[testa50]

Originally Posted by coming2america

Kayrob - I went to a basketball game once here in Australia and actually enjoyed (though we had awful seats) Basketball is a game of skill and growing up I did enjoy playing it but Im too short (5 foot ha ha). I agree with you about ice hockey - isnt more like fight club on ice skates ha ha. Besides correct me if Im wrong but doesnt a lot of the NBA stars been to college and that is how they are recruited to the NBA!

That's true, but kind of deserves and asterisk. College athletics put tons of effort into recruiting top-notch athletes who often wouldn't be accepted under normal circumstances. The student athletes go to classes and stuff, but are far from typical students and their main focus is frequently on atheltics. Whether this whole arrangement (where kids who wouldn't normally afford/get in to college end up going, taking the palce of other possible students, even though most of them don't have a real shot at the pros, all the whilemaking a mint for their universities without ever getting paid a dime) is good for the atheltes themselves is a subject of debate.

Much of the time they went to college, but if they are really good they frequently drop out and go pro after a couple years. And in basketball it's not obligatory to go to college before playing in the pros, unlike football where 19 year olds straight out of high school just aren't strong/proven enough to play in the NFL yet.

[Jimmeh]

Braves games are fun, but make sure to wear sunscreen. Plus, they are cheaper than a competition in the Dome. If you come 2 hours early you can get into the park for $1. Of course those one dollar seats are the bleachers. I hear more talk about the Braves from people my age and more talk about basketball from my co-workers. I like watching the play offs, but I don't really watch all year long. It's just different being at the game where as watching it on tv. Also, if you like soccer they just recently started bringing club teams to the GA Dome to play.