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Old 08-06-2014, 08:47 PM
 
Location: Atlanta
2,848 posts, read 6,413,133 times
Reputation: 1743

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Quote:
Originally Posted by almost3am View Post
It's amazing how good the Braves have been for so long. Do they still get good support in Atlanta? I'm just wondering if certain sports speak to certain groups of people more than others...
Funny you should ask. There is a huge stir going on around that topic in Atlanta right now. Many Bravess fans like other Atlanta sports fans can be very fickle. After all as good as the Braves have been they have only won the World Series once. Lately they've gained a reputation for being the best team in baseball during the regular season and then flopping during playoffs.

But they shocked the world (the Atlanta Metro anyway) when they recently demanded a huge sum for stadium renovations or else they would leave the city of Atlanta. It was pretty obvious that they already knew what they wanted to do because they barely gave the city time to vote no on it before they revealed plans they had worked out with neighboring suburban Cobb county to build a new stadium and move there.

This left long time fans in the city of Atlanta furious for many reasons (one being that traffic is a nightmare in Cobb, largely because of a lack of public transportation because of Cobbs anti Atlanta politics). You have to understand there's sort of a mutual hate between alot of Atlanta natives and the Atlanta suburbanites (translate: Red vs. Blue) with Cobb county having a particular anti Atlanta history.

Anyway that's a long still developing story and to answer your question the Braves get a lot of support from Metro Atlantians (though some intown dwellers have threatened to end their support now.)

The African American community in Atlanta tend to throw their support at Hawks basketball and the Falcons American Football. You don't see nearly as many Black Braves fans.

To be honest I think the huge African American middle class in Atlanta would get behind MLS soccer alot quicker than poor and working class Blacks who tend to be more traditional and less likely to accept new different things in a lot of ways

Last edited by Galounger; 08-06-2014 at 09:05 PM..
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Old 08-06-2014, 09:02 PM
 
Location: Atlanta
2,848 posts, read 6,413,133 times
Reputation: 1743
Quote:
Originally Posted by radiolibre99 View Post
The African American community in low income areas have just not been exposed to soccer as much as other communities. The reason why I think that can easily change and African American youth would love soccer is because I have never once heard anyone in the AA community bash it. They're not against soccer at all and would be cool with having a convo about the little they might know. That's worlds apart a difference from trying to talk to middle class conservative reactionary guy who thinks soccer is a wussy sport meant to derail American culture.

If soccer was introduced to the AA community more than we would have a lot more soccer stars, that's for sure.

The problem is that like I've been saying over and over again, soccer in the US, for it to mean anything you have to pay big bucks. Competitive youth club soccer at the high level is expensive! That's why most professional soccer players in the US tend to be white middle to upper middle class men.


What would really capture the attention and hearts of poor young inner city Black kids however, would be if an African American from their background with their traits were to achieve really great stardom and success in soccer. A Tiger Woods or Lebron James type figure in soccer would do more to bring in young Black fans than anything I guarantee you.

Most youngsters don''t know of Pele and even if they did he's a foreignor with less in common with them than most white Americans. If some guy that they related to was making a lot of noise on the pitch that would surely grab their attention and bring alot into the sport.
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Old 08-06-2014, 10:27 PM
 
10,097 posts, read 9,938,122 times
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That's true but as white guy in America my favorite soccer players are all black; Raheem Sterling of England and Paul Pogba of France.

The only one of my top lists that comes close to "white" is Kareem Benzema, an Algerian-French player.

They're as far away from my culture and I grew up in small town Texas.

But I do get what you're saying. It took years for me to develop such an interest to pick players like that. The US does need a rags to riches story. Clint Dempsey sorts counts, no?
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Old 08-06-2014, 11:19 PM
 
471 posts, read 617,223 times
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Football is enjoyed and played by everyone regardless of economic status.

Football and Basketball are similar when it comes to the audience that plays and enjoy these two games. The two most popular sports in the world.


Football is a natural sport, and humans develop a perfect human body playing this game. Ask women.

Rugby looks cool, but most people do not play it because it is so violent, which is cool, but painful.
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Old 08-07-2014, 12:25 AM
 
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Rugby just seems like lacrosse, a team played in college by the upper crust.
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Old 08-07-2014, 08:06 PM
 
Location: Castlederp
9,264 posts, read 7,376,102 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by radiolibre99 View Post
That's true but as white guy in America my favorite soccer players are all black; Raheem Sterling of England and Paul Pogba of France.

The only one of my top lists that comes close to "white" is Kareem Benzema, an Algerian-French player.

They're as far away from my culture and I grew up in small town Texas.

But I do get what you're saying. It took years for me to develop such an interest to pick players like that. The US does need a rags to riches story. Clint Dempsey sorts counts, no?
I also love those two players..

I really hope Sterling gets better and better.. it has been a while since we had a really great player for England and he certainly can be one of them!
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