How Cursed Are Atlanta's Sports Teams?

When the Cleveland Cavaliers knocked the Atlanta Hawks out of the NBA Playoffs on May 26, it brought to end a magical run for the hometown hoopsters and an all-too-common blow to Atlanta’s sports fans.

Since the Atlanta Braves won the 1995 World Series, no home team has brought a championship to the city; in fact, the New York Times recently named Atlanta the second-most cursed sports city in the country for its many title-less seasons and plethora of deep playoff runs that end without a trip to the final round.

“Keep in mind that an average city will have three times as many close calls (using our definition) as championships, because there are three losing semifinalists for every champion,” the Times says. “Atlanta’s ratio? A heartbreaking 14 to one.”

The times says that the city’s most heartbreaking loss came in 1981, when the Atlanta Falcons blew a 24-10 fourth quarter lead against the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Divisional Playoffs. The Falcons were the number one seed going into the playoffs that year, and had a chance to tie the game on the last drive only down three, but couldn’t get on Dallas’ side of the 50 before losing possession.

Ironically enough, the only city that is more “cursed” than Atlanta in the sports department according to the Times is Cleveland, who lost this year’s NBA finals after sweeping the Hawks. Cleveland hasn’t won a sports title since 1964, and counts among its heartbreaks such legendary moments as “The Fumble,” “The Drive,” “Red Right 88,” and a Game 7 World Series loss after leading 2-1 going into the bottom of the 9th inning.

Other so-called cursed sports towns on the Times’ list were:

• Buffalo
• San Diego
• Washington
• Minneapolis-St. Paul
• Philadelphia
• Phoenix
• Oakland
• Kansas City
• Houston
• Cincinnati
• Seattle