Sports Page Atlanta

New Atlanta point guard, Mike Bibby has played in five games thus far for the Hawks, but tonight marks his first ever appearance at Philips Arena in a home jersey. Bibby’s averaged 11.8 points and 5.4 assists per game since joining the Hawks.

Interestingly enough, Bibby’s first home game is against his old team the Sacramento Kings.

Tip off is at 7:00. So, get down to Philips Arena or tune on on SportSouth.

Georgia Tech point guard Maurice “Moe” Miller was named the ACC Rookie of the Week after scoring 29 points in Georgia Techs’ loss to Virginia Tech last Saturday. Miller recorded five assists, four rebounds, a blocked shot and a steal with just two turnovers in a career-high 31 minutes.

For the season, Miller is averaging 18.8 minutes per game and 7.2 points per game.

There’s been a lot of talk around town lately concerning the city of Atlanta and how good of a sports city Atlanta is. In fact, I’ve heard on many occasions that Atlanta is the worst sports city in the country. It’s true that Atlanta sports hasn’t experienced a whole lot of prosperity as of late. The Braves aren’t winning pennants anymore. One of the few things the Falcons have won lately is a coin flip to give them the third pick in the upcoming NFL draft, following a dismal season. And it’s safe to say that the Hawks and Thrashers aren’t looking forward to championship runs anytime soon. But is it accurate to say that Atlanta is the worst sports city in America?

To examine this topic, let’s look at every city in the country that has all four major sports; football, basketball, baseball and hockey. Giving a little bit of geographical latitude to cities like Boston (the Patriots play in Foxboro, not Boston) and Dallas (the Rangers are in Arlington, not Dallas), there are 12 cities that meet the criteria of having all four major sports. By comparing Atlanta, Miami, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston, Dallas, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Denver and Phoenix using their teams’ winning percentage, we can take a look at where Atlanta stands. We can answer the question, statistically speaking, of whether or not Atlanta is the worst sports city in the country.

Winning percentage was calculated for every team in each of these cities for the last three seasons. The 2007 season for the NBA and NHL hasn’t been completed yet, so their current standings were used. Take a look at the standings for 2007 and for the last three years combined.

2007 (Team - Winning Percentage)

1. Boston - .651
2. Detroit - .609
3. Phoenix - .577
4. Dallas - .559
5. Denver - .553
6. Philadelphia - .526
7. New York City - .515
8. Chicago - .476
9. Atlanta - .476
10. D.C. - .474
11. Minneapolis - .457
12. Miami - .379

2005 - 2007 (Team - Winning Percentage)

1. Detroit - .604
2. Dallas - .592
3. Boston - .538
4. Phoenix - .534
5. New York City - .530
6. Denver - .523
7. Philadelphia - .506
8. Chicago - .501
9. Minneapolis - .498
10. Atlanta - .484
11. Miami - .479
12. D.C. - .469

The numbers look bleak. For the last three years, Atlanta has suffered through a sub .500 record. Overall, the four teams combined are 463-494 and have only made it to post season play twice (the 2005 Braves and the 2006-07 Thrashers). With that kind of three year history, you can see why Atlanta sports fans are a little on edge.

However, Atlanta fans can take solace in the fact that they don’t live in Miami or Washington D.C.

Today, the Atlanta Braves have an exhibition game with the Georgia Bulldogs down in Orlando. The two state favorites have played nine times before in which to no surprise the professional team has won all nine times over the collegians…

The first time the two teams played was in 1988. The starting pitcher for the Braves was Derek Lilliquist. The year before, Lilliquist was a star pitcher for the Bulldogs leading the SEC in wins (14) and strikeouts (190). He also led Georgia in home runs that season with 19.

photo credit: Timmy!!one

Overall, the Pittsburgh Penguins have absolutely added to their team one of the best wingers up for grabs in Marian Hossa, and a penalty killer in Pascal Dupuis.

The Penguins got the better end of this trade. Don Waddell is counting on the “possibility” in the young ones from Pittsburgh, but with the salary cap, and based off how other “sellers” benefited, Waddell did an excellent job by actually getting players, and not just future considerations.

Thrashers fans are going to be upset now. Until we see how Erik Christensen and Colby Armstrong play with their new team (and they will play their “old” team this Sunday), we REALLY don’t know how this will effect the Thrashers. The Thrashers play as of late has been lacking, and with players like Perrin, Kozlov, and Holik, along with the recent play of Slater and Thorburn, these two new Thrashers have an opportunity to do more with Atlanta than they possibly would being shadowed by Crosby and Malkin.

Overall, I am disappointed by losing Hossa and Dupuis. All great Thrashers fans loved watching Dupuis skating lightning fast, and being such a threat on the penalty kill. Fans have enjoyed chanting Hossa, but regardless of feelings, only time will tell. Knowing how Waddell has been in the past, I wouldn’t be surprised if this was basically a payroll move, and with the strong possibility that he now has made more room to re-acquire Hossa AND Dupuis come July 1st.