My favorite sport is tennis and my favorite player is Rafael Nadal. Like anyone I look up to or admire for their talents in a particular area, I could write an entire post about Nadal. A lot of times I get weird looks when people ask what my favorite sport is and I reply with tennis; I get it though, tennis isn't nearly as popular a sport as say football or basketball. Also I'm a Black male and in the realm of stereotypes, tennis doesn't ring any bells as far as that's concerned. Growing up I played soccer and baseball but those stopped by the time I was in High school...I switched to Band. I love band dearly and I wouldn't change any of my experiences from it; most of my best moments from high school and college came from band but still it's not quite the same as a team sport. Tennis is a phenomenal sport but it's not a team one and it definitely isn't high on the popularity list.
The point of me saying all of this is the fact that I've never had a sporting team that I could root for 110% (High school teams don't count do they?) I came from a family of South Carolina Gamecock fans. Anyone in my family that didn't go their went to smaller schools without D1 teams, so Carolina was their team. Clemson, for anyone familiar with South Carolina dynamics, was absolutely not the team to root for. Well...long story short I went their for undergrad (architecture). All four years I was apart of the marching band...our job was to be the greatest supporters and fans of the team. And I was genuinely a fan of Clemson, still am. However, there was always a part of me that could never really REALLY be a fanatic. No one in my family supported me with that but more importantly there was always a part of me that held (holds) back. I'll probably explain it more at another time but the gist of it has to deal with the struggles of going to a PWI in the south. Dealing with ignorance and racism while everyone else around you thinks it's the greatest place in the world really messes with a fandom. Then I went to Georgia Tech for grad school...lol. Clemson and Tech don't exactly gel with each other as far as fandom is concerned so I could only get behind Tech so much, plus it was grad school, ain't nobody had time for that.
Then there's pro sports and I mean the big ones NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS. I'm from Charleston, SC and we don't have a basketball team (I don't watch basketball like that anyways), we don't have baseball, Hockey...what's hockey? We don't have soccer and we SHARE a football team...one that I am older than by the way. The Atlanta Falcons were the closet pro football team for much of my family before the Panthers so there's always been a weird dynamic as to what is the home team; many of us root for both (even though they are on the same side of the NFC). Point is, I never really had a "home team" to pull for and get all fanatic about.
But now I have Atlanta United! I have so much fun getting hyped and lost in the fandom of major league sports. I have season tickets, I watch most of the away games, I follow the players, I get super bummed when we lose, and I get super happy when we win (saying we is so much fun). I know it sounds a little strange but it's a small thing that I've never been able to experience. No one can ask me why I pull for them, I live here. No one can say I'm a band wagoner, it's only the second season and I've been going to games since their inaugural season...i'mma day one. None of my family can make me feel guilty for pulling for them and lastly they are pretty good. We did get a draw last night against New England Revolution though...it was from a garbage PK in the box.
Atlanta continues to be THAT place for me, I spoke on it earlier but my love for this city only continues to grow as I grow and having a pro sports team is another experience for me.
Last thing, you may have wondered, well what about the Atlanta Braves Alvin? I don't speak of the Braves anymore after they left the city. That's all I have to say about that.
Until next week.
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