You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
V28|NO36<br />
Rise up<br />
Kris Fisher<br />
This pasT sunday, I had to make it through the night with no “Game of Thrones” and no<br />
football. I had no idea how I was going to get through it, which was weird. Weird because seven<br />
weeks ago, I was living without my Westeros connection just fine, and we’ve been without<br />
professional football for 30 Sundays, not that I’m counting.<br />
I’ve been waiting for football since that fateful Super Bowl Sunday of which we don’t speak.<br />
Well, if you’re a Falcons fan, we don’t speak of it. Other football fans love to bring it up. It makes<br />
me wonder where all the Falcon hate comes from. I completely understand when it comes to<br />
the direct rivals: It gave me great pleasure to watch the Carolina Panthers get embarrassed in<br />
Super Bowl 51. But fans from all over seem to take a lot of enjoyment in the epic SB51 collapse.<br />
Falcons fans are ready and have been trying to move on, following suit from our beloved<br />
team in question. That was last year, and we’re focused on now. But who are we kidding? The<br />
sting from that game will stay with us until a Falcons Super Bowl victory is a reality. Even then,<br />
it would really need to be a victory over the Patriots. Both scenarios are highly unlikely.<br />
I may sound like a naysayer, a negative Nancy, call me what you will. I’m just realizing our<br />
place in the sports lore. Much like my wife, a Cleveland Browns fan, knows her place. It’s the<br />
Browns, they never win. They even find a way to lose when they have the top pick in the<br />
draft, always somehow coming out of the draft with no good players. The Falcons, however,<br />
occasionally seem like they can win. It’s been happening more and more. I’m not sure which is<br />
worse: knowing that your team will likely lose every game of the season, or knowing that your<br />
team will have a fantastic season only to blow it when it counts.<br />
It’s the Atlanta way. The Hawks have become a perennial playoff team — even making it to<br />
the Eastern Conference Finals just a few years back, only to fold when it counts. Even Atlanta’s<br />
WNBA team, the Dream, has made it twice to the WNBA Finals. I’ll let you guess what happened<br />
when they got there.<br />
At least we have the Atlanta Braves: We’re left to hang on that one World Series win from<br />
their five attempts. And here’s the beauty of it: their one win comes from the season that most<br />
baseball fans say doesn’t matter because it was shortened by a strike. So, even Atlanta’s one<br />
championship is tainted. Who cares, I’ll take it.<br />
Atlanta United, we’ll expect your heartbreaking disappointment in December. Until then,<br />
we have another Falcons season and another promising Falcons team. I may sound jaded and<br />
negative, but I’m a product of my favorite teams, much like every other sports fan.<br />
“Game of Thrones” may be gone but, we got football back! Brace yourselves, 28-3 memes<br />
are coming.<br />
KRIS FISHER is the midday host and program director for HD98.3 and an Augusta radio staple. He<br />
is a husband, father of three and lover of all things adventurous, as well as activities most people<br />
would have outgrown years ago. djkfish.com.
Change language