QH: 9/4:: Biggest Disgraces in ATL Sports History

Author: Todd

4 Sep

Which athletes do you feel have really given the Atlanta Sports scene a blackeye over past decades?

1. John Rocker- Didn’t do much for promoting a new South, did he? He is the epitome of the dumbass redneck that closed-minded Northerners think of when they describe Southerners. I guess his career washing out was Karma.

2. Michael Vick- Maybe all of this will be a blessing in disguise as we will get rid of that albatross of a contract. While he was exciting, it just seemed like he was never going to take us to the next level. It’s not surprising that he was involved in something so stupid; his decision-making on the field wasn’t very intelligent at times either.

3. Kasten/Babcock- The effects of the ‘Nique trade are still haunting us; just plain stupid to trade away your best player when you’re in first place with less than two months left in the season. Jon Contract was another of their disasters and it seems to me that this deal really started the ball rolling in terms of mediocre players getting huge contracts. Way to be trailblazers, boys!

4. Dave Braine- No AD should ever admit that his Football program can’t be expected to compete and should basically strive for 7-8 win seasons. How could anyone be that stupid to utter something like that to the media? So much went wrong under his (mis)direction, including of course the Gailey extension after another 7-5 finish and a blowout loss in a third-rate bowl. Now, because of Braine-Dead’s 11th Hour dealings, new AD Radkovich is stuck with this loser for four more years.

5. Otis Nixon- I really believe that we would’ve won the 1991 World Series had Nixon not been suspended for drug use right before the Playoffs. His speed and defense would’ve made all of the difference and I think that we would have won in Atlanta and wouldn’t have had to return to Minnesota in the first place. Imagine if we win that first one…who knows what might have happened after that? Maybe 4-5 World Series?

Filed under: Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Hawks, Georgia Tech

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5 Responses for "QH: 9/4:: Biggest Disgraces in ATL Sports History"

Matt September 4th, 2007 at 11:24 pm 1
I think Braine knew exactly what the expectations should be while he was AD so he was spot on. Tech was a 7-8 win team while he was on board so his honesty should not be frowned upon. I think Tech is starting to show why he kept Chan-tastic and should be set up many years to come based on his recruiting. I’d hop back on the train before you are left behind.

I’d look more to Lenny Wilkens regarding the ‘Nique trade. He obviously didn’t get along with him and pushed Babcrotch to get rid of him. Otherwise, wouldn’t a coach with a first place team pitch a fit when his best player is traded?

Good list although I would put Vick first ahead of Rocker just because of the reach this dog thing has across the country. Vick is the face of the city all over America whereas Rocker was just a redneck playing for the Braves. I would say the majority of the country doesn’t even know he’s from Georgia.
Lang September 5th, 2007 at 2:27 pm 2
One thing about the Braine comment that Todd can’t let go of: Vince Dooley used to do essentially the same thing all the time at UGA. Remember how no matter who they were playing against, Dooley would talk up the opponent all week like they were the ‘86 Bears? Then, if Georgia lost, Dooley could say, “Well, we knew they were going to be a really hard team for us to beat…”

By saying Tech was a 7-8 win team, I think Braine was basically trying to lower expectations, so that if/when Tech is mediocre he can say, “Well, that’s just what we expected.” And if they win 9 games he can act like they’re performing above expectations. Perhaps he shouldn’t have assigned a number value to those expectations, but still…
Todd September 5th, 2007 at 2:28 pm 3
I\’ve learned not to be fooled by the Notre Dame win; he\’ll follow that up in coming weeks by dropping games at home and against sub-par teams. Probably two losses to BC at home and Virginia and/or Maryland away. Recruiting talent doesn\’t mean a damned thing if you don\’t use it in the right way.
Even if Tech goes 12-0, I still won\’t be a a Gailey believer; the only thing positive that I will say is that he finally let his Coordinators do their jobs without meddling, hence the better record.

I don\’t think that Wilkens had the power to make such changes; even if he said something to the Front Office, I don\’t think that Badcock and Kasten would have done it if they didn\’t think that they were getting the better end of the deal. Kasten still contends to this day that Nique requested demanded a trade so that he could make more money. I just don\’t buy it and I think it\’s just a way of trying to save face on Stan\’s part.

You might be right about people not knowing Rocker is from GA, but in that infamous SI article, they did highlight that point quite clearly.

You might be right about Vick; I figure that time will tell if this play out to be the biggest disgrace or not.
Lang September 6th, 2007 at 9:58 am 4
For what it’s worth, here’s what Nique said when I interviewed him and asked him about the trade…

ME: Even as short as a year ago, I never thought I’d see you in the Hawks offices. I mean, you’d been very critical of the Hawks’ handling of your trade, and you kept saying you wanted to finish up here, but it didn’t look like they were going to let that happen.

NIQUE: That wasn’t, that wasn’t…I don’t think that was a management problem. Lenny had a…you know…he had his way of doing things, and that wasn’t something he wanted, so…what can I tell you?
Todd September 7th, 2007 at 6:08 pm 5
Re: Dooley- He was more than likely doing that so that his players wouldn’t take the games lightly. I don’t think he was doing that for CYA purposes.

If an AD says stuff like that, then he’s basically waving a white flag for all Athletics. He has no business publicizing those sentiments, even if they might be true. What sort of recruit is going to be enticed by that type of statement?

The ‘Nique quote is interesting and basically brings up one thing: someone is lying.

1. Kasten- said that ‘Nique wanted to leave. If Kasten is lying, why is he doing it? To make himself look better and/or to not make Lenny look bad? It certainly wasn’t a popular decision in Atlanta.

2. Nique- said that he didn’t want to leave and that it was Lenny’s doing. Kasten said that Nique wanted to leave so that he could make more money. We all know that Nique had money issues, largely because of his family mooching off of his kindness. His need for money did propel him to go to Greece, so it’s not totally out of the realm of possibility.

So, someone’s lying and both sides had a reason to. It would be great if one of the talk shows would get both of them on to straighten all of this out.