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Home , Atlanta Flames, Curse of the Bambino

7 14 I SIGNAL Tuesday I October 14, 2003 Jonathan Heeter ^ Forget Bambino and the goat Jonathan is a senior majoring in Print Journalism. If his opinions make you smarter, you've put too much thought into it . Georgia has a 'Bird '

JONATHAN HEETER Aaron-led Braves lost to the tive winning seasons. The only Staff Writer "Miracle Mets" in the 1969 other team to share that "honor" is jheeter@ gsusignal.com National League Championship the Texans, an expansion Series (what a sign of things to team that began play in 2002. Forget the big stink the media come). The Braves, however, suf­ Sure, we had a Super Bowl run, makes about Boston's "Curse of fered through awful seasons in the but our star running back, Jamal ,the Bambino" and Chicago's goat 1980s before making their magi­ Anderson, tore his ACL the next curse. cal worst-to-first jaunt in 1991. season. The Falcons also had a The "Curse of the Bambino" It looked like the Braves productive season in 2002 but came into being after the Boston would become perennial con­ Mike Vick broke his leg in the Red Sox sold to the tenders. Then came losses to the preseason. in 1920 for Twins, the Blue Jays and What can be done? $125,00 to help finance a stage Philadelphia, and it has gone as Who knows— teams production of No, No, Nanette. far as losses to the Marlins and could be doomed to an eternity of The Red Sox won four titles Padres in recent years. Now they losing. But I can offer a sugges­ between 1900 and 1918 but have Special I Signal can't even get out of the first tion for fans that just want to win. The Falcons suffer from the 'Bird Curse,' but Peerless Price may help them out. yet to win one since Ruth left round. Move to New York or Boston. The Yankees, however, The Braves and Falcons both The Braves came from The Falcons, however, have California. With an overabun­ have won 26 championships since played their first Atlanta seasons Milwaukee via Boston and the worst form of the curse. The dance of choices, surely anyone buying . in 1966. achieved early success. The Hank Falcons have never had consecu­ can find a team that will win. The Cubs have an even lamer excuse for a curse. Apparently, a Chicago bar owner named Sam Sianis and Sonovia, his goat, were forced to leave the 1945 . Upon leaving the game, Sianis cursed the Cubs and the Detroit Tigers rebounded from a two- games-to-one deficit to win the series. If that isn't the worst excuse for a curse, then I don't know what is. if. We have a much greater curse I scored a (combined in Atlanta to worry about and afflicts all of our professional score out of sports teams. a possible I'll call it the "Bird Curse" due to the apparent love three of 45 points) four Atlanta team owners had for our feathered friends. But all four Sao of Atlanta's teams have been sub­ jected to the "Bird Curse." The evidence behind on the Atlanta's curse - four teams, over MCAT 100 years of competition: one championship. I don't have a fancy excuse or reason behind Prepare for the April Exam... < how the curse started. I'm not even sure when it started. The St. Louis Hawks, an annual contender and 1958 Class starting January 18 at CNN Center National Basketball Association champion, moved to Atlanta in 1968. Hawks' fans are still await­ Sign up before Oct. 31 to get ing the first Hawks championship in Atlanta. With the trade of the MCAT Science Review for FREE ($499 value) "Human Highlight Film"(One of the true great nicknames in sports history, given to Dominique Wilkins), many fans gave up on the Hawks. Class space is limited. Call or visit us online today to enroll! But that's okay because Atlanta got a professional hockey ' ' team - the Atlanta Flames - in 1972. The Flames left the city in 1980 and moved to with­ ke K out winning a championship for s* «P/aiT the city. But in 1989, the Calgary SCO'e *gher. Flames lifted Lord Stanley's Cup. .1know they weren't named after a bird, but the Flames probably con­ 1-800-KAP-TEST tracted the curse through osmosis