I am an obnoxious sports fan. I was raised by parents who take their sports very seriously, and if I had to lock myself in my room when the Tarheels play Duke, so be it. It’s also probably important to mention that despite the fact that I am a New England sports fan (derogatory), I am also an Atlanta native who cheers very loudly for the Braves when they are not playing the Red Sox. So, forgive me if I rant and rave about the fact that the Braves won the World Series for the first time since 1995 a few weeks ago. I’m just glad I didn’t have to go full-on Joker mode on the off chance that they ended up losing the series and making a fool of Atlanta sports fans. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time something like that has happened (flashback to the 2017 Super Bowl). Thankfully, the Braves played like they were not a team from Atlanta, and now I get to be insufferable about it.
Gone are the days of the long suffering Braves fans. The night the Braves secured their title as World Series Champions, the city was on fire. Teary-eyed, I watched the post-game celebration on my computer, 600 miles away from my neighborhood back home, where my mom reported that people were setting off fireworks. For a city with notoriously bad sports teams, this was a big deal. No more mocking headlines or memes ridiculing Atlanta sports. Has the Atlanta sports curse been lifted?
Their win was satisfying for a plethora of reasons, not the least of which being that everyone and their mother hates the Astros. The Houston-based team is known for their cheating scandal, which left them with a hefty $5 million fine in 2020. Thats karma, baby. Not only did the Braves rob them of another World Series win, but they did so in the Astro’s territory.
What is a Braves article if not a marriage proposal to Dansby Swanson? Dansby Swanson is the Braves shortstop and my baseball boyfriend. A Georgia boy born and raised, he can slide into my base any time he wants. Terrible jokes aside, the Brave’s roster was full of talent new and old, from Max Fried (Mr. Fried I am free Mondays after 6) to Freddie Freeman.
It’s a special feeling to watch your team become champions. For all of the strike outs, bad calls, and injuries (I’m still sad about Ronald Acuna) that a team endures, it’s the grand slams and series sweeps that get remembered. And boy was 2021 a season to celebrate.
I wish I had gotten to go to the victory parade — a rarity for Atlanta, but snapchat stories from my brother had to suffice. Sports are the great unifier, I’ve decided, if the mass street celebrations are anything to show for it. So thank you, Atlanta, for your dedicated fans; thank you, Braves, for bringing home the hardware; and thank you, baseball, for giving me something to yell about.