Loserville is not a label that cities like to hear. The politicians get ll bent out of shape and the civic leaders sense a feeling of panic. However, it also means its time to get to work and remove the tag.
In 1975, the Atlanta Constitution newspaper put together a two part series and it was called “Loserville, USA”. It was a scathing report on the professional sports teams, the fans and climate of their future in the city of Atlanta.
There were four pro team in the area with the baseball Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Falcons in football, the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA moved in and a franchise in hockey made up the Atlanta Flames. No other southern city had four professional franchises.
All of the team struggled to garner attendance s they each were equally bad in their success within their respective leagues. Apathy took over among the fans of the teams and things were declining.
Author Clayton Trutor takes the reader through the meetings and decisions made by local and national leaders to remedy the reputation as a professional sports city. It is mentioned the leaders studied other southern cities like Tampa and Phoenix and what went over well to solidify their standing as a pro city.. Both financial stability and on field success were sought in Atlanta. Loserville is not a tag used any more in Atlanta.
The book is an intriguing look at the ways that sports and politics can go together to achieve success. The authors takes us inside to how economic and social upheaval were tackled in the face of race relations.
It is a good book for sports historians to read and for the fans and citizens of Atlanta and the state of Georgia. Thanks to Nebraska Press for the book in return of an honest review.
