Bullits (January 9, 2003)

Good News, Bad News?

The Falcons and the amazing Michael Vick—and of course those Georgia Dawgs—have launched the New Year brilliantly for us football fans.

But don’t expect the shine to last into baseball season, what with the corporate bozos who’ve taken over the Braves suddenly on an austerity spree.

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We have the rest of this week, at least, to dream of the one-time “Dirty Birds” coming from the oblivion of the past four years and making it to a Super Bowl. Oh sure, for anybody betting seriously on that happening this year…well, there’s this ocean front property in Arizona. But the shine will last into next year, and almost certainly beyond.

There’s no question that the Falcons have become the bright star of the moment in professional sports in these parts. That’s thanks to a new owner, one Arthur Blank, the Home Depot mogul. He has shown what a little imagination, a great draft choice, and perhaps a generous supply of capital, can do to put a glow on a sports franchise. Sadly, a much different kind of ownership change a couple years ago may have an opposite effect on our favorite baseball franchise.

For more than 10 years now the Braves have been one institution that Atlantans and we in the hinterlands could be proud of. Remember 1991 when you couldn’t go anywhere without being greeted with the tomahawk chop? That’s when maverick owner Ted Turner opened the wallet for general manager John Schuerholz to put together arguably the best pitching staff in baseball, advance to the World Series and embark on 11 consecutive winning seasons.

Now an outfit known as AOL Time Warner is holding the purse strings and the outlook is not good. Some of us remember AOL as the hotshot company that got to the big time as an Internet service provider that couldn’t deliver on its promises.

It offered service at bargain prices, but didn’t have the facilities to deliver. By the time the howls of protest reached the halls of Congress, AOL had the money—collected on false pretenses, some say—to grow into the world’s largest Internet service provider.

It since has merged with the company that had acquired Turner and the Braves, and the result has been dismal performance for the combined enterprise. With many of its other operations in the tank, it appears that this huge conglomerate is aiming to squeeze more money from the Braves-by cutting the budget.

That budget, it seems, could not stand keeping either of two of the game’s best pitchers. Schuerholz was forced to let both Tom Glavine and Kevin Millwood get away—not that either wanted to go. And yes, the basketball and hockey teams AOL Time Warner owns also appear to be taking it on the chin, but their performance has never matched that of the Braves.

Oh sure, it still will be fun to go to Braves games at Turner Field. And who’s to say Schuerholz and manager Bobby Cox can’t cobble together a few more miracle teams. In this household a New Year doesn’t really begin until spring training opens in March. That’s always when hope springs eternal, as they say. AOL and its corporate grinches aren’t going to ruin that.