Sports Columnists

By John Mitchell

June 21, 2006 11:07 AM | Link to this

While I’m not a Maverick fan, Mr. Moores comments comparing the Mavericks to the 96 Braves isn’t even close. The Mavericks did what they were supposed to do at home until game 6 which was win and hold serve. They went to Miami and the heat did what they were supposed to do, win at home. The 96 Brave on the other hand went to Yankee Stadium and came home up 2-0 and promtly gor swept by an inferior Yankee team. The melt down was indeed game four thanks to a slider that didn’t slide. The Braves were far the bigger chokers in my opion.

By jraw

June 21, 2006 11:23 AM | Link to this

When you live by the jumper, you die by the jumper. Dallas shot way too many jump shots just like the Pistons did. Dallas did good to get by the Spurs. In my opinion the Spurs would have beat the Heat because the Spurs post more of a challenge to them in the Post and they can shoot the outside shot.

By Pantherssuck

June 21, 2006 11:35 AM | Link to this

jraw,

Actually, the Spurs, Clippers (yes, the Clippers) and possibly the Suns (with Amare of course) would have beaten the Heat. My question is why didn’t Dallas give the ball to Jerry Stackhouse on that last possession? He was the only one who was really hitting anything late in the game. So, you give the ball to a guy who was 7-24 shooting? Nothing against Jason Terry, he is very good, but it just wasn’t his day yesterday.

By John Minnix

June 21, 2006 11:35 AM | Link to this

Terence,

Funny you should write a column about this. I have always blamed you, in a way, for the 1996 loss. You jinxed us! After the Braves got up 2-0, you wrote a column saying that the World Series win was a forgone conclusion and that the only thing left to be decided was whether or not the 1996 Braves were one of the greatest teams ever. Then the Braves dropped four straight! I wonder if Jim Leritz read that column? We’ll never know….

By the way, I generally think your columns are great. Keep up the good work.

John

By Patrick

June 21, 2006 11:47 AM | Link to this

Um, no Terence.

The greatest choke job “in the history of team sports” as you say, was the Yankee’s massive choke job in the 2004 ALCS when they were up three games on the Boston Red Sox. Does that ring a bell? I thought you were a sports writer and were supposed to remember those things.

You need to resign so that someone with talent and who actually cares about Atlanta sports teams can get a job, you hack.

By The Man

June 21, 2006 12:11 PM | Link to this

Terence,

You fool. You keep saying Heat, when you mean Mavericks. Does anyone at this fishwrapper do any proofreading? Isn’t it about time you start writing a piece on race? I think you’re overdue

By Robert

June 21, 2006 12:23 PM | Link to this

Not quite a fair assessment in my opinion

The Mavericks achieved more than they thought they would at the start of the season. Avery Johnson proved himself a very capable and charismatic manager. In the end, they were beaten by a team led by a guy in Dwayne Wade who has that rare ability to truly elevate all his teammates

In short, the Mavs did a competant job but were beaten by a better team

The ‘96 Braves were far superior to the Yankees team that beat them. They lost because of the antics of their donkey manager.

No, Cox didnt throw the hanging slider, but Cox is the one that had Wohlers in the game when he shoudlnt have been

The only thing that might compare to the Braves’ choke in ‘96 as far as a championship flop was their leaving the scene after the seventh inning of game 1 of the 1999 World Series - which was and is likely to remain the greatest humiliation ever in a championship event

www.donkeyinthedugout.com - look for it soon

Now is the chance to rid the Braves of the cancer that has been holding them back for 15 years

Fire Bobby Cox and do it TODAY!

By wayne

June 21, 2006 12:34 PM | Link to this

Like the man said, you may want to edit your article. The mavs are the team from Dallas. They are the ones that blew it.

The Heat is the team from Miami. They won it.

By braves fan

June 21, 2006 12:49 PM | Link to this

Just couldn’t resist kicking the Braves while their down, could you? A S S.

By clay

June 21, 2006 02:11 PM | Link to this

Kicking the Braves whether they are up or down is always fun and rewarding. Good times.

By Jamari watkins

June 21, 2006 02:20 PM | Link to this

I think that the heat had a fair win

By jraw

June 21, 2006 02:29 PM | Link to this

Pantherssuck,

I don’t know why Stackhouse or Dirk didn’t get the ball. Jason missed two other ill advised 3’s b4 he shot the last one. I think Stack should have gotten the ball more down the stretch and drove it to the basketball. I also wonder why Daniels was taken out of the game. That was a dumb move, he had it going and he was driving to the basket getting points and getting fouled.

By Chop Chop

June 21, 2006 02:31 PM | Link to this

Terence Moore,

I don’t advocate your resignation, but the 2004 ALCS collapse by the Yankees was the biggest choke job in the history of pro sports. Not only did they blow a 3-0 lead, they were ahead going into the ninth inning of Game 4 with the best closer of all-time (Mariano Rivera) coming out to the mound to close the game out. When you take into account that the Red Sox and Yankees fans absolutely hate each other and have dominated ESPN and the rest of the national baseball media the last few years, seeing the Red Sox win four straight in that situation really makes the Yankees’ choke impossible to surpass. Even a World Series choke by the Yankees arguably wouldn’t have been as bad as that. Not to Yankee fans, at least.

By Alex

June 21, 2006 03:57 PM | Link to this

Thie Diesel and his squad destroyed Dallas and brought the NBA title home to Miami and we’ll do it again next year! Never under estimate raw talent, and sheer determination. GO HEAT!!!!

By Donn Shamley

June 21, 2006 04:06 PM | Link to this

If you call being stuck on stupid (abandoning the uptempo game and not driving to the basket) and getting ‘punked’ (Dirk Nowitzki letting smaller forwards push him around) choking, then it is what it is.

By derek

June 21, 2006 11:44 PM | Link to this

you never cease to amaze, mr howard. i thought mark bradley was the biggest a** clown but you take the proverbial cake. you love to play the ‘choke’ card any time a team is up a game or two in a series and loses. the reason a team loses, baring blatantly bad officiating, is really quite simple…the other team played better. so please, come up with something more original next time the team you want to win ends up losing.

By ed

June 22, 2006 12:25 AM | Link to this

Um, Derek? Who exactly is “Mr. Howard?”

By Malted Falcon

June 22, 2006 01:20 AM | Link to this

I didn’t even read this stupid column but I have to wonder out loud why any muckraker that calls himself a journalist would bother to open the wounds of the ‘96 series. What a tired gimmick and when will this once decent paper get rid of this moron. This garbage would’ve been thrown out of my high school newspaper. I know I shouldn’t feed the baby by giving him the attention he craves but, like I say, I stopped reading beyond the childish headline.

By Alex

June 22, 2006 02:56 AM | Link to this

i dont kno if i can consider the yankees choke in the ALCS bigger then a decade of chokes by the Braves. 13 straight division titles and the only thing they have is 1 world series title? thats choking. the braves should have won more and it serves as an embarassment to them that the florida marlins in that time frame have brought home more world series titles then they have. the braves = ultimate chokers of the last decade. the yankees choke in 04 was worse but the yankees have also won 4 world series titles in the last decade.

By Wharf Rat

June 22, 2006 07:21 AM | Link to this

BRAVES ARE TEAM SPORTS #1 CHOKER. PERIOD!!

By mart

June 22, 2006 08:14 AM | Link to this

Biggest choke since the Braves blew a 2-0 lead in 1996? How provincial. How about the Yanks blowing a 3-0 lead against the Red Sox?

By Phil Smith

June 22, 2006 11:37 AM | Link to this

TM, you write 8 sentences a week and you cant even get that correct. The Heat was never up 2-0, they were DOWN 0-2. And I guess your 8th grade education didn’t help you learn that plural nouns don’t have to end with an ‘s’. The Heat is a plural - it refers to a team comprised of multiple members (i.e. the correctly used pronoun for Miami Heat would be ‘they’). So you effectively wrote ‘They was up 2-0’. Nice grammar.

You can be a moron in terms of your pathetic opinions (race card, everyone who loses is a choker, etc.), but if you are going to represent yourself as a journalist, at least learn the English language.

By the way, if the Braves lose tonight, I think it should be considered the “greatest choke of all time of any team in MLB”. What do you think?

Whoops, let me rewrite that in “Moore’s English” - if the Braves loses tonight, I thinks it should be conderidered the ‘greatest choke of all time of any team in MLB” What does you think?