Cheer on our best

No doubt about it; Atlanta is a sports-loving city. From its full slate of professional teams and busy schedule of college sports, down to its competitive high school teams, kids’ soccer and the monstrous ALTA (Atlanta Lawn Tennis Association), the area seems to always have some athletic event on tap.

Foam tomahawk-wielding diehards will not let you forget that Atlanta is home of the Braves, the National League team that practically assumes its season will stretch into October. Talk trash with Braves fans at your own peril; their devotion can border on the unhealthy.

When locals aren’t talking about the World Series around the water cooler, they may very well be discussing some of the other playoffs and tournaments that come to Atlanta. Perennials include the Bell South Classic PGA golf tournament at TPC at Sugarloaf course in Duluth; the Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 Nextel Cup NASCAR race and the college football classic Peach Bowl. On occasion, the city has also hosted the Super Bowl, the men's and women's college basketball Final Four contests and regional playoffs, NBA and Major League Baseball All-Star games and the U.S. figure skating national championships. The Atlanta Thrashers will host the 2005 NHL All-Star weekend Feb. 12-13.

PROFESSIONAL TEAMS

Team: Atlanta Braves
Affiliation: Major League Baseball
Home venue: Turner Field, 755 Hank Aaron Dr. (Five Points MARTA station, with bus shuttle to Turner Field)
Season: April to September
Tickets: $1-$48. 404-249-6400; www.atlantabraves.com
If you go: Expect to hear a lot of chanting. The sound is a crowd favorite.

Team: Atlanta Falcons
Affiliation: National Football League
Home venue: Georgia Dome, 1 Georgia Dome Dr. (Dome/Philips Arena MARTA station)
Season: September to December
Tickets: $25-$70, plus a "pregame hospitality" ticket that includes access to the game plus pregame food, drinks and entertainment for $119. 404-223-8000; www.atlantafalcons.com
If you go: Plan ahead. Before the 2003 season, the 1,000 individual tickets offered for each game sold out in three minutes. In April, the waiting list for 2004 season tickets exceeded 12,000 requested seats.

Team: Atlanta Hawks
Affiliation: National Basketball Association
Home venue: Philips Arena, 1 Philips Dr. (Dome/Philips Arena MARTA station)
Season: October to April
Tickets: $10-$75. 404-249-6400; www.nba.com/hawks
If you go: Breathe in the smell of new ownership. On March 31, 2004, the nine-partner Atlanta Spirit LLC closed the deal on the purchase of the Hawks and NHL franchise Atlanta Thrashers, as well as operating rights to Philips Arena, from previous owner Turner Broadcasting System Inc. All that for a mere estimated $250 million.

Team: Atlanta Thrashers
Affiliation: National Hockey League
Home venue: Philips Arena, 1 Philips Dr. (Dome/Philips Arena MARTA station)
Season: October to April
Tickets: $10-$225. 404-249-6400 or 404-584-7825; www.atlantathrashers.com
If you go: Keep an eye on the penalty box and jumbo video. The Thrashers are known throughout the league for their spirited penalty-box skits, intermission antics (sumo hockey, anyone?) and kissing fan close-ups on the big game screen.

Team: Gwinnett Gladiators
Affiliation: East Coast Hockey League
Home venue: Arena at Gwinnett Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth
Season: October to April
Tickets: $10-$19. 404-249-6400 or 770-497-5100; www.gwinnettgladiators.com
If you go: Celebrate the newness. The team’s inaugural season ended in April 2004.

Team: Georgia Force
Affiliation: Arena Football League
Home venue: Arena at Gwinnett Center, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth
Season: February to May
Tickets: $12-$110. 404-249-6400; www.georgiaforce.com
If you go: Tailgate for fun and profit. The Georgia Force issues weekly prizes for the best tailgating parties in the arena’s parking lot.

COLLEGE TEAMS

Metro Atlanta is proud of its many colleges, large and small. Here are the two largest.

Georgia Institute of Technology: The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets compete in eight men’s sports and seven women’s sports in the Atlanta Coast Conference, Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. After reaching the 2004 tournament final, basketball tickets may be even harder to get, rivaling the Ramblin’ Wreck football team in popularity. For ticket information, call 404.894.5447 or 1-888-832-4849 or visit ramblinwreck.ocsn.com

Georgia State University: The Panthers compete in a total of 15 men’s and women’s sports in the Atlantic Sun Conference, Division I of the NCAA. Ticket information is available by calling 404-651-3166 or visiting www.georgiastate.com

SPORTS TO PLAY

For a look at athletic activities you can do yourself, please visit Fitness & Health.