I just finished watching the final game of Atlanta Braves baseball on TBS. It was very emotional. I began watching the Braves at age 13, in 1983, and followed them for all the years on TBS, even tuning in from 1985 to 1990, when they were one of the worst teams in baseball, just to see my hero, Dale Murphy play, and to be happy when they won a game.
Then came the championship years: That heartstopping first pennant race in 1991, when I tuned in to see what dramatics they would provide next. The pennant race down to the last day in 1993 with the Giants. All the men who made up the championship Braves for fourteen years. Justice, and Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz. Wohlers, and Chipper. I lived 1000 miles from this team my whole life, and had been to the old Fulton County Stadium only once, in 1987, when the Braves were in last place. Yet, for twenty four years, they were close to my heart.
I will be a Braves fan forever, but, from 2008 forward, will have to catch them on my local cable when they come to Washington, or Philadelphia, or scattered games on ESPN, or Fox. I also tune in to my trusty transistor radio, when they play the Mets, as the radio picks up the strong signaled sports station WFAN in New York.
Skip Caray, Pete Van Weiren, Ernie Johnson Sr, Don Sutton, Chip Caray, John Sterling, and all the rest, were such a part of my life for twenty four years. I will miss their calls of Braves games on TBS.
So, here's to the memories. This offseason will be much different for me, as, come spring, there will be no Braves on TBS, but, alas, life has to go on. I'm just grateful for the twenty four years that I was able to catch my beloved Braves on TBS, good, mediocre, or bad. I will be a Braves fan forever, even if I have to surf to other networks, or radios, to see or hear their games.
Mitch
Then came the championship years: That heartstopping first pennant race in 1991, when I tuned in to see what dramatics they would provide next. The pennant race down to the last day in 1993 with the Giants. All the men who made up the championship Braves for fourteen years. Justice, and Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz. Wohlers, and Chipper. I lived 1000 miles from this team my whole life, and had been to the old Fulton County Stadium only once, in 1987, when the Braves were in last place. Yet, for twenty four years, they were close to my heart.
I will be a Braves fan forever, but, from 2008 forward, will have to catch them on my local cable when they come to Washington, or Philadelphia, or scattered games on ESPN, or Fox. I also tune in to my trusty transistor radio, when they play the Mets, as the radio picks up the strong signaled sports station WFAN in New York.
Skip Caray, Pete Van Weiren, Ernie Johnson Sr, Don Sutton, Chip Caray, John Sterling, and all the rest, were such a part of my life for twenty four years. I will miss their calls of Braves games on TBS.
So, here's to the memories. This offseason will be much different for me, as, come spring, there will be no Braves on TBS, but, alas, life has to go on. I'm just grateful for the twenty four years that I was able to catch my beloved Braves on TBS, good, mediocre, or bad. I will be a Braves fan forever, even if I have to surf to other networks, or radios, to see or hear their games.
Mitch
