Bridges: Sports memories remain strong decades later

As we continue into the new year that is 2019, I find it hard to believe that so much water has passed under the proverbial bridge since 1991.
That was quite a year for professional sports in Atlanta and for fans of the Braves and Falcons.
It doesn’t seem possible that almost three decades have elapsed since the Atlanta Braves were one of the sports stories of the year (not just in Georgia) and the Atlanta Falcons actually showed signs of turning things around with a playoff run of their own.
The 1991 season for the Atlanta Braves began with very modest expectations. The 1990 season had shown little, if any, reason for hope. The team seemed beyond hope in 1990 with another last place division finish. To say 1990 was a disaster for the Braves would be an understatement.
However, even in Major League Baseball, a little fine tuning of the roster can go a long way. The addition of players such as Terry Pendleton and Sid Bream, combined with a very solid pitching staff, certainly gave the Braves credibility on paper.
As the new season began there was clearly a different attitude. Games were contested if not outright won and there seemed to be a growing sense of optimism with each series the team played. Fans sensed something as well. Losses were taken a lot harder than in the past when they were almost expected.
It’s doubtful anyone would have honestly predicted a World Series appearance, but things were certainly on the upswing for Atlanta’s professional baseball team which finished one game (one run actually) from winning it all.
On the gridiron, the Falcons were playing their final season at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. (On a personal note, I’ve often wondered why a more creative name was not given for that complex constructed during the 1960s.)
The following season would see the team move inside into the Georgia Dome (which has also become a thing of the past). The Falcons had shown some signs of life in 1990 winning their final two games of the season despite finishing at 5-11 overall with a definite new attitude.
As it turned out, the 1991 season didn’t exactly show great signs of promise early as the Falcons lost their first two games to Kansas City on the road and Minnesota at home. However, the NFL in its own way has a very long season, and ultimately the Falcons would finish 10-6 and make the postseason as a wildcard team.
Not only did the Falcons get into the playoffs but they won a wild card game against the rival New Orleans Saints on the road. For those who may have forgotten or those who were not around then, the finish to the game was one of the most exciting in franchise history.
Atlanta was trying to hold on for a playoff win on the road but New Orleans was driving. Tim McKyer, however, intercepted a pass to seal the win. Before the play was over, however, McKyer had pitched the football back to teammate Deion Sanders who danced around several would-be tacklers before giving the football to another teammate in Joe Fishback.
It was a risky play as a fumble could have given the Saints another chance. However, the Falcons, whose motto in 1991 was “Too Legit to Quit,” admittedly lived on the edge under head coach Jerry Glanville.
The Falcons were unable to win the following week against eventual Super Bowl champions Washington. The Redskins were a team which relied on a massive offensive line and were able to control the game against Atlanta’s undersized defense.
Of course, a heavy rain that week in Washington gave an even bigger advantage to the home town as their size countered the quickness of the Falcons. It was also reported that Washington team officials additionally had the field watered down to make it even more advantageous for the Redskins.
With the 2019 Atlanta Braves seemingly set for another postseason run and the Falcons now a playoff contender each season (despite what happened this past season), it just seemed appropriate to look back at 1991. It was a different sports landscape then but two of our state’s professional teams gave their long-suffering fans something to cheer about. Much has changed since that time, both in the sports world and the world around us, but those sports memories from 1991 still remain strong.
That’s what makes sports so special, it seems.
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Winder resident Chris Bridges is a former sports editor for the Barrow News-Journal. He has earned awards for his column writing from the Georgia Sports Writers Association, the Georgia Press Association and the National Newspaper Association. He is also a two-time winner of the Furman Bisher Sweepstakes Award for excellence in sports journalism. You can send comments about this column to pchrisbridges@gmail.com.