Welcome To Atlanta! Where The Players DONT Get Paid

Hi! My name is Daniel Young. I'm a sports fan from Birmingham, AL.

In Birmingham, we don't have any professional sports teams, so for the most past, we stand by the Atlanta franchises, because they are the closest to our town.

Lately, it seems the city of Atlanta cares more about new uniforms than it does winning games and spending money on worthy players.

I'm gonna start off with the Hawks. Aside from picking up talented kids in the draft, the only moves they've made we're keeping Joe Johnson and acquiring Mike Bibby from the Kings.

These were key moves in my opinion—but the guy they needed to worry about was Josh Smith.

A player of his caliber should've already had a contract extension. Instead, he's looking around in free agency. It's not easy to find a small forward who defends and brings it to the rim like him.

Obviously, the organization has other problems as well—such as Josh Childress, who was a complimentary player that got his fair share of minutes, then decided to bolt and head overseas to a team that will actually pay its players.

The Braves have always been my favorite baseball team. This is an organization who keeps young talent. Their farm system is top-notch.

But along with young talent, a team has to have veteran leadership to steer those guys to the right path. Chipper Jones is having a great year so far, but he can only lead so many.

Last year, Smoltz was healthy, Chipper and Andruw Jones were tutoring Jeff Francoeur and Brian McCann, and the last minute trade of Mark Teixiera looked like it had some potential.

Okay, you can't blame management for the poor play of Francoeur, and it's looking like a good move to let Andruw go out west. but every year I wait for the Braves to make a big move in free agency. I'm still waiting. Still waiting on the team to spend some cash to bring seasoned talent to the roster. Maybe next year we'll get 'em.

And let's not forget about the Falcons. I've never really been a Falcons fan, but I do follow the team. They just don't know how to spend their money. All that money to Mike Vick flushed down the toilet. The little time Bobby Petrino spent in Atlanta was the biggest waste of time I've ever seen on both parts. In the last two seasons, the team's draft classes haven't been up to par. I guess they'll have to wait until Vick gets out before they'll win again.