ATLANTA — After a year of partial seasons and canceled games in 2020 due to the pandemic, it's safe to say that 2021 was the year that sports returned to the spotlight in Georgia.
From the Atlanta Hawks breaking countless records last season and making it only two wins away from an NBA final appearance to the Braves bringing home a World Series win for the first time in 26 years, it seemed like the stars were aligned for a Bulldog victory.
As UGA ran in their final touchdown Monday night earning the national championship title and rounding out a year of victory for Georgia sports, those in Atlanta said the feeling was electric.
“It was wall-to-wall people. A sea of people in red screaming at the TV," Gale Neal said of the atmosphere inside Smith's Olde Bar.
Emily Citarella said she could hear people cheering outside her home, "at midnight when the game was over everyone was screaming from their balconies.”
Just hours after the game, people took to social media giving Georgia sports a virtual pat on the back. Former American Basketball player Renee Montgomery declared that it wasn't a bad year for Georgia sports. Others posted picture collages showcasing the Hawks, Braves, and UGA with captions like 'The Year of Georgia'. Some tweeted that the Braves and Georgia both winning titles in the same season means the Georgia sports curse is officially broken.
Some fans said that while they're eager to see what 2022 will bring and whether this momentum will continue, it's clear that Georgia sports have united fans this year.
“It’s something that everyone can be excited about. It brings our country and state and all of these different people back together again," Citarella adds.
