Empire of the South.

Matt Ryan, Jason Heyward, and Josh Smith, three players who have changed the face of Atlanta sports. In a state where college football is king these three youngsters are turning heads and changing franchises. Matt Ryan was brought into Atlanta and given a Falcons jersey to try to pick up the pieces the Mike Vick era left.

“Matty Ice” had no problem filling these shoes and gave Falcon fans something to cheer about throwing a TD on his first NFL pass and leading the team to back to back winning seasons for the first time in the franchises long history.

Jason Heyward had people flocking to Gwinnett while playing with the Braves’ AAA affiliate and now has people making the drive into Atlanta to watch him at Turner Field. The “J-Hey Kid” turned heads in spring training and now has Braves fans pouring money into the clubhouse store to get his number 22 on their back.

Josh Smith has truly turned Phillips Arena into the “Highlight Factory”.“J-Smoove” and Joe Johnson are the team’s true leader but nothing brings NBA fans in like big blocks and thunderous dunks. They have brought some hope and excitement back into Atlanta and show no signs of slowing down.

My earliest memories of the Braves are listing to Skip Carey with my grandpa during cool evenings in the midst of a Georgia summer, the Braves were the best and as a young aspiring baseball player I was hooked. I wore the number 31 in honor of Greg Maddox during my first season of “kid pitch” and wanted so badly to wear the Braves logo across my chest. Growing up I watched the Braves win division title after division title until 2005. It really seemed odd not seeing the Braves in the playoffs that year, almost felt unnatural. I know now how very spoiled when it came to being a baseball fan and soon realized how precious every division title really is.

The Braves fell and the days of summer soon lagged until college football picked up. Jason Heyward has brought the excitement back to Atlanta that it lost in 2005. He has people watching from home, listening in their cars, and paying to get to the stadium, everyone has caught J-Hey Fever. When I went to the game you can just feel the anticipation when he’s on deck and it’s amazing the applause this kid brings in when his name is announced over the loud speakers. Now I’m happy to see kids wearing “Heyward” across their backs and bringing back the dream of playing baseball as a kid. It’s a great feeling to see my brother watch the TV bug-eyed as Heyward steps into the batters box, baseball can be a magical place to create memories if you’re in the right spot. And right now, Braves’ Country is the right spot.

I admit I doubted when I saw Matt Ryan holding up the Falcon jersey on draft day but he silences all of his critics on his first pass. I remember being in third grade and seeing Chris Chandler and Jamal Anderson lead the Falcons into a Superbowl, I also remember them getting trampled by the powerhouse Denver Broncos. I also was sucked into Atlanta sports when the Falcons selected #1 overall pick Mike Vick and with amazement watching playoff run that was ended by the Eagles in 2003. I was one of the first to buy Madden 2004 with Vick on the cover and quickly had a jersey of my own. Living in Flowery Branch you can feel the energy this team brings, but you can also feel when the team is down. I saw everyday the protesters outside of the Falcons complex and the absolute anger fans had. I watched as people began to lose interest as Joey Harrington struggled and I realized how hard it is to cheer for a bad team. But in a blink of an eye that passion was brought back by Matt Ryan. Leading the team into a loss Arizona Cardinals in the playoffs during his rookie season had people thrilled to be a Falcon’s fan but when just a little bit of the air was let out of the Atlanta sails but GM Thomas Dimitroff acted quickly and brought in top TE Tony Gonzales and people began talking Superbowl. Ryan has become the face of the franchise and has stepped into the role with ease leading the team to back to back winning seasons. Can this Falcon team bring back the excitement that the 1998 Superbowl run brought? Time will only tell.

Josh Smith was unknown to me until he was drafted by the Hawks. I watched the Hawks go from unwatchable to can’t miss TV, bringing in Joe Johnson really tied the knots for the Hawks but its Josh Smith that has changed the look of Hawks basketball. The Hawks use to be on “PAX TV” the same network that ‘Touched by an Angel’ Diagnosis Murder’ and ‘DOC’ (Starring Billy Ray Cyrus) were all on, now they have games on ESPN and TNT. It’s amazing the turn around this team had and Josh Smith was right in the middle of it. His atheism was quickly accepted by the Atlanta fans and his jersey became a quick seller, nothing will beat the excitement when Smith said the Hawks would “Shock the World” when they played the #1 seeded Boston Celtics in the 2008 Playoffs, you would’ve thought the Hawks had won the championship when they beat Boston in ame six in Phillips Arena. The excitement was back, Dominique Wilkins brought it to Atlanta during his era and now Josh Smith has harnessed it and it’s his time to shine. With Joe Johnson at the driver’s seat, Al Horford bringing a verbal presence and Jamal Crawford coming off the bench this championship equation is almost solved. The Hawks have a ligament chance of playing for a NBA Title this year and you can feel the excitement. Move over Sharif Abdul Raheem! The Hawks have a new face for this franchise.

On the flip side of all this, Jason Heyward’s start is very similar to Jeff Francoeur’s, Mike Vick had jersey’s flying off the shelves like Ryan’s, and Joe Johnson has tossed around the idea of free agency. In an instant all this could go away, but for now it is a great week to be an Atlanta fan, no matter what sport you root for.