By: TJ Hartnett

GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services

The Hawks have been in Atlanta for half a century and haven’t won a single NBA Championship. The Falcons have been in Atlanta for 52 years and haven’t won a single Super Bowl. The Braves have been in Atlanta the same amount of time and have one World Series Championship to their credit, 23 years ago.

 The city of Atlanta broke through seasons and years of futility and heartbreak and was delivered a second championship by Atlanta United, who defeated the Portland Timbers 2-0 to win the MLS Cup. It was their second year of existence.

It is a triumph in so many ways for the team and for the city. Aside from the brevity of the club’s tenure in the league and ending of Atlanta’s championship drought, there was the passion with which the state’s capital embraced a new professional sports franchise. This is no easy feat for a town where pro sports come in a distant second to college athletics.

But the fans showed up for Atlanta United since the beginning, with Mercedes Benz Stadium housing six of the seven best-attended regular season games in MLS history, not to mention setting a new MLS All-Star Game attendance record this past summer. They did that again,breaking the previous attendance record for an MLS Cup Finals game – by over10,000.

As with any major championship, there were story lines aplenty. Among the biggest going into the match was the imminent departure of United’s Coach Tata Martino.

Martino announced that he would not be renewing his contract following the season’s conclusion (he’s been strongly linked with the Mexican National Team’s vacant head coach position).

It also seems somewhat likely that it was the final match for Miguel Almiron, the young star who finished second in the MLS MVP voting this year. He left the match in stoppage time and the goodbye seemed to mean a little more than a usual sendoff, unofficially confirming the rumors that he’ll be making the move to Europe.

The man Almiron finished behind in that MVP vote, Josef Martinez, scored Atlanta’s first goal in the 39^th minute of the game.

It couldn’t have been written better. Martinez has been the face of this team, a superstar who led the league in scoring, bringing constant energy to the club and the city of Atlanta since its inception. He added another trophy to his mantle;the MLS Cup MVP went home with him as well.

There was also the story of Michael Parkhurst, who in four previous attempts in an MLS Finals match failed to come away with the big win. He was brought to Atlanta to be a leader and was made the club’s first-ever captain. He led them to that elusive win, feeding the ball to Martinez for that first goal.

Veteran goalkeeper Brad Guzan played a starring role in United’s victory on Saturday as well, making several stellar saves, including a gasp-inducing save on what would have been the equalizer in the 43^rd minute.

Franco Escobar doubled the score in the 54^th minute and the Five Stripes cruised to a well-deserved and exciting victory in front of a hometown crowd that may still be celebrating in the streets as you read this.

Atlanta has suffered its fair share of heartbreak. Arguably several shares of heartbreak when it comes to pro sports, but the newest kid on the block did not disappoint when it came time to shine on the big stage.

It’s a cathartic moment for the city and one that can only cause an already thriving fanbase to grow. Atlanta will never stop being a football town but it may find the term “football” to be a little more encompassing now.