I'm referring to whether the Hawks, the Falcons, the Thrashers or the Braves can generate a season within the next couple of millenniums that might keep the events of Oct. 28, 1995, at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium from resembling a fluke.

That was the night of the second-loudest Baseball crowd I've heard inside these city limits. As for No. 1, nothing will surpass the eternal stomping and screaming that occurred after Francisco Cabrera's hit and Sid Bream's slide.

But back to No. 2, when David Justice's homer gave the Braves their only run against the Cleveland Indians, and Mark Wohlers followed Tom Glavine's eight innings of shutout pitching with a save. Then the Braves' old ballpark became a noise factory again.

Soon after that World Series victory was official, I roamed center field, about where Marquis Grissom squeezed the final out. I hadn't a choice. Players, team officials, coaches. Nobody wanted to leave the area, in order to savor the moment, so you had to interview folks on the field.

While those associated with the Braves alternated between smiling, crying and dancing (you know, with a few interviews in between), the crowd hollered louder and louder as they kept blaring Bachman-Turner Overdrive's quot;Takin' Care of Businessquot; over the PA system.

I remember thinking from an Atlanta standpoint: It can't get better than this, and it hasn't. And it won't. Not until one of these teams becomes more than just good, which is the Hawks' problem in the playoffs against the Miami Heat.

Elite NBA teams have an elite player, such as the Heat's Dwyane Wade, and Joe Johnson is the Hawks' best player, but he's only good, just like the Hawks.

The Falcons also are only good. Still, with suddenly enlightened management and coaching, they have a chance for a breakthrough, but they need back-to-back winning seasons first. They've yet to do that in their existence.

Elsewhere, courtesy of decent starting pitching, promising youth and future Hall of Famers Chipper Jones at third base and Bobby Cox in the dugout, the Braves are only good (see a pattern here?).

The Thrashers, not so much. Ilya Kovalchuk is the only overwhelming star on a flawed roster, and he could bolt after next season as an unrestricted free agent.

This isn't to say the two major colleges around Atlanta have fared better. In football, Georgia had a national championship in 1980, and Georgia Tech managed one 10 years later. Neither has come close since.

But that's another column.

Editor's note: This is Terence Moore's last column for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Terence has decided to take a voluntary buyout, ending a stellar 24 years as a sports columnist. Terence sums up his time this way: quot;My objective was to get people to think, not to agree or disagree, just to get people to think.quot; We thank him for making all of us think and wish him the best as he moves on to new endeavors.