Atlanta every day is an opening day

Sizzling Summer Sports

Baseball, golf and more top the lineup in May and June

The Atlanta Braves continue their quest for a World Series title, with the team welcoming the San Diego Padres May 6-8; Oakland A's May 16-18; New York Mets May 20-22; and Arizona Diamondbacks May 23-26.

Coming to town the following month are the Florida Marlins (June 2-5); Philadelphia Phillies (June 6-8); Seattle Mariners (June 20-22); and Milwaukee Brewers (June 23-25).

Special summertime giveaways include Mark Teixeira Bobble Head Statues (for the first 15,000 fans) May 21; Brian McCann Bobble Head Statues (for the first 15,000 fans) June 25; and Jeff Francoeur T-shirts (for the first 10,000 fans) June 4.

While at Turner Field, be sure to check out the Ivan Allen Jr. Braves Museum & Hall of Fame to see more than 500 artifacts and the new Braves of the World exhibit. The museum is open year-round and is the starting point of one-hour guided stadium tours, offered on both game and nongame days, and include the new SunTrust Club; Sky Field; a Braves luxury suite; the press box, broadcast booth, clubhouse (locker room) and dugout; Scouts Alley; and the newly expanded Museum Store.


Atlanta's Arena Football team, the Georgia Force, continues its season at The Arena at Gwinnett Center under head coach Doug Plank. Check out action-packed games against the New Orleans VooDoo May 3 at 7 p.m., Philadelphia Soul May 12 at 8 p.m., Tampa Bay Storm May 31 at 7 p.m., and the final home game of the regular season against the Chicago Rush June 14 at 7 p.m.

The Atlanta Silverbacks men's soccer team plays its home games throughout May and June at RE/MAX Greater Atlanta Stadium. The schedule includes match-ups against Seattle (May 2); Minnesota (May 16); Carolina (May 31); Puerto Rico (June 6 and 21); and Portland (June 28).

Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS) in Hampton hosts Thursday Thunder June 5-Aug. 7, a weekly Legends, Bandolero and Thunder Roadsters summer racing series featuring a kid-friendly environment that includes autograph sessions, a rock-climbing wall, clowns, face-painters and carnival games.

Nightly special events include church leaders competing in the Faster Pastor race, trivia games, a backward race, mascot race, trailer race and more. Thursday Thunder takes place every Thursday at 6 p.m., with kids admitted for just $1 while adults pay only $5.

Other summertime events at AMS include the Mopar Southern Classic, the North Georgia Mopar Club's annual car show, May 2 and 3; the Major League of Monster Trucks competing in high speed races May 3; the Street Warriorz National Tour, including live music, a huge car show and stereo contest, May 30; a Drag Racing & Car Show June 6; the NAPA Southern National Goodguys Rod & Custom Show June 13-15; and the Cas-trol GTX Friday Night Drags and Show-N-Shine Car Show June 20-Aug. 29.

Drift Atlanta is set for May 9 and May 10 at Road Atlanta in Braselton. This Formula Drift competition is a high-skill, high-powered motorsports event that calls for drivers to control cars while sliding sideways at high speeds through a marked course. Other events this May and June at Road Atlanta include The Mitty (May 2-4); the Year One Experience (May 16-18); SCCA National (May 31-June 1); and WERA Cycle Jam (June 27-29).

The best professional beach volleyball players in the U.S. and the world return to Atlantic Station May 30-June 1 for the AVP Atlanta Open, the eighth event of the 2008 Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) Crocs Tour, featuring more than 150 of the sport's top competitors.

The 49th Masters Water Ski & Wakeboard Tournament takes place May 23-25, when some of the world's greatest male and female water-skiers and wakeboarkers converge on Robin Lake at Callaway Gardens, in nearby Pine Mountain, Ga.


The AT&T Classic will be played May 12-18 at TPC Sugarloaf. Turning 40 and still going strong, the PGA Tour tournament will offer a total purse of $5.5 million, with professionals who are expected to try and capture the title from reigning champ Zach Johnson including the always exciting Camillo Villegas, former Georgia Tech star and Sugarloaf resident Stewart Cink and many more.

-Adapted from the May/June Atlanta Now magazine, originally written by Wendy Bowman-Littler

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