Atlanta goes for a rare sports title in MLS Cup final

ATLANTA >> A city that has known plenty of sporting heartbreak is one win from a championship. It sure has been a while.

Atlanta hasn’t won a major professional title since the Braves captured the 1995 World Series. A 2-year-old soccer team has a chance to end the drought when Atlanta United hosts the Portland Timbers in the MLS Cup final Saturday night before an expected crowd of 73,000 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“I was texting the mayor the other evening,” United owner Arthur Blank said. “She’s already planned on a parade, so she’s ahead of me. We haven’t a parade in Atlanta, a sports-related parade, since 1995. God willing and play willing, we’ll be in position to do that again next week.”

Blank was on hand for perhaps the city’s biggest disappointment. He also owns the Falcons, who reached the Super Bowl for just the second time in 2016, only to squander a 25-point lead late in the third quarter. The Patriots rallied for a 34-28 victory in overtime.