This isn’t the time to wonder how much pain was eased in a sports market Saturday night. Because, really, it’s not fair to suggest that a two-year-old franchise from an upstart, millennial-cool soccer league winning a championship is going to make people forget 28-3, Jim Leyritz, Jack Morris or second-and-26.



But this much is certain: Regardless of where soccer ranks among your list of sports passions, regardless of where the MLS ranks on the global spectrum of the sport, what happened Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium was anything but minor league.



Look. Listen.



Was this Atlanta … at a sports event … with an Atlanta team … in a championship moment?



“If there were 7,300 people here, that would be one thing,” said Arthur Blank, who owns Atlanta United and the Falcons — and until there’s a change in fortunes, we will list the teams in that order. “The fact that you have 73,000 people...