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I live in the Bay Area, but I know several friends that have not been as fortunate as I have in terms of quality sports teams to root for. For example, friends down in San Diego have been dying to see their team win a championship. And my friends in Seattle were relieved to get the no-championship monkey off their back when the Seahawks won the Super Bowl. In honor of my friends still waiting for a sports championship (and in some cases, some sort of playoff win), here's a list of cities (in no particular order) that I consider terrible places to be a sports fan right now (note: city only counts if more than 1 sports team, for this reason several cities, such as Charlotte and Raleigh, have been consolidated into one):
Buffalo: 4 SBs in a row. 0 wins to show for. Last time those Bills were in the playoffs? You'd have to go back to the previous millennium. Oh yeah, and how have those Sabres done? Well, 0 Stanley Cups, with some playoff appearances that have pretty much fizzled out...
Kansas City: The Chiefs might be experiencing a renaissance under Andy Reid, but you'd have to go back even further than the Bills to find the Royals last postseason appearance (in 1985, when they actually won a WS, currently the longest postseason drought in the MLB). And, as for the Chiefs, it only "might" be a renaissance, after several years of mediocrity and short playoff appearances. Last Super Bowl? All I know was that it came before the Vietnam War ended...
San Diego: Sure, the Chargers made a run at it last year, but unfortunately they aren't the type of team built for a deep playoff run, yet. No SB title, by the way. And the Padres? Give me a break. No WS, either...
Charlotte/Raleigh: Unless you're a die hard hockey fan (the Hurricanes won the Cup during the last decade), there really isn't much to show for in the state of North Carolina professional sports. Cam Newton has done some good things for the Panthers, but he's not the type to inspire much confidence in Super Bowl titles in the near future. No SB title for the Panthers. And the Hornets, well, let's not go there...
Cleveland/Columbus: The most tortured of sports cities according to several sources. Cleveland's last actual title came in 1948, when their Indians won the WS. Since then, it's been all downhill. The Browns have not even made a Super Bowl and don't look like they'll make one anytime soon, and the Cavs (and, according to some, the whole city of Cleveland) were killed when Lebron James ditched. The hockey team Cleveland fans root for is located in Columbus (and shared with Cincy fans), but the Blue Jackets aren't exactly the Kings, Blackhawks, Bruins, or Red Wings...
Phoenix: Of all the American cities with 4 professional sports teams, Phoenix has the fewest titles to show for (just the 2001 WS). The Cardinals came close in 2008, but then Santonio Holmes happened to them. The Suns and the Coyotes have not won anything either. At least for me, the only team in Phoenix that inspires the slightest bit of confidence in me are the Cardinals. The Coyotes have been talking about relocating for awhile, and in my opinion, it's all for the best...
Atlanta: The Braves are the only team from Atlanta that won a league title, and it came before I was born. Since then, the Braves have been consistent, but unable to get that postseason series win. The Falcons looked good in 2012, but absolutely horrible in 2013. What does 2014 bring? Even if 2014 looks good, the Falcons don't look like they'll win their first SB anytime soon. The Hawks haven't won anything in the basketball world either. And, just for laughs, the hockey team they used to have now plays in Winnipeg (not exactly a bad thing, considering how pathetic they were in Atlanta)...
Washington D.C.: The capital of our nation doesn't necessarily translate into the capital of our nation's sports world. Of their four teams, the Redskins are the only to flash league titles, and they've been mostly atrocious as of recent. The Nationals or the Capitals come the closest to flashing D.C.'s next title, but they're still a ways away. The Wizards had a good season last time around, but still, 0 NBA titles, and after several terrible years...
Toronto: Their hockey team can flash all the Cup titles they want, but the Leafs' last title came a long, long time ago (in the good ol' 60s), and only recently have they been competitive again. The Blue Jays own a miserable 20 year postseason drought (the last of which led to their 2nd WS title in as many years), though that could end this year based on the way they're playing. The Raptors actually made the playoffs last season, but that was after years of futility, and they have no NBA titles. So maybe it's cool to be a sports fan in Toronto right now, I don't know, but after years and years of badness I just feel Toronto will need more than 1 good sports year to get off this list...
Tampa Bay: The Bucs SB, the Lightning's Cup, and even the Rays 2008 postseason appearance are growing ever distant. The Bucs don't look good. The Lightning aren't real contenders. And the Rays don't look like they'll be making another WS soon...
Houston: The Rockets' last title also came before I was born. The Astros are coming off of 3 100+ loss seasons in a row. The Texans may rebound in 2014, but that was after going 2-14. Having been founded in 2002, one could forgive the Texans for their overall futility, but that doesn't really provide any silver lining for Houston fans...
Minneapolis/St. Paul: Things aren't good in Twin Cities. The Twins aren't WS material. We'll see how the Vikings fare next year, but I don't see many positives. Nor do I see many positives in the Timberwolves or the Wild. 'Nuff said. And, by the way, the Twins are the only ones with a league title up there, and their last one came 2 decades ago...
Nashville/Memphis: It must suck to be a pro-sports fan in Tennessee. No team between the two major cities has ever won a league title. The Titans fell less than a yard short some years ago, but the reason the Titans were in the SB in the first place was more because the Buffalo Bills went full retard on a kickoff coverage, so I don't really have much sympathy for them or their fans. The Grizzlies are the definition of mediocre, and the Predators aren't really the definition of NHL contenders...
Oakland: I guess you consider this an honorable mention, especially since quite a number of people in the Bay Area mix up their teams between Oakland and San Francisco (many A's fans are also Niner fans, many Giants fans are also Raider fans, and we all root for the Warriors). However, for the most part, the A's and the Raiders go together. Another reason this is an honorable mention is because the A's seem to have overtaken the Rangers as the dominant AL West player. Still, they'll need to get over the postseason series victory hump to be actually taken seriously. Their last title came in 1989, when they beat the Giants (my favorite baseball team). And things have been real tough for the Raiders (last playoff appearance 2002, last SB victory in LA). The Warriors finally look good, but unfortunately not NBA championship good yet...
My list is really long, I know that, but it just goes to show you that the sports world ain't fair. And, unfortunately, for most people their professional sports world just sucks right now. But hey, the chances are really high (almost 100% according to one source) that you'll see one of your favorite teams win a league championship. So (among other things of course) keep rooting for your teams, even if they look absolutely terrible right now, and I can pretty much guarantee you it will pay off in the future.
Disagree with anything on this list? Think another city should be added? Feel free to comment! But please, please, please keep your sports fandom to a minimum.
Last edited by IAmARandomAnonymousUser; 06-24-2014 at 02:34 PM..
Nashville/Memphis: It must suck to be a pro-sports fan in Tennessee. No team between the two major cities has ever won a league title. The Titans fell less than a yard short some years ago, but the reason the Titans were in the SB in the first place was more because the Buffalo Bills went full retard on a kickoff coverage, so I don't really have much sympathy for them or their fans. The Grizzlies are the definition of mediocre, and the Predators aren't really the definition of NHL contenders...
Nashville is a very young sports city compared to long suffering fans in Buffalo and Cleveland.
OP... your information about Cleveland in regards to championships is flawed. The last championship for the city was in 1964 when the Cleveland Browns stunned the Baltimore Colts in the NFL Championship game 27-0. Back then it wasn't called the Super Bowl, but it does count! The Super Bowl is a glorified word for championship! Yes I understand "what have you done for me lately" but total... the Browns have 4 AAFC titles, and 4 NFL titles. Secondly, despite the losing Browns fans are some of the best fans in the NFL. You have to be to continue to support the team despite their horrible win-loss record since their return. With each year there brings new hope. Let's not forget we're the first fanbase to fight for the name, history, and colors to stay behind when Modell moved the original franchise to Baltimore. You can't say that about any other fanbases.
Let's not forget we're the first fanbase to fight for the name, history, and colors to stay behind when Modell moved the original franchise to Baltimore. You can't say that about any other fanbases.
More like first fan base to manage to keep name, history, and colors. Tried to keep Colts references in Baltimore, ignored by Irsay and NFL.
Oakland shouldn't be on the list....we have the A's and Warriors, both great now and historically. The Raiders are a stain, but they have been great historically. Probably the lowest point in Oakland sports was 1997, when the A's were the worst team in baseball, the Raiders went 4-12 and the Warriors, along with a usually terrible season, had Sprewell choking Carlisimo at a team practice.
For the poll, I chose San Diego. Cleveland's history has been more "painful" with close moments (and they're a stronger sports town), but San Diego hasn't even come close, other than being throttled by two very dominant teams in a pair of World Series.
PS, way to make me feel old by stating you weren't even alive in 1995
Buffalo has suffered pretty badly but ther'yre a 2 team town... still though... the 4 straight super bowl losses in the early 90s and the Buffalo Sabres failures of late and their last STanley Cup appearance in 1999 I believe is pretty tough pill to swallow. I voted for them.
This city are proud fans of their sports teams but boy have they suffered.....
Tampa shouldn't be on this list... has had recent success with the Rays even though no championships and the Lightning won the Stanley Cup 10 years ago and has enjoyed recent successes even without championships of late. Bucs also won a Super Bowl earlier in the 2000s...
Washington DC is certainly a good one.... although DC can sometimes be linked with Baltimore and they've done well of late particularly with the Ravens. But sticking strictly to DC... have to go back to what, 90 or 91 when the Skins won the Super Bowl for last championship?
By the way, in terms of the amount of championships netted, I would have also included Seattle, New Orleans, Denver, and Indianapolis, but because their football teams have performed well as of recent I left them off. Also tempted to put Cincinnati on the list (after all, their last championship came in 1990, with the Reds winning a WS, and the Bengals, as good as they've been performing, still are looking for their first playoff win in a while), but I don't know, something kept me from doing so.
Oh.. ok then.. so no Baltimore fans in DC and no skins fans in Baltimore?
Actually, that's pretty much the case.
Sure, you'll find a few, but it was pretty well proven when the Colts left. Some people thought that with the Colts gone, football fans in Baltimore would start following the Washington team. That just didn't happen. The team in DC had been there before the bankrupt AAFC Miami Seahawks moved to Baltimore to become the original Colts, and they never left DC, so there was no reason for a DC fan to follow the Baltimore team.
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Let's not forget we're the first fanbase to fight for the name, history, and colors to stay behind when Modell moved the original franchise to Baltimore. You can't say that about any other fanbases.
