(06-19-2016 10:13 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  Can someone throw Houston a pity party? Few places have had to deal with as much heartbreak as sports fans around here.

(06-20-2016 12:35 AM)_C2_ Wrote:  Really, every Astros playoffs team except the '05 team and they weren't without an OMG moment (the Pujols 26th-out bomb HR off Lidge).

(06-20-2016 08:55 AM)adcorbett Wrote:  I was thinking about this, so which city is on the clock?

Criteria:

1) General area must have at least one team in the three of the four major sports
2) Must have actually won a title at some point to be eligible (for example, North Carolina is not eligible)
3) Must have had at least one team make it back to a championship game since the last title, with heartbreak (i.e. you can't just suck)

Off the top of my head, I think Washington might be up (no the Ravens absolutely do not count). I think the Skins last won in 90 or 91. No Stanley Cups. No Walter O'Brien trophies. Although they might fail rule number 3, as neither the Nati'nals (nor the Orioles when they were the city's adopted team) have made the world series since then.

Maybe it is Houston and Atlanta vying for the crown? Maybe Toronto, if we include the Bills to qualify via rule number three, but that was within one calendar year of a World Series. Minneapolis is in there as well, but again, hasn't made it back to a title game to even qualify.

But, I can't think of any city that has been waiting for more than 25 or 26 years for a title, at least among cities with 3 teams or more, so none are as long as the wait in Cleveland. San Diego might be the closest with their last title being an AFL Championship in the 60's, but depends on if you want to count the Clippers or not as the third team, despite leaving 30 plus years ago.

(06-20-2016 11:22 AM)vandiver49 Wrote:  

(06-20-2016 08:55 AM)adcorbett Wrote:  I was thinking about this, so which city is on the clock?

Criteria:

1) General area must have at least one team in the three of the four major sports
2) Must have actually won a title at some point to be eligible (for example, North Carolina is not eligible)
3) Must have had at least one team make it back to a championship game since the last title, with heartbreak (i.e. you can't just suck)

Off the top of my head, I think Washington might be up (no the Ravens absolutely do not count). I think the Skins last won in 90 or 91. No Stanley Cups. No Walter O'Brien trophies. Although they might fail rule number 3, as neither the Nati'nals (nor the Orioles when they were the city's adopted team) have made the world series since then.

Maybe it is Houston and Atlanta vying for the crown? Maybe Toronto, if we include the Bills to qualify via rule number three, but that was within one calendar year of a World Series. Minneapolis is in there as well, but again, hasn't made it back to a title game to even qualify.

But, I can't think of any city that has been waiting for more than 25 or 26 years for a title, at least among cities with 3 teams or more, so none are as long as the wait in Cleveland. San Diego might be the closest with their last title being an AFL Championship in the 60's, but depends on if you want to count the Clippers or not as the third team, despite leaving 30 plus years ago.

There isn't any other city that qualifies IMO. No city has had there soul ripped out more times with a city that has been nicknamed 'The Mistake by the Lake'. Atlanta doesn't count IMO because lets be honest, most in the city and the state would trade pro sport success for one more Dawg MNC. It's just not the same. Moreover, as a sunbelt city, ATL and HOU just don't have the brutal winters and the short dark days that feed into such a mythology.

On a guess I would say either Philly or Buffalo would be the leaders in the clubhouse for cities with existential sports angst.

(06-20-2016 01:14 PM)_C2_ Wrote:  

(06-20-2016 11:22 AM)vandiver49 Wrote:  

(06-20-2016 08:55 AM)adcorbett Wrote:  I was thinking about this, so which city is on the clock?

Criteria:

1) General area must have at least one team in the three of the four major sports
2) Must have actually won a title at some point to be eligible (for example, North Carolina is not eligible)
3) Must have had at least one team make it back to a championship game since the last title, with heartbreak (i.e. you can't just suck)

Off the top of my head, I think Washington might be up (no the Ravens absolutely do not count). I think the Skins last won in 90 or 91. No Stanley Cups. No Walter O'Brien trophies. Although they might fail rule number 3, as neither the Nati'nals (nor the Orioles when they were the city's adopted team) have made the world series since then.

Maybe it is Houston and Atlanta vying for the crown? Maybe Toronto, if we include the Bills to qualify via rule number three, but that was within one calendar year of a World Series. Minneapolis is in there as well, but again, hasn't made it back to a title game to even qualify.

But, I can't think of any city that has been waiting for more than 25 or 26 years for a title, at least among cities with 3 teams or more, so none are as long as the wait in Cleveland. San Diego might be the closest with their last title being an AFL Championship in the 60's, but depends on if you want to count the Clippers or not as the third team, despite leaving 30 plus years ago.

There isn't any other city that qualifies IMO. No city has had there soul ripped out more times with a city that has been nicknamed 'The Mistake by the Lake'. Atlanta doesn't count IMO because lets be honest, most in the city and the state would trade pro sport success for one more Dawg MNC. It's just not the same. Moreover, as a sunbelt city, ATL and HOU just don't have the brutal winters and the short dark days that feed into such a mythology.

On a guess I would say either Philly or Buffalo would be the leaders in the clubhouse for cities with existential sports angst.

You

Are

Wrong

---------------------

As a matter of fact, most sports cities are like Cleveland. My top ten, in no order:

Buffalo

Phoenix

Atlanta

Houston

San Diego

Toronto

Portland

Washington

Milwaukee

Minneapolis-St. Paul

Also considered: Salt Lake City, New Orleans, Indianapolis, Montreal, Charlotte, Seattle

(06-20-2016 02:50 PM)adcorbett Wrote:  Minneapolis currently has the longest drought among cities with at least three teams, with their last win being the Twins in 91. The Twins came close a couple of times since, The Wolves got close once when Garnett was the MVP, the Vikings had the Super Bowl in their hands in 1998 and their kicker missed a chip shot field goal, the first kick of any kind he had missed all year, and the Wild... well they were born since then.

With the longest current drought, having to watch their hockey team leave town and then win a championship (something they shared with Cleveland), with 4 super bowl losses, a fluke super bowl miss, and constant threats of having their baseball team contracted for about a decade, I think Minneapolis has Houston beat for this.

Sorry C2

(06-20-2016 04:51 PM)vandiver49 Wrote:  You are sadly mistaken if you think anyone in Atlanta would shed tears or genuflect some star if any of Atlanta's pro sports team won a title. Again, if UGA won sure but that is the only comparable situation. Even if teams are losers, it doesn't psychology depress the fans or or the failure seen as a metaphor of the city.