In our final article, we take a look at some of the worst sports cities in North America based on their championship records. Some cities, for reasons that are beyond you and me, simply suck at winning the big game or are completely terrible and can’t even make it to the big game at all. Here are some of those franchises listed in no particular order( we believe you’ll be surprised by a few).
The Ugly
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia have some of the most devoted fans in all of sports. Unfortunately, this article isn’t about how devoted your fans are to your favorite team or city but how well your teams do when it counts the most – winning the big game. Philadelphia racks up an impressive 13 championship finals appearances. This number might be deceiving though because the city’s overall record out of 13 is a staggering 2-11. That’s right folks. Since 1980, the city of Philadelphia has only won twice in 13 appearances. No wonder why the fans are so passionate in that North-Eastern State. If you were to count rioting and lynchings as being passionate about a city than Philadelphia ranks as #1. I would be pissed off too if my city only won twice in 13 appearances. The NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers have made it 4 times to the Stanley Cup Finals since 1980 and have lost all 4 times.The NFL’s Eagles have had multiple chances in the post-season but haven’t been nearly as successful as they should be. They haven’t won 1 Super Bowl and hold a 0-2 record in the big game since 1980. MLB’s Philadelphia Phillies have at least done marginally better by winning at least 1 World Series in that time span and hold a 1-2 record overall. The NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers were the one bright spot winning an NBA Title in 1983 against the Los Angeles Lakers thanks to the help of Hall Of Famers Julius Erving and Moses Malone. They would make it back 3 times with their most recent finals appearance being in 2001 but haven’t won another championship since that amazing 1983 year. Philadelphia has little trouble making it to the big game. The answer to that city’s troubles is to simply win one more game or series and finish #1 instead of the runner-up position.
Buffalo, New York.
Buffalo holds a dismal record of 0-5. The NFL’s Buffalo Bills have made it to the Super Bowl 4 times since 1980 and have yet to win it once. The Bills also had the opportunity to go to the Super Bowl 4 years in a row with the same collection of players and failed all 4 times. For some teams, the third attempt was lucky but for the Bills not even 4 times in a row was any luck to them. The NHL’s Buffalo Sabres made it to the Cup Finals in 1999 before losing in triple overtime in game 7 thanks to a goal by Dallas’ Bret Hull. The goal was considered controversial because Hull’s skate was considered to be in the crease at the time of the goal which wouldn’t make the goal stand. The goal is considered to be one of the top 5 worst officiating calls in sports history. This again led no championship for Buffalo who have yet to see a single championship in that city since 1980.
Atlanta, Georgia.
The city of Atlanta holds a 1-5 record overall. MLB’s Atlanta Braves are most recently known for their ongoing record of 14 consecutive division championships from 1991 to 2005 which is the most in any professional North American sport. Yet out of these 14 division titles, they’ve only won once in 5 attempts and that was in the strike-shortened season of 1995. It’s unbelievable how an organization can win a division 14 times and only have 1 championship in those 14 years. Meanwhile, the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks have yet to make it to a single NBA Finals once since 1980. The NFL’s Atlanta Falcons made it to the Super Bowl once in 1998 but lost to the Denver Broncos and haven’t returned since. The NHL’s Atlanta Thrashers are still considered an expansion team so we’ll cut them some slack but they’ve yet to even make the playoffs yet since their first game back in 1999. The city of Atlanta needs another team besides the Braves to make it to the finals and they need their Braves to win in the finals when it counts because Division Titles don’t mean anything unless you have a World Series Title sitting besides it.
Cleveland, Ohio.
The Cleveland Indians have made it twice to the World Series since 1980 and have lost both times. There was even a Hollywood Comedic film called ‘Major League’ that was based on The Cleveland Indians baseball organization and how they sucked so bad. The Cleveland Cavaliers basketball organization hasn’t done any better not making it to a single NBA Finals since 1980. Their hopes now rest with NBA Superstar Lebron James to lead them out of the gutter and possibly to their first NBA Finals appearance in a very long time. The Cleveland Browns relocated to Baltimore in 1996 after their owner was in debt and needed a new stadium built. The city sued and managed to retain the team’s colours,logos, and team name. In 1999, the city was awarded an NFL team once again which they appropriately called the Browns. If you countt the time from 1980-1996 and the new franchise since 1999; you get a combined record of 0. The Browns from before as well as the Browns today still suck and have yet to go to the Super Bowl once. Meanwhile, their buddies over in Baltimore, with the combination of players from the old Browns club, managed to win a Super Bowl in 2000 while the city of Cleveland has still yet to see a single Super Bowl.
Seattle, Washington.
Maybe it’s all of the rain in Seattle that makes it a depressing place to play sports in but the city’s overall record is 0-2. The Seattle Seahawks managed to finally make it to the Superbowl in 2005 only to lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers in their one lone appearance. The Seattle Mariners had a good baseball club in the 90s with players like Ken Griffey Jr. but never made it to the Finals and still haven’t in 25 years. The Seattle Supersonics also had a strong core of talented players in the 90s that helped them make an NBA Finals appearance in 1996 only to lose to the Chicago Bulls. Seattle’s overall record is 0-2. The Seahawks look like they can create some magic in the near future but way more needs to be done from Seattle’s baseball and basketball franchises.
Phoenix, Arizona.
The NFL’s Arizona Cardinals are the oldest team in the NFL. They also hold the record for the longest championship drought. You’d have to go way past 1980 to figure out the last championship that they won. Want the answer? How about 1947. The NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes relocated to Phoenix from Winnipeg, Manitoba but have yet to make a single Stanley Cup Finals appearance since they moved back in 1996. The NBA’s Phoenix Suns came close in 1993 only to lose to Micheal Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. The team has stayed competitive in the past few years but has yet to make it back to the finals. The one surprise out of the bunch has been the Arizona Diamondbacks who upset the favored New York Yankees to win their first World Series ever in 2001 despite only being in the league since 1998. Phoenix’s overall record remains 1-1. They need the Arizona Cardinals to end their lengthy championship drought and for the Phoenix Coyotes to convince their coach (Wayne Gretzky) to lace up his skates and play for the team. The Phoenix suns also need to make that final leap from good to great in order to help the state of Arizona out.
Dishonorable Mention:
Toronto, Ontario
Maple Leafs 0-0
Raptors 0-0
Blue Jays 2-0
San Diego, California
Padres 0-2
Chargers 0-1
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October 8th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
I know this is old, just got it sent to me from a friend. Seattle is not 0-2. in ’78 and ’79 their basketball team was pretty good, lost to the bullets in the finals in ’78, beat the bullets in ’79. so in the modern era, they are 1-3. not great, but not an 0-fer… and if you go WAY back, they were pretty good in hockey, got a stanley cup when the earth cooled… (1916-1917)
October 9th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Actually, if you read our other two articles, you would have noticed that we are only going back to 1980. Hence 78,79 wouldn’t count in our records. Obviously I’m not counting way back as there are lots of teams that had success way back when but that defeats the point. The main point would be ‘What has the team done lately’. I could use the Montreal Canadians and their 24 Stanley Cups but if you were to calculate since 1993, they’d look like a pretty bad team. When I wrote these articles, it was based on a 25 year time line so unfortunately some statistics may be skewed one way or another for a few teams but we feel that 25 years is a good way to look at recent sports championships for teams.