When I think of great sports cities, the first ones that come to mind are Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, NYC, Pittsburgh and the Bay Area who have all won countless championships over the years. When I think of crappy sports cities, Toronto is one of the first ones to come to mind. As a Toronto native, I love everything about this city...besides its sports teams who seem to underachieve and disappoint at every chance
The Raptors have made zero finals in their history; their best ever result is one conference finals where they were destroyed by the LBJ led Cavs (the same team who made the Raps their whipping boy for the past few years). They've also won just 5 total playoff series. To make matters worst, literally no star player wants to play or stay here long-term, while American media constantly mocks at the idea of a Canadian city having an NBA franchise
The Leafs have not won a playoff series in ages, and haven't been to the Cup finals since TV was black and white, let alone actually winning the cup. This is beyond tragic as Toronto is supposed home to the biggest market in hockey
The Jays have made the playoffs just twice since 1993, although I tend to go easier on the Jays as they had some great players/moments over the years, are the most recent TO team to win something and playing in the same division as the Red Sox and Yankees sucks major a**
Overall, the city of TO has seen no major championships in the last 25 years and in the big picture, have seen just two in the last half century. None of our teams have even made a finals appearance for the last quarter century FFS and on many occasions, having a team even making the playoffs called for a celebration in this city.
I know teams like TFC, the Argos and Rock have all had a lot of success but the MLS and CFL are clearly a gazillion times weaker than Euro Football Leagues and the NFL, respectively, while the NLL isn't even seen as a popular league by most GTA residents.
Some other cities that many like to bring up include Cleveland, Atlanta and Detroit. Cleveland is a sad sports town, yes, but they just recently won the NBA Championship while employing the best player of the last 15 years, along with taking down a 73 win team in the most humiliating way possible. The Indians were a win away from winning the World Series a couple years ago, and overall, the Cavs and Indians have made their fair share of finals appearances in the last 15-20 years. The Browns are a disgrace though.
I don't even know how Detroit could qualify as a candidate. The Red Wings were a dynasty for like 15 years, while making the playoffs for like 25 years in a row. The Pistons were the best team in the East for the majority of the 2000's and were a force with the Bad Boys in the late 80's/early 90's. The Tigers had some great talent over the last decade and made a couple WS appearances. The Lions are the only bad spot on Detroit sports.
Atlanta is actually one that can actually compete with TO for being the saddest sports city in the continent. The Braves somehow won just one WS with a loaded core everyone would kill to have over a 10+ year span. The Hawks and Falcons have been an utter disappointment and they lost their hockey team twice. I'd still put them over TO though since the Braves' most recent trophy is still more recent than any Toronto win.
The Raptors have made zero finals in their history; their best ever result is one conference finals where they were destroyed by the LBJ led Cavs (the same team who made the Raps their whipping boy for the past few years). They've also won just 5 total playoff series. To make matters worst, literally no star player wants to play or stay here long-term, while American media constantly mocks at the idea of a Canadian city having an NBA franchise
The Leafs have not won a playoff series in ages, and haven't been to the Cup finals since TV was black and white, let alone actually winning the cup. This is beyond tragic as Toronto is supposed home to the biggest market in hockey
The Jays have made the playoffs just twice since 1993, although I tend to go easier on the Jays as they had some great players/moments over the years, are the most recent TO team to win something and playing in the same division as the Red Sox and Yankees sucks major a**
Overall, the city of TO has seen no major championships in the last 25 years and in the big picture, have seen just two in the last half century. None of our teams have even made a finals appearance for the last quarter century FFS and on many occasions, having a team even making the playoffs called for a celebration in this city.
I know teams like TFC, the Argos and Rock have all had a lot of success but the MLS and CFL are clearly a gazillion times weaker than Euro Football Leagues and the NFL, respectively, while the NLL isn't even seen as a popular league by most GTA residents.
Some other cities that many like to bring up include Cleveland, Atlanta and Detroit. Cleveland is a sad sports town, yes, but they just recently won the NBA Championship while employing the best player of the last 15 years, along with taking down a 73 win team in the most humiliating way possible. The Indians were a win away from winning the World Series a couple years ago, and overall, the Cavs and Indians have made their fair share of finals appearances in the last 15-20 years. The Browns are a disgrace though.
I don't even know how Detroit could qualify as a candidate. The Red Wings were a dynasty for like 15 years, while making the playoffs for like 25 years in a row. The Pistons were the best team in the East for the majority of the 2000's and were a force with the Bad Boys in the late 80's/early 90's. The Tigers had some great talent over the last decade and made a couple WS appearances. The Lions are the only bad spot on Detroit sports.
Atlanta is actually one that can actually compete with TO for being the saddest sports city in the continent. The Braves somehow won just one WS with a loaded core everyone would kill to have over a 10+ year span. The Hawks and Falcons have been an utter disappointment and they lost their hockey team twice. I'd still put them over TO though since the Braves' most recent trophy is still more recent than any Toronto win.
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