Now that Cleveland has their title, who's now the saddest sports city?

[Taro Tsujimoto]

Figured this would be a good discussion now that Cleveland has broken through.

The criteria I used to select the cities for the poll is as follows:

• City must have at least two Big 4 (NFL/MLB/NHL/NBA) teams
• City must not have won any Big 4 championships within the past 25 years

Seven cities fit that criteria: Buffalo, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, San Diego, and Washington DC. And here are some notes about each city's respective droughts:

[table="css=transp;head]City|Last Championship|Drought Length|Subsequent Near-Misses
Buffalo, NY|1965 Bills|51 years|

• Sabres lost 1975 and 1999 Stanley Cup Finals and 1980, 1998, 2006, and 2007 Wales/Eastern Conference Finals.
• Bills lost Super Bowls XXV-XXVIII, 1966 AFL Champiosnhip, and 1988 AFC Championship Game.

Charlotte, NC|None|28 years (year Hornets joined NBA)|

• Panthers lost Super Bowls XXXVIII and 50.

Cincinnati, OH|1990 Reds|26 years|

• Reds lost 1995 NLCS.

Milwaukee, WI|1971 Bucks|45 years|

• Bucks lost 1974 NBA Finals and 1983, 1984, 1986, and 2001 Eastern Conference Finals.
• Brewers lost 1982 World Series and 2011 NLCS

Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN|1991 Twins|25 years|

• Vikings lost 1998, 2000, and 2009 NFC Championship Games.
• Timberwolves lost 2004 Western Conference Final.
• Wild lost 2003 Western Conference Final.
• Twins lost 2002 ALCS.

San Diego, CA|1963 Chargers|53 years|

• Chargers lost Super Bowl XXIX, 1964 and 1965 AFL Championships, and 1980, 1981, and 2007 AFC Championship Games.
• Padres lost 1984 and 1998 World Series.

Washington, DC|1991 Redskins|25 years|

• Capitals lost 1998 Stanley Cup Final.

[/table]

So, with all of that said, now that Cleveland has their title, who's now the saddest sports city?

Click to read more...

 

[Loosie]

Buffalo. 4 straight SuperBowl loses still stings.

 

[Belamorte]

Yeah, Buffalo, not only the 4 straight Super Bowls also Brett Hull in the crease to cost them the Stanely Cup. Although, Toronto could make a case as well (though that may have not quite been 25 years since the Jays). Their teams have just been plain out bad for the most part since.

 

[Beef Invictus]

DC for me, they are consistently disappointing in more sports than Buffalo.

 

[Caps Circle]

Easily DC. Out of four teams, one has consistently underachieved despite having one of the sport's all-time greats (Caps), one seems to be going the same way (Nats), another is an afterthought with horrid management that is wasting a superstar's prime (Wizards), and the fourth has been an absolute basket case and the joke of the sports world until this year (Redskins).

 

[Hasbro]

Buffalo

San Diego is too nice and has the LA teams to glom on to.

 

[BigMac1212]

That 25 year gap saved Phoenix. *phew*

Buffalo is my choice. That final field goal attempt would send any fan into a tissy.

 

[Cloned]

4 straight consecutive losses in the Championship final of a sport has got to be a record. So Buffalo.

 

[Jules Winnfield]

From listening to my in-laws, it's easily DC. From Ovechkin to RG3 to Harper/Strausberg getting their hopes sky high and the media down there saying this is going to be their year only to have the Red Wedding happen to them every season over and over again...

As a Pittsburgh fan I just LOL I get lots of smack talk during the regular season and then by the playoff time rolls around I just smile and don't even have to say anything.

 

[TNT87]

Buffalo definitely. Washington has won multiple Super Bowls.

 

[irunthepeg]

4 straight consecutive losses in the Championship final of a sport has got to be a record. So Buffalo.

Not quite as bad but Minnesota is right there with 4/4 losses in the Super Bowl haha.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Definitely Buffalo.

At least there's nice weather in San Diego.

Plus, losing four consecutive Superbowls? I guess the ride to each one would be fun, but what kind of soul-crushing defeat that must be.

Then losing to Dallas in the Cup finals, another kick to the nuts for Buffalo locals.

That 25 year gap saved Phoenix. *phew*

Buffalo is my choice. That final field goal attempt would send any fan into a tissy.

Barely.

Nothing for the Suns, nothing for the Coyotes (whether or not you want to count them as truly "Phoenix" - or is that Phoenician? ), and nothing for the Cardinals. One title for the D-Backs.

Toronto's in the same boat, having just the Jays' World Series wins to celebrate over the last 50 years.

Nothing for the Leafs or Raptors......and I won't be counting the Argos.

 

[Kane One]

Probably still Cleveland.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Buffalo

 

[OhCaptainMyCaptain]

North side of Chicago

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

I heard there are 2 cities out there who haven't won a title in over 100 years. So a news station was asking the posters what the two cities were. I didn't cheat or look it up but I think they must have misspoke because it seems like that would be major news. I think they meant cities who within the last 100 years had longer droughts than Cleveland but I'm not certain. They never did give the answer. Out of this list only San Diego would have worked because Buffalo had won the year after Cleveland though..There must be something to that question regarding an active franchise that relocated but I'm not certain.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

What about Salt Lake City? Portland Oregon? I'm not positive the Jazz have won it all and if the Blazers have it was in the 70s or 80s.

 

[Belamorte]

I heard there are 2 cities out there who haven't won a title in over 100 years. So a news station was asking the posters what the two cities were. I didn't cheat or look it up but I think they must have misspoke because it seems like that would be major news. I think they meant cities who within the last 100 years had longer droughts than Cleveland but I'm not certain. They never did give the answer. Out of this list only San Diego would have worked because Buffalo had won the year after Cleveland though..There must be something to that question regarding an active franchise that relocated but I'm not certain.

Well Vancouver is one that works, but they don't have a basketball team anymore.

 

[HisIceness]

I vote for Minnesota. Not one team from there has even won their conference since the Twins in 1991. Vikings had an incredible 15-1 season in 1998 that ended on their home field in the NFC title game, the T-Wolves wasted prime years of Garnett and have not sniffed the playoffs since 2004, the Twins despite winning in 1991 have failed to win the AL despite having some good teams in that time, the Wild are still relatively young so I'll give them a pass.

HM to Washington. Capitals 1998 was the last time they had a shot. Atlanta would be another, 1995 Braves is their one and only title.

I imagine most people in Milwaukee follow the Packers religiously so they in my view don't really count.

 

[worstfaceoffmanever]

Because
I
Like
Losing
Super Bowls

It's unquestionably Buffalo.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

Minneapolis, 3 major sports teams & none of them have even played for the championship since the Twins won the World Series back in 1991.

 

[Sports Enthusiast]

Because
I
Like
Losing
Super Bowls

It's unquestionably Buffalo.

Actually I believe its

Boy
I
Love
Losing
Super Bowls

 

[Eco]

I think my hometown is also a good nominee. Atlanta has more transplants than natives so our games (whatever sport) that involve teams from Chicago, Boston, Pittsburgh, Philly, etc, always bring more away fans than home.

14 straight division titles in baseball, yet only 1 World Series (on a team that had a HoF 3B, Coach, GM, and 3 HoF Pitchers).

1 SB appearance (lost to Broncos and Elway)

Hawks have only made it past the second round once, and were swept.

Thrashers left, but while in Atlanta, only made the playoffs once and were also swept.

Our largest 2 Uni's are GT which are a joke, but are the most recent CF champion having one in 1990. UGA is a yearly disappointment.

Pitiful.

 

[Rocko604]

Buffalo for sure.

And while they don't play in Milwaukee, I'm sure the Packers take the sting off the Brewers and Bucks droughts.

What about Salt Lake City? Portland Oregon? I'm not positive the Jazz have won it all and if the Blazers have it was in the 70s or 80s.

Neither meet the criteria for this as each only have one Big 4 team. And while it's not considered Big 4, Salt Lake and Portland have won MLS Cups in 2009 and 2015 respectively. Also, the University of Utah's 2004 12-0 season and Fiesta Bowl win worth celebrating given they weren't a P5 school yet.

 

[ADifferentTim]

Actually I believe its

Boy
I
Love
Losing
Super Bowls

I agree it's THAT bad, to the point that even received reference in the X-Files.