I posted a thread a while back about snakebitten sports cities, about which city has suffered through the worst championship-less droughts, and the three I came up with were the obvious ones: Buffalo, Cleveland and Philadelphia. Then, SI.com did this great article about the city of Philadelphia going through its 100th consecutive season without a championship with the playoff departure of the Flyers. They also had a list of four-sport cities/metropolitan areas and their droughts, and no one comes close to Philly in that regard. However, are there other cities that have a longer stretch by seasons, even if they are not a 4-sport city? Does Cleveland have a longer drought? I know they never won a Super Bowl, but when was the last time they won the AFL Championship, pre-Super Bowl?
Most seasons without major championships
- Thread starter Exit8A
- Start date
Not football, but Cleveland won the World Series in 1948.
Technically speaking, the San Francisco Giants haven't won a world series ever. Of course I don't think anything can beat the cubs right now though. I am rooting for them to get it done in my lifetime. It was exciting when Boston did it in 2004, so I guess that means it's Chicago's turn and then San Francisco.
^ That is true.
Probably the most seasons without a championship here in Australia, would be the old North Sydney Bears, who only won 2 premierships (or championships), with the last being in 1922. They no longer play in the NRL, as their last season was in 1999.
Probably the most seasons without a championship here in Australia, would be the old North Sydney Bears, who only won 2 premierships (or championships), with the last being in 1922. They no longer play in the NRL, as their last season was in 1999.
Yep, that's the biggest baseball drought. He's referring to overall years without a championship in ANY sport, though (or, at least, that was my understanding). Chicago can look back to the Bulls and Bears and find championships in the quasi-recent history. Philly has been shut out of EVERYTHING for a good long while...
And it's starting to feel like Boston should appologize to Cleveland, it's getting mean. Then again, hope we can knock them out of another playoff series in October...
Not the Phillies. The closet they came was in 1993 when they won the National League Championship. They lost to the Blue Jays in the World Series.
Yeah, but they haven't won the World Series, which I believe is what Exit8A is talking about. The TOP championships.
The Phillies won their first (and only) World Series in 1980. They reached again in 83 and 93, but didn't win. Philadelphia has gone the longest of any city with all four major sports to not win in any of them (technically, they've gone 98 seasons without a championship since Baseball and Hockey skipped a season).
I forget the list of cities like Philly that have gone the longest and shortest. The Twin Cities are second longest, since the Twins won in 1991. The shortest is New York, since the Giants won earlier this year.
I think, in many ways, Philadelphia fans define themselves by heartbreak (just like the Boston Red Sox fans did until 2004). We're the guys who can never catch a break. Where, after amazing seasons of miracles, something goes wrong that ruins it. I have two books at school devoted to Philadelphia heartbreaks (plus a book about the Phillies, so I guess that's three books
). The Curse of the Bambino has been broken. The Curse of the Billy Goat remains for the Cubs. But the difference with that curse is it only affects one team. The Curse of Billy Penn's hat has remained and it affects every team in Philadelphia. Oh, and, no, I don't believe in curses. There are plenty of reasons why the Cubs haven't won and there were plenty of reasons why the Sox didn't win. The same is true in Philadelphia. But it does feel like, just like it takes a lot of luck to win a championship, it takes a lot of bad luck to not win a championship for so long.
I forget the list of cities like Philly that have gone the longest and shortest. The Twin Cities are second longest, since the Twins won in 1991. The shortest is New York, since the Giants won earlier this year.
I think, in many ways, Philadelphia fans define themselves by heartbreak (just like the Boston Red Sox fans did until 2004). We're the guys who can never catch a break. Where, after amazing seasons of miracles, something goes wrong that ruins it. I have two books at school devoted to Philadelphia heartbreaks (plus a book about the Phillies, so I guess that's three books
). The Curse of the Bambino has been broken. The Curse of the Billy Goat remains for the Cubs. But the difference with that curse is it only affects one team. The Curse of Billy Penn's hat has remained and it affects every team in Philadelphia. Oh, and, no, I don't believe in curses. There are plenty of reasons why the Cubs haven't won and there were plenty of reasons why the Sox didn't win. The same is true in Philadelphia. But it does feel like, just like it takes a lot of luck to win a championship, it takes a lot of bad luck to not win a championship for so long.
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Oh, they did? Oops. 
Goes to show how closely I follow the Phillies.
Goes to show how closely I follow the Phillies.
Dammit I hate the Giants!!! Sorry, still bitter.
I've lived in NY and New England so my rooting interests have mingled. Given that the Jets and Giants both sucked growing up, I'd watch the Pats as we also got their games.
It sucked on Sundays in NY in the mid-90s. You'd have good games like Buffalo-Miami and Dallas-San Fran on the schedule, and get stuck watch a horrid doubleheader of the Jets-Bengals at 1 followed by the Giants-Cardinals at 4.
How about Los Angeles? No not the Lakers, the Clippers.
Clippers are a sad franchize. They're not the only franchize to have trouble winning a championship, though. However, Los Angeles has won championships recently (plus they don't have a Football team), so it's not as extreme as the 25 years in Philadelphia.
I calculated it, and yep, Cleveland has suffered more losing seasons without a major championship. They have suffered through 124 seasons since the Browns won the NFL Championship (pre-Super Bowl) in 1964. I think 44 each for the Browns and the Indians, 38 for the Cavaliers since they started in 1970, and the Barons played 2 seasons in the NHL from 1976-1978.
here's my take on it. Let me preface this by saying that i am a chicago sports fan, except for the sox.
Last Championship for the 5 teams in the 4 majors sports:
Cubs--1908
White Sox--2005
Bears--1986
Bulls--1998
Blackhawks--1961
Cubs=100 yrs
WSox=3 yrs
Bears=22 yrs
Bulls=10 yrs
'Hawk=47 yrs
total=182 yrs.
AS I said, I am not a White Sox fan, but that was huge for them, as they hadnt won the series since 1917. It was great growing up in the 90's and seeing the Jordan years for the bulls, but in my opinion, the last ten years of bulls basketball have made those years seem even farther behind us in the rear view mirror.
Additionally, I would feel bad for Philadelphia's fans, but you guys booed santa claus.
Go CUBS!
Last Championship for the 5 teams in the 4 majors sports:
Cubs--1908
White Sox--2005
Bears--1986
Bulls--1998
Blackhawks--1961
Cubs=100 yrs
WSox=3 yrs
Bears=22 yrs
Bulls=10 yrs
'Hawk=47 yrs
total=182 yrs.
AS I said, I am not a White Sox fan, but that was huge for them, as they hadnt won the series since 1917. It was great growing up in the 90's and seeing the Jordan years for the bulls, but in my opinion, the last ten years of bulls basketball have made those years seem even farther behind us in the rear view mirror.
Additionally, I would feel bad for Philadelphia's fans, but you guys booed santa claus.
Go CUBS!
Well, first off, they booed Frank Olivo, a drunk Eagles fans who had worn his suit to the game to catch the cameras and was convinced to take the place of the actual Santa who was a no-show.
Second, I'll give you 100 points if you can name the year (within 5 years) that Santa was booed without looking it up.
Second, I'll give you 100 points if you can name the year (within 5 years) that Santa was booed without looking it up.
i'm guessing 1980. that's a guess designed to hit the center of the time in which i think it is.