Sports Teams Going Through the Worst Title Droughts
If the Cubs can make it to the World Series this year, it would set up a matchup of two of the longest-running teams without a title in Major League Baseball. The Cubs are the talk of Cedar Rapids, Chicago, the midwest and possibly the country right now in their quest to bring home their first fall classic championship since 1908, a span of 108 years.
But did you know the Cleveland Indians, who are already set to play in the World Series for the American League, haven't pulled it off since 1948? They've gotten close a couple times, with their last trip being a series loss in 1997.
In fact, until the Cavaliers won the NBA title in 2016, Cleveland sports fans in general had been through a long stretch without winning the big one, dating back to 1946 when the Cleveland Browns won the pro football championship--which wasn't yet called the Super Bowl. Ironically, the Browns' chances of returning to that prominence in the foreseeable future look slim, so fans have to hang their hat on the Cavs and Indians this year.
Let's look at some other pro sports teams with a history of championship futility.
[Via Wikipedia, Cleveland Indians]
- 1
Buffalo Bills
6 trips to the pro football championship/Super Bowl in 50 years, according to Wikipedia, with not a single trophy to show for it, makes Buffalo one painful place to be for sports fans. Add insult to injury with zero Stanley Cups since the Sabres' inception in 1970
- 2
Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Monarchs won the WNBA women's basketball title in '05 but the Kings are the only other game in town and their last title came in 1951, when they were still known as the Rochester Royals
- 3
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series in 2008, but the Eagles have not won the NFL championship since 1960. Their hockey counterparts, the Flyers, captured the Stanley Cup in 1975. Even the perenially terrible 76ers have won a championship more recently.