Last Title by Town

[The Gipper]

Here is my regular update on when the last time each major league metropolitan area won its last championship in one of the 4 major sports. (NHL, NFL, NBA, MLB, plus in merged leagues like WHA, AFL, ABA).

New Orleans just got off the schneid of cities that have a current major league franchise. For those that have never won a title, I post the first year in which that city had a team play in one of the leagues:

2009 New Orleans NFL Saints

2009 New York/NJ MLB Yankees

2009 Pittsburgh NHL Penguins

2009 LA/Anaheim NBA Lakers

2008 Oklahoma City, no titles, year of origin of "Thunder"

2008 Philadelphia MLB Phillies

2008 Boston NBA Celtics

2008 Detroit NHL Redwings

2007 San Antonio NBA Spurs

2006 Indianapolis NFL Colts

2006 St. Louis MLB Cardinals

2006 Raleigh NHL Hurricane

2006 Miami NBA Heat

2005 Chicago MLB White Sox

2004 Tampa NHL Lightning

2001 Denver NHL Avalanche

2001 Memphis, no title, first year "Grizzlies" played there

2000 Baltimore NFL Ravens

2000 Columbus, no titles, first year "Bluejackets" played there

1999 Dallas NHL Stars

1997 Nashville, no title, first year "Titans" played there

1996 Green Bay NFL Packers

1995 Houston NBA Rockets

1995 Atlanta MLB Braves

1994 San Fran/Oakland/SJ NFL 49ers

1993 Toronto MLB Blue Jays

1993 Montreal NHL Canadiennes

1992 Washington, D.C. NFL Redskins

1991 Minneapolis/St. Paul MLB Twins

1990 Cincinnati MLB Reds

1990 Edmonton NHL Oilers

1989 Calgary NHL Flames

1989 Orlando, no title, first year "Magic" played there

1988 Charlotte, no title, first year "Hornets" played there

1985 Kansas City MLB Royals

1985 Sacramento, no title, first year "Kings" played there

1979 Seattle NBA Supersonics

1977 Portland NBA Trailblazers

1971 Milwaukee NBA Bucks

1971 Salt Lake ABA Stars

1965 Buffalo AFL Bills

1964 Cleveland NFL Browns

1963 San Diego AFL Chargers

1927 Ottawa NHL Senators

1915 Vancouver NHL Millionaires

[Kosar_For_President]

2010 Cleveland NBA Cavs

[hoorta]

Gips if you'd just keep it to NFL football, enlighten our ignorant Steeler trolls on who's waited the longest to win a championship. IIRC, it's the Cardinals followed by the Lions.

Active franchises still waiting to win the big one- that has to be the Cubs- correct?

[The Gipper]

On the list, I omitted Phoenix, which had their last title with the 2001 Diamondbacks winning the World Series.

[The Gipper]

@hoorta said:

Gips if you'd just keep it to NFL football, enlighten our ignorant Steeler trolls on who's waited the longest to win a championship. IIRC, it's the Cardinals followed by the Lions.

Active franchises still waiting to win the big one- that has to be the Cubs- correct?

I maintain a separate list of all 123 major league franchises and when they won their last title (or when they originated if never winning a title). Here are just a few of the longest "suffering" teams, those that have not won in the last 40 years:

1908 Chicago Cubs MLB

1947 Chicago/St. L./Ariz. Cardinals NFL

1948 Cleveland Indians MLB

1951 Sacramento/Kansas City/Cincinnati/Rochester Kings/Royals (won in Rochester as the Royals, NBA

1954 San Francisco/New York Giants (in NY) MLB

1957 Detroit Lions NFL

1958 St. Louis/Atlanta Hawks (in St. L.) NBA

1960 Philadelphia Eagles NFL

1961 Chicago Blackhawks NHL

1961 Tennessee Titans as Houston Oilers AFL

1961 Minnesota Vikings, no titles, Year of Origin NFL

1961 Texas/Washington Rangers/Senators no titles, Year or Origin MLB

1962 Houston Astros/Colt 45s no titles, Year of Origin MLB

1963 San Diego Chargers AFL

1964 Cleveland Browns NFL

1965 Buffalo Bills AFL

1966 Atlanta Falcons no titles, Year of Origin NFL

1967 Toronto Maple Leaf NHL

1967 Denver Nuggets, no titles, Year of Origin (in ABA)

1967 St. Louis Blues no titles, Year of Origin NHL

1967 Los Angeles Kings, no titles, Year of Origin NHL

1968 New York Jets NFL

1968 Cincinnati Bengals no titles, Year of Origin (in AFL)

1968 Phoenix Suns no titles, Year of Origin NBA

1969 Milwaukee/Seattle Brewers/Pilots no titles, Year of Origin MLB

1969 San Diego Padres no titles, Year of Origin MLB

1969 Washington/Montreal Nationals/Expos no titles, Year of Origin MLB

1969 Kansas City Chiefs NFL

1970 Buffalo Sabres no titles, Year of Origin NHL

1970 Vancouver Canucks no titles, Year of Origin NHL

1970 LA/SanDiego/Buffalo Clippers/Braves no titles, Year of Origin NBA

1970 Cleveland Cavaliers no title, Year of Origin NBA

and yes, hopefully this last one will be off this list come June.

Note, Cleveland has 3 current teams on this "40 year list", Chicago has 2 teams, Los Angeles 2 teams, Buffalo 2 teams, San Diego 2 teams, Phoenix 2 teams (in theory, though the Cards have only been there since 1988), Atlanta 2 teams

[The Gipper]

@kosar_for_president said:

2010 Cleveland NBA Cavs

Yes, hopefully Cleveland will come off from the bottom of the list.

Other towns that have a real shot at coming off the bottom of the list this year include Buffalo, Ottawa, and Vancouver as those towns have teams high in the playoff ranking of the NHL standings. (though, how is anyone going to beat the Washington Caps this year?) (but how about an Ottawa/Vancouver NHL Finals? Towns that haven't won since 1927 and 1915 respectively. The TV networks would hate it, but I would enjoy seeing 2 Canadian cities going at it at the finals of their own game)

The other possibility is Salt Lake. The Jazz have a good record, and with luck could compete for the NBA crown.

And yea, how about a Cavs/Jazz Finals? I could go for that. Cavs would kick ass.

[miktoxic]

@kosar_for_president said:

2010 Cleveland NBA Cavs

man i'm so hoping you're right! what will happen to the team if they don't win it all? i'm not living in ohio right now but i would think that the hometown insiders would be leaning in some type of consensus. will brown be back as coach? and pleeeeeeeeeeeeeez tell me lebron is stayin'.