@mjp28 said:

They said that there would be no math questions.  

You don’t have to do the math I already did it for you. By the way you’re welcome.

Cleveland Browns  18

Buffalo Bills  18

The following teams scored a 17:  Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays

The following teams scored a 16:  Pirates,  Orioles, Reds, Lions, Marlins, Jags, Brewers

Note this however: all of these are either baseball or football teams.   Because of the NBA and NHL systems of including many more playoff teams, those teams would not score as high here. 

Here are the teams with the BEST scores using the above method:

Patriots   -12

Spurs  -9

Lakers  -6

Thunder  -4   (but note....only over 11 years)

Heat  -3

Penguins  -3

Yankees  -2

Winnipeg Jets   0   (but only 5 year sample)

And the following teams only scored a 1:  Sharks, Red Sox, Celtics, Devils, St.L. Cardinals

@texasag1969 said:

I'm getting dizzy.?

Its really as simple as A-B-C-D =X 

Then add nX + Z? and divide by n. (number of teams)  (where you also have to factor in Z. (loss or gain of a team)

Or...maybe this will help:

Jacksonville

Jaguars  19 years....minus 3 playoffs equals  16.

Jax is a one horse town, so their index is 16. 

Penguins:  19 seasons minus 15 playoff years  minus 4 title series appearance minus 3 titles   Penguins pts:   -3.

Steelers: 19 seasons  minus 12 playoffs, minus 3 SB games  minus 2 titles.  Steelers point:  2

Pirates:  19 seasons minus 3 playoff   Pirates  16 pts.

So:    -3 + 2 + 16  15 pts  divided by 3.   5.0   Pittsburgh sports misery index.

Los Angeles/Anaheim.    8 teams

Kings:  19-10-2-2   Kings  5 pts

Ducks: 19-12-2-1  Ducks  4 pts

Clippers: 19-8    Clippers  11 pts

Lakers:  19-13-7 finals -5 titles  Lakers  -6 pts

Rams:  3 seasons  - 2 -1   Rams  0 pts

Chargers  2 seasons  -1  Chargers  1 pts.

Angels 19  - 7 - 1 -1   Angels  10 pts

Dodgers  19-10 -2  Dodgers  7 pts

So, LA  :  5+4+11 -6 +0 + 1 +10 +7  total 32 pts....but  also subtract  10 pts for Rams/Chargers moving in  LA total pts:  22.  Divided by 8 is 2.75. LA Sports misery Index

San Antonio Spurs:

19 seasons  minus 19 pts for making playoffs;  minus 5 pts for 5 Finals, then minus  4 pts for 5 titles  Spurs total is  -9 points

And since  SA is a one horse town....that  -9 points gives them the lowest "misery index" of   all 49 cities.

And here is the highest of all 49:

San Diego:

Padres.   19 seasons, minus  2 for playoffs   Padres points are  17  (no WS appearances)

Chargers  17 season, minus 6 for playoffs   Chargers points are  11   (no SB appearance)

San Diego:   17 + 11....plus I add 5 points for losing the Chargers:   33 total points;  Divided by two teams is   16.5  "Misery Index"

Boston:  4 teams:

Bruins:  19 seasons, minus 13 pts for 13 playoff seasons, minus 3 pts for 3 title series appearances, minus  1 pts for a title:  Bruins total 2 pts.

Celtics:  19 season, minus15 playoff pts, minus 2 pts for Finals, minus 1 pt for their 1 title:   Celtics 1 Pt.

Red Sox:  19 seasons, minus 10 playoff pts,  minus 4 WS appearance points, minus 4 title points.   Red Sox 1 Pt.

Patriots:  19 seasons, minus 16 playoff pts, minus 9 SB appearance pts, minus  6 title pts.   Pats  -12 Pts.

1 pt. + 1 pt + 2 pts - 12 pts  is  -8 total pts.   Divided by 4 is   -2 pts for Boston

A. I counted the number of seasons that each team played in city, and assigned that number to that team.  Example, most teams got the number 19, as that is the number of seasons most teams have played in the 21st century in that town.   Some, obviously can be less, e/g  Oklahoma City Thunder has only been in that town for 11 years, so they are only assigned the number 11.    The Chargers have been in LA for only 2 years, so they get two.

B. Then I deduct from that number a point for each time a team made the playoffs.  I further deduct 1 point if a team played and lost a title game/series.   And then I deduct another point if that team has won a championship.   Then:

C. I add 5 points to a city's total if they have had a team leave town....as that obviously should increase that cities sports misery.  Likewise, I subtract 5 points if a city has had a team move in there, or has received an expansion franchise. 

D. Then I total the points of all the teams in that particular city.....and last, I divide that total of points by the number of teams that play in a city.

So, here are a couple of examples to illustrate things.  Start with Cleveland:

Cleveland:

Cavaliers   19 seasons ...minus 9 for the number of years they made playoffs....minus another 5 for the times they appeared in the Finals...and minus another one point for their Championship.    Final Cavs number:  4

Indians:  19 seasons   -  6 playoffs  - 1 for World Series appearance.   Indians number:  12

Browns: 19 seasons  - 1 playoff.    Browns number   18

Cleveland total number:  4+12+18 =34  divided by 3 =   11.33       So, 11.33 is Cleveland's Misery Index.