WHAT’S THE WORST SPORTS CITY IN AMERICA?
It was a question that came up again this week when Atlanta played host to Georgia’s overtime loss to Alabama in the national championship game , complete with the squandering of a double-digit lead.
Is this the worst sports city in America ? Turns out, the A-T-L has some stiff competition. To start with, here are the five biggest losers, presented in alphabetical order with their rare accomplishments and plethora of failures. Congratulations, Minneapolis-St. Paul, you just missed the cut.
ATLANTA
Major Pro Championships: One. The Braves won the 1995 World Series.
Flops: The Braves fell short of a championship every other time during their run of 14 straight division titles. The Falcons lost twice in the Super Bowl. The Hawks have never reached the NBA Finals. Two NHL teams — the Flames and the Thrashers — moved to Canada.
Back To School: Atlanta (along with nearby Athens) does get some credit for its college sports. Georgia Tech claimed a share of the football national championship in 1990. The University of Georgia, about 75 miles away, captured the 1980 title and is one of the nation’s most prominent programs.
Biggest Disappointment: The Falcons blowing a 25-point lead in last year’s Super Bowl .
Did You Know? The Chiefs won the 1968 North American Soccer League title, so some Atlantans insist the city has two championships. Nice try.
BUFFALO
Major Pro Championships: None (sorry, two titles won by the Bills before the American Football League merged with the NFL fail to qualify).
Flops: The Bills lost four straight Super Bowls in the early 1990s and had the longest active postseason drought of any North American franchise (2000-16) before making the playoffs this season. The Sabres came up short in their two trips to the Stanley Cup final and are now on course to miss the NHL playoffs for the seventh year in a row. The Braves lasted just eight NBA seasons in the 1970s before moving to San Diego.
Back To School: The University of Buffalo football team has only two winning seasons since moving up to the NCAA FBS ranks in 1999. The Bulls men’s basketball team was one-anddone in its two NCAA tournament appearances.
Biggest Disappointment: History might have been a lot different if Scott Norwood had made a 47-yard field goal with just seconds to play in the 1991 Super Bowl. It went wide right, and the Bills lost to the Giants 20-19. Buffalo was blown out in its next three Super Bowls. Did You Know? Buffalo had a team in the baseball’s Federal League, which attempted to become a third major league in the 1914-15. It didn’t work out.
CLEVELAND
Major Pro Championships: Eight. A rather high number for this list, but the Indians won the last of their two World Series titles in 1948 and the Browns have never been to the Super Bowl, though they do have four NFL championships from the 1950s and ‘60s. LeBron James and the Cavaliers really messed things up by winning their first NBA crown in 2016. (Left off this list: the Browns’ four straight AAFC titles and the Cleveland Bulldogs, whoever they were, taking the 1924 championship in the fledgling NFL.)
Flops: The Indians were swept in the 1954 World Series after winning 111 games, and they squandered a lead in the ninth inning of Game 7 in the ‘97 Series.
The Browns went 0-16 this season. The Cavs have lost three times in the NBA Finals. The Barons expired in the 1970s after lasting just two NHL seasons.