The Most Cursed Sports City: Philly or Cleveland

When we were approached by the fine folks at BallHype to participate in a "Spotlight Series: Fightin' Words" debate over which sports city was more cursed, Philly or Cleveland, the first question that came to mind was, "Which side do you want me to take?" Usually, when I'm in a debate regarding Philly sports, I'm defending our virtues and pointing out the flaws of the other team. In this debate, I would be doing the opposite—making the case for our unparalleled futility.

My worthy adversary was Scott Sargent of Waiting for Next Year fame. WFNY is a great Cleveland sports blog, and I joked with Scott that if it were started by Philadelphians, it might be called "Pissed Off About Last Year." Cleveland's suckitude is well documented, particularly in its amazing championship drought and its temporary loss of its football franchise, which promptly won a Super Bowl in Baltimore, so my task wasn't going to be easy. We had a nice tête à tête, but in the end, I fear the Roots vs. Bone Thugs N Harmony might have tipped the scales in Cleveland's favor.

If you haven't already, I highly recommend signing up for BallHype. It's a great source of interesting stories from both sports blogs and the MSM. Thanks to Jason and Erin from BallHype, and Tom from Sactown Royalty for the invitation.

The debate.

Comments

[Kulp]

Wow... that's the most depressing thing I've ever read.

[Loqiel]

"We had a nice tête à tête, but in the end, I fear the Roots vs. Bone Thugs N Harmony might have tipped the scales in Cleveland's favor."

Isn't it ironic that we can't even win a debate about who's the most cursed/biggest loser? Does anyone else derive a strange amusement in this fact? Isn't this paradoxical in nature? I feel like every atom in my body is going to explode at the speed of light because of this.

[Carl Racki]

The Roots' Grammy was certainly not the last piece of hardware won in Philly. How quick you are to forget our very own Philadelphia KIXX (2002, 2007) and WINGS (2001)! Shame on you.

The Cleveland Crunch (indoor soccer) most recent championships came during the 1993-94 season, 1995-96 season, AND the 1998-99 season so I don't know what they're crying about.

[Mike L.]

Thanks Carl! Too bad i didnt know there was an indoor soccer league.

[BrettMyersin2008]

"and I miss my Uncle Charles y'all!"

[Matt P]

@Brett-- I always loved that line. So random.

[typhoon]

Don't forget the Philadelphia Phantoms or the Philadelphia Barrage!

[Zach M.]

I don't think Cleveland can qualify for the most cursed sports city since they are not a city with all 4 of the major sports. They don't have a pro hockey team. The fact that we have 4 sports and still havent't succeeded in anything is depressful in itself.

[Saul]

Once I was bored and ran some numbers into my calculator. I figured that over 25 years, on average, it's safe to say that at the beginning of each season, each team has an equal chance of winning the whole thing. In any given season, that's obviously not the case, but over a quarter century, each team goes through enough up and down cycles to make it safe to make that assumption. I also used the numbers of teams in the leagues currently, which doesn't account for smaller leagues in the past. But whatever - these are approximations.
Anyway, once I crunched those numbers, I found out that a city with 4 major sports teams has a 3.56% chance of happening. In any one given season, there's an 87.5% chance of no championship, but like I just said, the chance of that in 25 straight years is quite small.

Yay us. What a city.

[Sanganoski]

To just add a little "insult to injury", how bad is it when Cleveland "deserves", I don't think so, to be the "chosen" city between both to have the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" established in it when Philly made "Rock and Roll", and the "Do-Wop" sound contributions that it did, hell, we even had American Bandstand and Dick Clark before the country even knew what they were, yet Cleveland gets the nod....pitiful!