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Tom Petty Was Right
2005-02-08 00:47
by Mike Carminati

The waiting is the hardest part.

That is if you a Philadelphia sports fan. As has been widely publicized, Philly hasn't had a sports champion since 1983 when the "Fo', Fo', and Fo'" Moses and Dr. J. Sixers swept the Magic and Kareem Lakers. (Actually, the Stars won the then-NFL rival USFL championship in 1984, but the media ignores them.)

That got me to wonder what is the current longest wait for a sports city. And by sports city, I mean only those with a team in each of the four major-league team sports. Forget LA. It may be the second-largest metro area in the country and the Angels might be bending their name over backwards to fit it in their title, but they can't keep a football team and no one really seems to care.

There are fourteen qualifying four-sport metro areas, and guess who has been waiting the longest for a ring?

Four-team cityLast ChampWait
Philadelphia198321
Minneapolis-St. Paul199113
San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose199410
Atlanta19959
Chicago19986
Dallas-Ft. Worth19995
Baltimore-Washington20004
Denver20013
Phoenix20013
New York-New Jersey20031
Miami20031
Boston20040
Detroit20040

Philly also has the most teams by a long shot to reach a final and lose in the intervening years:

Four-team cityMLBNBANFLNHLTotal
Philadelphia21137
Minneapolis-St. Paul00000
San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose10102
Atlanta20103
Chicago00000
Dallas-Ft. Worth00011
Baltimore-Washington00000
Denver00000
Phoenix00000
New York-New Jersey11002
Miami00000
Boston00000
Detroit00000

Philly also leads the pack in team-seasons since their last championship:

Four-team cityMLBNBANFLNHLTotal
Philadelphia2121212184
Minneapolis-St. Paul131313645
San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose2010201060
Atlanta999431
Chicago1266630
Dallas-Ft. Worth555520
Baltimore-Washington448420
Denver333312
Phoenix333312
New York-New Jersey22239
Miami11114
Boston00000
Detroit00000

And the Eagles looked like the best shot in a while. With the Phils embracing mediocrity, the Flyers on hiatus indefinitely, and the Sixers, along with the rest of the new Atlantic Division, scraping the Mendoza Line, it looks like it'll be at least another year of waiting. And Ray Davies thought he was tired of waiting.

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