It goes without saying that every team wants to win. It also goes without saying that every team has fans that are crushed when their hero's fall short time and time again. So, as far as it goes and all things being equal, every team needs to win championships.
However, all things are not equal. There are some franchises whose dry streaks just scream out a little bit more insistently because of their history or their place in their respective sports hierarchy. So, I'll be giving you my perspective and ranking these extra needy franchises starting at the 10th most needy and ending with the most terribly needy franchise. Oh, the places we will go!
#10) Seattle Sounders - MLS
"Wait. What?" many of you are saying. It seems incongruous that a team that has only been in the top flight of American soccer since 2007 should be on this list. However, the Sounders are in many ways the model MLS franchise and a poster child for what the league always hoped the sport could become in the United States. The synergy that exist between the club and its fan is truly awe inspiring, and the only thing missing is an MLS Cup victory. Yes, the New York Red Bulls have a longer futility streak, but they are one season away from becoming the also ran team in New York city. And, yes, the New England Revolution has a Buffalo Bill's style history of coming up just short. But, the Revs winning it all seems like its only a matter of time. Neither New York's or New England's winning is likely to have the same sort of impact so I'm picking Seattle.
#9) St. Louis Blues - NHL
If it were left to me the Blues would rank #1 on this list because they are my team. This is the team whose many, many playoff failures have hurt me the most. This is mostly because they have usually been good enough to make the playoffs, but never good enough to do much once they got there. Oh, they got to Stanley Cup Finals when I was an infant, but those were flukes caused by the league setting up expansion conferences at the time. The Blues were hopelessly outclassed by the established teams and, not surprisingly, never won a game once they came up against the big boys. Since then things haven't improved much. They have never been to another Cup finals, and the greatest moment in their history was when a talent challenged Blues team, led by an illiterate coach, made a rousing come back to win Game 6 of the 1986 Campbell Conference finals and set up a Game 7 against the Calgary Flames....which they promptly lost.
#8) Cleveland Browns - NFL
There are sentimental reasons to feel the Browns heartache, unless you are a Steelers fan I suppose. The Browns have a wonderful history in the league, but they have been woeful for a considerable amount of time. Their fans also had to deal with losing the franchise when it moved to Baltimore to become the Ravens. An expansion teams came in quickly and revived the name, but the continuity with the illustrious history has been broken in a way. There is a sad sack quality to Brown's fandom which will only be lifted when they can claim a Super Bowl.
#7) Washington Nationals - MLB
In some ways its unfair of me to dump this on the Nats, but there is no denying the bad history the franchise has coming and going. On the one hand you have the history of the franchise itself, born in Canada as the Montreal Expos. Colorful at times, but often unsuccessful and sometimes downright snake bit as when labor strife wiped out what easily could have been the most promising season in Expos' history. On the other hand, you have the bottomless pit of loserville which has traditionally been baseball in our nation's capital. Every postseason flame out by the Nats raises the spectre of the hapless Senators. Winning a World Series would forever put both of those histories to bed for good.
#6) Atlanta Hawks - NBA
I'm not a big follower of the NBA. I grew up in St. Louis which lost the Hawks just when they gained the Blues, so pro hockey took the spot that might have gone to pro basketball if things had worked out differently. But, even as disinterested an observer as myself can notice the decades worth of "blah" that is the Atlanta Hawks. In 45 years in Atlanta the Hawks still have not finished 1st in their division as often as they did during the 13 years the franchise was in St. Louis. Nor have they been to the finals, which they managed four times during their St. Louis years. Indeed, it could be argued that the Hawks are the franchise in this list which has been the least threatening to win it all. And that is saying something...and not saying something good.
Check back tomorrow for #5 to #1.
However, all things are not equal. There are some franchises whose dry streaks just scream out a little bit more insistently because of their history or their place in their respective sports hierarchy. So, I'll be giving you my perspective and ranking these extra needy franchises starting at the 10th most needy and ending with the most terribly needy franchise. Oh, the places we will go!
#10) Seattle Sounders - MLS
"Wait. What?" many of you are saying. It seems incongruous that a team that has only been in the top flight of American soccer since 2007 should be on this list. However, the Sounders are in many ways the model MLS franchise and a poster child for what the league always hoped the sport could become in the United States. The synergy that exist between the club and its fan is truly awe inspiring, and the only thing missing is an MLS Cup victory. Yes, the New York Red Bulls have a longer futility streak, but they are one season away from becoming the also ran team in New York city. And, yes, the New England Revolution has a Buffalo Bill's style history of coming up just short. But, the Revs winning it all seems like its only a matter of time. Neither New York's or New England's winning is likely to have the same sort of impact so I'm picking Seattle.#9) St. Louis Blues - NHL
If it were left to me the Blues would rank #1 on this list because they are my team. This is the team whose many, many playoff failures have hurt me the most. This is mostly because they have usually been good enough to make the playoffs, but never good enough to do much once they got there. Oh, they got to Stanley Cup Finals when I was an infant, but those were flukes caused by the league setting up expansion conferences at the time. The Blues were hopelessly outclassed by the established teams and, not surprisingly, never won a game once they came up against the big boys. Since then things haven't improved much. They have never been to another Cup finals, and the greatest moment in their history was when a talent challenged Blues team, led by an illiterate coach, made a rousing come back to win Game 6 of the 1986 Campbell Conference finals and set up a Game 7 against the Calgary Flames....which they promptly lost.#8) Cleveland Browns - NFL
There are sentimental reasons to feel the Browns heartache, unless you are a Steelers fan I suppose. The Browns have a wonderful history in the league, but they have been woeful for a considerable amount of time. Their fans also had to deal with losing the franchise when it moved to Baltimore to become the Ravens. An expansion teams came in quickly and revived the name, but the continuity with the illustrious history has been broken in a way. There is a sad sack quality to Brown's fandom which will only be lifted when they can claim a Super Bowl.#7) Washington Nationals - MLB
In some ways its unfair of me to dump this on the Nats, but there is no denying the bad history the franchise has coming and going. On the one hand you have the history of the franchise itself, born in Canada as the Montreal Expos. Colorful at times, but often unsuccessful and sometimes downright snake bit as when labor strife wiped out what easily could have been the most promising season in Expos' history. On the other hand, you have the bottomless pit of loserville which has traditionally been baseball in our nation's capital. Every postseason flame out by the Nats raises the spectre of the hapless Senators. Winning a World Series would forever put both of those histories to bed for good.#6) Atlanta Hawks - NBA
I'm not a big follower of the NBA. I grew up in St. Louis which lost the Hawks just when they gained the Blues, so pro hockey took the spot that might have gone to pro basketball if things had worked out differently. But, even as disinterested an observer as myself can notice the decades worth of "blah" that is the Atlanta Hawks. In 45 years in Atlanta the Hawks still have not finished 1st in their division as often as they did during the 13 years the franchise was in St. Louis. Nor have they been to the finals, which they managed four times during their St. Louis years. Indeed, it could be argued that the Hawks are the franchise in this list which has been the least threatening to win it all. And that is saying something...and not saying something good.Check back tomorrow for #5 to #1.
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