Boston in this decade is not the first sports region to have a big run of success. Let's look at some others.
New York, 1986-2000: 8 championships in 15 years
86 Mets
86, 90 Giants
94 Rangers
96, 98, 99, 00 Yankees
Pittsburgh 1971-1979: 6 championships in 9 years
74, 75, 78. 79 Steelers
71, 79 Pirates
Chicago 1991-1998: 6 championships in 8 years
91, 92, 93, 96, 97, 98 Bulls
Yes, these championships all came from one franchise; however, remember that six years before this run the Bears won a championship in 1985, and seven years after, the White Sox won a championship in 2005.
Los Angeles 1980-1988: 8 championships in 9 years
80, 82, 85, 87, 88 Lakers
81, 88 Dodgers
83 Raiders
Boston 1957-1976: 15 championships in 20 years
57, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 68, 69, 74, 76 Celtics
70, 72 Bruins
New York, 1968-1983: 10 championships 16 years
68 Jets
69 Mets
70, 73 Knicks
77, 78 Yankees
80, 81, 82, 83 Islanders
Wisconsin, 1957-1971: 7 championships in 15 years
57 Braves
61, 62, 65, 66, 67 Packers
71 Bucks
The Lombardi Packers are legendary, and Wisconsin sports fans had those titles framed by a baseball championship and a basketball championship. Folks in Milwaukee had to wait a grand total of three seasons to see their expansion Bucks win a championship with Kareem and Oscar.
Oakland, 1972-1980: 6 championships in 9 years
72, 73, 74 Athletics
75 Warriors
76, 80 Raiders
Oh, to be a sports fan in Oakland in the 70s. From '72 to '74, you see the Athletics win three straight championships. In '75 the Warriors get a surprise title. And then in the '76 season, the Raiders win. So an Oakland team won a championship each year for five straight years, and in a three year period each Oakland franchise won a title.
San Francisco, 1981-1994: 5 championships in 14 years
81, 84, 88, 89, 94 49ers
All these championships came from one team, but just consider this dynasty: in 18 seasons, they made the playoffs 16 times, the NFC Championship game 10 times, and won 5 Super Bowls. In that time they won 22 playoff games. As we're (rightfully) slurping the Patriots, show a little respect for what I believe is the greatest football dynasty.
(Data gathered from baseball-reference, basketball-reference, pro-football-reference, and wikipedia. We can note that hockey fans in some Canadian cities had some great runs too. These runs happen, and these runs come to an end: eventually, Boston teams will lose again, too).
You let Boston's sport success bother you too much. Get over it.
ReplyDeleteNow that the Pats get the Giants, another Boston title to add to your list
ReplyDeleteI agree with HH ... get over it. There are regions out there that have had some success in the sports world, and there are some regions that haven't had as much. The stats about the championships are interesting to think about, but in the long run it is just a bunch of grown men doing their job while playing a game.
ReplyDeleteIn this post I'm not even complaining; I thought it would be interesting to see if there are other cities/regions that had runs like this.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't trying to imply that you were complaining, but rather that you are letting this Boston dominance get to you. It is consuming too much of your mind and writing on the blog over the past couple of weeks (even months). I understand the pain as a Viking fan of seeing so much success in one area (especially with Boston having so many former Minnesota sports stars contributing), but I think it is time to just let it go. Forget about it and move on.
ReplyDeleteIf you're lumping all of Wisconsin together (which I agree with), then why don't you include the '95 and '00 NJ Devils in with the recent New York run? Most of their support is in (parts of, of course) the NY metro area- they count at least as much as the Islanders.
ReplyDelete