An the meek shall inherit the earth...

[SWC75]

Time for an update on an old concept. When the team I root for doesn’t make the playoffs in a sport, I tend to root for whoever has waited the longest to win. I helped Accurater to root the Cubs home in the World Series last year and was pulling for the Indians, Astros and Nationals this year. The Indians had the longest remaining drought, (69 years). The Astros had the second longest in the playoffs, (55 years) but had never won and the Nationals represented a city that had not won in 93 years. In this century we’ve seen the Angel end a 41 year drought, the Red sox 86 years, the White Sox 88 years, the Cardinals 24 years, the Phillies 28 years, the Giants 56 years, the Royals 30 years, the Cubs 108 years and now the Astros 55 years. Who will be next- in all the major sports?

Here is a guide to how long the teams in the top four professional sports in North America have waited (as of right now, 11/7/17) to win their sport’s championship. The first number is the number of years the franchise has waited. The second if the number of years the city they currently represent has waited, (if different). If the franchise has never won, the first number is in bold. If the city has never won, the second number will be in bold. But they are ranked by the first number.

BASEBALL

Cleveland Indians 69 years
Texas Rangers 56 years (45 years)
Milwaukee Brewers 48 years (60 years)
San Diego Padres 48 years
Washington Nationals 48 years (93 years)
Seattle Mariners 40 years
Pittsburgh Pirates 38 years
Baltimore Orioles 34 years
Detroit Tigers 33 years
New York Mets 31 years
Los Angeles Dodgers 29 years
Oakland Athletics 28 years
Cincinnati Reds 27 years
Minnesota Twins 26 years
Colorado Rockies 24 years
Toronto Blue Jays 24 years
Atlanta Braves 22 years
Tampa Bay Rays 19 years
Arizona Diamondbacks 17 years
Los Angeles Angels 15 years
Miami Marlins 14 years
Chicago White Sox 12 years
Philadelphia Phillies 9 years
New York Yankees 8 years
St. Louis Cardinals 6 years
Boston Red Sox 4 years
San Francisco Giants 3 years
Kansas City Royals 2 years
Chicago Cubs 1 year
Houston Astros 0 years

FOOTBALL
(I will treat pre-Super Bowl AFL titles as championships because they were the ultimate championship the team could have won. The NFL considers the current Cleveland Browns franchise to be a continuation of the old Cleveland Browns franchise and the Baltimore Ravens to be a separate franchise. )

Arizona Cardinals 70 years (29 years)
Detroit Lions 60 years
Philadelphia Eagles 57 years
Minnesota Vikings 56 years
Tennessee Titans 55 years- 1960-61 AFL titles (20 years)
Los Angeles Chargers 54 years (34 years- the LA Raiders in ’83)
Cleveland Browns 53 years- old Browns in 1964
Buffalo Bills 52 years 1964-65 AFL titles
Atlanta Falcons 51 years
Cincinnati Bengals 49 years
New York Jets 49 years
Kansas City Chiefs 48 years
Miami Dolphins 44 years
Oakland Raiders 34 years (37 years-1980: Raiders moved to LA in 1981)
Chicago Bears 32 years
Washington Redskins 26 years
San Francisco 49ers 23 years
Carolina Panthers 22 years
Dallas Cowboys 22 years
Jacksonville Jaguars 22 years
Los Angeles Rams 18 years (34 years – the LA Raiders in ’83)
Houston Texans 15 years
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 15 years
Indianapolis Colts 11 years
Pittsburgh Steelers 9 years
New Orleans Saints 8 years
Green Bay Packers 7 years
New York Giants 6 years
Baltimore Ravens 5 years
Seattle Seahawks 4 years
Denver Broncos 2 years
New England Patriots 1 year

BASKETBALL
(As with the AFL, I’m counting ABA championships as they were the ultimate title those teams were capable of winning.)

Sacramento Kings 67 years (32 years)
Atlanta Hawks 60 years (49 years)
Denver Nuggets 50 years
Phoenix Suns 49 years
Los Angeles Clippers 47years (33 years)
Milwaukee Bucks 47 years
New York Knicks 46 years
Indiana Pacers 43 years (won 1975 ABA title)
Utah Jazz 43 years (38 years)
Brooklyn Nets 42 years (5 years) (Won the 1976 ABA title as the New York)
Portland Trailblazers 41 years
Washington Wizards 40 years
Oklahoma City Thunder 39 years (9 years) (Won 1979 NBA title as Seattle Supersoncis)
Philadelphia 76ers 35 years
Charlotte Hornets 13 years (30 years) (Original Charlotte Hornets moved to New Orleans in 2001-02)
Minnesota Timberwolves 29 years
Orlando Magic 29 years
Houston Rockets 23 years
Memphis Grizzlies 23 years
Toronto Raptors 23 years
Chicago Bulls 20 years
New Orleans Pelicans 16 years (43 years) (The Jazz were in New Orleans from 1974-79)
Detroit Pistons 14 years
Boston Celtics 10 years
Los Angeles Lakers 8 years
Dallas Mavericks 7 years
Miami Heat 5 years
San Antonio Spurs 4 years
Cleveland Cavaliers 2 years
Golden State Warriors 1 year

HOCKEY

Toronto Maple Leafs 50 years
St. Louis Blues 50 years
Buffalo Sabres 47 years
Vancouver Canucks 47 years
Philadelphia Flyers 43 years
Washington Capitals 43 years
Arizona Coyotes 38 years (4 years) (won last WHA title in 1979)
New York Islanders 35 years
Calgary Flames 29 years
Edmonton Oilers 28 years
San Jose Sharks 26 years
Montreal Canadiens 25 years
Ottawa Senators 25 years
Florida Panthers 24 years
New York Rangers 24 years
Dallas Stars 19 years
Nashville Predators 19 years
Winnipeg Jets 18 years (7 games)
Colorado Avalanche 17 years
Columbus Blue Jackets 17 years
Minnesota Wild 17 years
New Jersey Devils 15 years
Tampa Bay Lightning 14 years
Carolina Hurricanes 12 years
Anaheim Ducks 11 years
Detroit Red Wings 10 years
Boston Bruins 7 years
Lost Angeles Kings 4 years
Chicago Black Hawks 3 years
Pittsburgh Penguins 1 year
Vegas Golden Knights 0 years