The Big Four

[SWC75]

The Boston Celtics just won their 18th NBA title, the most ever, (the Lakers have 18 titles as well but the first was in the National Basketball league, before they joined the Basketball Association of America, which became the NBA). The Green Bay Packers have 13 NFL titles, the New York Yankees have won 27 World Series and the Montreal Canadiens have won 24 Stanley Cups, all the best in their sports. Have they ever been reigning champions at the same time?

 

[Day2]

The Boston Celtics just won their 18th NBA title, the most ever, (the Lakers have 18 titles as well but the first was in the National Basketball league, before they joined the Basketball Association of America, which became the NBA). The Green Bay Packers have 13 NFL titles, the New York Yankees have won 27 World Series and the Montreal Canadiens have won 24 Stanley Cups, all the best in their sports. Have they ever been reigning champions at the same time?

Not all four at once. Pretty sure different combinations have been reigning champions at various times.

 

[upperdeck]

Montreal deciding to take 30 yrs off is pretty sad

 

[OrangeXtreme]

	NBA	NHL	MLB	NFL
1927​			Yankees
1928​			Yankees
1929​				Green Bay
1930​		Montreal		Green Bay
1931​		Montreal		Green Bay
1932​			Yankees
1933​
1934​
1935​
1936​			Yankees	Green Bay
1937​			Yankees
1938​			Yankees
1939​			Yankees	Green Bay
1940​
1941​			Yankees
1942​
1943​			Yankees
1944​		Montreal		Green Bay
1945​
1946​		Montreal
1947​			Yankees
1948​
1949​			Yankees
1950​			Yankees
1951​			Yankees
1952​			Yankees
1953​		Montreal	Yankees
1954​
1955​
1956​		Montreal	Yankees
1957​	Boston	Montreal
1958​		Montreal	Yankees
1959​	Boston	Montreal
1960​	Boston	Montreal
1961​	Boston		Yankees	Green Bay
1962​	Boston		Yankees	Green Bay
1963​	Boston
1964​	Boston
1965​	Boston	Montreal		Green Bay
1966​	Boston	Montreal		Green Bay
1967​				Green Bay
1968​	Boston	Montreal
1969​	Boston	Montreal
1970​
1971​		Montreal
1972​
1973​		Montreal
1974​	Boston
1975​
1976​	Boston	Montreal
1977​		Montreal
1978​		Montreal	Yankees
1979​		Montreal	Yankees
1980​
1981​	Boston
1982​
1983​
1984​	Boston
1985​
1986​	Boston	Montreal
1987​
1988​
1989​
1990​
1991​
1992​
1993​		Montreal
1994​
1995​
1996​			Yankees	Green Bay
1997​
1998​			Yankees
1999​			Yankees
2000​			Yankees
2001​
2002​
2003​
2004​
2005​
2006​
2007​
2008​	Boston
2009​			Yankees
2010​				Green Bay
2011​
2012​
2013​
2014​
2015​
2016​
2017​
2018​
2019​
2020​
2021​
2022​
2023​
2024​	Boston

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Montreal deciding to take 30 yrs off is pretty sad

Their ship sailed. Hockey is currently the hardest to dominate. Too many teams and although the talent is there, it's way too spread out. A lot of teams that get hot for a year or two and then never heard from again.

That said, Montreal's drought is inexcusable along with all of Canada.

And so is the Yankees, with all of their resources. Now, their injuries are starting once again.

 

[br801]

Their ship sailed. Hockey is currently the hardest to dominate. Too many teams and although the talent is there, it's way too spread out. A lot of teams that get hot for a year or two and then never heard from again.

That said, Montreal's drought is inexcusable along with all of Canada.

And so is the Yankees, with all of their resources. Now, their injuries are starting once again.

It's never been easy to win a championship in any sport, but it's harder than ever now with more teams and a wider distribution of talent, and with expanded fields in postseason play. There will be much heartache and misery for fans with a 'championship or bust' mentality. Better to just enjoy the ride, and really savor those special seasons when everything falls into place.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

It's never been easy to win a championship in any sport, but it's harder than ever now with more teams and a wider distribution of talent, and with expanded fields in postseason play. There will be much heartache and misery for fans with a 'championship or bust' mentality. Better to just enjoy the ride, and really savor those special seasons when everything falls into place.

I really enjoyed the Cubbies and the Blues. Both, a once in a lifetime event. Now, if the Jazz can find a way.

I think what the Patriots did was phenomenal. Of course some would say they cheated but I don't think Bill and Brady got full credit for their prolonged success. Of course Eli tarnished their legacy a bit. Thank god.

 

[SWC75]

Answer:

No, but three of them have held the title simultaneously four times:

#1 The Yankees won the 1956 World Series. In the spring of 1957, the Celtics won their first title and the Canadiens won their second of 5 straight cups. The Packers had a 4-8 record in 1956 and would go 3-9 in 1957. The Braves beat the Yankees in the 1957 World Series to end the first “3 of 4” period. Spring to fall of ’57. Actual dates 4/16/57-10/10/57 Yankees, Canadiens and Celtics.

#2 The Canadiens repeated in the spring of 1958 but the Celtics lost to the Hawks, thanks to Bill Russell’s twisted ankle. The Yankees won the series in the fall. The Canadiens won again in the spring of ’59 and the Celtics won the first of 8 straight NBA titles. That created the second 3of4, which ended when the Yankees finished 4th in 1959, (but were the reigning champs until the World Series was over in the fall. The Packers finished 1-10-1 in 1958 and hired Vince Lombardi who went 7-5 and finished third in the NFL west in 1959. So the second 3of4 was from the spring to fall of ’59. Actual dates: 4/18/59-10/8/59 Yankees, Canadiens and Celtics.

#3 The Canadiens won their 5th straight Stanley Cup in 1960 and the Celtics their second straight NBA title. The Yankees and Packers played for the title but lost. The Celtics won their third in a row in the spring of ’61 but the Black Hawks broke the Canadien’s streak. The Yankees won the World Series and the Packers the NFL title so the third 3of4 began in December 1961. The Celtics, Yankees and Packers all repeated in ’62 but the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup. In the spring of ’63 the Celtics won again and so did the Leafs. But the Dodgers swept the Yankees in the ’63 series and the Bears beat out the Packers and then the Giants for the NFL title so the third 3of4 lasted from December of ’61 to the fall of ’63. Actual dates: 12/31/61-10/6/63 Celtics, Yankees and Packers.

#4 The Celtics and Leafs won again in ’64 but the Yankees again lost the series – to the Cardinals – and the Packers finished second to the Colts. The Celtics won their 7th in a row in ’65 and the Canadiens were back but the Yankees collapsed but the Packers beat the Browns in the last pre-Super Bowl NFL titles game. So 3of4 #4 began with that game, (Jim Brown’s last), in December 1965. All three teams repeated in 1966 so the fourth era ended when the Leafs beat the Canadiens and the Sixers beat the Celtics and then the Warriors in the spring of 1967. This one lasted from December 1965 to the spring of ’67. Actual dates: 1/2/66 – 4/11/67 Celtics, Canadiens and Packers.

There’s never been a 3 of 4 since. The closed we came to having all four being champions at once was not in any of these periods. In 1960, the Canadiens and Celtics won in the spring and the Yankees lost to the Pirates in 7 games in the fall in a series where they outscored them 55-27 and lost 9-10 in game 7 on Mazeroski’s home run and the Packers lost to the Eagles 13-17 in a game that ended with Chick Bednarik sitting on Jim Taylor so they couldn’t get another play off. If you use the lakers instead of the Celtics, there was a 3of4 from 4/16/53 when the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup from the Black Hawks until 4/16/54 when the Red Wings beat them. The Lakers and Yankees ruled their sports at the time.

 

[DoubleDee]

I should have known better than to think you were talking about THE Big Four: Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, and Slayer.