In my last post a few months ago, I tracked the teams over the past decade that had won their first title in franchise history, or the first in a really long time. I was hoping to add two more teams to that list this week with the titles of the Mavericks and Canucks, who had never won. Alas, Vancouver lost game 7, they rioted, [although I think we all know the real reason Vancouver is on fire - someone in the crowd said that Canadian beer sucks], and now Boston has yet another title to add to their recent mantle.
In the wake of preparing to hear insufferable New Englanders trying to think of something to complain about, now that they've won everything, I started thinking about a different facet to research: has anyone ever won titles across all 4 major pro leagues in such a short amount of time?
No.
Not even close.
I had to look this up. On February 6, 2005, the Patriots defeated the Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX, a game a lot of us remember all too well. On June 15, 2011, the Bruins won the Stanley Cup (and in between, the Red Sox and Celtics won titles). That's a span of 6 years, 4 months, and 9 days. I wanted to see if any other city could match that.
Well, out of the 13 cities that have had all 4 major leagues at one time, even if they don't anymore (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, Boston, Dallas, Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Denver, and Miami), only a few of them hold titles in all sports, regardless of time span. New York, Philly, Boston, Chicago, and Detroit are the only ones, unless you count the Anaheim Ducks as part of Los Angeles (debatable). Even if you wanted to combine the Bay Area teams, or Tampa with Orlando, they don't have titles across all 4 sports.
So, just having franchises that have won titles in every sport is pretty rare, let alone in a short time frame. New York, with all its teams, would seem to be the most likely candidate to pull it off, but they haven't come close to what Boston just did. The shortest span to have New York teams capture all four titles is 11 years, from 1969 to 1980 -- but, even then, you'd have to count the Islanders, and I know Long Island isn't quite the same as New York city. It's a questionable run. If you didn't count the Islanders, then New York's shortest span is from 1973 to 1994 - a whole 21 years. The Knicks and Rangers, for all their history, don't win the title very often.
Some cities have come kind of close, but fell one title short. L.A. was pretty hot in the early 80's with the Lakers and Dodgers, and then the Raiders moved in and won a Super Bowl, but the Kings never won a Stanley Cup, not even after they got Gretsky. Detroit had a nice run in the 80's and 90's, but the Lions couldn't do anything. Chicago finally broke through recently with the White Sox and Blackhawks ending droughts, but the Bears haven't won since the Super Bowl Shuffle crew, so their shortest span was almost 25 years.
Ironically, it is my beloved home base Philly that almost came the closest to equalling what Boston has done. In between the Flyers' second Cup win in 1975 and the Sixers winning the finals in 1983, the Phils and Eagles made runs, but the Eagles lost the 1981 Super Bowl. If they had won, Philly would still be second to Boston, with a span of 8 years and 4 days... but that would have been an amazing run. As it is, Philly's shortest span is almost 20 years, from the Eagles winning the NFL Championship (pre-Super Bowl) in December 1960 to the Phillies winning the World Series in October 1980.
So, cheers to you, Boston. You just did something unheard of in major pro sports. You've tasted victory with every team, in a much shorter time than anyone, ever, including that hated New Yahk. So now that it's over, there's just one thing left...
In the wake of preparing to hear insufferable New Englanders trying to think of something to complain about, now that they've won everything, I started thinking about a different facet to research: has anyone ever won titles across all 4 major pro leagues in such a short amount of time?
No.
Not even close.
I had to look this up. On February 6, 2005, the Patriots defeated the Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX, a game a lot of us remember all too well. On June 15, 2011, the Bruins won the Stanley Cup (and in between, the Red Sox and Celtics won titles). That's a span of 6 years, 4 months, and 9 days. I wanted to see if any other city could match that.
Well, out of the 13 cities that have had all 4 major leagues at one time, even if they don't anymore (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, Boston, Dallas, Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Denver, and Miami), only a few of them hold titles in all sports, regardless of time span. New York, Philly, Boston, Chicago, and Detroit are the only ones, unless you count the Anaheim Ducks as part of Los Angeles (debatable). Even if you wanted to combine the Bay Area teams, or Tampa with Orlando, they don't have titles across all 4 sports.
So, just having franchises that have won titles in every sport is pretty rare, let alone in a short time frame. New York, with all its teams, would seem to be the most likely candidate to pull it off, but they haven't come close to what Boston just did. The shortest span to have New York teams capture all four titles is 11 years, from 1969 to 1980 -- but, even then, you'd have to count the Islanders, and I know Long Island isn't quite the same as New York city. It's a questionable run. If you didn't count the Islanders, then New York's shortest span is from 1973 to 1994 - a whole 21 years. The Knicks and Rangers, for all their history, don't win the title very often.
Some cities have come kind of close, but fell one title short. L.A. was pretty hot in the early 80's with the Lakers and Dodgers, and then the Raiders moved in and won a Super Bowl, but the Kings never won a Stanley Cup, not even after they got Gretsky. Detroit had a nice run in the 80's and 90's, but the Lions couldn't do anything. Chicago finally broke through recently with the White Sox and Blackhawks ending droughts, but the Bears haven't won since the Super Bowl Shuffle crew, so their shortest span was almost 25 years.
Ironically, it is my beloved home base Philly that almost came the closest to equalling what Boston has done. In between the Flyers' second Cup win in 1975 and the Sixers winning the finals in 1983, the Phils and Eagles made runs, but the Eagles lost the 1981 Super Bowl. If they had won, Philly would still be second to Boston, with a span of 8 years and 4 days... but that would have been an amazing run. As it is, Philly's shortest span is almost 20 years, from the Eagles winning the NFL Championship (pre-Super Bowl) in December 1960 to the Phillies winning the World Series in October 1980.
So, cheers to you, Boston. You just did something unheard of in major pro sports. You've tasted victory with every team, in a much shorter time than anyone, ever, including that hated New Yahk. So now that it's over, there's just one thing left...
Can you shut the fuck up already?
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For research purposes, shortest spans I could find:
1. Boston (2005 Pats - 2007 Red Sox - 2008 Celtics - 2011 Bruins): 6 years, 4 months, 9 days
2. New York* (1969 Jets - 1969 Mets - 1970,73 Knicks - 1977,78 Yankees - 1980 Islanders): 11 years, 4 months, 12 days *counting Long Island as part of NY
3. Philadelphia (1960 Eagles - 1967 Sixers - 1974,75 Flyers - 1980 Phillies): 19 years, 10 months, 25 days
4. New York (1973 Knicks - 1977,78 Yankees - 1986 Mets - 1987,91 Giants - 1994 Rangers): 21 years, 1 month, 4 days
5. Los Angeles* (1983 Raiders - 1985,87,88,2000,01,02 Lakers - 1988 Dodgers - 2002 Angels - 2007 Ducks): 23 years, 5 months, 17 days *counting Anaheim as part of LA
6. Chicago (1986 Bears - 1991,92,93,96,97,98 Bulls - 2005 White Sox - 2010 Blackhawks): 24 years, 4 months, 14 days
Also, Detroit's shortest span, from the '57 Lions to the '89 Pistons (with multiple titles by the Red Wings and Tigers in between) is 31 years, 6 months, and 15 days.
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