Re-Thinking Forbes' Most Miserable Sports Cities

The typical sports fan can only take so much punishment.

After years of passionately rooting for the hometown teams while buying their jerseys and spending hundreds of dollars on their tickets time and time again, your heart is ripped to shreds with each painful playoff loss or, even worse, a season of irrelevancy.

Forbes released their list of the most miserable sports cities in the country and has listed Atlanta as No. 1. With an NFL and NBA team that consistently makes the playoffs and a baseball team that has an incredible amount of history, I couldn’t disagree more.

The following cities have a much better case for the dubious distinction of being the most miserable sports city in America. The only guidelines are that the city must have at least two professional teams and that collegiate success is not factored in. 

5. Phoenix

Phoenix is filled with thousands of transplants that have their loyalties invested in other cities around the country.

That’s a good thing when you look at the history of Phoenix teams.

The Suns came oh-so-close to winning it all during the Charles Barkley and Steve Nash era’s, but are now as far away from a championship as any team in the NBA. Add it up and they lost both of their NBA Finals appearances and have a ridiculous seven losses in the Western Conference Finals. If only Robert Horry didn’t hip check Nash…

The D-Backs brought a brief glimpse of glory in 2001, but have meddled in mediocrity ever since before a surprising playoff appearance in 2011.

The Coyotes were wrapped up in a gambling scandal by Wayne Gretzky’s wife that screwed up the entire franchise.

The Cardinals are historically one of the biggest punching bags in the history of the NFL aside from a few great years with Kurt Warner. The franchise may have the least amount of memorable moments in the entire league.

Last Championship: 2001

4. Kansas City

Middle America has friendly folks, which is a good thing when you consider the pain and suffering their professional sports teams put them through.

The Royals have a grand total of one winning season in the last 15, and haven’t even been competitive in the vast majority of those seasons. This comes after losing in either the ALCS or World Series on five separate occasions from 1976 to 1984.

The Chiefs have an incredible home-field advantage at Arrowhead, but the team never seems to take advantage of it. They have a whopping three playoff appearances since 1998 and have never won a conference championship since it went into effect back in the '70s. The 1969 Super bowl IV victory is the only triumph for the franchise.  

Last championship: 1985

3. Buffalo

Wide left is a phrase fans will take to the grave, as they will never be able to get over losing four straight Super Bowls. The Bills haven’t been relevant since their last Super Bowl loss, and after throwing a ridiculous contract extension in Ryan Fitzpatrick’s direction, it doesn’t look to be changing anytime soon.

The Sabres have made the semifinals on six separate occasions, losing all six, and the Braves are nothing but a distant memory at this point.

The last decade has been brutal and the foreseeable future doesn’t look much different.

Last championship: 1965

2. Seattle

The Mariners had one of the best records of all time back in 2001 (the last time they made the playoffs) but failed to even reach the World Series. This is a few years after losing three Hall of Famers in Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez and Randy Johnson. Griffey came back for one last tour, but it was an ugly breakup after he was found sleeping in the player’s lounge during a game.

The Seahawks are capable of winning a playoff game from time to time but have never been considered a legit Super Bowl contender since 2006, where they were hosed in one of the worst officiated Super Bowls of all time. Fans will never forget that fateful February night.

Then there's the Sonics, err, Oklahoma City Thunder. Fans were able to watch Kevin Durant in his rookie season, but now they are stuck watching him win scoring titles with a team that is currently the favorite to win the Western Conference.

The NBA needs Seattle, and the announcement that the Kings are staying in Sacramento really stings.

Last championship: 1979

1. Cleveland

Where to begin?

Their football team left overnight, only to win a Super Bowl within two years of leaving. Now, their new team is consistently one of the worst in the league and has made the postseason a grand total of once since rejoining the league in 1999.

And that's years after “The Drive” and “The Fumble” robbed the Browns of success in the 1980s.

Their baseball team was one out away from winning a World Series in 1997, before Jose Mesa blew it in the ninth inning. It was one of the biggest stomach-punch losses to this day.

Then there are the Cavaliers. After regularly registering a top-three record in the league, LeBron James never could get his team over the hump and flat-out quit on them in the 2010 playoffs against the Boston Celtics. One “decision” later and the team couldn’t be more irrelevant.

With horrible winter weather and one of the worst economies in the nation, sports are not the place to find solace for Clevelanders.

Other than that the city is doing just great.

Last title: 1964