The Most Miserable Franchises in Sports

Okay, so if you don't know by now, I grew up in Cleveland.

Yes, that means I've dealt with heartaches such as "The Drive," "The Fumble," "The Move" and of course, "The Decision."

With all these miserable moments in my hometown's sports history, it got us thinking about some of the other fanbases that just can't seem to catch a break.

The ones that had long endured the worst of times and can honestly never say there have been too many best of times.

Who knows if or when luck will turn around for these fanbases, but for the sake of their sanity, we hope it's soon.

Portland

When we visited this city late last year, we absolutely fell in love with it.

But when we started talking to people about sports, they just got depressed.

It could be because they only have one team in any of the major sports leagues, and that one team hasn't won a title since 1977?

Either way, as pretty as the city is, the sports scene hasn't been able to match it.

Memphis

When you live in Memphis, you're basically banking on the success of your one major sports team—the Grizzlies—and some excitement from the minor league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, the Redbirds.

Seeing that the Grizz haven't done much besides their surprise run to the Western Conference Semis in 2010-11, and the baseball team's only won two league titles since 2000, it's not uncommon to have the blues in the city of blues.

Sacramento

Being a Sacramento sports fan is like being punished for something someone else admitted to doing.

On one hand, you should be thankful for having a pro team to cheer for. On the other, you realize there's a threat every single season the team might leave for another city, putting a damper on the longevity with which cheering excites you.

Salt Lake City

In Salt Lake, there's pretty much just the Jazz and BYU.

So if not being able to drink yourself into complete oblivion isn't enough of a bummer, fans are forced to cheer for a mid-major college team and a pro team that have yet to find a replacement for the Stockton to Malone combo while never winning a championship.

Houston

Though the Texans have enjoyed some success over the past couple seasons—winning one playoff game in each of their appearances—the Rockets and Astros haven't been relevant since the mid- to late-'90s.

We know the Astros had those years when Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens pitched for them and made it to the World Series, but honestly, do you want that to be your claim to fame?

Didn't think so.

Detroit

The Tigers may have just won the American League, but even with All-World pitcher Justin Verlander, Triple Crown-stud Miggy Cabrera and Home Run Derby champ Prince Fielder in their lineup, they still have yet to win a World Series—granted Fielder's only been there a year.

Once baseball season's over, fans have the "talented" Pistons to watch or the depressingly inconsistent Lions to watch.

Even though the Red Wings are the class of the NHL, they haven't even won a Cup since 2007-08!

Charlotte

The football team has Cam Newton as the face of their franchise and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist as the main man on the basketball court, but other than that what's there to be excited about in Charlotte?

Honestly, it might just be the fact that the greatest basketball player ever is the owner of their basketball team, and that's just said based off his record running the show.

Nashville

Living in Nashville, we can honestly say that besides a couple good seasons the Titans and Preds have given us, all there is each year is wishful thinking.

There's hope that Chris Johnson can regain his form from his 2,000-yard season.

But there is also skepticism over handing Shea Weber an insanely long contract with lots of money.

Overall, Music City has nothing but one miracle to hang its hat on as a great sports moment—and that was 13 years ago.

Oakland

Raiders fans have long been acknowledged as the fiercest in the game, but with a team that has a carousel for head coaches each year and a team that consistently finds itself drafting in the Top 10—striking out on a lot of picks—it's a testament to the fans' loyalty to continue supporting them each year.

With the A's and Warriors improving over the past year or so, there's at least something to cheer for in Oakland, but with neighboring city San Francisco home to the successful Niners and Giants, Oakland has some serious catching up to do.

Chicago

See the look on that kid's face?

That's the feeling every Windy City sports fan has anytime a new season begins.

They pray for Derek Rose to comeback at full strength and help the once-dominant Bulls to another title run.

All they want is for some coach of their beloved Bears to achieve the success Ditka did.

They're hoping the Blackhawks and White Sox can duplicate the title runs from a couple years ago.

And if you're a Cubs fan, well, you're just literally praying nothing worse happens to the team.

Phoenix

There were the Steve Nash years from about seven years ago, and the Charles Barkley Western Conference champion team from '93, but that's about it for the Suns.

The city did have a World Series title to celebrate when the D-backs won it in 2001—in dramatic fashion nonetheless—but even that was over ten years ago.

It may be really warm in Phoenix year-round, but fans would probably trade a couple of those warm days for the cold days their sports teams give them during the year.

Dallas

For all the hype surrounding the Cowboys, the team hasn't really lived up to the whole "America's Team" moniker, winning one playoff game in the past 17 years.

The Mavs, winners of the NBA title a couple years ago, are nearing the end of the Dirk years, all but guaranteeing a rebuild in the next season or two.

And while the Rangers have proven to be winners the past several years, going to back-to-back World Series, they blew a chance to win the title with one strike left to clinch in 2011 before losing to the Cardinals.

The Stars? Well, they won the Cup back in '99 and enjoyed some regular-season success since but not enough to forget about some of the other teams' heartbreaks.

Orlando

Simply put, they had Dwight Howard—arguably the most dominant big man in the NBA right now—and now they don't.

After a Finals loss in 2010, the Magic haven't been able to pull a David Blaine by repeating their success, finding themselves locked into bad contracts and aging players.

Needless to say, they're looking forward to the future at this point.

Washington D.C.

We'll honestly send you twenty bucks if you can name the most memorable moment in D.C. sports history in under 30 seconds.

Struggling to find one? Yeah, us too.

They might have RGIII to help save the Skins, along with Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg to lead the Nats, but with the Wizards stuck in irrelevance and zero titles since 1991, until they get off the schnide, they'll have a lot of long seasons. 

New York

Why the hell does NYC find itself in our top 10? Quite simply, because they fail to live up to expectations each year.

With a nonexistent payroll for pretty much all of their franchises, we should see at least one of the many team's in the New York metro area win a championship in some sport.

The Yanks spend like crazy, yet haven't won a World Series in three years.

Until this year, somehow the Knicks have been irrelevant all since the mid-'90s.

Even with the G-men winning the Super Bowl last year, they can't find enough consistency to try and repeat.

Then there's the Jets. What do we need to say about them?

Cincinnati

Is it just us, or do the Reds always seem like they've got the talent to win a World Series yet never actually do anything in the playoffs?

And then those Bengals. Oh, you poor Bengals.

Two playoff appearances in the past three years isn't enough to overlook the entire brutal history of your franchise, which doesn't have one Super Bowl title.

To make matters worse, if you're an NFL player whose been arrested, you're a top free-agent target for "Who Dey" nation.

Kansas City

Congratulations, Kansas City. For your football team's efforts in 2012, you'll be receiving the No. 1 overall draft pick in the upcoming draft and a new head coach by way of the Eagles.

Your baseball team? 

Well they just finished their ninth-straight losing season.

In fact, the only (recurring) highlight from Kansas City is the outburst by George Brett almost 30 years ago!

And as you can tell by that picture, they don't have the money to keep up with the big boys in sports.

San Diego

It might be perfect 70 degree weather every day, but when it comes to their sports teams, San Diego fans don't have much to cheer about.

They've had one major title in the past 50 years, a couple runs at titles—Chargers Super Bowl in 1994 and Padres World Series in 1998—but other than that, they have to be constantly reminded that Ryan Leaf was their starting QB at one point.

That's reason enough to be depressed.

Jacksonville

To put it bluntly, when it comes to sports, there's nothing going on in Jacksonville.

The Jags clearly made the wrong call by drafting Blaine Gabbert a couple years ago.

Panthers fans haven't been satisfied in the 18 seasons since the team's been around, earning four playoff appearances in their history.

And the one guy the city buzzes most about, Tim Tebow, is a questionable signal-caller in a quarterback driven league and is thought to be the savior of the franchise—even though he's not actually on the team!

Minneapolis

The city has the best running back in the NFL on its football team.

The baseball team made gold out of nothing early in the decade by achieving playoff success with a limited payroll.

The Timberwolves have Kevin Love and...?

And the hockey team, well the Wild have one playoff appearance in their history, which spans back to 2000.

We just gave you every reason why it sucks to cheer for Minneapolis teams.

Seattle

While the Seahawks just won their first playoff road game since 1993 this past weekend, they still have some serious work to do to change the fortunes of their city.

Seattle lands so high on our list not only because the Mariners are completely irrelevant—except for King Felix—but because of that city in Oklahoma.

That's right. With the Thunder's success and praise as building a championship-contending team from the ground up, all fans from the great Northwest can think about is how that should be them enjoying such moments.

Atlanta

We're not doubting the passion of Atlanta fans—though they could show it more by actually attending some games once in awhile—but the ATL is so high on our list for a couple reasons.

First, their most recent title was a strike-shortened World Series in 1995, which was their only championship in a stretch of 14 consecutive playoff appearances (eight of which were in the LCS).

Second, the Hawks could give away free tickets to games, and they still wouldn't fill the place.

Lastly, even though the Falcons locked up the NFC's No. 1 seed in the playoffs this year, fans are probably betting on them to blow it like they have in the past.

Toronto

Sure, they had their moments with back-to-back World Series titles in '92 and '93, but besides that, what in the hell have Toronto sports fans had to cheer about?

Their beloved Maple Leafs haven't captured Lord Stanley's cup since 1967.

The Blue Jays are competing against the Yanks and BoSox in the AL East—though they've tried to change their ways this offseason.

And the Raptors are, well, the Raptors.

Buffalo

You know that feeling when a girl you like gives you a ton of attention by texting or calling you on the reg, only to tell you she's not interested?

That could be said for the way Bills fans feel after their four-straight Super Bowl appearances in the early-'9's and longest current playoff drought in the NFL.

If that's not bad enough, remember when the Sabres lost that Stanley Cup in '99 on that controversial goal? Yeah, that didn't really ease the pains of Buffalo fans too well.

Cleveland

Simply put, the people of Northeastern Ohio haven't had much to cheer about in a long time.

Sure, there were the LeBron years.

And before that, the excitement over the Browns returning.

But with all the heartache this city's fans have had to endure—not to mention not a single pro title since 1964—it's pretty easy to see why they're the most insufferable fans in all of sports.