The 25 Most Cursed Franchises in Sports
Curses are a big part of sports. There has to be a reason for a team's epic failure other than just bad luck.
Some curses and jinxes are more famous than others. We've seen some of them broken in recent years, just ask the fans of the Red Sox and White Sox, but others continue to live on and torture the fan bases of those teams for all eternity.
Inside are the 25 most cursed sports franchises. Any thoughts or comments? Leave them inside.
Honorable Mention: Los Angeles Kings
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There were a lot of teams that could have had this spot but I chose the Kings for one reason.
When Wayne Gretzky came over to the Kings, it was supposed to change everything for hockey in Los Angeles. Not only LA, but America. He was the most famous hockey player in the world and he was going to turn America into a country that obsessed over hockey the way it does the other major sports.
Gretzky got the Kings to the Finals one year, but lost in five games to Montreal. But not without some controversy. Marty McSorley was the victim of a high stick in Game 2 with the Kings leading 2-1. With McSorley down, the Canadiens scored and won the game in overtime.
The Kings have never won a Cup in their franchise history, despite having one of if not the greatest hockey player of all-time on their roster.
Lifetime Achievement Award: Boston Red Sox
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A couple of years ago, the Boston Red Sox would be at the top of this list. However, times change.
The 2004 season changed the way we look at the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox have won championships in 2004 and 2007 and were a game away of the World Series in 2008. The Curse of the Bambino was legendary and had quite a run.
There was Bucky Dent, there was Aaron Boone and there were countless other incidents along the way before the Red Sox finally broke through after an 86-year drought without a championship. It's the most iconic curse of all-time and one that had to be recognized on a list like this.
As a Red Sox fan, I can say good riddance.
No. 25: Boston Bruins
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It's been a long, long time since the Boston Bruins have hoisted the Stanley Cup.
The Bruins haven't won a Cup since the early 1970s and, since then, Boston has gone through a long period of time where the team was just brutal and poorly run, before having come back to life in recent years.
Boston still manages to have bad things happen, as the Philadelphia Flyers not only rallied from 3-0 in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, but rallied from 3-0 in Game 7 to win the series.
That's gotta hurt.
No. 24: Pittsburgh Pirates
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The Pittsburgh Pirates weren't always this bad. Trust me.
Back in the day, the Pirates were contenders, with players like Barry Bonds on the roster, but always seemed to just come up a tiny bit short when it mattered. The Braves downed them in two infamous series for Pirates fans and after Bonds left, so did the good times in Pittsburgh.
The Pirates haven't had a winning season in forever and haven't won a title since 1979. At least there's the Steelers and the Penguins.
No. 23: Sacramento Kings
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The Sacramento Kings had the Los Angeles Lakers on the ropes.
Time and time again Chris Webber and company would give the Lakers all they had only for the Lakers to somehow escape with the win and move on to leave the Kings sitting in a pile of misery. Robert Horry's shot was the most famous, but there were plenty of defeats to crush the soul of every Kings fan out there.
Not only that, but Shaq called them the Queens. Insult to injury.
No. 22: San Diego Chargers
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For the Chargers, stinging defeat goes all the way back to 1978.
In the Holy Roller game, or as Charger fans call it, "The Immaculate Deception," San Diego lost a game to the Oakland Raiders in which Ken Stabler fumbled the ball forward. It was continuously knocked forward until the Raiders scored the game-winning touchdown.
The Chargers finally got to a Super Bowl and then were promptly obliterated by San Francisco in one of the most lopsided Super Bowls of all-time.
Now Norv Turner is their coach. Talk about cursed.
No. 21: Cincinnati Bengals
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There were two Super Bowl appearances in the 1980s for the Bengals and, both times, San Francisco was there to crush Cincy's hearts.
Then there was a long period of futility in which the Bengals became known as "The Bungles" and fans were wearing paper bags on their heads at games. When the Bengals finally became successful again and made the playoffs, Carson Palmer blows his knee out and has never been the same.
It looks like it's back to square one again in Cincinnati.
No. 20: Phoenix Suns
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The Phoenix Suns have come close so many times and been the victim of so much bad luck.
The Suns never got past Michael Jordan back in the 90s. Most recently, those potent Phoenix teams had suspensions ruin the best chance at a possible trip to the finals. Last year, a last second tip-in by Ron Artest helped doom the Suns.
Poor Steve Nash. He can't grab a break.
No. 19: Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans
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The Houston Oilers never had any luck and neither have the Tennessee Titans.
The Oilers were victims of that epic comeback by the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs and then even moving to Nashville didn't help the franchise wipe the stain of defeat away. When they finally made a Super Bowl, the Titans came up a yard short of overtime on the final play of regulation against the St. Louis Rams.
Now that's a way to lose and crush the hearts of all of your fans.
No. 18: Seattle Seahawks
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The Seattle Seahawks haven't had much success, but when Seattle finally made it to the Super Bowl and played the Pittsburgh Steelers, some people thought the fix was in.
There was a lot of questionable officiating and with Jerome Bettis and Bill Cowher on the other sidelines, people wondered aloud if the referees were favoring the Steelers because they were the sentimental favorite heading into the game.
Seattle hasn't been successful since then.
No. 17: Philadelphia Flyers
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The Flyers have had some success in their history. But in recent years, the team can't buy a break.
Philadelphia has been to the Stanley Cup Finals six times since its last Cup victory and there's been plenty of missed opportunities and awful defeats, like blowing a 3-1 Eastern Conference Finals lead against the New Jersey Devils.
The Flyers also traded Peter Forsberg for Eric Lindros, who had a very up and down career with the Flyers. It's a great franchise with great fans, but it has awful luck.
No. 16: Utah Jazz
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The Jazz had two of the greatest players of all-time in Karl Malone and John Stockton, but they just couldn't get past Michael Jordan's Bulls teams.
The iconic last shot against the Jazz was the result of a blatant push off and offensive foul by Jordan and if you look closely at the faces of the people behind the basket, you can see all of the horrified looks and body language.
They knew it was going in before it even hit the twine.
No. 15: New York Jets
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The New York Jets famously won Super Bowl III but haven't gone back since.
There's been plenty of famous draft failures for the Jets and a lot of missed opportunities along the way. It's kind of hardened Jets fans to the failure at this point, even though hopes are high with Mark Sanchez and Rex Ryan running the show.
But don't think that Jets fans aren't secretly worried about a collapse.
No. 14: Detroit Lions
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Where do you start with the Detroit Lions?
There's just so much losing and so much futility and no signs of hope that it's almost time to wonder if the Lions are a lost cause. When they finally find a ray of hope in Matthew Stafford, he ends up having a ton of shoulder problems.
Only the Lions would go through something like that.
No. 13: Seattle Mariners
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Think about all of the great players that have played for Seattle and remember that they haven't won anything.
Ichiro, Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson and Alex Rodriguez have all suited up for the Mariners and that franchise is 0-3 in the ALCS. Seattle even tied the mark for most wins in a season and ended up losing in the ALCS to the Yankees.
Seattle is just a cursed city.
No. 12: Portland Trail Blazers
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The Portland Trail Blazers have had a curse over them for decades.
Bill Walton's knees gave out, Greg Oden is taken first overall instead of Kevin Durant and Oden barely has played while Durant is an All-Star. Brandon Roy's knee will never be the same any more and there's just so much pain and anguish around a team that's so beloved by the city.
Don't forget passing on Michael Jordan and blowing a Game 7 against the Shaq and Kobe's Lakers. What a nightmare.
No. 11: Buffalo Sabres
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Seeing as Buffalo is the only team to lose a Stanley Cup because the other team scored an illegal goal in the third overtime, you have to put the Sabres on here.
Brett Hull was clearly in the crease on the goal that gave the Stars the title and this was when Dominik Hasek was at the height of his powers as a goaltender. He was a brick wall at that point and the Stars had to cheat to beat him.
The Sabres have never won a Cup, and to come that close and lose that way is awful.
No. 10: Philadelphia Eagles
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Donovan McNabb and Andy Reid went to NFC championship game after NFC championship game and always managed to fall a little bit short.
Eventually the Eagles went all in and got Terrell Owens and then as they were making their run to the Super Bowl, Owens injured his leg and missed most of the playoffs. Somehow he came back for the Super Bowl, only for the Eagles to lose to the Patriots.
The Eagles always somehow find a way to lose the big game and put their loyal fans through a living hell every winter.
No. 9: Toronto Maple Leafs
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The Toronto Maple Leafs are one of the original six NHL teams and they haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1967.
In fact, the Leafs haven't even gotten back to the Cup Finals since 1967 in a stretch that is unthinkable for one of the league's showcase franchises. It's been a long, long time for the Leafs and those fans are tortured with how bad this team has been at times since that last Cup win.
The Leafs are the only member of the original six that has failed to win since the NHL expanded. Ouch.
No. 8: Los Angeles Clippers
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The Los Angeles Clippers have always been the little brother in the LA basketball scene but bad luck has followed it.
Just look at Blake Griffin, who missed his entire rookie year with a knee injury. Thankfully he's come back as a monster for the Clippers. But Los Angeles has had awful luck with injuries to young star players and it has been horribly mismanaged for years.
It just never seems to get better for Clippers fans.
No. 7: Cleveland Cavaliers
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First it was Michael Jordan who ripped the hearts out of Cavs fans with The Shot. Then it was one of their own that did it to them.
After coming so painfully close two seasons earlier, LeBron James left Cleveland behind for Miami and alienated an entire city that will never, ever forgive him for what he did this past summer, as if being upset by the Orlando Magic wasn't enough.
It's been hard times being a Cavs fan.
No. 6: Cleveland Browns
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I'm sorry Cleveland, but I have to re-open more old wounds.
If you're a Browns fans and were alive at the time, you will never forget Earnest Byner and The Fumble in 1987 against the Denver Broncos. The Browns were making a comeback and driving for the tie late in the game when Byner fumbles the ball as he's about to run into the end zone for the game-tying touchdown.
Not only that, but the franchise leaves Cleveland and wins a franchise as the Baltimore Ravens. What a gut punch.
No. 5: New York Knicks
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The New York Knicks haven't won a title since 1973, but it's felt a lot longer than that for Knicks fans.
There were the tough losses to the Bulls and then coming up short in the NBA Finals a couple of times. But then nothing tops the Isiah years and this year putting everything into getting LeBron James in the offseason only to end up with Amar'e Stoudemire and nothing else.
It just never seems to get better. Just try not to think about Charles Smith trying to score against the Bulls four or five times only to get stuffed each time he went up.
No. 4: Cleveland Indians
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The latest of many failures for the Indians and their fans was the 3-1 ALCS chokejob against the Boston Red Sox in 2007, but that isn't bad enough.
There was the loss in the World Series to the Florida Marlins and then trading their top two pitchers away only to watch one win a championship and the other pitch for the chance to win one the last two seasons.
It's just awful to be an Indians fan. There's so much heartbreak there.
No. 3: Minnesota Vikings
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The Vikings always find new and exciting ways to crush the hopes and dreams of their fans.
Most recently it was the NFC championship game, when Minnesota dominated the game but somehow lost in overtime to the New Orleans Saints on an awful interception by Brett Favre. There was, of course, the Gary Anderson Game where he missed the game-winning field goal and so much more.
I'm sure this year is no walk in the park either for Minnesota fans.
No. 2: Buffalo Bills
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No one finds the way to blow games quite like the Buffalo Bills.
Four straight Super Bowl appearances and four straight losses, including Scott Norwood's missed field goal against the Giants. There's just so much heartbreak there that I don't know how Bills fans keep coming back for more.
There's a special place in heaven for those fans.
No. 1: Chicago Cubs
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Who else could top this list but the Cubs?
There is a century's worth of losing and heartbreak for the fans of the Chicago Cubs, which has most recently been topped off with the Bartman game and the loss to the Florida Marlins in the 2003 ALCS. Cubs fans are so self-loathing at this point and can you blame them?
When you go through events like that, it's the only logical reaction for putting yourself through the pain. My condolences to Cubs fans. Who could blame them for having zero faith in their own team?
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