Best American Sports City?

Is it NYC? LA? Boston? Miami? Chicago? Detroit?

You tell me!

I know someone on the board who would say Buffalo.

and I know someone that thinks the All-Time Bills squad could somehow defeat the All-Time Vikings squadron......you know, a certain passionate NAIVE person.

As for the topic, I say New York City. I mean there are the legendary Yankeess, the not-so-legendary Mets, the Knickbokers(Knicks), Rangers, and Islanders. I don't include the Giants nor the Jets because they play in friggin NEW JERSEY!

New York, hands down. Then Boston, then Chicago.

No other cities are even close.

Edit: Now that I think about it, Philadelphia should maybe rank ahead of Chicago.

Some sports media people say that New York is such a big professional sports town that there is no room or lure to support college sports. New York only comes close in college basketball - St. Johns, but even that is a stretch. The pro sports have it locked up. And don't even think that because the Giants and Jets are in the Meadowlands that they aren't NY. The NEW YORK FOOTBALL GIANTS!

New York then probably Boston, then maybe L.A.

Philadelphia

Naive? At least I know that it's "Fran" and not "Frank" :p :p :p

Nah, it's Cleveland and Buffalo, the most tortured (yes, Boston is not...they have a winning football team )

Philadelphia is the most tortured. Cleveland and Buffalo... their teams just plain old suck. We are truly tortured. Just look at 2004. Eagles lose in NFC championship game for third straight year. St. Joe's loses in the Elite 8 on a last second shot. Smarty Jones loses the Triple Crown in the final straight away of the Belmont. The Flyers lose game 7 of the Eastern conference finals. Larry Brown quits on the Sixers and wins the NBA championship in his first year with the Pistons.

But now things seem to be going good with Eagles being 5-0...

Don't worry Freddie C, the Eagles should do better this year. They should at least reach the SuperBowl, if not win it. As for the Sixers, blame AI for that one. He ran the coach out of town. Now look at them!

AI is my boy. He's way more exciting than Jordan. :p

The Sixers might actually be decent this year. With Jim O'Brien as head coach, and AI's move to the point, who knows?

No the biggest loser town is amazingly Chicago.

First, there is the White Sox which has a drought of their own with no World Series trophy since 1917. Not to mention since then they only won ONE Pennant since then(in 1959).

Second, the loveable losers that are the Cubs. Yes they were in the NLCS last year but blew a 3-2 game lead against the Florida Marlins(and no, Steve Bartman isn't the reason at all). Not to mention they blew their NL Wild Card lead to the Houston Astros and missed the playoffs. Besides, Sammy Sosa has been deflating(like the number of pills and corked bats hes been using in correlation with his production numbers). Hate to say this, but the Cubs will continue to get poached, but at least the beer is on sale...

Third, the poor baby Bulls. The NBA dynasty of the 1990s(and totally ignoring the Detroit Pistons and the Houston Rockets' runs) winning 6 titles in 8 years, but now can't even win an eBay auction for a used-STAR WARS collectible Boba Fett action figure. The team stank for many years before the era of MJ and Pippen and Kukoc and so on but they have returned to their infamous glory.

Fourth, the scalped Blackhawks. This rich-filled NHL legendary franchise really hasn't done much in the last decade or so, save a Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 1992(before being pecked and eaten by the Penguins of Pittsburgh) and a losing Western Conference appearance later in the decade to the Detroit Red Wings. I mean the franchise that gave hockey fans Bobby Hull and several cups, and they stink. Sad really.

Fifth and finally, DA BEARS. Damn, apparently this is another season to forget for the wild animals that are penned weekly on Soldier Field. I mean really after their Super Bowl Schuffling victory way back in the 1985 season, the team has been plagued by several lousy years. Not to mention the infamous problems all QBs for the Bears face, which is obscurity. Despite that one great 13-3 season under the now-fired Dick Jauron, the Bears seem to be hungry for greatness, and indeed have a great NFL legacy of such, but now can only find berries and whatever scraps that can be pulled from the garbage cans at the local camping grounds.

I can't feel sorry for a city that won 6 titles in 8 years. Philadelphia hasn't won a major sports championship since 1985! (Villanova basketball) That's a year before I was even born!

As for Pro sports, here's our title breakdown:

Eagles: 2 (1948, 1960)

76ers: 3 (1955 as Syracuse Nationals, 1967, 1983)

Phillies: 1 (1980)

Flyers: 2 (1974, 1975)

2+3+1+2-1(Syracuse)= 7

7 championships all-time!

Too bad most (if not all) of the Chicago teams have won a championship...Cubs, Bears, Bulls, etc.

Sabres and Bills have won nothing (though the Bison's have won the Governors cup a few times, this year too I think).

But Buffalo isn't on the same level as the major sports cities. You only have two pro teams.

We had a basketball team, the Buffalo Braves, at one point.

Buffalo may be a small market team, but we have big market passion.

I truly hope you are kidding in this remark. I remember us having a discussion about this & I REALLY hope you are joking

I agree with you. The only player they may be more exciting to watch is Tracy McGrady. -Pat

New York. I would say Los Angeles since theyve had the summer olympics and all, but I read in the paper that they dont even have any team in the hightest league of the biggest sport over there, American Football.

Los Angeles still has the Dodgers (baseball), and the Clippers (I think...I don't follow basketball). They used to house the Los Angeles Rams and the Raiders (Pro Football).

Please tell me the both of you are kidding?

Do I have to find AI's crossover on Jordan again? :p

Good call on Philadelphia. Throw college basketball's "Big 5" into the mix, and really the only thing missing is college football. Do Pitt or Penn State carry any weight in Philadelphia? Boston has many of the same elements, but add Boston College, Boston U., the ivy league schools and a college hockey fan base.

Chicago is passionate about their winners, appreciative of a good effort, and quick to embrace the promising college teams. Two major league baseball teams, NHL, NBA, and NFL franchises, minor league hockey and three minor league baseball teams, a Big 10 school (Northwestern), a couple of Division I basketball schools (DePaul, Illinois-Chicago, Loyola, and Chicago State), Notre Dame just a train ride away on the South Shore line, Northern Illinois (the classic "suitcase college") enjoying a resurgence in college football, Illinois primed to make a run at a Big 10 basketball championship and a deep run in the NCAA tourney, and arguably the best high school basketball in the country, backed by two major metropolitan daily newspapers and a host of smaller suburban papers with some truly exceptional beat reporters and columnists, and two full-time sportstalk radio stations.

Cubs appear headed in the right direction with McPhail and Hendry, Sox could rebound and surprise us next year, Bears are a washout and I'm not yet convinced Jerry Angelo or Lovie Smith have all the right players on the field, Hawks have shown NO signs of life, nor have the Bulls despite some productive draft picks. With that many pro franchises, you'd think we'd produce more contending teams on a regular basis. Illinois and Northwestern are the worst of the Big 10 in college football (though both teams produced Big 10 champions in the last ten years) and Notre Dame is heading south. But this kind of talk is ALWAYS followed by "but wait until next year." Perhaps it's the most eternally optimistic sports town.

The facilities are legendary (Wrigley), improving (new Comiskey), or brand new (United Center and "Soldier's Field.") And, like 'em or not, EVERYONE should ride the South Shore from Chicago to South Bend for a Notre Dame game. That's old school!

There is truly something for everyone in Chicago. It's the reason why, to quote Richard J., "I love Chicagah!"

tony b.

You're right about the absence of college football. The only 1-A team we have is Temple. :rolleyes: But we do have some very good 1-AA teams in the area: Villanova, Penn, Delaware, and Lehigh.

Philadelphia doesn't really have a strong to tie to Penn State. Happy Valley is about 3 hours away. But yes, we do get all of their games televised and they are representing our state. But unless your an alumni (which there are tons of) no one seems to care that much. And as for Pitt, forget about it.

Its gotta be NYC. I mean come on... Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets, Rangers, Knicks. What more do you need?

The Giants and the Jets are New Jersey's teams. :p

Their stadium may be located in Jersey, but they are most definetly New York teams.

Philly baby. Sixers to the Conference Finals this year.

What is it with Philly fans and Jordan haters always referring to that one play??? Do I have to remind you which team won that game and which player scored the most points that game. The answer would be the Bulls and that player would be Michael Jordan. So stop bringin up one stupid crossover he did that gave him an open jump shot. The Sixers still lost and Jordan still outplayed Iverson.
And Pat, T-mac is not close to Jordan, I don't know where you got that from. I also hope you were joking.
AS for sports towns, though, you could argue on and on about which is the best between Chicago, NYC, Boston, and Philly, but I dont think there is anyway you can put LA at the top when they dont show up to the game until the 2nd quarter or 4th inning for the majority of their games.

Lighten up. I was joking. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

No offense, I'm jus sick of hearing Philly fans talk about it, thats all.