St. Louis has to be one of the very best sports towns. I have listened to some many baseball announcers call it the best baseball town so many times there has to be something about it. As Crunchy also said every year every one in St. Louis adamantly believes that the Blues will go all the way.
Dantheman
I’m trying to see the reasoning for some of what you are saying here. Show me where I claimed that Dallas was a great sports team because it offered golf. Because to me, it looks like I am arguing that having 2 PGA events contributes to it being a great sports town. Are you honestly saying that having these events detracts from the city’s sports atmosphere? Maybe you are saying that it neither adds nor detracts, is that it? Well, Tiger Woods was the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the year and listed as The Sporting News’ single most powerful figure in sports, I think having a chance to watch the sportsman of the year and most powerful figure in sports perform is a feather in the cap of the city as far as being a sports town. Do you honestly disagree with that? Don’t you think that is an advantage over cities without PGA events?
I can’t believe that you are honestly trying to say that the Cowboys have a disloyal fanbase. Can’t you see that not only have they sold-out all of their games, outdrawn every other team in the league on road appearances, but also that they did this with a mediocre team? Are you are trying to say that because in 1989 they didn’t sell out all of their games with the worst record in the history of the league, that the fans don’t support their team? Please give me one example of a team that had the worst record in the NFL and was not a recent expansion team and did not just get a new stadium that did sell out all of its games.
And for the purposes of this poll, we are including teams that are located in the suburbs. I see no reason why we would not do this. So in case you were confused, New York gets to count the Giants as their team even though they play in the Meadowlands.
So you’re saying that simply because they’re PGA events, that contributes? Hogwash. It’s golf, for crying out loud, not a major sport.
Huh? Wait, let me get the logic here. Tiger Woods plays golf and was the SI Sportsman of the Year. And apparently at one point he played in Dallas. Whoop-de-do! He’s played in a LOT of places; again, simply because you have GOLF doesn’t contribute one iota to how wonderful of a sports town your town is. Golf is universal. Yes, you can argue that the PGA is comprised of the very best the sport has to offer, but it’s not nearly as relevant as saying your town has a strong fan base for sports.
You mean an advantage along with the other 37 cities?? And this would prove what? Nothing, actually; it proves not a thing. Look, when people think of great sports towns, they don’t think, “Hey, this one has PGA! It’s GOTTA be the best!” Cmonnnnnnnnn…
Look, most teams sell out. Only the really bad ones don’t do it, and they pay the penalty of being blacked out on TV. It’s not as awesome of a feat as you seem to think.
The fact that they draw well on the ROAD is completely irrelevant, since we’re not talking about the team, we’re talking about the city itself. The people who are attending the team’s games on the road are not in Dallas, you understand. Also, bear in mind that people come to see the Cowboys as a visiting team not because they’re such a big and bad team but because of this almost farcical marketing of the club as “America’s Team.” Again, has nothing to do with Dallas as a great sports town.
I’ll grant you this one, because you’re totally right. The Giants basically play to the NY metro area, and I guess Arlington is in the metro area of Dallas. Sorry, my mistake.
Spur, get over yourself. Just admit that it was a homer pick. No one has agreed with you on this one.
From the OP:
So you decided to put Dallas ahead of Chicago because the Cowboys had good attendance the past 11 years because they’ve been winning, even though Cubs fans routinely turn out even though we’ve lost for the past 90+ years? Apparently “good” counts for more than “great” in your little rating system.
And the Stars and hockey in Texas? Give me a break! That is the biggest crock! Places where you can’t have pond hockey shouldn’t have a team when a hockey crazed state like Minnesota is with out one. Don’t pretend that the Stars magically started playing better when they moved to Texas, because if you do, it will show that you weren’t following hockey before it was there. They made a run to the Cup finals in 1991 and before they moved it was becoming obvious that they were developing into a strong team.
You can go ahead and count the Texas Rangers as a Dallas team even though they’re in Arlington, but at least the New York teams actually go by their cities name and not the whole friggin’ state. How would the Rangers be doing if they hadn’t gotten Nolan Ryan and Dumbya to, from what I understand, save the franchise. They were playing in a minor league park before they moved into the Ballpark, right? I would hardly consider that a long tradition of great fan support.
Just get over yourself, admit it was a homer pick. Hell, you might as well have listed them number one. It’s obvious, you aren’t fooling anyone.
Actually TexasSpur, the Denver Broncos on four different occasions had the worst (or tied for the worst) record and sold out each of those years as they have the last 28 years.
Dignam, well…it could be argued that New York teams do in fact go by the state’s name. Remember, it is New York, New York after all. And when you think about it, since they play in New Jersey, they actually play under the name of a different state than they are actually in.
C’mon, you can’t possibly tell me that the “New York” in “New York Giants” refers to the state… 
The top all-time sports cities are (in no particular order):
St. Louis
Boston
Baltimore/Washington
New York
Chicago
Why? Because of longevity.
Each one of those cities has at one time in the past supported two baseball teams (New York had three). New York and Baltimore still support two football teams.
Then comes Detroit, Cleveland, LA, but why forget Cincinnati (oldest baseball team) SF/Oakland or Pittsburg?
Then you have the real newcomers: Dallas and Denver, but why not Kansas City, Atlanta, Seattle and Phoenix? If LA doesn’t need a football team then lets include Houston. Oh I forgot Miami and maybe someone else.
As to Raleigh Durham, Lincoln, Norman you would need to add Lexington and Tuscaloosa***** at the very least. And that would overlook the greastest small sports town: Green Bay.
I agree that Texas Spur has on his hometown blinders, personally I’d put Dallas in the top 10, but not top 5. Really they are all good sports cities and any one of them without the others wouldn’t be so hot.
*****my wife went to Auburn so I’ll give it a mention.
It should have been Baltimore**/Washington** supporting 2 football teams.
Also how did I or anyone else forget Philadelphia. I don’t think it would be fair to do anything else but to put Philadelphia in with LA and Detroit.
Sorry, both were my goofs.
I’m glad you added Philly. I wanted to, but I’m from there, and I didn’t want to be presumptuous.
Philly, of course, did have two baseball teams (A’s and Phillies), although for the most part those teams haven’t performed well…
How the hell do you pick Cleveland and not Pittsburgh?
Let’s see here:
Football – Cleveland has 0 Super Bowls, Pittsburgh has 4.
Baseball – Cleveland has 2 (none since 1948), Pittsburgh has 3.
Basketball – the Cavs have never won the NBA championship (that I could find), and Pittsburgh doesn’t have a team. That makes them about even.
Hockey – Cleveland doesn’t have and has never had a team (and no, I’m not forgetting the Barons when I say that). The Penguins have won it twice.
So, in city history for the four big sports, Cleveland has 2 World Champion teams and Pittsburgh has 9.
I reiterate – How the hell do you pick Cleveland and not Pittsburgh?
Oh, and I agree about Dallas being a silly pick. The Cowgirls had some good years, but that’s the only thing that city has ever done well, sportswise.
Here’s my top 5 (in no particular order):
New York
St. Louis
Pittsburgh
San Francisco
and one of (Detroit, Philly, Chicago or Boston)
Why don’t we go all out and include WORLD cities? I live in Melbourne, and a lot of people in Australia arguably call it the sports capital of the world. I have to admit, it is a great city if you love sport. We have the Australian Grand Slam Open tennis at Melbourne Park, the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, the Australian World Superbike Championship at Philip Island, the Australian Open golf, the Australian Rules Football Grand Final is always held at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground)… there are more but I can’t think of them right now… Of the 16 teams in the Aussie Rules competition, 10 are based in Melbourne… 2 soccer teams at the highest level (for Australia anyway)… and also, a newly formed rugby team, the Melbourne Storm. The Storm are the most successful expansion team in the league, finishing 4th in '98, winning the premiership in '99 and 6th in 2000.
Well we don’t have the championships (yet) but my vote for the most EMOTIONAL Sports town hands down is Philadelphia.
If you listen to the sports talk station here (610-am) you would think that Philadelphians live and die by their sports teams, and looking at the way they celebrated the Sixers win over the Bucks, you’d think we just won World War III!
It’s hilarious: when one of our teams loses one or two games in a row, all you hear about is how the coach stinks, the star player should be traded, and the general manager should be fired. They win a couple games, we are going to the Super Bowl!
For instance, when the Sixers traded some popular players for Dike Motumbo, and the Sixers lost some games towards the end of the season, it was all doom and gloom, it was the worst trade in the history of Phildelphia, Pat Croce spudded the season.
Now it’s Mutombo is God, Croce is a genius, and we are going to sweep the Lakers! It’s unbelievable.
Melbourne. Australia for sports.
Um, the Super Bowl has only been around since 1967, my friend. Professional football has been around for a lot longer than that. The Browns won AAFC championships in 1946, '47, '48, and '49, and won the NFL championship in 1954, 1955 and 1964. That’s 7 by my count. Sorry. (BTW, they also won conference titles in '65, '68 and '69 and won six divisional titles in the '70s and '80s.)
And, since this is supposed to be about the cities and not the teams, after the Browns left town for Baltimore, Cleveland actually made the NFL give them another team, and they got to keep the Browns name and colors, something that has never happened with any other team that has moved.
Selling yourself short–Pittsburgh has 5.
But nevermind that–Pittsburgh hasn’t finished over .500 since 1992. They were tied for the 4th-worst record in baseball last year, and currently have the worst record in the NL (only Tampa Bay has a worse record in the majors). In 1996, the team came thisclose to leaving Pittsburgh. They captured three consecutive NL East pennants from 1990-92 and couldn’t get past the NLCS.
Cleveland has finished over .500 every year since 1994. They have captured five consecutive divisional pennants (1995-1999), gone to the ALCS 3 of those years and the World Series 2 of those years. In strike-shortened 1994, the season ended with Cleveland (66-47) one game behind the White Sox (67-46) in the AL Central; the Pirates had a .465 record at the time.
Cleveland has sent 12 players to the Hall of Fame (one of them you may have heard of, a guy named Cy Young?); Pittsburgh has sent 9.
And, since this is supposed to be about the cities and not the teams, Cleveland fans managed to sell out 455 consecutive home games, and are quite often a bigger draw on the road than the teams they visit. Pittsburgh will never even come close to that.
No, the Cavs have never won the NBA title, or even the conference, for that matter. But the fact that Cleveland has and supports an NBA team (no matter what a crummy product the Gunds put out) and Pittsburgh doesn’t sort of tilts it for Cleveland.
The team plays in the city as part of the AHL for nearly 40 years and wins 10 divisional titles and 9 championships and you just ingore it away? Okaaaaay . . .
Phil, I must admit my ignorance about the Barons outside of the NHL – So I concede your point about the AHL – a google searched gave me some learnin. They were a great team in the AHL. But, that is only the AHL. They flopped in the NHL.
You do raise some good points about the Indians vs the Pirates in terms of recent success. But the fact still remains that the Indians they haven’t won the big one since '48. Hell, as a Braves fan, I know how it feels to be second best. The Indians have been a good team in the 90’s. You mention the Pirates as the team that almost left in 1996 – that’s the same team that is now playing in a brand new (and quite beautiful…I was just there last weekend) park.
Your point about being able to sustain an NBA team, the same argument can be made in Pittsburgh’s favor for an NHL team.
Your point about how the Indians have been much better than the Pirates in the 1990s is valid. Just as valid as my point would be to compare the Steelers vs the Browns for the 1990s. The Browns in the 1990s were 41-71 (.366). 0 division titles. And Art Modell took them out of town. They only year they went to the playoffs in the 1990s was the only year they had a winning record (1994), and Pittsburgh beat them in the conference semis.
1990s Steelers were 86-67 (.562) 6 consecutive playoff trips. 4 division titles. One conference title. One (admittedly crap-tacular) super bowl appearance.
Also, the Steelers have 16 people in the NFL HOF to the Browns 14.
So, you did raise some points that I had not considered. But here’s one, taking into account all of the things you just pointed out: No Cleveland team has won a world championship in any sport in 37 years. In that 37 year span, Pittsburgh has had 8 world champion teams.
Considering the religious fervor of the fan base …
Football - Buffalo, Denver, Green Bay. Cleveland
Hockey - Toronto, Montreal, Denver
Basketball - Detroit (“Pistons win! Let’s burn down another neighborhood!”), Chicago, Chicago
Baseball - St. Louis, New York, Chicago
mouthbreather, it’s gonna have to come down to beers, then, and Great Lakes Brewing’s Dortmunder Gold beats Arn City any time! 
You’re right about the NBA/NHL thing, though. Props to the Penguins–they can do what the Cavs can’t. Ice skate.
Well, you’re right with the skating thing. But on the flip side of that coin, I’d take Chucky Brown over Darius Kasparaitis in a game of horse anyday.
Also, while Dortmunder Gold may beat the IC Light (I’ll take your word for it, but it’s really not difficult to make beer better than Ahrn :)), Pennsylvania Brewing Co.'s Penn Dark will stand up to the challenge of most beers that I’ve tried.
So it all comes down to 1960’s late night TV horror show hosts. We have Chilly Billy. Who you got? Huh? HUH?!? 
Absolutly false. In 1903, the NL Baltimore Orioles franchise moved to NY and became the NY Highlanders, then in 1913, became the Yankees. Then in 1954, the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Orioles once again. (Hopefully someone will change their NBA team name to the Browns, then they’ll surely move to Baltimore)