# How many championships have "your teams" won since you started following them? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 12, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-championships-have-your-teams-won-since-you-started-following-them/685967 "2014-04-12T22:45:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-championships-have-your-teams-won-since-you-started-following-them/685967/101 "2014-04-24T07:33:19Z")
> [@racepug](#): > > Teams got compensatory picks for players who weren’t even under contract to them anymore back in those days?!? Sounds pretty effed up, to me. You sure that wasn’t some sort of “horse trading” deal meant to benefit the Bakers 'cause that’s sure what it sounds like to me! Oh, it was completely screwed up – it undermined anything resembling a free market for players – and was the cause of future strikes in baseball: free agent compensation. But that was just the rules in place, not a bamboozlement on the part of the Lakers (Fakers/Bakers/Candlestick Makers). From reading Bill Simmons’ Book of Basketball, it’s shown really clearly how teams in the 70’s didn’t place a lot of stock in draft picks. Sounds crazy today, but proven veterans were where teams placed their trust. ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-championships-have-your-teams-won-since-you-started-following-them/685967/102 "2014-04-24T08:25:18Z")
> [@racepug](#): > > That may very well be, but it sure seems suspicious, to me, how the Fakers, for much of the last 40 years, or so, have managed to find themselves a quality big man right after their current one’s either retired or been kicked to the curb. The Big Dipper (Wilt Chamberlain) retires? No problem - we’ll just go fleece the Bucks for Kareem. Kareem gave us a solid 15 years but now is FINALLY calling it quits on his **Hall of Fame** career? Okay - we’ll go get one of Europe’s finest, Vlade Divac. He’s not really working out? No worries - Shuh-Kweel just decided that he doesn’t want to play for Orlando any more - let’s get ‘im! Shuh-Kweel has gotten too fat and lazy (even though while that bastard was on the team the Flakers managed to win 5 [or whatever it was] NBA titles)? Let’s go get us another one of Europe’s finest, Pau Gasol! Pau Gasol’s not really working out? Dwight Howard to the rescue! (Okay, admittedly not ALL of those transactions worked in the Bakers’ favor but, overall, I don’t think any team in the NBA has somehow been able to wrangle big man talent from other teams in the league as well as the Fakers have since the early '70s. It’s almost as if _every other NBA team_ is in on the “we gotta make sure the Takers aren’t down for TOOO long 'cause they’re the real ‘meal ticket’ for the league!” way of thinking. Sorry, but I can’t stand your team. Never have been able to and I’m pretty sure I never will. Okay - I’m not sorry). Can’t blame you for feeling that way, really. The Lakers have had great ownership (no longer, though), sharp management, nice weather, celebrities, fake boobs and a solid fan base. Makes it attractive to basketball players. But really, the only free agent all that attracted that made a big difference was Shaq. Gasol was a salary dump (and a positive for Memphis in the long run) and Kareem didn’t want to be an angry black man in a mostly white town. If the Knicks had offered the Bucks more, he surely would have gone there (he’s from NY). Now, if you want to talk about Kobe, who told everyone else not to draft him or he would play in Italy, that’s another story. Note that the Lakers have never been gifted a superstar for merely sucking. (Well, hopefully in the upcoming draft.) You guys have a football team, water, fresh air, great public transportation and cool coffee houses and tattoo parlors. Get some, give some. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-championships-have-your-teams-won-since-you-started-following-them/685967/103 "2014-04-24T14:46:51Z")
Another Cleveland fan. I was alive when the Browns won in ‘64, but it was before my memory. I am a fan of the Indians’ AA Akron RubberDucks (just renamed; they were the Aeros from 1997 to 2013), and they have won four championships. ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-championships-have-your-teams-won-since-you-started-following-them/685967/104 "2014-04-24T15:54:32Z")
> [@Moonchild](#): > > Can’t blame you for feeling that way, really. The Lakers have had great ownership (no longer, though), sharp management, nice weather, celebrities, fake boobs and a solid fan base. Makes it attractive to basketball players. But really, the only free agent all that attracted that made a big difference was Shaq. Gasol was a salary dump (and a positive for Memphis in the long run) and Kareem didn’t want to be an angry black man in a mostly white town. If the Knicks had offered the Bucks more, he surely would have gone there (he’s from NY). Now, if you want to talk about Kobe, who told everyone else not to draft him or he would play in Italy, that’s another story. Note that the Lakers have never been gifted a superstar for merely sucking. (Well, hopefully in the upcoming draft.) > > You guys have a football team, water, fresh air, great public transportation and cool coffee houses and tattoo parlors. Get some, give some. 🙂 **A** ) Thank you for recognizing why I would feel that way about your team (although, in fairness, it might not have bothered me all these years as much as it has if I’d lived in, say, Arkansas or South Dakota instead of where I do). **B** ) I’ve heard the part about Kareem not wanting to play in Milwaukee anymore (even though he had just helped lead to them to what is still their only NBA title right before he left them if I’m not mistaken) and, of course, he DID already have a link to L.A. before he went to the Takers, but still… **C** )Interestingly I have no real beef with Kobe (no pun intended. Or maybe it is) other than the fact he plays for **your** team. Even through that sexual assault business a few years ago I had no real beef with him (and didn’t it come out later that the alleged victim couldn’t seem to keep her story straight about what Kobe had supposedly done to her?). Now, Shuh-KWEEL, on the other hand - I couldn’t STAND that S.o.B. _In_ a Fakers’ uniform or out of one. Still can’t. Matter of fact, Michael Jordan retiring and Shuh-KWEEL becoming such a big “star” are probably the two biggest reasons why I pretty much quit watching the NBA in the '90s. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-championships-have-your-teams-won-since-you-started-following-them/685967/105 "2014-04-24T16:44:35Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Bears: 1 > Cubs: 0 > Hawks: 2 > Bulls: 6 > > 9 total Same here, minus the Bulls (I don’t really follow the NBA. I mean I enjoyed the run and got to see all the home NBA conference semi-finals, conference finals, and NBA finals games at home their fifth and sixth runs–work related–but I’d trade it all for a single Cubs World Series game.) ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-championships-have-your-teams-won-since-you-started-following-them/685967/106 "2014-04-24T17:09:29Z")
> [@Moonchild](#): > > Oh, it was completely screwed up – it undermined anything resembling a free market for players – and was the cause of future strikes in baseball: free agent compensation. But that was just the rules in place, not a bamboozlement on the part of the Lakers (Fakers/Bakers/Candlestick Makers). From reading Bill Simmons’ Book of Basketball, **it’s shown really clearly how teams in the 70’s didn’t place a lot of stock in draft picks. Sounds crazy today, but proven veterans were where teams placed their trust.** Well, I can’t blame them for thinking that way (your team’s acquisition of Shuh-KWEEL a few years later would be a good example of that way of thinking) but the idea of teams having to surrender draft picks for free agents is just nuts. Does that book mention who came up with that nonsense? ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-championships-have-your-teams-won-since-you-started-following-them/685967/107 "2014-04-24T18:25:45Z")
Don’t believe so – but the book is 700+ pages of gooey NBA goodness, so I can’t say for sure. But remember, this was the 70’s, a time when sports unions were just making their first steps at finally making some strides at fairness. It was not long before that time that players could not sign with other teams _even when their contracts ran out_. Curt Flood was essentially ostracized from baseball for challenging it (and lost) in court. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-championships-have-your-teams-won-since-you-started-following-them/685967/108 "2014-04-24T18:33:17Z")
LSU Tigers football team has 2 (in my lifetime), and the New Orleans Saints have 1. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-championships-have-your-teams-won-since-you-started-following-them/685967/109 "2014-04-24T19:00:31Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > Because they lost to the Yankees? I don’t remember it as being one of those close Serieses that the losing team’s fans replay constantly with all the what-ifs, like in 2011 (Rangers), 2001 (Yankees), or 1997 (Indians). Which is what I usually associate with “pain” as a sports fan. then again, YMMV… > > On another note, I’m intrigued by the number of people in this thread who follow teams from widely separated cities in different sports. I’d be kind of curious to know how you get to be a Twins fan AND an LA Kings fan, or how you get to follow the Eagles, Diamondbacks, and Trailblazers simultaneously. For me, I grew up in Wisconsin on the border near Mpls/St Paul so it was easy to split my allegiance between the Twins and the Packers. I was also a North Stars fan, but then I went to graduate school in Western NY and the North Stars moved to Dallas, so I didn’t really follow hockey, since my studies were kind of all consuming. Then I moved to L.A. and started going to Kings games with some friends I had made and eventually became a season ticket holder ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-championships-have-your-teams-won-since-you-started-following-them/685967/110 "2014-04-25T18:31:58Z")
Dodgers: 1 (I started following in 1985) LA Kings: 1 Raiders: 1 Indians: 0 **TOTAL: 3** I suppose I could throw the Lakers in there because I was a fan during the 80s and 90s, but I have lost all interest in basketball in the last decade, so…nah. ETA to answer **Ulf** ’s question: I became an Indians fan through dating/marriage. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-championships-have-your-teams-won-since-you-started-following-them/685967/111 "2014-04-25T18:44:03Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Yankees (since 1976): 7 > New York Giants: 4 > New York Knicks (I wasn’t following them in 1970): 1 > New York Rangers: 1 > > 13 Almost the same, minus the Knicks (too young even in '73) and Rangers (not a hockey fan.) 11 ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-championships-have-your-teams-won-since-you-started-following-them/685967/112 "2014-04-25T20:28:01Z")
I’m a Cleveland fan, so zero, in my lifetime. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-championships-have-your-teams-won-since-you-started-following-them/685967/113 "2014-04-25T20:35:43Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > Not at Game 3, when the Mets were still in it and you could argue they “should” have won Game 1; but being in a 3-1 series hole going into Game 5, I think a fair number of people cashed out to high bidding Yankees fans on the secondary market. I sort of sympathize, but the contrast was pretty stark. Makes sense, that does suck. I’ve been to some Giant games like that over the years where it felt like we were outnumbered by opposing fans. Of course the season ticket holders deciding to sell their tickets in mass was the only reason I got into the game myself so I guess I can’t bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-championships-have-your-teams-won-since-you-started-following-them/685967/114 "2014-04-25T23:56:54Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I was at WS game 1 that year. That was a great game and there was a fair number of Mets fans at the game though far from 1/3rd. Was it really that bad at Shea? I was at my friend’s wedding in Vermont on the night of Game 1. We all sat glued to the TV after the reception. What a great game. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-championships-have-your-teams-won-since-you-started-following-them/685967/115 "2014-04-26T00:04:12Z")
Toronto Maple Leafs - 0. And I’m pretty sure I’ll die before I see a Stanley Cup parade in Toronto. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-championships-have-your-teams-won-since-you-started-following-them/685967/116 "2014-04-27T02:41:43Z")
Indianapolis Colts (my favorite pro football team): 1, 2 if you count the fact that I began following them when they beat Dallas 16-13 in Super Bowl V San Francisco 49ers (my second favorite football team): 5. Indiana Pacers: 0. Was hoping they would win their first this year, but the team has gone to hell ever since Danny Granger was traded. Indiana University Hoosiers (basketball): 2. Indiana University Hoosiers (football): Ha, ha, ha, ha, ho, ho, ho, ho, he, he, he, he. I would be happy if the Hoosiers could just win the Big Ten. ---
**Author:** ![chicagowhitesox1173](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@chicagowhitesox1173](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chicagowhitesox1173)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-championships-have-your-teams-won-since-you-started-following-them/685967/117 "2014-04-27T16:02:15Z")
> [@TheBoltEater](#): > > Well, I’m from San Diego, so whiny Chicago fans can kiss my rear end. “Oh my poor Cubs haven’t won in forever! My dear Grandpa died never having seen them win. Wah! Someone hand me my Walter Payton Super Bowl jersey to cry into while I watch the Bulls 3-Peat Champions DVD. No, not that DVD, the other 3-Peat Champions DVD, duh!” > > Red Sox fans were even worse until they finally won. Don’t talk to me about your lifetime of suffering in one sentence, then try to figure out which of your 17 Celtics NBA titles was your favorite in the next. > > But I do live in Orange County now, and have been a Ducks fan since Day 1, so thankfully my entire life’s spent watching sports is no longer completely title-less. > > Since I became a fully aware sports fan in the mid- 80s… > > San Diego Chargers - 0 > San Diego Padres - 0 > Anaheim Ducks - 1 (Thank you Teemu! You too Giguere.) > > Grand Total - 1 > > But at least I also went to UC Irvine, and I’m a huge college hoops fan, so someday I might be able to tell my grandkids that we actually _played_ in the NCAA Tournament. Not won it, just played in it. 'Cause we haven’t done that yet either. This reminds me of a quote from Jim Caple…"I have the ultimate respect for Whitesox fans. They were as miserable as the Cubs and Redsox fans ever were but always had the good decency to keep it to themselves. And when they finally won the World Series, they celebrated without annoying every other fan in the country. ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-championships-have-your-teams-won-since-you-started-following-them/685967/118 "2014-07-11T18:29:18Z")
> [@Moonchild](#): > > I’m going out on a limb and predict the Cavs will get one. Dan Gilbert may seem like a prick, but he’s a passionate owner and not afraid to open his wallet. And although unlikely, Lebron _could_ return. With just a little luck… oh wait, sorry. :o Standing behind that quote today! ---
**Author:** ![TheBoltEater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheBoltEater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoltEater)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-championships-have-your-teams-won-since-you-started-following-them/685967/119 "2014-07-11T20:10:09Z")
> [@chicagowhitesox1173](#): > > This reminds me of a quote from Jim Caple…"I have the ultimate respect for Whitesox fans. They were as miserable as the Cubs and Redsox fans ever were but always had the good decency to keep it to themselves. And when they finally won the World Series, they celebrated without annoying every other fan in the country. You know what, you’re absolutely right. It occurs to me now that I have never given White Sox fans the credit they deserve for that. Good on you south siders - way to not make the rest of the country hate you in victory _or_ defeat! ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-championships-have-your-teams-won-since-you-started-following-them/685967/120 "2014-07-11T20:17:54Z")
> [@TheBoltEater](#): > > You know what, you’re absolutely right. It occurs to me now that I have never given White Sox fans the credit they deserve for that. Good on you south siders - way to not make the rest of the country hate you in victory _or_ defeat! White Sox fans will get no credit for anything until Hawk Harrelson is out of a job. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-championships-have-your-teams-won-since-you-started-following-them/685967.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-championships-have-your-teams-won-since-you-started-following-them/685967.md?page=7)