It must be wicked hahd"" not to be jealous of the Red ""Sahx"" and the entire city of Boston right now. Talk about an impressive résumé for one city: a World Series team, the best team in the NFL, the No. 2 team in the BCS, an NBA team that just nabbed Kevin Garnett and even a hockey team that is in second place right now (yes, I had to go look that one up).
So what are the top sports cities in America right now?
Before I present my top five, let's look at some cities that are close and deserve at least an honorable mention. Los Angeles can make a case for cracking the top five, but for every good piece of evidence there is a worse piece of bad evidence.
The Angels made the playoffs again this year, but were swept by the Red Sox in the first round. USC is arguably the best college football program in the country year-in-and-year-out, but L.A. doesn't have a professional football team. The Ducks won the Stanley Cup last year, but no one cares.
New York always has competing teams and the Giants have won five in a row, but the chaos surrounding the Yankees and the collapse of the Mets keeps the Big Apple no where near the top five.
Denver is close only because I'm trying to make these rankings as current as possible, but if the Red Sox sweep, Denver might fall faster than the Badgers did in just two weeks.
Nevertheless, there is nothing sweeter than having a team in the World Series and Rockies fans can rejoice for the moment. Still, the Broncos are only 3-3 and who knows what's going on in A.I.-Melo camp right now.
No. 5: Dallas
The Rangers suck, but Tony Romo has the Cowboys flying high at 6-1 and Mark Cuban's Mavericks have been a top team in the NBA for a few years now. They had a tough trip to the playoffs last season, but will be back this season. The Stars have started hot and there are enough good college football teams in the state to root for. Texas is a hot place for sports right now.
No. 4: Chicago
As a Chicagoan who is not very happy with his sports teams these days, I can't believe I am putting the Windy City here. But when you look across the country, Chicagoans don't have it that bad right now. My White Sox only won 72 games this season and the Bears could not be more frustrating right now.
Still, the Bears were in the Super Bowl just 10 months ago and the Cubs at least made the playoffs, which Northsiders have come to realize is as good as it's going to get.
Meanwhile, expectations for the Bulls this season are the highest they have been since 1998, and even the small number of Blackhawks fans can be excited because the Chicago Tribune reported Monday that the team is in talks with Comcast to get home games back on television, maybe as early as this season.
No. 3: Detroit
The Pistons have been very good for a long time now. The Red Wings have been very good for a long time now. The Tigers were in the World Series a year ago. And now, Jon Kitna might not actually be the craziest person in America for saying the Lions (4-2) would win 10 games this season.
No. 2: Cleveland
Cleveland likes to complain about how crappy their sports teams are, but just because you haven't won any championships in the history of the world doesn't mean things aren't going well for you. The Cavs were in the Finals last season, the Indians should have been in the World Series and the Browns have Joe Thomas.
Again, no city is anywhere close to the success level of Boston, but Cleveland fans have had plenty to cheer about in the past year.
Oh, and let's not forget that the Buckeyes are only a few hours away - again, no championships in the last year, but a National Championship appearance in both football and basketball and now another No. 1 BCS ranking.
No. 1: Boston
The other cities and their rankings could all be argued endlessly, but no one can touch Boston right now. They have it all. Even if the Red Sox fall to the Rockies, I'm not sure Tom Brady will lose a game the rest of his career.
It's Thursday night in Boston. Are you watching Game 2 of the World Series or Boston College at Virginia Tech. Obviously you are watching the Red Sox, but imagine if the Badgers played Thursday night at the same time as the Brewers played in the World Series.
Brewers fans' loyalty is no where near Red Sox loyalty and the Badgers are not the No. 2 team in the nation like BC, yet you know the state of Wisconsin would have a tough decision.
Right now the over/under for the amount of championships Boston wins between now and June could be set at 2.5. I've been happy with just one (the White Sox in 2005) in this decade. I just hope Bostonians understand how rare their success really is.
To tell Adam Chicago should have been ranked 27th and not fourth,
e-mail him at hoge@wisc.edu.
