What is a loyal fan base? To anyone, theyd say New York Yankee fans, Green Bay Packer fans, Boston Celtic fans or Montreal Canadians fans. But you know what those teams have in common? They are all historically great teams and have the most championships in their sports. Yankees have 27 world series titles, Canadians have 24 Stanley Cup championships, Celtics have 17 NBA Finals championships and the Packers have 13 NFL Championships (4 Super Bowls). They all havent seen a lot of losing in their history. I mean the Yankees had like 40 straight winning seasons at one point! Its easy to be a fan of any of those teams, but thats not my definition of a loyal fan base. Im not saying these fan bases are loyal (they are extremely loyal), but my definition of a loyal fan base are fans that have seen their teams be great for a period of time and then fall through the cracks and losing, become a laughing stock in their sports, but they have still stood by their team no matter what. Here are my top five loyal fan bases in sports. 5. Buffalo Bills: Buffalo is such a great football city believe it or not. The Bills have not had a lot of great years, but in the late 80s and early 90s they were the team to beat in the AFC. Players like Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and even O.J. Simpson are a ticket to championships and the hall of fame. But the Bills made four straight Super Bowl appearances from 1991-1994 and lost all four times. They never made it back to the Super Bowl since, and have not even been a really good team since, but give credit to the citizens of Buffalo: they love their BIlls! 4. Pittsburgh Pirates: The Pirates are a combination of a great team and horrible team. When they were founded in the early 1880s, they were awful. Then their luck changed for a long time with Honus Wagner and became the team to beat in baseball. Their golden years were the 70s. It was just a great decade to be a Pittsburgh fan in general. Steelers with four Super Bowls, Pirates with players like Roberto Clemete, Willie Stargell and Dave Parker and guiding them to two world series and 6 division titles, whle the Penguins just hanging around. In the early 90s, the Pirates had another great run with Barry Bonds, Jay Bell, Al Martain, and Kirk Gibson. But in the 1992 playoffs, their world series hopes were literally called out at home plate in game 7 against the Atlanta Braves. The Pirates would never win again for 20 years, before making the playoffs last year and this year. Ill be the first to admit its not too hard to be a Steelers fan because Pittsburgh is mainly a football city, but if youre a loyal Pittsburgh fan, youre a Pirates fan. 3. Detroit Lions: The Lions are considered by many the worst NFL Team ever. Whether its them going winless in a season twice, not being able to beat their big NFC North rivals, losing 24 straight games to the Packers in Lambeau Field, never making the Super Bowl, and especially going 0-16 in 2008, the Lions are a terrible team. But it always hasnt that bad for the Lions. Players like Barry Sanders are a ticket to greatness. Its just a shame for their fans he wasnt able to guide them to a championship. Now the Lions have the best WR in the game in Calvin Johnson and has given their fans a reason to believe. 2. All three Cleveland Sports teams: The Indians, Browns and Cavs are all adored by Clevelanders. Bless their hearts for the love and loyalty for their teams. The Indians are probably the easiest team to be a fan of if you live in Cleveland. They have some of the iconic pitchers in the game: Bob Feller, Bob Lemmon, Cy Young and now even Corey Klubber. But the Inidans have gone 66 years without winning a world series, the second longest championship drought in baseball right now. The 90s was the decade to be a tribe fan. Despite not winning a world series, they had Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez, Albert Belle, and Omar Vizquel guiding them to 6 division titles and 7 playoff appearances. Then, the Indians went on a slump and didnt make the playoffs until 2007. Now, they are contenders again. The Cavaliers were the joke of the NBA when they were founded in 1970. They didnt see a lot of winning until the mid 80s with Mark Price. All of a sudden, they were contenders. Then Michael Jordan broke their hearts in the playoffs with the infamous shot. The Cavs rose again in the 90s, but no championships. Followed by more losing, the Cavs drafted LeBron James in 2003 and he turned the whole city and team around. But he stabbed Clevelanders in the heart by taking his talents to South Beach in 2010. That season, the Cavs tied the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the longest losing streak in sports history with 26 straight losses. Now LeBron is back with the team trying to give Cleveland a reason to believe. Where do I start with the Browns? Their fans love for them is unbelievable. Since their last championship in 1964, the Browns have become a laughing stock in the NFL. But the real love for the team comes from moments like The Drive The Fumble and The Move. They have been heart broken by John Elway and Art Modell, but the Browns came back in 1999. They have been a terrible team since, but despite their 1-2 record right now, things are looking up for Browns fans. Cleveland fans, if the number one team im about to say didnt exist, you would be the most loyal fans ever. Bless your hearts! 1.Chicago Cubs: AKA The Loveable Losers. Not so loveable if youre a Cardinal or Whitesox fan. The Cubs made back-to-back world series apperances in 1907 and 1908 and won both. That would be it. The curse of the Billy Goat came into affect and the Cubs havent won another championship since. If youre keeping track, that is 106 years of losing. They may as well have had 106 straight losing seasons. Easily the longest drought in sports history. While the Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls and even the Whitesox (who snapped their 88 year championship drought in 2005) have won championships in Chicago, their fans have been disappointed to see their Cubs continue to lose. Chicago is such a great sports city, you gotta feel bad for Cubs fans. They are loyal as hell to their beloved Cubs. These fan bases are true sports fans. I have tons of respect for them and I feel bad for all of them. Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Cleveland and Chicago: Never, EVER lose hope!
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 14:50:05 +0000
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