Where is Titletown, USA?

There has been a lot of talk on the web lately of Pittsburgh dethroning Boston as "Titletown" should the Penguins win the Stanley Cup, which, in case our little blog is your only source for news, they did.

Between the Steelers and Penguins in Pittsburgh, and the Patriots, Red Sox, and Celtics in Boston, those two cities have had very nice runs in the last few years.

I decided to take a scientific (sort of) approach to this idea and answer the question, Where is Titletown, USA?

Here is what I did: I went analyzed the four major professional sports' championships since the year 2000. I gave points to each city for each time they won a title AND for each time they were a runner-up. I did this for each title that was competed following the 2000 through 2009 regular seasons. (This means I started with Super Bowl XXXV, the 99-00 NBA and NHL seasons, and included the NBA and NHL for 2009.)

I also wanted to rankings to be weighted based on the importance of each sport in our national consciousness. The NFL has the most weight, the NHL the least. I weighted the NBA and MLB equally. One might be able to argue for the NBA or MLB to ranked over the other, but on the whole they are about equally popular.

So the scoring goes like this: 4 points for a Super Bowl win, 3 points for an NBA title or a World Series win, 2 points for a Stanley Cup win, 1 point less than each of these number for being a runner-up.

One other important note, I grouped metro areas together. So, Los Angeles and Anaheim are grouped, Boston represents New England, Oakland and San Francisco, New York and the New Jersey teams that play in East Rutherford, etc.

With all that said, and no more ado, here are your top 10 ranked "Titletown, USA's."


10. 6 points. 5-way tie between Charlotte, Chicago, Indianapolis, Miami, and Phoenix. I could just say for you to go and do the research yourself, but I'll be nice and do the breakdown. Charlotte - The Panthers lost a Super Bowl (2003), the Hurricanes have won (2006) and lost (2002) the Stanley Cup; Chicago - The Bears lost a Super Bowl (2006), the White Sox won World Series (2005);
Indianapolis - The Colts won a Super Bowl (2006), the Pacers lost in the NBA Finals (2000);
Miami - The Heat won an NBA title (2006), the Marlins won a World Series (2003);
And Phoenix - The Cardinals lost a Super Bowl (2008), and the Diamondbacks was a World Series (2001).

Basically, one win and one loss in the major sports puts you in the top 10 (except for Charlotte).

7. 8 points. 3-way tie between Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Tampa Bay.

Philly - The Eagles lost a Super Bowl (2004), won a World Series (2008), and lost in the NBA Finals (2001).
St. Louis - Lost a Super Bowl (2001), lost a World Series (2004), and won a World Series (2006).
Tampa Bay - Won a Super Bowl (2002), lost a World Series (2008), and won a Stanley Cup (2004).

It looks like three appearences in title games is enough to get the seventh slot.

6. 9 points. San Antonio

Now the fun starts. From here on in there are no ties. San Antonio is in the six slot simply on the strength of their three NBA titles this decade. In fact, if I had done this list starting with the 1999 season San Antonio would have been in the top five, on the strength of four NBA titles, but rules are rules, even if the rules are arbitrary and made up for my blog.

5. 10 points. Detroit

For a city that languishes in despair because of the economy and the Lions, they have had success in the title games. The Red Wings have been in the Stanley Cup Finals three times (2 wins, 1 loss) and the Pistons have won one and lost one NBA title. Add to all of that the Tigers World Series appearance in 2006 and Detroit rounds out my top five.

4. 11 points. Pittsburgh

So much for being the top dog. Pittsburg couldn't make it into the top 3. But, the did get to number 4 on the strength of two teams, the Steelers and the Penguins. The Steelers have won 2 Super Bowls and Penguins have won and lost one Stanley Cup. But, if I had put a premium on recency then Pittsburgh would have definitely been higher, because the teams have done all of this in the past 3 seasons.

3. 20 points. Los Angeles/Anaheim

L.A. being number 3 is because of the Lakers. They have been in the NBA Finals in six of the ten years I looked at. (Note, I gave L.A. credit for winning this year even though right now they are only up 3-1. It's inevitable.) (edit: Between the time I started writing and the time I published the Lakers sealed the deal.) Of those six finals they have only lost twice. Add to the Lakers the Angels World Series win in 2002 and the Ducks two Stanley Cup appearances (one win, one loss), and L.A. rounds out the top 3. L.A. might be La-la land, but they are definitely a basketball city.

2. 24 points. Boston/New England
Boston's success in the last decade is well known. They are on this list because of the the Patiots' mess of Super Bowl wins (and one loss, to my Giants), the Sox's two World Series wins, and the Celtics one title. I was actually surprised that they were not number one, which begs a question. With Boston and Pittsburgh already up here, who is no. 1? Where is Titletown?

Well.....drum roll please.......

Titletown, USA is.........



1. 25 points. New York/New Jersey
I can hear the homer chants now. I'm counting the Nets and Devils because they play their home games in the same complex as the Giants and Jets, right across the river from NYC. Some might say New York has an unfair advantage because they have at least two teams in each of the major sports (2 in each, except for 3 in the NHL, remember the Islanders?) While that is true, in the time period I looked at they only put both teams from one sport into a championship in baseball, and that was the 2000 subway series. Aside from that they are number one because of the Giants, Yankees, Nets, and Devils. Each of these teams made their respective championships multiple times, and all but the Nets won at least once. No other city can boast putting a team from each of the major sports into the finals in the last ten years. So Boston, tell the Bruins to wake up, and L.A., keep a football team other than USC.

That's it, that's my list.

Let the debate begin.