Drought Talk

On Saturday night, the New York Knicks won their first NBA Championship since 1973. (You probably heard, because if you’ve ever met a Knicks fan, they talk about it a lot and sadly will talk about this 2026 championship forever.) Rather than focus a Notebook on a New York team, (I’d rather sell the entire enterprise before doing some foolish thing like that) I want to focus on the drought: those long years of a team wandering through the wilderness just hoping for another trip to the top of the mountain one day.

The Knicks’ 53-year drought wasn’t even the longest one in New York. The Jets won Super Bowl 3 and haven’t so much as been back to the big game since, that is 57-years of futility. The previously most famous drought in New York was the 54-years that it took the New York Rangers to finally hoist the Stanley Cup in 1994. (I hate the fact that even to this day I can pull up that the New York Rangers didn’t win a cup for 54-years.) But you know what’s funny? The Rangers won Lord Stanley and we got the inevitable “Now I can die in peace” proclamations (not from the Mayor that I recall, but maybe?) but you know what? Don’t look now but the Rangers are droughting again, in that they haven’t won the Cup again since 1994. So by my math (please check my work) that means the Rangers haven’t hoisted it again in 32-years. It’s not 54, but that’s the thing about droughts, they can sneak up on you.

Speaking of sneaking, there is another hockey team in New York (I know, you forget) but did you know the Islanders won 4 straight Stanley Cups (from 1980-84, we never talk about those Mike Bossy teams) however haven’t hoisted a cup that wasn’t filled with coffee since? 42-years and who’s counting, because again, it’s the Islanders. They were once purchased by a guy who didn’t have any money. (“I will gladly pay you Tuesday, for a hockey franchise today” I believe was the pitch.)

Take for instance the New York Yankees. They haven’t won a World Series since 2009, making their current streak of 16 title-less seasons, their second longest barren stretch since they won their first World Series in 1923. The longest is after the Yanks won in 1978, they then went through 18-pathetic seasons until they beat the Braves in the 1996 Fall Classic. (It should be noted because I hate them, that the Yankees also had a 15-year drought from 1962 until 1977, which is their 3^rd longest stretch without a ring.) For most this isn’t futuility, but for a franchise with 27-championships it is and by the rest of us that should be celebrated.

The Mets are viewed as this pathetic, unloveable, loser of a franchise and they are. The weird thing with the Mets is that as horrendous as they were when they first hatched in the 1960’s, they pulled off that miracle championship in 1969. Then in 1986 they put out one of the more dominant teams of the modern era of baseball, but since then it has been a chorus of crickets in Queens. But it doesn’t feel like the Mets are in the throes of a 40-year drought, mostly because they talk about that last ring so damned much. Talk to a Mets fan and they’ll wax poetic about Lenny Dykstra and Doc Gooden like the former 30-dingers the summer before last and the latter is taking the bump at Shea on Tuesday night.

Enough about New York, I’m feeling better about myself. The Boston landscape, we used to be drought central. While not the greatest at the moment, at least the grass is still fairly green across our prairies. I don’t love the current state of the Red Sox or the immediate future, but it’s been 8-years since our last World Series. (Math guys might notice that I am counting this season as being ringless.) Same for the Patriots, though we just played for a title back in February. The Celtics just wont he Larry OB two summers ago, so they’re firmly in post-title-afterglow. The Bruins have the longest Boston drought at 15-years. Sort of like the Rangers who didn’t win for 54-years, the Bruins had to wait almost 40-years between championships (1972-2011) and now are 15-years and counting without a cup. They had a couple of near misses during that time, but something the Hub needs addressed.

The longest current drought (between titles, we’re not counting the franchises that have never won a championship) is the Chicago St. Louis Phoenix Arizona Cardinals, who last won a title in Chicago in 1947. Baseball’s longest ongoing stretch without champagne rain is the Cleveland Indians Guardians at 77-years (you might remember their 1948 World Series run). Oddly enough the Knicks weren’t even the NBA’s longest title-less stretch, that would belong to the Rochester Royals Sacramento Kings, who won as the Royales With Cheese back in 1951. (A true “where were you” moment!) Maybe the most celebrated (because sickos do celebrates certain team’s futility, you know like penning 1000 word columns about them) drought in sports (now that he Knicks have exercised the demon’s of Charles Smith) belongs to the Toronto Maple Leafs who are 59-years and counting without a Stanley Cup. (Same name, same outcome each year.)

But to me, the most outstanding, confusing and miraculous drought in sports is the fact that a Canadian team hasn’t won a Stanley Cup since 1993. That’s incredible. As the Carolinas, Sunshine Floridas, Las Vegas and other US outposts have won numerous titles, our neighbors to the north are left to munch their Timbits (not a sponsor) without a cup to dunk them in. (Unless you count the Sudbury Blueberry Bulldogs winning the NOSHO.)

There are some that have never once won a championship, the NFL has 12 teams that have never won one of the 60-Super Bowls. (Bills, Vikings, Bengals, Falcons, Panthers, Cardinals, Titans, Chargers, Browns, Lions, Jaguars and Texans. Though to be fair, the Cardinals won that ’47 NFL title, the Browns were a juggernaut in the ‘50’s and won multiple NFL championships), the Lions won a pre-merger title. While the Chargers, Oilers and Bills all won AFL crowns as well. So to be totally fair it’s really the most recent expansion teams (Panthers, Jaguars, Texans, plus the Bengals, Falcons and Vikings who have never won a pro football championship.)

Baseball isn’t so bad, there it really is just the most recent expansion teams who have never tasted October glory: San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers, Colorado Rockies, Tampa Bay Rays and Seattle Mariners. But for those teams created in the 60’s and 70’s, that clock is ticking louder and louder. Also, how much do they all hate the Florida Marlins, who became a franchise in 1993 and won TWO World Series (1997 & 2003). Lump in the Arizona Diamondbacks who were birthed in the desert back in 1998 and won a World Series in just their 4^th year. Jerks.

There are 10 NBA franchises who have never won a title: Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz, Brooklyn Nets, Orlando Magic, Indiana Pacers, Charlotte Hornets, LA Clippers, Memphis Grizzles, Minnesota Timberwolves and New Orleans Pelicans. I look at that list and go “Yeah, that seems about right.”

10 NHL team have never won a Cup: Buffalo Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, San Jose Sharks, Nashville Predators, Winnipeg Jets, Minnesota Wild, Columbus Blue Jackets, Ottawa Senators (the current as of 1992 iteration is cupless) Seattle Kraken and Utah Hockey Club. (Forgot a few of these teams still existed or were created if I’m being honest.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go mow my lawn. It’s supposed to rain on Thursday.