Athletic Celibacy, Pt. 2

This is another post with lists. Lists of the ten all-time longest droughts. Droughts between championships and droughts between appearances in the World Series, the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup. The observant enthusiast will draw several conclusions.

Number-one, the Chicago Cubs were champions long before 2016. Their 107 seasons between championships is unlikely ever to be surpassed. It is untouched in the annals of professional sports.

But their second record is looking like low-hanging fruit.

The Cubs' 70 seasons between visits to the World Series is threatened by the NBA's Sacramento Kings, who haven't paid a visit to the NBA Finals since 1951, when they played 2,290 miles to the east and sported the words 'Rochester Royals' on their jerseys.

Moving on, as a Chicago-based baseball fan I'm trying to calculate the odds of my hometown's two baseball teams owning the two worst cases of World Series avoidance in MLB history. I mean, how do things like that happen?

And what does it say when the parity-obsessed NFL has more teams on the appearances list than any other sport? I guess inept management can happen anywhere—even in luxury suites. Maybe Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy flows upstream?

Finally, if you ever wondered how dominant the Toronto Maple Leafs once were, know that despite not appearing in the Stanley Cup since the Summer of Love was in its planning stages, the Leafs still rank third in Stanley Cup appearances and second in Cups won.

As promised, here are the lists. Two of them, to be exact.

The first contains the ten all-time longest droughts without a franchise appearing in their sport's championship series or game. The second enumerates the ten all-time longest stretches without a championship.

Figures are current through each sport's most-recently completed season.

Chicago Cubs MLB 70 1946-2015

Sacramento Kings NBA 65* 1952-present

Arizona Cardinals NFL 59 1949-2007

Detroit Lions NFL 58* 1958-present

Atlanta Hawks NBA 55* 1962-present

Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 49* 1968-present

New York Jets NFL 47* 1969-present

Kansas City Chiefs NFL 46* 1970-present

St. Louis Blues NHL 46* 1971-present

Chicago White Sox MLB 45 1960-2004

Milwaukee Bucks NBA 42* 1975-present

Honorable mentions:

Oakland Athletics MLB 40 1932-1971

Cleveland Indians MLB 40 1955-1994

Golden State Warriors NBA 39 1976-2014

Minnesota Vikings NFL 39* 1977-present

Here is where the Cubs appear eternal. As hapless as franchises like the Cleveland Indians, Arizona Cardinals and Sacramento Kings may appear, they would have to remain title-free for roughly another forty years—over a generation—to have a shot at the Cubs' record.

That puts it into perspective for me.

Chicago Cubs MLB 107 1909-2015

Chicago White Sox MLB 87 1918-2004

Boston Red Sox MLB 85 1919-2003

Cleveland Indians MLB 68* 1949-present

Arizona Cardinals NFL 68* 1948-present

Sacramento Kings NBA 65* 1952-present

Minnesota Twins MLB 62 1925-1986

Detroit Lions NFL 58* 1958-present

Atlanta Hawks NBA 58* 1959-present

San Francisco Giants MLB 55 1955-2009

Philadelphia Eagles NFL 55* 1961-present

Tennessee Titans NFL 54* 1962-present

New York Rangers NHL 53 1941-1993

Honorable mentions:

San Diego Chargers NFL 52* 1964-present

Buffalo Bills NFL 50* 1966-present

Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 49* 1968-present

* = active