Drought needs reign

In title terms, Patriots are our last hope

By Nick Cafardo, Globe Staff, 2/3/2002

EW ORLEANS - Maybe it's because the Patriots are 14-point underdogs and their opponent seems unbeatable, but have you thought about a professional championship finally coming to New England?

We are well aware of the 84-year title drought of the Red Sox. At least they've won championships (five in their first 18 years). The Celtics have won 16 championships, the last in 1986; the Bruins have won five, none since 1972.

This would be the Patriots' first. They have gone their first 42 years without one - the longest streak of any team in the four major professional sports - baseball, football, hockey, and basketball.

For the most part, the franchise has a sad history since entering the American Football League in 1960. The Patriots reached the AFL championship game in 1963, but lost to the San Diego Chargers. They lost Super Bowls in 1986 and 1997 to the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers, respectively.

There are other title-less NFL franchises right behind the Patriots.

The Minnesota Vikings have lost four Super Bowls since their inception in 1961. The Atlanta Falcons, who lost to Denver in their only Super Bowl appearance in 1998, entered the league in 1966. Also still waiting, among original expansion teams, are the New Orleans Saints (1967), Cincinnati Bengals (1968), Seattle Seahawks (1976), and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1976).

The football Cardinals originated in Chicago, and while the St. Louis and Arizona Cardinals haven't won a thing, the Chicago Cardinals won the NFL title in 1947.

Current teams that won AFL championships include the Buffalo Bills (1964 and '65), the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans (1960-'61), and San Diego.

In Major League Baseball, the Los Angeles/California/Anaheim Angels have been around since 1961, and the closest they ever got to a World Series title was losing to the Red Sox in the 1986 American League Championship Series. The Texas Rangers originated from the expansion Washington Senators in 1961, and haven't even come close to the World Series. Houston has also come up empty since 1962 with the Colt .45s and Astros.

Baseball's 1969 expansion class of the Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres are still waiting, but at least the Padres have made two World Series appearances. The Seattle Pilots were born in 1969, and as the Milwaukee Brewers lost in the 1982 Fall Classic to St. Louis. Baseball came back to Seattle in 1977, as the Mariners, but no title has followed.

The National Hockey League's expansion class of 1967 - the St. Louis Blues and Los Angeles Kings - have yet to win a Stanely Cup. Neither have the league's 1970 entries, the Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks. Also without a championship, excluding recent expansion, are the Washington Capitals (circa 1974). The Phoenix Coyotes and Carolina Hurricanes are also without a Cup, but won World Hockey Association titles as the Winnipeg Jets and Hartford Whalers, respectively.

The Phoenix Suns own the dubious honor in the NBA, without a title since joining the league in 1968. Right behind them are 1970 additions Cleveland Cavaliers and Buffalo Braves/San Diego and Los Angeles Clippers.

The Denver Rockets/Nuggets were one of four American Basketball Association teams to enter the NBA in 1976, along with New York/New Jersey Nets, Indiana Pacers, and San Antonio Spurs. But only Denver is without a championship - Indiana and New York/New Jersey won ABA titles and San Antonio captured the 1999 NBA Finals. And forget about the Sacramento Kings. They won the NBA title in 1951 as the Rochester Royals.