Sports Cities Rankings - Cities with 3 Teams

After some questions as to whether San Francisco or Oakland was a 2 city team, I have decided to stick with my rankings as is, since well, Oracle Arena, where the Warriors play is in Oakland. I am not from California, so they may be SF's team, but I am going with my original rankings. We will see what controversy the grouping of the two cities which rank #3 below creates.

1. Pittsburgh (Steelers, Pirates, Penguins) - Pittsburgh is a sports town and the fan base for the Steelers, few can match. The Pirates (before the recent 17 year stretch below .500 baseball) and the Penguins are no slouches either. They currently hold 2 of the 4 world (I mean US, and kinda Canada) Championships which makes them easily #1 on this list. Starting with the Steelers you have Franco Harris and The Immaculate Reception, Terry Bradshaw, Mean Joe Greene sharing sweaty jerseys with kids, Jack Lambert and Rocky Blier in their past and Evil KnRothlisberg, Hines Ward and James Harrison in the present. They even have Lynn Swann, who made a failed attempt running for PA governor with a stand that opposes abortion and supports guns. So basically he believes Terry Bradshaw has the right to be born, but you have the right to shoot him if he annoys you, which I am sure he does. The only negatives for the Steelers are that their fans now call themselves "Sixburgh" which isn't only annoying, but makes no sense at all and the whole Steeley McBeam mascot thing. Apart from the Steelers, Pittsburgh has other heroes too. Mario Lemieux, who happily was the 2nd best player in his sport for many years. Also, the Pirates had Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Dave Parker and they played in the first World Series, which I believe was their last appearance.

2. Cleveland (Browns, Indians, Cavaliers) - This one and #3 were very close but I had to pick one and have to go with the one who has fans of all their sports, not just two, even if the #1 outshines the other. Lets look at the positives. They have Jim Brown, Bernie Kosar and his awesome mane, the DawgPound, Star Power in Drew Carey, The Kardiac Kids, LeBron James, 10-cent beer night (the best promotion ever) and the Indians have a great baseball movie, Major League, about them (even if it is their losing ways). The negatives. The Browns helmets, c'mon seriously, you can't add a logo?, The completely racist baseball team name, They had Bill Belichick as coach (and subsequently were moved right after??? He is evil.), and the most famous Cavalier player before LeBron was Mark Price (Woohoo! Mark Price!). Anyways, each of these teams have a passionate following which makes them squeak ahead of number three.

3. Milwaukee/Green Bay (Packers, Brewers, Bucks) - I will say this, even being a Viking fan, there isn't a fan base that lives and dies for their team like the Packer fans. I will now hit my head against the desk for the next 40 minutes. What dropped them to third was the Bucks. Even living a state away, I have never seen a Bucks fan. Let's get this out of the way, Brett Favre, Brett Favre, Brett Favre, Brett Favre. Ok, now I don't have to talk about him anymore, though he brought Green Bay to a new level and a whole new fan base. They also have some history with Curly Lambeau, Vince Lombardi and Bart Starr. Though the fan base is a little delusional as their Wikipedia page, written by fans, seems to skip all the bad seasons, like the 1980's. I do like that they are publicly owned, even if it means I have to deal with people wearing cheese on their heads. The Brewers also have a strong fan base, and well, are named after beer, which is a plus with me. From my understanding, Miller Park is one of the best baseball experiences you can have and they have had Paul Molitor, Robin Yount, Cecil Cooper and Gorman Thomas. They are starting to come back as a competitive team but get knocked down a few points for being owned by Bud Selig, an evil, evil, man who I am sure got beat up a lot as a kid. What to say about the Bucks, hmmm, I think they once had Glenn Robinson.

4. St. Louis (Cardinals, Rams, Blues) - St Louis is a fine sports town, very passionate about the Cardinals, mildly passionate about the Rams and Blues. The Cardinals are their team though and have quite a history with Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Ozzie Smith, Vince Coleman and Stan Musial. They also started in 1882, only 60 years before Mark McGwire started taking steroids. They are always a competitive team and were involved in one of my favorite sports moments of all time, the Twins beating them in the '87 series. The Rams are a solid team with a few Super Bowls to their credit and unfortunately also brought Brenda Warner into the spotlight. Before then, they had the Cardinals (Really, you couldn't come up with another team name then the same one that the baseball team has? Are cardinals that prevalent in St. Louis?). Oh yeah, they also have the Blues. A solid hockey team. OK, solid must be the word of the day.

5. Oakland (Raiders, A's, Warriors) - And the controversy starts. But in reality the Warriors only bring this city down, if they are actually there. Raider fans are some of the craziest and probably most violent around. The Raiders have a history of being the most reckless and fearsome teams out there with Kenny Stabler, Jack Tatum, Lester Hayes, Bo Jackson and Marcus Allen. Unfortunately they kinda suck now and their owner probably is some sort of Crypt Keeper. The A's have some legendary players such as Reggie Jackson, Dennis Eckersly, Vida Blue and well, look, Mark McGwire again, but lets not talk about the past. They continue to produce good young talent and then trade it away. That kinda turns off a fan base. The Warriors, in all honesty, are nothing. Never have been that good and probably never will be.

6. Tampa Bay (Rays, Bucs, Lightning) - These teams do not have much history but all of them are now pretty good. With a few more years in their history (and maybe a few more fans at the Rays games) they could be higher on this list. The Bucs were 0-14 their first year which was a record until the Lions decided they need a record. The Rays have a good future ahead of them with alot of young talent and the Bucs are always competitive, though I don't know why they gave up the best uniforms in history for the crap they where now. By now you know where I stand on hockey in the south, so lets move on.

7. Houston (Texans, Astros, Rockets) - I can't believe they are not higher on this list, but when I think of Houston, I always think of the Oilers. All of these teams are just kinda blah. All of them are competitive enough to keep fans interested, but really never compete for a title. A few Rocket titles and Astro appearances in the World Series but really the best thing going here other than they used to have the Oilers is the Bad New Bears appearance and the Astro's old uniform.

8. Toronto (Blue Jays, Maple Leafs, Raptors) - I actually couldn't believe that a Canadian city actually had three teams when all the others only have one. Umm, what to say about these teams. I really don't know. I think they all have blue in their uniforms, or is that purple in the Raptors uniform. They really don't compete and the only history you can speak of is when Roger Clemens decided to sign with the Jays so he could get cheaper steroids. The Leafs are a classic team with a strong fan base and made me think of putting them at 7, but in the end, I don't believe any of these teams hold a candle to the Argonauts, and that is not a good thing.