Cleveland tops list of cities thirstiest for championship

Sports seasons come and sports seasons go, and each one ends with only one champion. That's a fact the fans of Cleveland teams know all too well.

No U.S. city has seen more seasons pass by without a top-level, professional-league championship than the place some call Believeland.

If LeBron James and the Cavaliers can overcome the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, it would end a stretch of 143 pro seasons -- counting AFL/NFL, NHL, NBA and MLB -- without a championship for Cleveland.

That drought includes 50 seasons by MLB's Indians, 47 by the NFL's Browns, 44 by the Cavaliers and two by the short-lived NHL Barons, who existed for two seasons before merging with the Minnesota North Stars in 1978.

Based on time elapsed, San Diego has actually gone a year longer than Cleveland without a title. But San Diego never had an NHL team and had only 10 seasons with an NBA franchise -- four for the Rockets (1968-71) and six for the Clippers (1978-84).

Here's a look at the five metropolitan areas with the longest ongoing championship droughts (per ESPN Stats & Information).

Minneapolis: 87 seasons

Teams: Vikings (NFL), Twins (MLB), Timberwolves (NBA), North Stars and Wild (NHL)

Not only are the Twins the last team from Minneapolis to have won a league championship, they are the only team still located in the city with any use for a trophy case. The city's MLB team has two titles, the last coming in 1991, when the Twins beat the Atlanta Braves in a thrilling seven-game series.

Since then, it's been a dry streak in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Making the drought even harder to swallow is the fact that two former Twin Cities teams have brought championships to their new towns. The North Stars moved south in 1993 and won the 1999 Stanley Cup as the Dallas Stars. The Lakers have been one of the sports world's glamour franchises since moving from Minneapolis to Los Angeles in 1960 with 11 NBA championships, the most recent in 2011. At least the Lakers won five titles before moving west, the last in 1954.

Milwaukee: 88 seasons

Teams: Brewers (MLB), Bucks (NBA)

With Green Bay and the Packers just a couple of hours north, Milwaukee fans probably don't feel the sting of going without a championship as much as the other cities on this list. But they've still seen plenty of games without a trophy.

The Brewers have just one World Series appearance since they came to town in 1970 -- a seven-game loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982. (The Milwaukee Braves provided the city's only World Series victory in 1957.)

Milwaukee's last championship came courtesy of Lew Alcindor, Oscar Robertson and the Bucks, who swept Wes Unseld's Baltimore Bullets in the 1971 NBA Finals. Alcindor famously changed his name shortly after the Bucks won it all, which means Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has never seen a Milwaukee team win a championship.

Buffalo: 101 seasons

Teams:Bills (NFL), Braves (NBA), Sabres (NHL)

Buffalo's championship drought has had its share of close calls. The Sabres, who came into existence in 1970, twice lost in the Stanley Cup finals. The most recent time was in 1999, when Brett Hull's controversial triple-overtime goal in Game 6 clinched the series for the Stars.

And, as Buffalo fans probably don't want to be reminded, the Bills lost four consecutive Super Bowls from 1990 to 1993.

Buffalo's last championship came in 1965, before the AFL/NFL merger. The Bills won their second consecutive AFL title when they blanked the San Diego Chargers 23-0 in the championship game. It wasn't the prettiest victory -- the Bills scored only one offensive touchdown and were powered by three Pete Gogolak field goals -- but Buffalo fans haven't seen anything more beautiful in a long time.

San Diego: 107 seasons

Teams: Chargers (NFL), Padres (MLB), Rockets and Clippers (NBA)

San Diego might have championship weather every year, but the city's sports teams are stuck in a lengthy cold spell. The Padres, who debuted in 1969, have gone 0-for-2 in World Series appearances. The most recent was in 1998, when they were swept aside by the powerhouse New York Yankees. They haven't won a playoff series since then.

Like Buffalo, San Diego has to reach back to the AFL era for title-talk material. After playing their inaugural year in Los Angeles, the Chargers hit San Diego like, well, a lightning bolt in 1961. They reached the AFL Championship Game in four of their first five seasons in San Diego -- but they won only once, in 1963. Chuck Noll was an assistant under Sid Gillman for the championship team, which featured Hall of Fame receiver Lance Alworth and crushed the Boston Patriots 51-10 for the crown.

Since losing in the 1965 AFL Championship Game, the Chargers have played for the title only once -- in the Super Bowl won handily by the San Francisco 49ers in the 1994 season.

Cleveland: 143 seasons

Teams:Browns (NFL), Indians (MLB), Cavaliers (NBA), Barons (NHL)

Cleveland's heartbreak has been well documented. The Indians haven't won a World Series since 1948. The Cavaliers are seeking their first trophy. Titles came regularly to the Browns in the 1940s and '50s, but the 1964 NFL championship was their last one. Led by the legendary Jim Brown, they beat the Baltimore Colts 27-0 that year. The Browns lost in the NFL Championship Game the following year but haven't played for a title again since.