Your town/state's most significant championship.

[Kramerica Industries]

Vet dont you mean January 2005? (when the Eagles were last in the superbowl)

Even tho I wasn't alive when it happened (missed by 4 years abouts), it seems like the 1980 world series win by the Phillies was, I will say the 2008 win was very sweet but Im sure the 1980 was crazy.

Then I guess would be the flyers first win.

God help the city if the eagles ever win a superbowl.

No. I meant Jan 19 2003 (2002 season). The worst loss in the entire history of philadelphia pro sports.

Man, I HATED that 02 Eagles team, and basically figured the Bucs were dead in the water coming into that game.

You got that right - I felt the same way, especially in light of the '00 and '01 playoff encounters where the Bucs didn't even score a touchdown either time, as well as the regular season meeting where the Eagles more-or-less had their way with the Bucs.

And that game started off with a long kick return from Brian Mitchell and the run TD from Duce Staley, and it appeared the NFCCG would follow the same path.

Pleasant shock that it didn't.

Cincinnati - 1975 Reds

That team was the apex of the Big Red Machine. They won 108 games, they finally got over the hill after disappointments in the 70, 72 world series, losing to the inferior Mets in the 73 NLCS, and completely missing the playoffs in 74. That team ended the 35 year drought. Plus they won one of the best World Series ever. The 76 team gets overlooked despite going 7-0 in the playoffs because it was just more of the same and the 1990 team doesn't seem to have captured the hearts of the city the same way the 75 team did.

When people talk about the Reds they talk about the 1975 Reds. I wish I had been there to see it.

One advantage of being an old guy is I was around to see it. The '75 Reds pitching staff wasn't exactly one for the ages*, but they more than made up for it with their hitting. In my humble opinion, the '75 Reds have to be in any discussion of the 10 greatest baseball teams of all time. They were something else. Best team I've ever had the pleasure of watching.

*Cue Kramerica to come along and tell me I'm wrong about that.

Hahahaha, I know you're joking and everything, but I've been so lazy with my baseball research of late that, besides not having the first-hand experience you have, I could not possibly substantiate the accuracy or inaccuracy of that comment. I do know one of the lynchpins of the '75 Reds staff, Don Gullett, found his way to the Yankees a couple years later.

In fact, looking at his career briefly, I'm left to wonder just how many players in the history of baseball have ever been on four straight World Series winning squads, when that involves multiple teams. Gullett was on the '75 and '76 Reds title squads and then the '77 and '78 Yankees title squads.

Anyway, to get back to the focus, I wouldn't challenge your claim about them being the best team you've ever watched, either, because, well, they didn't call the '70s Reds the "Big Red Machine" for nothing. Those teams were loaded in Hall of Famers, built for their ballpark, and won four pennants and two World Series titles between 1970-1976, and many of those guys banded together in Philadelphia and helped lead the Phillies to the 1980 title.

Here I go with another wonderance - how often it has happened since 1969 where there were consecutive ALCS and NLCS meetings. Ex: '77-78 Phillies vs. Dodgers, with the Royals and Yankees on the other side. I can't remember it.

[DS729]

Well, if HS counts then... my HS has won 2-3 state Lax titles in a row. And they've already qualified for a home playoff game and are currently #1 in their region at 8-1.

Why are you guys playing high school lacrosse at this time of the year?

As for my hometown's most significant championship, was when my high school women's Basketball team won the national championship in '07 when we had Maya Moore and went 38-0.

Dammit. Somehow "football" didn't get in the middle of the post. No my HS lax team plays in the spring, I meant the FB team is 8-1.

[sc49erfan15]

Town? Rock Hill, SC - hard to call. The city's 3 high schools have won the state championship in football a total of 7 times in the modern era. Rock Hill in 2002/04, Northwestern in 1989/1993/2010, South Pointe in 2008/2011. Northwestern's soccer team was crowned national champions by ESPN in 2009. And Winthrop won the Big South Conference basketball title in 1988, 1999-2002, 2005-08, and 2010. Of those, 2007 is probably the most notable, Winthrop was 29-5 and ranked #22.

As for the entire state of South Carolina? Clemson won the national championship in football in 1981. South Carolina won the College World Series in 2010 and 2011, but I don't think that's eclipsing Clemson's football NC.

[DDR]

Chicago is still celebrating the '85 Bears Super Bowl win, albeit in increasingly caricaturesque fashion as many of my friends and family are slowly morphing into Da Superfans.

Beyond that, I really don't know. The '96 NBA Champion Bulls, maybe?

[infrared41]

Don Gullett, found his way to the Yankees a couple years later.

Trivia sidenote: My Dad was good friends Don Gullett's family. They were all from the same part of Kentucky. If memory serves, my Dad used to hang out with Don's older brothers or cousins - or maybe both. I can't remember the details, but I know my Dad knew the Gullett family pretty well.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Chicago is still celebrating the '85 Bears Super Bowl win, albeit in increasingly caricaturesque fashion as many of my friends and family are slowly morphing into Da Superfans.

Beyond that, I really don't know. The '96 NBA Champion Bulls, maybe?

That's so sad. The Jordan Bulls were so amazing and for such a sustained amount of time. The Kobe Lakers are kind of close in pedigree, but those are really two distinct eras. Even those the first three and second three had different role players, the core of Jordan/Pippen/Jackson made all six seem more cohesive. Sometimes it ain't right how much football overshadows everything.

I can't speak for Seattle, but I can speak of my hometown in western New York. It's the 2003 Syracuse Orange all the way. If the Bills ever win, the region might explode.

[dbadefense1990]

1985 Bears, nothing comes close, and okay enough stop no more please leave me alone now every last one of you.

Chicago is still celebrating the '85 Bears Super Bowl win, albeit in increasingly caricaturesque fashion as many of my friends and family are slowly morphing into Da Superfans.

Beyond that, I really don't know. The '96 NBA Champion Bulls, maybe?

Huh, funny. I always though of Chicago as a baseball city, and I'd figure what the White Sox did in 2005 would merit at least some monumental significance. Is Chicago really that much controlled by the Cubs, baseball-wise? Then wow.

I remember reading an article on ESPN about a decade ago on the most "tortured sports cities," and they had Chicago at either #4 or #5, I don't remember. The 1st thing I thought of was, "why in blue hell are they on this list when they had Michael freaking Jordan??!" Then after reading the article, they seem to give more weight to what happened to their baseball teams (the article was posted about a year before the White Sox would win).

[CS85]

1985 Bears, nothing comes close, and okay enough stop no more please leave me alone now every last one of you.

Chicago is still celebrating the '85 Bears Super Bowl win, albeit in increasingly caricaturesque fashion as many of my friends and family are slowly morphing into Da Superfans.

Beyond that, I really don't know. The '96 NBA Champion Bulls, maybe?

Huh, funny. I always though of Chicago as a baseball city, and I'd figure what the White Sox did in 2005 would merit at least some monumental significance. Is Chicago really that much controlled by the Cubs, baseball-wise? Then wow.

I remember reading an article on ESPN about a decade ago on the most "tortured sports cities," and they had Chicago at either #4 or #5, I don't remember. The 1st thing I thought of was, "why in blue hell are they on this list when they had Michael freaking Jordan??!" Then after reading the article, they seem to give more weight to what happened to their baseball teams (the article was posted about a year before the White Sox would win).

I will "answer" this, but I'm sure the legit Chicago residents will follow up with more accurate answers subsequently.

Chicago is, to my understanding, a Bears town. When the Bears are winning everything else pales in significance. The Cubs and Sox thing is Taster's Choice, but if the Cubs are making news it always takes precedence over the White Sox. The Blackhawks are obviously becoming the toast of the town, but I'd say they're equal or just lesser than the Bulls in terms of popularity.

Again this is coming from a guy who only "knows" these things because I follow the newspapers and radio output of the city, not because I have the Man On The Street cred.

-------

In relation to the thread, my hometown's got a fair amount of sporting impact. Charleston, IL is home to Eastern Illinois University, which touts the following:

• Head coaches Mike Shanahan, Sean Payton, Mike Childress, and assistant coach Mike Heimerdinger are all alumni.
• Tony Romo is easily the school's most famous athlete, but that may be surpassed in time with the potential success of Jimmy Garoppolo.
• Kevin Duckworth was an NBA All-Star, and several players through the years have peppered the NBA with little to no notoriety.

You can view the school's other famous alumni here. For a whatever college in a dumpy town it's housed a surprising amount of famous faces over the years.

Otherwise none of the teams, collegiate or high school, have won much that's exceeded local headlines. A conference title here, an NCAA Tournament qualifying here.

[charger77]

Don't forget San Diego when it comes to tortured sports cities(Chargers numerous chokes recently, whether it be the playoffs or regular season).

2002 for Sacramento wouldve been so frickin huge, but we all know what happened.

[raysfan24]

Well I remember when my school's football team won the state title in 1999 and 2000 for football and that was a huge deal for a town of only 900 people. That's when I was 11-12 years old. Then I moved schools and that school won the team state title in cross country in 2002 and 2004 which was a huge deal too.

Living in Cincinnati, everybody here talks about the 1975 Reds; and I can't blame them. My dad was a teenager when they won the title in '75 and always tells me stories about the team. He has all kinds of newspaper clippings in a binder which he says hung on his wall in his bedroom. It's always cool to look through.

[monkeypower]

1985 Bears, nothing comes close, and okay enough stop no more please leave me alone now every last one of you.

Chicago is still celebrating the '85 Bears Super Bowl win, albeit in increasingly caricaturesque fashion as many of my friends and family are slowly morphing into Da Superfans.

Beyond that, I really don't know. The '96 NBA Champion Bulls, maybe?

Huh, funny. I always though of Chicago as a baseball city, and I'd figure what the White Sox did in 2005 would merit at least some monumental significance. Is Chicago really that much controlled by the Cubs, baseball-wise? Then wow.

I remember reading an article on ESPN about a decade ago on the most "tortured sports cities," and they had Chicago at either #4 or #5, I don't remember. The 1st thing I thought of was, "why in blue hell are they on this list when they had Michael freaking Jordan??!" Then after reading the article, they seem to give more weight to what happened to their baseball teams (the article was posted about a year before the White Sox would win).

I will "answer" this, but I'm sure the legit Chicago residents will follow up with more accurate answers subsequently.

Chicago is, to my understanding, a Bears town. When the Bears are winning everything else pales in significance. The Cubs and Sox thing is Taster's Choice, but if the Cubs are making news it always takes precedence over the White Sox. The Blackhawks are obviously becoming the toast of the town, but I'd say they're equal or just lesser than the Bulls in terms of popularity.

Again this is coming from a guy who only "knows" these things because I follow the newspapers and radio output of the city, not because I have the Man On The Street cred.

Da Bears!

-----

Here in Calgary it's definately the '89 Flames. Much like you said about the Bears being the top dog, the Flames are number one while the Stamps, Roughnecks and Hitmen are secondary, even though the Flames have had the least success out of all the teams.

[Sport]

Cincinnati - 1975 Reds

That team was the apex of the Big Red Machine. They won 108 games, they finally got over the hill after disappointments in the 70, 72 world series, losing to the inferior Mets in the 73 NLCS, and completely missing the playoffs in 74. That team ended the 35 year drought. Plus they won one of the best World Series ever. The 76 team gets overlooked despite going 7-0 in the playoffs because it was just more of the same and the 1990 team doesn't seem to have captured the hearts of the city the same way the 75 team did.

When people talk about the Reds they talk about the 1975 Reds. I wish I had been there to see it.

One advantage of being an old guy is I was around to see it. The '75 Reds pitching staff wasn't exactly one for the ages*, but they more than made up for it with their hitting. In my humble opinion, the '75 Reds have to be in any discussion of the 10 greatest baseball teams of all time. They were something else. Best team I've ever had the pleasure of watching.

*Cue Kramerica to come along and tell me I'm wrong about that.

All I know about the 70’s Reds is from books I've read about the team and what older fans and my relatives have told me. The Reds had a pretty regular pitching staff in those years. It was their true weakness. If the 1975 Reds have any legacy in regards to pitching it’s that Sparky Anderson was one of the first managers to employ modern bullpen usage. He pulled pitchers out of games earlier and with more frequency than anybody had before him.

If that lineup had some better starting pitchers (not saying the ones they had were bad) they may have won 120 games.

[OnWis97]

1991 World Series. One of the greatest World Series ever played, and the heroics of Puckett in Game 6 as well as Jack Morris' 10-inning shutout in Game 7 to give the Twins a last-to-first title (only other team to do that....the 2013 Red Sox!)

Not much to choose from, eh? Nobody remembers the Minneapolis Lakers and the one NFL championship does not count because it was in the pre-merger Super Bowl era.

I also would say 1991 as opposed to the only other one, 1987. 1987 may win in a fan poll because it was more exiting, but the 1991 team was better and not just lucky because of the imbalance between the AL's two divisions.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

To make a long story short...

Last night I was having a discussion with some friends about what which championship was the biggest deal in Detroit/Michigan.

Most of my friends settled on the 97 & 98 Wings because of the wait and the limo accident. One friend suggested the '04 Pistons because it was such a pleasant surprise and they trounced the Lakers team that was bought & built to win it all.

My suggestion was the '68 Tigers as it gave the city something to rally around in light of the riots.

This could be a fun thread...

What is your town/state's most significant championship?

The Pistons, as much I loved it because I was too young to fully embrace the 89 and 90 titles, didn't seem as special because they had just won 14 years prior.

The Wings titles were fairly significant as well. It literally turned Detroit into a hockey town. (Not the 'Hockeytown' :-) )

There's something special about winning a title in your city though. The Wings won their first one of this era (97) here, and the city hadn't seen a Stanley Cup since 1955.

The 68 Tigers won on the road, while they won in Tiger Stadium in 84.

Regardless, I'd still have to go with the Tigers '68 World Series. Although I was nowhere near born yet, to win (arguably) sports' most treasured title in the climate the city was in at the time counts for a lot.

But as mentioned, when the Lions win a Superbowl, it would blow every other title won out of the water for two huge reasons. 1. We've never won a Superbowl or come anywhere close to it. 2. Detroit is, first and foremost, a football town.

It would be something if Detroit was awarded the 2018 Superbowl and the Lions won. 5 years away. With Stafford and Johnson not even in their primes yet, it could happen.

[GO2HELL]

94 and 2011 Vancouver Canucks. Although they weren't championship seasons, both runs to the final will live on in the history of this city. Although, for all the wrong reasons.

[charger77]

It would be something if Detroit was awarded the 2018 Superbowl and the Lions won. 5 years away. With Stafford and Johnson not even in their primes yet, it could happen.

They're not in their primes now?

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

It would be something if Detroit was awarded the 2018 Superbowl and the Lions won. 5 years away. With Stafford and Johnson not even in their primes yet, it could happen.

They're not in their primes now?

Sorry, I meant Calvin is and should be there for a few more years. I don't think Stafford's quite hit it yet. He's only 25 and seems to be improving every year.

[B-Rich]

In my neck of the woods, it's pretty simple: New Orleans Saints' World Championship in Super Bowl XLIV.

So many things about that magical year. It occurred not too long after Katrina, when lots of outside folks had written off not only the team remaining in the city, but had written off the city itself. A 13-0 start. The craziness of the NFC championship game, and near the end of regulation, when it looked like it'd be the typical "Saints blew it" scenario but instead Favre gets picked off to preserve the tie in regulation, then the long drive in OT, then Hartley's kick to win. The city went nuts-- we were in the Super Bowl.

Which leads me to one of the mor interesting aspects of the siginificance of the championship. Many of you may not know this, but a long time sports (radio and TV) personality in New Orleans, Buddy Diliberto, had made a joking pledge on numerous occasions to his listeners that he would wear a dress on Bourbon Street if the Saints ever reached the Super Bowl. Buddy died in January 2005, and never was able to fulfill the pledge. His radio successor, former Saints quarterback Bobby Hebert, promised to carry on the pledge. As the Saints went through the playoffs that year, many others agreed to do the same in memory of Buddy.

This being New Orleans, a parade was quickly arranged, and on the Sunday between the NFC championship game and the Super Bowl, tens of thousands of men in dresses led by Bobby Hebert marched from the Superdome to the French Quarter, ending on Bourbon Street:

Then for the kicker, a great win in an exciting game. Just as after the NFC win, you could go outside for a half-hour after the game and hear car horns, fireworks, bells, you name it. The Super Bowl was two Sundays before Mardi Gras Day in the midst of Carnival season, so all of the krewes got together and donated floats, and on the Tuesday night after the game (one week before Mardi Gras), a special championship carnival parade was thrown, True New Orleans-style celebrating!!

Oh, and by the way, second place is a tie between the LSU championships of the 2003 and 2007 seasons, both of which occurred in New Orleans.

[BigEd76]

Vet dont you mean January 2005? (when the Eagles were last in the superbowl)

Even tho I wasn't alive when it happened (missed by 4 years abouts), it seems like the 1980 world series win by the Phillies was, I will say the 2008 win was very sweet but Im sure the 1980 was crazy.

Then I guess would be the flyers first win.

God help the city if the eagles ever win a superbowl.

No. I meant Jan 19 2003 (2002 season). The worst loss in the entire history of philadelphia pro sports.

I know a playoff loss is tough, but what makes that one the worst? Last Eagles game at the Vet? The Buccaneers not winning a game in cold weather? Both? More?

Both of those, the Eagles coming off a close NFCCG against the Greatest Show on Turf the year before, hosting the NFCCG for the first time in 22 years, a top defense, McNabb entering his prime, and then it started like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS8VST07at0

.....and it was all downhill for the next 59 minutes

[John in KY]

Definitely the most significant championship for the city of Louisville is the 2012-13 Cardinals Men's Basketball team. This team beat UK for the first time in 4 years, survived the Kevin Ware injury, and brought home their first championship since 1986. The closest chance for the football team to win a championship would've been 2006 if it wasn't for Rutgers.

Sorry, as good a story as last season was particularly in light of Kevin Ware's injury that's only #2 to me. I think the 1980 NCAA Championship was bigger - that was the first championship for the school and was really a huge deal for a city that had lost its pro basketball team (and kind of felt screwed out of being in the NBA when the Colonels were left out of the merger) and its minor league baseball team during the 1970s. I was a HS Senior that year and it really brought the city and the school together in a big way.

More perspective - U of L was a city-supported university until 1972 when it became part of the entire state university system. The school went from about 6,500 students to 17,000 pretty much overnight. While the Commonwealth was providing funds to UK to build a football stadium, U of L used all their funds to build buildings for students. It went from being this little school known for engineering, law school and medical school to being that "little brother" that Joe B. Hall called it to jab at Denny Crum. The 1980 Championship was "little brother" announcing they had grown up a bit; the next announcement came in the 1983 NCAA Regional Final.