So while I was watching the Cavs piss down their legs AGAIN last night i got to thinking about the all time greatest chokers by city. What cities sports team time and time again fall short when it matters the most?? What is to follow is not an in depth analysis of this, in fact, no research at all went into this. This is simply off the top of my head, and back-up by little facts and simply my own observations and memory. I'm sure to get blasted on this, but hey, that is what message boards are about after all . So here it is, my top 3 cities in the all time Chokers list! One thing to remember is that I am looking at this from an overall city standpoint, and not just individual franchises. So a team like the Cubs are bailed out from this list due to sharing a city with franchises like the Bulls and the Bears. This also is a not a list of top loosing cities either.......to choke, you had to at least be close at times. And the last thing to remember is this is simply my view point, and I'm only 28, so this will be heavily slanted to the last 20 years or so. Without further ramblings, my top 3:

3. Tie - Atlanta and Indianapolis
I know, I copped out already. I couldn't decide on which one to list, so I listed them both. Indy would have been on the list hands down before this past year, but with them winning the Super Bowl it was hard to decide if they qualified or not. However, one great season does not erase some of the best playoff choke jobs in recent memory all by itself. Add in the fact that the Pacers failed time and time again to get the job done and get Reggie miller his ring, and they are still on the list.

As far as Atlanta, go no further then the Braves! Come on, out of all of those dominating teams, with all the dominating pitching, and the great line-ups as well....and they had 1 championship!! ONE??? WOW, now that is some serious choking.

2. Philadelphia
This one was a very close second, but second none the less. The city of brotherly love has been snake bitten by the art of the choke many times. From the Eagles finding various ways to fall short of the Super Bowl title in recent years to the Sixers failing to bring home a trophy during Iverson's prime, this city is way over due for a title, but their failure to bring one home is due to a lack of chances! Even the Phillies have had teams that could have made runs yet end up falling short in the end. Thsi city needs a someone to step up and snatch them a title, instead they get to watch time and time again players finding ways to give them hope only to piss down their leg in the end.

1. Cleveland
Now this one was actually very easy! From The Drive, to The Fumble, Browns fans feel they were tormented by the Denver Broncos in the last 80's, however, in reality they were tormented by their own inability to close out games. This is a franchise still looking for their first Super Bowl title ever, and they will still be looking for quite a long time. Now on to the Indians, how did they leave the 90's without a World Series win?? In fact, the only reason the Braves got the one title they did was the Indians proved to be better at the art of choking then even the Braves. And the Cavaliers, well they seem to be running with the label of the city lately! But this isn't new to them either, cursed by the powers of Jordan, the Cavs could never get someone to step up and close a series against the Bulls like Jordan was able to do against them. But now it shoudl be different right? They are supposed to be the team with the player who carries them through! Well guess what, the choking power of Cleveland is greater then even LeBron! Up 3-2 last year vs Detroit, they find ways to drop 2 in a row and give that series away, and the most recent signs, with 2 great opportunities to steal a road game in Detroit, they CHOKe both of them away. Ahh, good ol' Cleveland, you may be short on titles lately, but he's one title i will gladly give you: Miller's all time Choke Artist: The City of Cleveland!

Somewhere on the list Minnesota has to show up, probably more than Indianapolis. This would be based mostly on the Vikings having lost 4 superbowls (albeit a looooong time ago) having several first round playoff exits, and 2 NFC championship game losses in the past 10 years, one of which was heartbreaking (to Atlanta no less) and the other was a total flop job (41-0 to the Giants). The twins have also won 3 division titles and only made it out of the first round of the playoffs once since 1992. The wolves have something like 8 first round playoff exits in the last 12 years along with one ctrip to the conference finals where they lost to an old, bad lakers team.

Good addition BPipes! You make a good case for them. As far as Indy, before last year they were easily in the top 3 IMO, so the question becomes can one championship erase a history of making the choke an art form?

It can if the only team that is really in the running for "choke artist" is the winner. The colts got the proverbial monkey off their back, and the pacers don't even qualify because they're just mediocre.

Now, they are mediocre. For years they were a very good team that should have accomplished more then they did. Since 1994, they have made 6 confrence titles, yet only in 2000 did they make the NBA finals, and they have no titles to show for it out of those runs. I would say they definatly qualify.

Those years coincide nicely with the michael Jordan Era, and anyone who lost to jordan should automatically NOT be called a choker. When the jordan era ended, the Shaq era began, and losing to the lakers of those years was no choke job either. I still don't think the pacers were choke artists, just not as good as the teams they lost too.

One major problem with that aregument, only one of those confrence title series was against the Bulls!! 94 they lost to the Knicks, 95 to orlando, 98 to the Bulls, 99 to the knicks again (HUGE Choke job!!), and 04 to the Pistons.

They were over matched in the 98 series vs the Bulls and 00 s the lakers. The other series were all winable, only one that is questionable was in 94 vs the Knicks. 99 they pissed down their leg, 95 they did the same and in 04 they could have won that series vs the Pistons.

So in looking at their history, you can't pin this on being dominated by Jordan and the bulls, they just simply didn't get the job done with MANY chances.

i agree that minnesota absolutely has to be on the list, between the twolves and the vikings.

I think Philly is where it belongs

Your arguments are all good. I didn't look back at those years, just sort of the periods you are talking about, so you are right about my arguments being shaky.

That being said, If only one of those years was a real choke job, then why should the be considered choke artists? The teams they lost to were all as good or better than them with the exception of one. National perception wouldn't be that the Pacers are choke artists (of course that's hardly definitive proof, just an impression), just that they are never quite as good as their opponents.

Just is part of the entire big picture. Combine the inability of that team to not win a single championship during that span and the Colts notorious choke jobs up till last season ,and I thought they deserved a mention on the list.

On Minny, the main reason they escaped my list were the fact i'm simply not old enough to remember their Super Bowl losses. The T'wolves didn't real come to mind as much either, most in part b/c they were gone after round 1. But as I said, a great case can be made for them.

Miller, if you want a true "choke job," here's another one to consider (this should fire up some debate in this forum LOL)..............why are we not adding the great city of Pittsburgh to this list? Let's look at the last 20 years........

The Pirates -

They really haven't been relevant lately, but in 91 they choked away 2 NLCS series to the Braves that they in all rights should have won....this was in the hey day of Bonds, Bonilla, and Van Slyke.......and no World Series trips with all that power....

The Pengins -

This was a team that had Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr, two of hockey's best in the late 90's on the same team......same concept, several trips to the postseason, 0 Stanley Cups.....

and my personal favorite......THE STEELERS!

Let's see......how many great teams have this franchise had in the past 15 years? How many times did Cowher take them to the AFC title game to lose? The Super Bowl loss to Dallas? The same argument can be made here (as in Indy) that they won a Super Bowl two years ago, but if you look at it, Pittsburgh's put more teams in the playoffs over that span than the Colts have, it just seems a little fresher in the mind in the case of Indy because it's been a little more recent........

I'll agree that Cleveland's a solid #1, but I'd put Pittsburgh right there with Philly at the #2 spot, if only for the fact that Pitt won a Super Bowl moving them behind. But if you really want to split hairs, the Flyers won a couple of Stanley Cups for Philly, so it really depends on how relevant you want to make hockey in this discussion.

Strongly considered Pittsburgh, but despite the Steelers choke jobs, they did have their domiance in the 70's, and they just won another one 2 years ago. I agree with the Pirates, but they have been irrelevent for so long, i fogot about them, and talk about who cares, you mentioned hockey, lol.

Bottom line was the Superbowl rings kept them off my list.

Coming from a city where we have never won a superbowl, it's awfully hard to call the steelers chokers. That one championship wipes away all those failures, whereas some of us still wallow in our teams suckiness.

The last Philadelphia team to win a championship was in 1983--The Sixers. Since then, the Flyers lost in the Stanley Cup finals in 1987 and 1997 (they also lost the conference finals in 1989, 1995, 2000, and 2004). The Phils lost the 1993 World Series, the Sixers lost the 2001 finals, and the Eagles... you know their recent history--4 trips to the NFC championship, 3 losses there, and then the loss to the Pats in SB XXXIX, and their only other trip to the big game was in 1981, where they lost 27-10 to the Raiders (the Raiders becoming the first wild-card team in NFL history to win the SB). You could also argue that Smarty Jones should've won the triple crown, and Barbaro of course was also from Philly. Need I go on? Now that I think about it, is Cleveland really a bigger choker than Philly? I'm not sure.

sorry for the misquote eagle, was thinking that Lindros won one for them, forgot that was the year they ran into the Red Wing buzzsaw.......

Damn, you make a good case, philly gives Cleveland a run.

I think you have to put Dallas on this list, but for a different reason.

Reason #1 - They had a chance to get the Texas Rangers, but didn't want to participate in the funding for the new stadium. Arlington Texas gets the Ballpark.

Reason #2 - The Dallas Cowboys, who have had the stadium in Irving since the 70's, decided to build a new stadium. Dallas screwed around once again and lost the NFL team. The new stadium is being built in, you guessed it, Arlington Texas.

Makes me happy as Arlington is closer to me than Dallas, but the council members who run the city of Dallas are the biggest choke artists in the United States.

I have to disagree there....the Braves won because of their pitching. Cleveland didn't have one guy in their lineup that couldn't hit that year, but great pitching beats great hitting.

Now, the '97 World Series....THAT was a choke. Damn you Jose Mesa!

If we're bringing hockey into the mix, let's ad a piece to the picture for Minnesota. The North Stars. That forgotten team who ended up playing in Dallas (and winning a Stanley Cup). They lost 3, count 'em THREE Stanley Cups while in Minnesota. Oh, and one of those was to the Pittsburgh Penguins, yet another reason Pittsburgh shouldn't be on this list.