As I sometimes do, I posted the blog post without a title. Blogger still needs to title it somehow though. So in the URL they just call it blog post with the date.
But I just noticed that in the sidebar navigation, they give it a different name, which hits VERY DIFFERENTLY when you realize that it's being posted immediately upon losing a Super Bowl.
P.S. The too real tag is another one of my all time favorites.
When the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004 after an 86-year drought, Bill Simmons wrote a book Now I Can Die in Peace. I was never a baseball guy, but the concept stuck with me.
You think about it when your NFL team loses seven playoff games in a row.
You think about it when your NHL team is the worst in the league and you've never seen them win a single series.
You think about cities like Buffalo, Minneapolis and Cleveland prior to 2016, where they have multiple teams and still have gone long stretches without seeing a champion. It is entirely realistic to go your whole life and not see your particular team win a title. Around 2016-2017, it seemed more than realistic for me to not see the Chiefs or Avalanche win a title. I thought law of averages, Chiefs might win in fifty years and Avalanche might win in thirty years. But until it happens, you just never know. Even with one minute on the clock up a goal in Game 6, you just never know.
And then the Chiefs drafted Patrick Mahomes. I got to see the team I care about most, the team that had hurt me to the point where I was almost numb to playoff losses, come back in the Super Bowl and lift the Lombardi Trophy.
And then I got to see the Avalanche get over the hump of three straight second-round exits. I got to see my hockey team lift the greatest trophy in all of sports. For the next 61 years, the names Landeskog, MacKinnon and Makar are going to be engraved on the Stanley Cup.
In times of desperation, I've prayed to the sports gods "just one." I vowed to never be greedy. Just let me see one title and I won't ask for anything else. I'm here to keep that vow.
Yes, I'm still a fan. And when the Chiefs made it back to Super Bowl LV I wanted them to win. But it's okay that they lost. I never demanded or expected to see a dynasty. I just wanted one in football and one in hockey. Now I've gotten both.
Hockey and football, complete.
The only other teams I care about are the Illini, my alma mater. The trick there is that I know Illinois football will never win a national championship. I've accepted that. It's fine. I saw them go to two BCS bowls in person and lose both. It's possible that they could even win the Rose Bowl once, but that's still not a real title. So I can basically just cross them off and say that's complete too.
Illinois Basketball on the other hand...I did see them come within a hair of a national title. It was tied with a couple minutes left. It's possible for them to get back to a Final Four in the next fifty years. Once your there, they could even win a natty. But even if it never happens. I'm good.
I grew up watching hockey with my Dad. He would take me to KC Blades games (an IHL team) in the early 90s. By the mid-90s we were watching the NHL playoffs every year. I loved All-Star Weekend for the skills competition. After growing up in Kansas City and then Peoria, I just never had a specific team that I rooted for. But the playoffs were great. I remember watching the Avalanche and Red Wings battle it out. Of the two, my Dad preferred the Red Wings so I remember preferring them too, but it never actually felt like I had a team.
I moved to Chicago and went to a couple Blackhawks game. I remember specifically picking the Penguins as an away opponent because I wanted to see Crosby in person. Following the Bill Simmons approach of going to Clippers games, I went to see live NHL games. But the Blackhawks were never my team. (Perhaps I blew that, as the Blackhawks went on to win 3 Stanley Cups in the decade following me moving to Chicago.)
In December 2010, I flew out for a job interview in Denver. At the airport, I saw an Avalanche hat at one of the bookstore gift shops. I loved the look of it. But I wasn't sure that I was moving to Denver—I had to get the job first. So I didn't buy it then. It turned out, I didn't get the job. Until seven months later. I accepted a job offer on July 6, 2011. On July 25, 2011, my 9-months-pregnant wife and I took this photo at the Kansas-Colorado border. I'm wearing the Avalanche hat. I finally had my first NHL team.
In October, I dove into the Avalanche-Red Wing history on this here site. In November, I saw my first Avalanche game in person. In March 2012, I saw my first win in person. Landeskog was a rookie, scored the game winner in overtime, and became a meme.
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During the first two seasons, the Chiefs were dogshit so I really leaned into the Avs the entire way. Even in a season where Colorado wouldn't make the playoffs, there were so many memorablemoments.
In 2013 I was turning 30 later this year. I had never seen the Chiefs or Avalanche win a playoff game and I wrote this:
The Chiefs drafted Eric Fisher. The Avalanche drafted Nathan MacKinnon.
Next season Patrick Roy became the Avs coach and I got to see them go to the playoffs for the first time. I got to see them win an incredible game. I took my wife to a sports bar for the only time ever to watch a game and we saw the Avs lose a Game 7 to the Wild. The starting goalie for the Wild was Darcy Kuemper.
I was 30 years old when I saw a team win a playoff game. (Avs)
I was 32 years old when I saw a team advance in the playoffs. (Chiefs)
In 2016, Patrick Roy quit as the Avs coach. Sakic replaces Roy with Jared Bednar. The Avs proceed to set a record for lowest points in a season. They were a r/hockey punchline. It was embarrassing.
As the worst team in the league, the Avs ended up with the 4th pick in the 2017 NHL Draft. They drafted Cale Makar. Just two months prior, in the 2017 NFL Draft, the Chiefs drafted Patrick Mahomes.
In 2017, I was here wondering if MacKinnon and Landeskog would ever win a series in Colorado.
In 2019, I got to see the Avalanche win a playoff series for the first time.
In 2019, the Chiefs went 12-4 in the regular season. They'd go 3-0 in the playoffs in early 2020. I'd go to a parade.
On my 36th birthday, I had never seen one of my teams win a championship. I'm 38 and now I've seen BOTH.
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Two months ago I posted this: Will the Avs lift the Cup or lose in the 2nd round? There is no other option.
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The biggest moment in the series was Game 4 overtime. The Avs had taken the first two in Denver but Tampa captured a blowout victory in Game 3. If the Lightning score in overtime, they've got momentum and a tied series headed back to Denver.
Kadri returns from suspension injury in Game 4 hoping to provide a lift. Twelve minutes into overtime he buries the game winner. Literally buries in the net where no one can see it.
Great overhead view of where the puck landed.
That goal gave us a 3-1 series lead and I was beyond thrilled. That night I was awoken by a sick kid a couple times, and every time I went back to bed I just held my pillow with a big smile on my face shouting Kadri! over and over in my head.
Tampa winning Game 5 in Denver added a little tension to the air. They get to come home for Game 6 and a win there makes it Game 7 and they've got all the momentum.
Game 6 starts and they score first. Ohh man, things are getting dicey. And then the Avalanche played a perfect 2nd and 3rd period. Get two goals, allow none. Shut them down defensively in the third and hold on for the final horn.
With the empty net, Landeskog blocked a shot that broke his skate blade and MacKinnon had to help him skate off the ice while there were 6 Lightning skaters on the ice.
In the final minute, MacKinnon clears the puck with 33 seconds left. The Lightning have to go get it, re-enter the zone with 17 seconds left. But Makar is right there to force it out. The 23-year-old skates down and ties up the puck for the final seconds.
Just like that, it's all over.
A few stats, because who doesn't like a few stats:
2021-2022 Avs set the franchise record for wins in a season. 56 out of 82 in the regular season. 16 out of 20 in the playoffs. 72 wins this year. It ties the NHL record for wins in a season. Who's won more games than this team? Nobody.
(They tied the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens, 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers and 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings for most wins -- regular and postseason combined -- in a season.)
Among players with 50 playoff games, MacKinnon trails only Gretzky and Lemieux in playoff points per game.
In the playoffs, in 20 games, the Avs were +30 in goal differential. The next best? Edmonton was +6.
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Also, shoutout to this Blues fan:
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I tried to get my kids into the Chiefs Super Bowl run, and they cared a little bit because I cared, but not really. This year, when the Avs made the Finals, I once again tried to get my kids on board. They are both Colorado natives, so they have a legitimate claim to fandom. My oldest didn't care at all. But my youngest got into it. After hyping up the trophy, he was fully in love with the Stanley Cup itself. He remembered how your name goes on, how they move rings up and old rings eventually go into the museum.
Sunday night I was settling in to watch Game 6 and he came up and said I want to watch with you. We sat there and we watched the Avs take a 2-1 lead in the second. He tells me, we just need to hold the lead for 27 more minutes.
All of a sudden, there was only a minute or so left and the Lightning pulled the goalie. Without stoppages in play, a hockey game that doesn't go into overtime can just fly by. With five seconds left the puck is all the way on the other side of the ice. We start celebrating, hugging each other so tight.
Both of us went to sleep on cloud nine, and both of us woke up in the middle of the night, too excited to sleep all the way through. At this point, my Dad has exited my life. Last night I got to be the Dad and share a moment with my youngest that I'll hold onto forever.
People watch drafts, particularly the NBA Draft, because of the promise that the players your team drafts tonight could lead your team to a title. Thinking about the NFL for a second, the Chiefs don't win Super Bowl LIV without drafting Patrick Mahomes. But while the Tampa Bay Bucs obviously had players they drafted on their LV winning roster, what pushed them over the top was TB12, not a player they drafted.
NBA
Golden State Warriors
Titles: 2015, 2017, 2018, 2022
Won on Draft Nights in 2009 (Curry), 2011 (Klay) 2012 (Green)
Milwaukee Bucks
Title: 2021
Won on Draft Night in 2013 (Giannis)
The 2020 Lakers, 2019 Raptors, 2016 Cavs, 2012-2013 Heat titles were all driven by free agency decisions.
The only other title in the last ten years won on draft nights is...
San Antonio Spurs
Title: 2014
Won on Draft Nights in 1997 (Duncan), 1999 (Ginobli), 2001 (Parker) and 2011 (Kawhi)
In general, even if your team drafts superstars that will lead you to titles, expect to wait around 8 years. And the chances of that happening look pretty slim.
A quick scan of the Super Bowl Champions and you see that sometimes you draft a QB that delivers a championship (Brady, Wilson, Mahomes) and sometimes you get one in free agency (Manning for Broncos, Brady for Bucs). Again, it takes a while. The idea that your team can draft well and turn around and win a title is basically a myth.
I got surprised recently. Columbus, Ohio has more people than Cleveland.
This didn't make sense to me. Cleveland has always had a football team, a baseball team, and a basketball team. Columbus only has a hockey team and it was a 2000 expansion team.
I realized that my perception of American cities is primarily colored by their sports teams. So what else might I not know? So I did what everyone else would do...dig into the data.
So this is a Hoagie Central exclusive chart. I'm including NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL but not MLS or any other leagues. I'm a hockey guy and not a soccer guy, so that's why I drew the line there.
This chart includes the top 50 Metro areas in America plus the 158th metro area. This includes all the 115 big four sports teams in America. The chart does not include the 7 Canadian cities.
It is sorted by people per team. The average people per team is 1.55 million. Based on this average, the green cities are overrepresented, while the cities in blue are underrepresented...except that there are 8 metro markets without teams. Those are marked in yellow bars. They are the most underrepresented as the chart assumes they have one team (since you can't divide by zero) but they do not. I've also marked the 13 members of the "team in every league" club.
Cities with No Teams
Let's start here as they are the most underrepresented. The Riverside-San Bernardino area has a ton of people and no teams. More people than Denver, Minneapolis and Detroit who all have teams in every league. But...while Riverside is not part of the LA-Anaheim metro area, it is a part of the Greater Los Angeles region.
Next up is Austin, a city the same size as Pittsburgh. Based off of sports teams, I always thought of Pittsburgh as a major east coast city and Austin as a smallish college town. Texas already has lots of teams so, not sure that Austin will get one any time soon.
Then there's Norfolk/Virginia Beach and Richmond, two major metro with no teams. Both bigger than New Orleans or Buffalo. Seems like Virginia could support a team.
Providence, Hartford and Louisville and Birmingham round out the list. Providence and Hartford have lots of people but they're near NYC and Boston. I know Hartford lost their NHL team. Seems like this would be a good area to have a "New England" team but it's not going to happen. Also, typing it out reminds me how stupid the names New England and New York are. Just as stupid as having a place called France 2.
Cities with Under One Million per Team
So you've got Green Bay which just is a complete outlier. Here are some metro areas bigger than Green Bay: Spartanburg, Peoria, Hickory, Anchorage, Brownsville, Reading, Salinas.
Then you have these cities that seem like important big cities like Buffalo, New Orleans, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Nashville but they're jut not that big. And you've got Denver and Minneapolis which are big but warrant 3 teams, not 4.
Perfectly Represented Cities
I think it's interesting that the five cities closest to the average either have 1 team or 4 teams. You've got Jacksonville and OKC which warrant exactly one team, and Miami, Philly and DC that warrant 4. Nice job guys.
Cities with 5+ teams
It's one thing to have a team in all four leagues. It's another to do that and have an extra team. LA, Chicago and New York. But really, Chicago is not on the same level, just having two baseball teams. LA and New York have two teams in every league, quite the feat. Despite having all these teams, all three cities are still underrepresented compared to the average.
What about San Francisco Bay Area you ask? They've got two baseball teams. But the San Jose Sharks are considered part of their own San Jose metro and not the SF/Oak metro.
Cities that Could Use a Second Team
San Diego, Orlando, San Antonio, Portland and Sacramento all have enough people for a second team.
San Diego previously had a NBA and NFL team. The theory I've heard is that people enjoy the weather/beach so much that they don't need sports in their life. I kinda view one team cities differently as smaller cities. But Orlando is twice as big as Salt Lake City.
Had a great time shooting a commercial and hanging out in Cleveland. Good food, good times.
We shot a lot of great stuff that I'm not allowed to share yet. But it's gonna be great.
Work trip is becoming one of my favorite tags on this site. After going to LA and NY at my previous agency, in the last year I've traveled to Billings, Asheville, Rome, Greek Isles, Cancun, NY and Cleveland.
Tampa has been my personal sports nemesis for the last couple years.
The TB12 Bucs beat the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV and in the last two years of NHL Calcutta, Mark owned the Lightning and they've won the Cup two years running. This year I made sure to get the Lightning, just so they couldn't wrong me again, and yet here we are. I owned the final four NHL Calcutta teams so that's been clinched for a while. But now it's me vs Tampa once again.
.webp)
