The Great Drought

By Bryan Armen Graham, SI.com

Forgive the Philadelphia sports fan for not getting misty-eyed when the national media waxes poetic over the plight of Chicago Cubs supporters.

The Cubs may have gone 99 years and counting without a World Series ring, but at least a fellow named Michael Jordan helped salve those wounds during basketball season. And if going 86 years between baseball titles stung the city of Boston's pride, surely VHS recordings of the Celtics' 16 NBA championships helped on those sleepless nights.

Chicagoans and Bostonians are amateurs in the disciplines of pain and suffering compared to Philly natives. No other four-sport city has endured worse punishment when it comes to across-the-board futility. If active title droughts are the measure, Philadelphia is the king of the hill.

There are 13 metropolitan areas with one or more teams in the Big Four major league team sports. Below, SI.com offers a list of the active championship droughts from metropolitan areas with four professional sports teams: