Forbes makes some great sports lists, especially their yearly appraisal of the value of sports franchises. The staff applies its business acumen to an industry in which the numbers are often hidden from fans.
This is not one of those lists.
Forbes has created a "Sports Misery" list that attempts to formulaically determine which American city has suffered the most heartbreak from the local teams. Below is a quick look at their Most Miserable:
1. Atlanta
2. Seattle
3. Buffalo
4. Phoenix
5. San Diego
6. Houston
7. Denver
8. Cleveland
9. Philadelphia
10. Minneapolis
Before I tear this list apart, a quick note on the methodology. Every victory and loss is given equal weight unless a team has won a championship in the last 5 years, which apparently makes everything better*. When I say every victory and loss, I mean that literally: even the Philadelphia Athletics' 1913 World Series victory is counted. This is one of the most egregious examples of formulas for formulas' sake I've ever seen.
If they wanted to use another formula, maybe they could have added one for how seriously the town takes its sports. Have you ever met a San Diego sports fan who just gets sick when the Padres miss the playoffs? According to these rankings, you'd see more of them than irate Eagles fans. Until I see people chucking dog biscuits at Jake Peavy there's no contest.
I could keep pointing out why this list makes no sense but I'll let you do that in the comments. You'll come up with something funnier anyway.
Oh, and Forbes, if you want to improve on lists like these in the future, I have an MBA and a Journalism degree. Just sayin'.
*If the Giants hadn't beaten the Patriots, New York would have qualified for this list. How funny is that?
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