I love lists and rankings. When someone decides to rank something, I am always curious as to why and where and how. The editors at The Sporting News, the once outstanding sports magazine during the pre-Internet era, might be asleep at the wheel. The site recently ranked the top #399 sports cities and Pittsburgh, with a Super Bowl Championship team in the Steelers and a Stanley Cup winner in the Penguins, came out on top.
Now, the site says that it looked at the 12 months from roughly October 2008 to October 2009, and based its decision on point values assigned to various categories, “including but not limited to won-lost records, postseason appearances, applicable power ratings, number of teams and attendance.”
Fair enough. Why did I say the editors were sleeping? Let’s take a closer look. As a resident of Southern California, I know the cities and towns better than the rest of the country so it is easy for me offer judgement, than say Zebulon, North Carolina, which finished in the 333rd spot, just ahead of Altoona, PA at #334. For the first any maybe the last time in my life, I Googled Zubulon, North Carolina to see why they finished 334. The web site says, it is the town of friendly people. Must have gotten points for that tag line. The neighborhood which, in 1970 had 1,839 resients had blossomed to 4,606 by 2005.
I really had to research and finally found out why they were ranked at all. They are home to the Carolina Mudcats a minor league baseball team. I sincerely mean no disrespect to owner Steve Bryant nor the parent team, the Cincinnati Reds.
I just have a hard time swallowing the fact that in Orange County, CA, where I call home, did not have any representation. Take for example Cal State Fullerton or UC Irvine. So the Titans did not win another College World Series but that made it to the big dance last year. That alone should have them ranked. As for UCI, which I am biased as an alum, but maybe the committee left out the school since the Anteater is the mascot. Other than that, men’s volleyball won a national title, baseball was nationally ranked as was soccer, golf yada yada yada. No ranking at all?
Neighboring city Long Beach was also left off the map. Okay, the city may be just a tad lower than say number 87. Piscataway, N.J., but come on, the city has Long Beach State, the Long Beach Grand Prix, and the Long Beach Armada
Maybe it was bribery. That is the excuse I am using for No. #336 Napa, CA which is best known for its outstanding wine, countryside and weekend getaways. The next time I visit there, I must pick up a sports event schedule for down time between wine tastings.
In any case, here is their top 100 cities according to the web site. If you want to see all 399, click here.
1. Pittsburgh
2. Philadelphia
3. Boston
4. Chicago + Evanston
5. Los Angeles
6. New York
7. Phoenix + Tempe
8. Miami
9. Dallas-Fort Worth
10. Detroit + Ann Arbor + Ypsilanti
11. Houston
12. Nashville
13. Atlanta
14. Washington
15. Tampa-St. Petersburg
16. Minneapolis-St. Paul
17. Raleigh + Durham + Chapel Hill, N.C.
18. Denver + Boulder
19. Salt Lake City + Provo
20. Indianapolis
21. Anaheim
22. Cleveland
23. Charlotte
24. San Jose + Palo Alto + Santa Clara
25. New Orleans
26. Milwaukee
27. Orlando
28. Baltimore
29. Cincinnati
30. St. Louis
31. San Diego
32. Portland
33. Oakland + Berkeley
34. Columbus
35. San Antonio
36. Toronto
37. Oklahoma City + Norman
38. Austin, Texas
39. Vancouver
40. Buffalo
41. Gainesville, Fla.
42. Calgary
43. Storrs, Conn.
44. East Lansing, Mich.
45. Montreal
46. San Francisco
47. Memphis
48. State College, Pa.
49. Kansas City
50. Jacksonville
51. Green Bay
52. Seattle
53. Edmonton
54. Ottawa
55. Sacramento
56. Columbia, Mo.
57. Tuscaloosa, Ala.
58. Blacksburg, Va.
59. Tucson, Ariz.
60. Stillwater, Okla.
61. Lawrence, Kan.
62. Morgantown, W.Va.
63. Lubbock, Texas
64. College Park, Md.
65. Oxford, Miss.
66. Clemson, S.C.
67. Louisville, Ky.
68. Eugene, Ore.
69. Boise, Idaho
70. Iowa City, Iowa
71. Corvallis, Ore.
72. Lincoln, Neb.
73. West Lafayette, Ind.
74. Tallahassee, Fla.
75. Madison, Wis.
76. South Bend, Ind.
77. Athens, Ga.
78. Lexington, Ky.
79. Baton Rouge, La.
80. Knoxville, Tenn.
81. Columbia, S.C.
82. Tulsa, Okla.
83. Winston-Salem, N.C.
84. Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
85. Waco, Texas
86. College Station, Texas
87. Piscataway, N.J.
88. Auburn, Ala.
89. Charlottesville, Va.
90. Syracuse, N.Y.
91. Manhattan, Kan.
92. Albuquerque, N.M.
93. Reno, Nev.
94. Fayetteville, Ark.
95. Starkville, Miss.
96. Las Vegas
97. Hattiesburg, Miss.
98. El Paso, Texas
99. Annapolis, Md.
100. Greenville, N.C.
Just in case you had to know, here are the previous winners of the Sporting News “Best Sports Cities”
2008: Boston
2007: Detroit
2006: Chicago
2005: Boston
2004: Boston
2003: Anaheim + Los Angeles
2002: Boston
2001: New York
2000: St. Louis
1999: New York
1998: Detroit
1997: Denver
1995: Denver
1994: Cleveland
1993: Chicago
If you noticed that no one won in 1996, it is because the site said “the Sporting News expanded and refined the rating system” that year.