When as a fan have you tasted a championship?

[Stoner]

I guess we have to let in all sports basically, not just the pros and not just the legacy Big 4. Could be an individual as well.

My dad and I followed the Bonnies in 77 when they won the NIT. I didn't remember SBU's trip to the final 4 of the big tournament in 70 but had heard all about it. It was cool but had the feeling of a consolation prize.

That's it. I loved the bad Mets of the mid to late 70s but left them behind and couldn't enjoy 86.

Jack Nicklaus winning the Masters as an old man of 46 was thrilling. I wanted him to win but wasn't a fan per se.

Still... YESSIR!

[GASabresIUFAN]

Indiana won the NCAA basketball championship my junior year (1987) and UGA just won 2 Natty’s in football.  The Braves won the WS a few years ago as well.  Only my Buffalo teams seem to be lagging, although my Hoosiers need to fix the basketball team.

 

[USMCSnyper]

Yankees and Syracuse BBall in 2003

[HumanSlinky39]

I'm from NE Ohio & an Ohio State alum, so been a few days. 

Edited Monday at 10:46 PM by HumanSlinky39

[mjd1001]

I know most people say the Bandits don't count as much (not a major national sport) but if you had the chance to be IN the arena when they won one, its pretty good.

You may not go home and see it leading sportscenter, but the atmosphere inside the arena is really great..so I'd call that a 'taste'.

[Crusader1969]

Toronto Raptors 2019 

Before that it was the Blue Jays in 92 /93

both teams would rank behind the Bills and Sabres in preference but it was still pretty cool 

will never forget where I was for the Kawhai Leonard shot that beat Philly and the Joe Carter home run also against Philly 

unfortunately I also remember where I was was home run throwback, wide right, 13 seconds and No Goal

im not from the city of Buffalo but I really do hope they get a Lombardi trophy and Stanley cup one day.  I will definitely cross the border to come for the parade!   One day!  Hopefully! Maybe???

[Hawerchuk]

Vegas Golden Knights 2023 Cup Champs. The parade was awesome just like Will Karlsson's speech!

Still wishing it was going to be the Sabres turn sometime.... anytime... please.

[shrader]

im right above the camera for this, so I had pretty much that exact view. Man, that play by Gilroy on the tying goal. I still don’t think he should have won the Hobey, but I’ll give it to him after watching that again. 

[SABRES 0311]

Unfortunately i have never had a team I followed win a championship.

[Slack_in_MA]

Red Sox and Celtics

[IKnowPhysics]

Badgers in '06

[Brawndo]

Still waiting 

[shrader]

17 minutes ago, IKnowPhysics said:

Badgers in '06

That one was a blast. Watching Robbie Earl out-dive Gerbe in front of the home town fans, the place was electric. 

[sabremike]

That's it.

Sabres, Red Bulls, Bengals and Knicks have made multiple trips to the finals/SB/MLS Cup and lost every time.

In Canada my Ticats won once (1999) and Forge FC has won 4 of the 6 CPL titles.

[IKnowPhysics]

7 minutes ago, shrader said:

That one was a blast. Watching Robbie Earl out-dive Gerbe in front of the home town fans, the place was electric. 

And Jack Skille sniping it in 3OT to win 1-0 against Cornell in Green Bay to go to the dance.

[shrader]

21 minutes ago, IKnowPhysics said:

And Jack Skille sniping it in 3OT to win 1-0 against Cornell in Green Bay to go to the dance.

Ahhh crap, now I can’t remember if it was Earl or Skille that had the diving reputation… and pulled off a masterful one late in the championship. 

[Porous Five Hole]

I’ve had three. 
First one was the Cuse in 2003.  I watched the Big East tourney and then March Madness, but not a ton during the year. I knew the starting five, but I was not dialed in like a super fan.  
 

The second was the Red Sox in 04 and it was different. I watched over 100 games that year and every minute of playoff baseball. The greatest comeback in sports history.

  I was living in Tampa FL with my parents at the time.  After the Sox went up 3-0 in the WS, I bought a plane ticket “home” to ROC for the next morning. I watched game four here, then drove to Boston the next day so I could be in town for the parade.  The WS parade was the best day of my life.  Three million people breathing a collective sigh of relief at the same time. Shaking off a curse and doing it dramatically.  I cannot get through a video or DVD recap of the 04 season without tearing up. Hugging a drunk at the bar or hugging a homeless person on the sidewalk. It didn’t matter. The Cask & Flagon blasting Boston band Aerosmith’s Dream On. People dancing on tables. People chanting Let’s Go Red Sawx” on the subway like they were at Fenway.  Just incredible.  
 

If we can count minor league pro sports, I watched the Amerks win game seven of the Calder Cup in person as a teenager in 1995. The War Memorial was shaking. No video board or cell phone to distract you. Chanting and Pom Pom's. All about the game and the place was jammed. Steve Shields, Dane Jackson, Scottie Nichol, Scott Metcalf, Rumun Ndur, Dixon Ward, Brian Holzinger, Doug Houda, Craig Charron, Dan Frawley. Great memories! The building went in for a renovation that summer, so my cousin (season ticket holder) tipped his seat cushion off the chair and took it home with him for some reason. 

[Pimlach]

3 hours ago, Stoner said:

I guess we have to let in all sports basically, not just the pros and not just the legacy Big 4. Could be an individual as well.

My dad and I followed the Bonnies in 77 when they won the NIT. I didn't remember SBU's trip to the final 4 of the big tournament in 70 but had heard all about it. It was cool but had the feeling of a consolation prize.

That's it. I loved the bad Mets of the mid to late 70s but left them behind and couldn't enjoy 86.

Jack Nicklaus winning the Masters as an old man of 46 was thrilling. I wanted him to win but wasn't a fan per se.

Still... YESSIR!

Only counting my Buffalo professional teams you have to go back to my childhood days - The AFL Buffalo Bills (64, 65) and the AHL Buffalo Hockey Bisons (69-70) won league championships. 

[Mr Peabody]

Dodgers ‘65, Bruins ‘72, SU Bball 2003. 

Was fan of Koufax, Orr and SU grad / local team. 
 

 

Edited Tuesday at 02:57 AM by Mr Peabody

[Random Karate Chopper]

Red Sox

Syracuse

I'd let the Bills into the club if the owner would give up on fracking in NYS.

Same with the Sabres.

But, I mean, for real.

So, It's cosmically up to Pegula,

But he's too greedy to give up on NYS.

I'll keep hoping he's not so greedy, though.

Hopefully he wants a Lombardi enough to give up on his other ambitions.

[Random Karate Chopper]

To clarify, for the masses:

I'll give you a championship, so long as the owner doesn't destroy our local water with his business.

That just means giving up on NYS rights he holds (in expectation of cashing in on.

So, he wouldn't be getting that fracking boom for the Trophy,

Rather, I'd be taking that away from him, in exchange

For...

The Trophy.

 

Hopefully he's Buffalo enough to take the offer...

But we all know he's from Scranton, however welcoming we've been to him.  He might just be a Boca Raton guy.

[Doohicksie]

I'd been away from NHL hockey for a decade before moving to Detroit in 1991; moved to Texas in 1997 two weeks after the Red Wings won their first Cup in 42 years.  I was really plugged into that team.

Enjoyed the Texas Rangers World Series Championship in 2023.

Edited Tuesday at 03:29 AM by Doohicksie

[Random Karate Chopper]

30 minutes ago, Doohicksie said:

I'd been away from NHL hockey for a decade before moving to Detroit in 1991; moved to Texas in 1997 two weeks after the Red Wings won their first Cup in 42 years.  I was really plugged into that team.

Enjoyed the Texas Rangers World Series Championship in 2023.

Texas won that World Series in 5 games.  I didn't care about that series in the same way that I care about Buffalo teams, but, good for you.  You're welcome.  I reserve the right to revise some things, remember...

[Crusader1969]

2 hours ago, sabremike said:

That's it.

Sabres, Red Bulls, Bengals and Knicks have made multiple trips to the finals/SB/MLS Cup and lost every time.

In Canada my Ticats won once (1999) and Forge FC has won 4 of the 6 CPL titles.

Oskee Wed Wee!

[ExWNYer]

My dad was from Dunkirk, NY so...

I have been a diehard Buffalo Sabres fan since their inception in 1970 so...nothing. Their cup appearance in 1975 against the Flyers was my favorite memory of them as an 11 year old and I didn't get to experience the thrill of a Stanley Cup appearance again until I was 35 in 1999. I'm still waiting.

I have been a diehard Buffalo Bills fan for as long as I can remember watching so probably around the same time the Sabres appeared. Their four straight (losing) Super Bowl appearance after the 1990 - 1993 seasons started when I was 27. I'm still waiting.

I was a diehard Buffalo Braves fan from their inception in 1970 until they were cruelly moved to San Diego and became the Clippers after the 1977-1978 season which, coincidentally, is when my family moved from WNY to VA. I followed Buffalo State guard Randy Smith's career after the Braves left town but the NBA was dead to me at that point. That was my first realization as a teen that sports was a cold, calculating business. And it's only gotten worse.

I have been a diehard Mets fan since I was a kid. I don't remember the exact year but I was too young to have paid attention to the 1969 Amazin' Mets so I'm guessing that it was the 1973 Word Series (loss) against the Oakland A's. I fell in love with the uniforms and the logo and they were a NY state team. And I loved Tom Seaver, too. I was 23 when the 1986 Mets won the World Series against the Boston Red Sox so that was the one and only time I have experienced the thrill of a championship.

My mom was from Mobile, AL so...

I have been a diehard Alabama Crimson Tide football fan since the 1970s when Bear Bryant was coaching so I have seen multiple championships but I would trade all of them for just one for the Bills & Sabres.

I went to college at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) so I have been a diehard fan of my alma mater's men's basketball team since the late '70s when I moved to VA. I have attended games regularly since I was going to school there and the closest I have come to anything with them is their magical Final Four run in 2011.

Sooooooo...discounting Alabama football because that gives me the least joy of all of my teams. I am:

0-2 with the Sabres

0-4 with the Bills

2-3 with the Mets (really 1-3 because I don't remember 1969)

Total:

1-9 in pro championships with a favorite team relocated to another city. I am now 61. It has been a mostly futile sports existence for me and I am coming to grips with the sobering reality that I don't think I'll ever see the Bills or Sabres...my two favorite teams...win a championship in my lifetime.