DC Officially Most Tortured Sports City — And It's Not Even Close

WASHINGTON, DC — If you think you've got it worse than anyone else as a D.C. sports fan, you are 100 percent right, and we've got the facts to prove it. With the Capitals' devastating loss Wednesday night and the Wizards' likely elimination soon, D.C. has cemented itself as the most tortured sports city in the country — and it's not even close.

It's been 20 years since D.C. has appeared in a conference final. That's right, we're not talking about winning a championship or even appearing in the championship game. We're just talking about getting to the conference final of any of the four major U.S. sports: hockey, football, basketball and baseball. The Washington Capitals are the most recent team to do it, accomplishing the feat back in 1998 when they advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals and were swept by the Detroit Red Wings.

And that's pretty incredible for a four-sport city. Minneapolis/St. Paul, Philadelphia and Dallas are the next three lowest on the list in that category, reaching a conference final in 2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively.

In fact, only two cities out of 39 U.S. metro areas that have at least one sports franchise have D.C. beat: Cincinnati, which has only two franchises (the Reds lost the National League Championship Series to the Braves in 1995) and Columbus, which has a single franchise (the Blue Jackets, founded in 2000) that did not exist during the Capitals' 1998 run.

Even one- and two-sport cities like Jacksonville, Portland, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, Buffalo, San Diego, New Orleans and Orlando have been to a conference final more recently than any D.C. team, and in most cases, much more recently.

Believe it or not, the Washington Redskins have the second most recent D.C. appearance in a conference final: back in 1991, when they won Super Bowl XXVI with Mark Rypien and Joe Gibbs at the helm. Since then, they've had six playoff appearances, advanced past the first round three times and lost all three second-round games.

The Washington Wizards (then the Washington Bullets) last appeared in a conference final in 1979, the year after they won their only NBA championship. They advanced past that conference final and lost to the team they beat the year before in the NBA Finals, the Seattle SuperSonics — a team that doesn't even exist anymore. The Wizards appeared in the playoffs 15 times since then, won in the first round five times, including this year, and have lost in the second round all five times — including this year, presumably.

Finally, there's the Washington Nationals, who have only existed since 2005 but have been 0-3 in the playoffs despite strong seasons in 2012, 2014 and 2016. And their sin may be even more egregious, considering the fact that they only needed to win one playoff round to get to the conference final. If you'd like, you can extend the franchise's ignominy to the Montreal Expos, who last appeared in an NLCS in 1981, which they lost. Twenty-four years later, they moved to D.C. to continue their incredible run of futility.

Put it all together, and the Redskins, Nationals, Wizards and Capitals are an astonishing 0-15 in conference semifinals since 1998. Since then, when faced with an opportunity to advance to the conference final, the Redskins are 0-2, the Nationals are 0-3, the Wizards are 0-4 and the Capitals are 0-6.

Here's a list of the 39 metropolitan areas with at least one franchise in the four major sports (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL), the number of franchises they have and their last conference final appearance (they are ordered by when their last conference final appearance was):

City - Number of franchises - Last conference final appearance

Nashville - 2 - 2017: Predators currently appearing in Western Conference Finals
Cleveland - 3 - 2017: Cavaliers currently appearing in Eastern Conference Finals
Pittsburgh - 3 - 2017: Penguins currently appearing in Eastern Conference Finals
Bay Area, Calif. - 6 - 2017: Golden State Warriors currently appearing in Western Conference Finals
Los Angeles - 7 - 2017: Anaheim Ducks currently playing in Western Conference Finals
Chicago - 5 - 2016: Cubs won World Series
Atlanta - 3 - 2016: Falcons lost Super Bowl to Patriots
Tampa - 3 - 2016: Lightning lost Eastern Conference Finals to Penguins
Boston - 4 - 2016: Patriots won Super Bowl
Milwaukee/Green Bay - 3 - 2016: Packers lost NFC Championship to Falcons (if you don't include Green Bay, the Brewers lost the NLCS in 2011)
Oklahoma City - 1 - 2016: Thunder lost Western Conference Finals to Warriors
Houston - 3 - 2015: Rockets lost Western Conference Finals to Warriors
New York - 8 - 2015: Mets lost World Series
Kansas City - 2 - 2015: Royals won World Series
Denver - 4 - 2015: Broncos won Super Bowl
Phoenix - 3 - 2015: Cardinals lost NFC championship to Panthers
Charlotte/Raleigh - 3 - 2015: Panthers lost Super Bowl to Broncos
Indianapolis - 2 - 2014: Colts lost AFC championship to Patriots, Pacers lost Eastern Conference Finals to Heat
San Antonio - 1 - 2014: Spurs won NBA championship
Miami - 4 - 2014: Heat lost NBA Finals to Spurs
St. Louis - 2 - 2014: Cardinals lost NLCS to Giants
Baltimore - 2 - 2014: Orioles lost ALCS to Royals
Seattle - 2 - 2014: Seahawks lost Super Bowl to Patriots
Memphis - 1 - 2013: Grizzlies lost Western Conference Finals to Spurs
Detroit - 4 - 2013: Tigers lost ALCS to Red Sox
Dallas - 4 - 2011: Texas Rangers lost World Series to Cardinals, Mavericks won NBA championship
Philadelphia - 4 - 2010: Flyers lost Stanley Cup to Blackhawks, Phillies lost in NLCS to Giants
Orlando - 1 - 2010: Magic lost Eastern Conference Finals to Celtics
New Orleans - 2 - 2009: Saints won Super Bowl
Minneapolis/St. Paul - 4 - 2009: Vikings lost NFC Championship to Saints
San Diego - 2 - 2007: Chargers lost AFC championship to Patriots
Buffalo - 2 - 2007: Sabres lost Eastern Conference Finals to Senators
Salt Lake City - 1 - 2007: Jazz lost Western Conference Finals to Spurs
Sacramento - 1 - 2003: Kings lost Western Conference Finals to Mavericks
Portland - 1 - 2000: Blazers lost Western Conference Finals to Lakers
Jacksonville - 1 - 1999: Jaguars lost AFC Championship to Titans
Washington, D.C. - 4 - 1998: Capitals lost NHL Finals to Red Wings
Cincinnati - 2 - 1995: Reds lost NLCS to Braves
Columbus - 1 - No conference finals appearances (Blue Jackets founded in 2000)

Image via Michael Miller