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Last fall, the sky fell and, as George Carlin would say, huge cracks appeared in the Earth's surface. The Red Sox won the World Series.

Where does that leave the world of sports curses?

In the wake of Boston's World Series triumph, Page 2's curse-ologists combed through the sports landscape and found plenty of hexes, hocus-pocus, conjurations and sorceries still alive and well.

We used the following criteria: To officially be cursed, a franchise cannot have won a championship in the last 25 years (hey, that's the ESPN era), and the franchise must have been in existence for all 25 years (you've been spared, Timberwolves). We made only one exception to this rule (check out the list to find out where), and we found 54 franchises that fit the criteria.

We gave more weight to teams that have been close to titles and failed (read: Bills, Vikings, Jazz, Knicks) than to teams that have been just awful (read: Clippers, Warriors, Saints).

The No. 1 curse? No surprise. The denizons of Chicago's Wrigley Field know it all too well.

50 CURSED FRANCHISES
Team	Last Title	The Curse	The Scoop
1. Chicago Cubs	1908	Curse of the Billy Goat	At least their fans are far less whiny and self-loathing than Red Sox Nation.
2. Chicago White Sox	1917	Curse of the Black Sox	Throwing the World Series in 1919? Hey, maybe they deserve to be cursed forever.
3. Cleveland Browns	1964	Curse of Paul Brown	The Drive ... The Fumble ... Tim Couch. You think legendary coach/owner Brown wanted revenge after getting fired by Art Modell?
4. Philly Eagles	1960	Curse of Frank Gifford	After Eagles LB Chuck Bednarik rendered Gifford unconscious in '60 with a vicious tackle, Giff awoke from concussion and placed his curse.
5. Cleveland Indians	1948	Curse of Chief Wahoo	Sure, Indians fans refer to the Curse of Rocky Colavito; but seriously -- get rid of the logo and join the 21st century. Their choke in the '97 Series is underrated.
6. Buffalo Bills	1965 (AFL)	Curse of O.J. Simpson	Well, making four consecutive Super Bowls really is quite an achievement.
7. Minnesota Vikings	None	The Purple People Eater Voodoo Hex	So labeled by football fanatics in Canada -- where Joe Kapp, QB for Minnesota's first Super Bowl loser, had starred in the CFL. Upset that Kapp lost and tarnished the image of the CFL, Canada placed a curse upon the Vikes.
8. Houston Astros	None	Curse of the Gun	Let's just say the manufacturers of the Colt .45 weren't too happy when the team changed its nickname from Colts .45s to Astros.
9. Toronto Maple Leafs	1967	Curse of Dave Keon	No Cup finals appearances since '67? Some fans say it's because the popular, longtime Leaf was allowed to jump to the WHA in 1975.
10. San Francisco Giants	1954 (New York)	The Curse of Melvin Belli	Belli sued the team in 1962 because he was promised a seat-warming device at chilly Candlestick Park; he won his lawsuit but didn't lift his curse.
11. Utah Jazz	None	Curse of Michael Jordan	Let's be real about this: the plague that crushed the Jazz was a certain unstoppable guard from Chitown
12. Chicago Blackhawks	1961	Curse of the Dollar Bill	Stingiest. Owner. Ever. Tightwads are not rewarded with Stanley Cups.
13. Indiana Pacers	None	Curse of Darnell Hillman's Afro	Back in his ABA days, Hillman had the biggest Afro in the game. Then the Pacers made him trim it, and they've lost once in the NBA Finals and five times in the conference finals.
14. Indy Colts	1970	Curse of Johnny Unitas and Art Donovan	When the Mayflower vans moved the Colts out of Baltimore in the middle of the night in 1983, Colts legends Unitas and Donovan must've placed a curse on the franchise at Unitas' bar.
15. Detroit Lions	1957	The Curse of the Turkey	With only one playoff win since their last NFL title, it's sweet Thanksgiving revenge from all those turkeys on the team that always plays on Turkey Day.
16. Seattle Seahawks	None	Curse of Brian Bosworth	The Boz was so embarrassed and crushed after Bo Jackson destroyed him on a memorable night game, that he cursed the Hawks -- and they haven't won a playoff game since 1984.
17. Wash. "Expos"	None	The Curse of Jarry Park	Some people think the curse on the Expos began after the 1994 strike wiped out Montreal's best team; actually, it began when the Expos moved from Jarry Park to Olympic Stadium in 1977.
18. New Orleans Saints	None	The Manning Hex	We don't have the time to explain this, but let's just say it has to do with some extra spicy Cajun shrimp.
19. Philly Flyers	1975	Curse of Bobby Clarke's Dentist	Since Clarke and the Broad Street Bullies won it all, the Flyers have reached the Cup Finals four times and conference finals four more times without raising the trophy.
20. New York Knicks	1973	Curse of the Frozen Lottery Ball	After the NBA rigged the 1985 draft for the Knicks to get the first pick and Patrick Ewing, the hoops gods put a little hex over the Garden to ensure a price would be paid.
21. Los Angeles Clippers	None	Curse of Dr. Jack	After the franchise -- then in Buffalo -- had won its first-ever playoff series in 1975, coach Jack Ramsay was fired. It hasn't won a playoff series since.
22. Portland Trail Blazers	1977	Curse of Dr. Jack	Whoa, Dr. Jack again? Indeed. ESPN better not ever let Dr. Jack go.
23. Tenn. Titans	1961 (AFL)	Curse of Jerry Glanville	Yes, a curse can follow a franchise between cities ... what, you think it was Mike Jones who tackled Kevin Dyson at the 1-yard line?
24. Arizona Cardinals	1947 (Chicago)	Curse of Don Coryell	Coryell led the Cardinals to playoff trips in five seasons in the '70s -- and got canned anyway.
25. Milwaukee Brewers	None	Curse of the King County Council	After Bud Selig swiped the Pilots after one year in Seattle, the King County Council sued to get another team (the Mariners) and placed a hex on the Brewers. With 12 straight losing seasons, it appears to be getting stronger.
26. Seattle Mariners	None	Curse of Bernie Brewer	See, curses can be funny; after learning Seattle had placed a curse on Milwaukee, the Brewers' mascot placed a curse on Seattle (with help from Bud Selig, who must've forced that Varitek/Lowe trade for Heathcliff Slocumb in 1997).
27. Atlanta Falcons	None	Curse of the Super Bowl Hooker	Falcons fans can thank Eugene Robinson for this one.
28. Golden State Warriors	1975	The Chief's Revenge	Started after Robert Parish and a draft pick (Kevin McHale) were traded to the Celtics for Joe Barry Carroll, a k a Joe Barely Cares.
29. San Diego Padres	None	Curse of the Mustard Uniforms	It will take many, many years before the franchise is ready to recover from those '70s monstrosities.
30. Seattle Sonics	1979	Curse of Paul Westphal	This curse has struck in three forms: first, the '79 title team was torn apart when Dennis Johnson was traded for Westphal; then Westphal's Suns beat Seattle in the '93 conference finals; then Westphal coached the Sonics into oblivion.
31. Phoenix Suns	None	Curse of William Bedford	Ahh, Suns fans have fond memories of that 1987 all-drug team.
32. Cincinnati Bengals	None	Curse of the Ickey Shuffle	What, you think Ickey -- and the Bengals -- flamed out after his rookie season of dancing by sheer coincidence?
33. St. Louis Blues	None	The Curse with No Name	Making the playoffs each of the past 25 years and never even reaching the Finals? It's no wonder Blues fans refuse to even mention this curse.
34. New Jersey Nets	None	Curse of Dr. J	Sorry, Brooklyn ain't gonna reverse the curse of selling Dr. J to the Sixers upon joining the NBA in 1976.
35. Texas Rangers	None	Curse of Robin Ventura	Look, when that old man grabbed Robin around his neck and knocked him silly, let's just say Ventura's hike into the mountains of Tibet that winter paid off with a certain spell he cast over the Rangers.
36. New York Jets	1968	Curse of the Mohawk	Maybe if the Jets hadn't traded John Riggins to the Redskins, it would have been the Jets winning the 1983 Super Bowl.
37. San Diego Chargers	1963 (AFL)	Curse of the Powder Blue	Look, those throwback unis might be a nice Christmas present, but football gods do not and will not approve of such a color on the gridiron.
38. Sacramento Kings	None	Curse of the Cow Bell	And we all curse those hideous noisemakers.
39. Cleveland Cavaliers	None	Curse of Ted Stepien	Worst. Owner. Ever.
40. Vancouver Canucks	None	Curse of the "V-necked" Sweaters	If you don the worst uniform in the history of sports, even the cursed New York Rangers will be able to beat you in Game 7.
41. Kansas City Chiefs	1969	Curse of the Schottenheimers	When you hire a coach from another cursed franchise, you end up with a 3-9 playoff record since the merger.
42. Wash. Wizards	1978	Curse of Wes Unseld	As a player, Wes got the Bullets into two Finals. As an exec, he brought the franchise decades of despair.
43. Milwaukee Bucks	1971	Curse of Brian Winters	Ray Allen was wrong. It wasn't a conspiracy that beat Milwaukee in the 2001 Eastern Conference finals. It was a lack of bearded players.
44. Denver Nuggets	None	Curse of the Seattle Center Coliseum	Remember when Dikembe Mutombo sprawled on the floor to celebrate the biggest NBA playoff upset in the final game ever at the old Coliseum? Let's just say the hoop gods were not pleased.
45. Pittsburgh Pirates	1979	Curse of the Stove Pipe Hat	Go away from the stove pipe, go 25 years and counting without a title. Perhaps this explains why Barry Bonds' arm was weakened as Sid Bream rounded third.
46. Wash. Capitals	None	Curse of Dino Ciccarelli	Ted Leonsis, Mark Cuban. Mark Cuban, Ted Leonsis.
47. Buffalo Sabres	None	Curse of Nick Bakay	Yes, Hull's skate was in the crease. No, no team that Bakay roots for will ever win a title.
48. Atlanta Hawks	None	Curse of Tree Rollins	It's OK to shove another player in an NBA playoff game, especially if it's Danny Ainge. But biting another player? That goes a little too far.
49. Boston Bruins	1972	Curse of the Bambino	Little-known fact: The Bambino played a few games alongside Eddie Shore in the late '20s before the B's told him to stick to baseball.
50. Dallas Mavericks	None	Curse of Allas, Texas	As Mark Cuban is rapidly learning, sometimes all the money in the world can't buy a "D."
51. Los Angeles Kings	None	Curse of McSorley's Stick	Or was it his mullet? Or was it Bruce McNall?
52. Carolina Hurricanes	None	Curse of Bristol	Hey, if you move Connecticut's only pro team to another state, the folks at ESPN will vow revenge.
53. Phoenix Coyotes	None	Curse of the Great White North	When it's 110 degrees out, do you really expect to be watching a championship hockey team? Winnipeg will always remember.
54. Miami Dolphins	1973	Curse of the Flat Champagne	Perhaps if the '72 Dolphins would quit their silly tradition of celebrating the annual fall of the last undefeated team, Miami would be able to win another Super Bowl.
55. New York Yankees	2000	Curse of Luis Gonzalez's Gum	A curse which is growing more vicious by the year.