ESPN.com - City rankings: Big year for Indy

ESPN.com: Page 2

Monday, December 29, 2003
Updated: December 28, 11:19 AM ET
City rankings: Big year for Indy

Page 2 staff

At Page 2, we love lists. We love winners and we love losers. So, why not combine our three loves at once? We present the second annual Page 2 City Rankings. Which pro sports city had the best year? We devised a scoring method, punched in the numbers and produced a winner.

Here's how we scored the rankings:


	The Colts have given their fans plenty of victories to celebrate.

1. We averaged the winning percentage for all teams in the four major sports for cities that have at least two franchises (thus, one-sport cities such as Green Bay, San Antonio and Portland were not included).

2. We then added bonus points: 50 points for winning a championship, 25 points for reaching the title game and 10 points for making the playoffs. We subtracted 10 points if a team finished in last place. We also wanted to reward some individual achievements, so we added 5 points for each player who made the NBA All-Star Game, 4 points for making the NHL or MLB All-Star Game and 3 points if named to the 2004 Pro Bowl. We then adjusted this total so a city with more teams (like New York) would not have an advantage over a two- or three-team team city.

Note: We used the 2003 Super Bowl result (bonus points for Tampa and Oakland), but playoff teams from the 2003 season (no bonus there for Tampa and Oakland). NBA and NHL totals are from the 2002-03 season.

This year's winner? Indianapolis, which had excellent seasons from the Colts and Pacers. The top city with three or more teams was Boston, as all four of its teams finished above .500 and made the playoffs.

San Diego, with dismal years from the Chargers and Padres, finished last, edging out Cleveland, which suffered through horrible results from the Browns, Indians and Cavs (at least Cleveland fans have LeBron's future to look forward to).

And for those who think money determines which teams win in pro sports? New York ranked 16th out of 33 cities, even though the Devils were NHL champs and the Yankees reached the World Series.

A few other notes:

The worst four-team city was Phoenix, as only one (the Suns) of its four teams made the playoffs.

The biggest jump from last year is Kansas City, which went from No. 26 to No. 2, as the Chiefs and Royals had big improvements.

The biggest drop from last year is Oakland, which fell from No. 6 to No. 26, thanks largely to the Raiders' dismal 4-12 season.

Only two cities have seen all of its teams finish with winning records the past two years: Indianapolis and, more impressively, Boston.

2003 City Rankings
City	NFL	MLB	NBA	NHL	Pct.	Bonus	Total
1. Indianapolis	.750		.585		.668	56	724
2. Kansas City	.813	.512			.663	56	719
3. Boston	.875	.586	.537	.530	.632	51	683
4. St. Louis	.750	.525		.604	.626	56	683
5. Philadelphia	.750	.531	.585	.652	.630	33	662
6. Dallas	.625	.438	.732	.665	.615	42	657
7. Nashville	.750			.451	.601	29	630
8. Minneapolis	.563	.556	.622	.567	.577	37	614
9. Seattle	.625	.574	.488		.562	37	599
10. Anaheim		.475		.579	.527	68	595
11. Baltimore	.625	.438			.532	51	582
12. San Francisco	.438	.621			.530	36	566
13. New Orleans	.500		.573		.537	28	565
14. Miami	.625	.562	.305	.439	.483	55	538
15. Tampa	.438	.389		.579	.469	67	536
16. New York*	.313	.517	.525	.539	.480	50	530
17. Denver	.625	.457	.207	.640	.482	27	509
18. Los Angeles#		.525	.470	.476	.485	17	502
19. Toronto		.531	.293	.598	.474	24	498
20. Chicago@	.438	.537	.366	.494	.474	23	497
21. Montreal		.512		.470	.491	5	496
22. Atlanta	.313	.623	.427	.451	.454	25	479
23. Milwaukee		.420	.512		.466	11	477
24. Cincinnati	.500	.426			.463	13	476
25. Detroit	.313	.265	.610	.659	.462	13	475
26. Oakland	.250	.593	.463		.435	37	472
27. Washington	.313		.451	.561	.442	26	468
28. Houston	.313	.537	.524		.458	3	461
29. Phoenix	.250	.519	.537	.476	.446	11	457
30. Pittsburgh	.375	.463		.396	.411	4	415
31. Buffalo	.375			.439	.407	-13	394
32. Cleveland	.313	.420	.207		.313	-10	303
33. San Diego	.250	.395			.323	-21	301

* Includes two NFL, MLB and NBA teams and three NHL teams (includes New Jersey)
# Includes two NBA teams
@ Includes two MLB teams