The San Jose Sharks 2009 first round playoff loss has left many Sharks fans in pain. The great regular season records the Sharks are putting up combined with the absolute worst playoff performances in Bay Area history has gotten old.
Are the San Jose Sharks the all-time choke artists in the Bay Area? As I ponder this extremely tough question I immediately compare the San Jose Sharks to the San Francisco Giants. Before anybody immediately exclaims, "But the Giants won five championships in New York," well, that was New York and a title is brought to a city by its team, not by its franchise. The comparison is going to be close as both teams have fielded both good teams that over performed and great teams that went under.
The San Francisco Giants have the third longest title drought in sports history. Thanks to the Boston Red Sox conquering their demon in 2004, the Giants moved up a notch in fan starvation. The Cleveland Indians are number two for most seasons without a title. And the most beat-up fans in sports history are Cubbie fans. The Chicago Cubs had one of their best regular seasons last year, which culminated with their folding in the playoffs. Sound familiar? It should.
The Sharks have a much shorter lifetime to draw from than the Giants. But when I start to crunch the numbers and compare, I see one glaring statistic that makes my shudder. The Giants eight playoff appearances, and the San Jose Sharks have 12 playoff appearances. So in essence even though the Giants have had 33 more seasons in the Bay Area they made four fewer playoffs and two championship appearances. The Sharks, of course, still have zero. Therefore I would say San Jose is light years ahead in terms of choking.
Article comments
1 - Matthew T. Sussman
Well, a 1-seed lost to an 8-seed, but that was no ordinary 8-seed. They almost pushed the Red Wings to the brink of elimination, and with Detroit rolling through the playoffs otherwise, there appears to be no shame in losing to the Ducks.