Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
The Sporting News just named it’s “Best Sports City” of 2011. Â Check out who it is after the jump…
The Mavericks’ championship also helped crown Dallas/Fort Worth as The Sporting News’ “Best Sports City” of 2011.
Dallas dethroned 2010 winner Chicago, which placed fourth. Boston checked in at No. 2, followed by Philadelphia. New York was No. 5.
The ranking was based on accomplishments between summer 2010 and summer 2011. Dallas boasted the Mavs’ championship, the Rangers’ AL pennant, undefeated TCU’s Rose Bowl win and the Cowboys’ hosting the Super Bowl (though not playing in it).
“The Metroplex is a sports fan’s dream — great pro sports, college powerhouses and some of the best high school sports programs in the country — and we deliver it all with typical Texas hospitality,” Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price said in a statement released by Sporting News. “When it comes to big-time sports, we’ve got plenty to cheer about and plenty to cheer for. With all due respect to Green Bay, I can safely say that the ‘Titletown, USA’ claim pretty much belongs to Fort Worth, Dallas and the North Texas region.”
According to the publication, “the rankings are based on a variety of factors, including each city’s number of teams and their regular-season won-lost records, postseason appearances, bowl appearances and tournament bids, championships, applicable power ratings, attendance, fan fervor and more.”
Mavs owner Mark Cuban said his team’s Finals win over Miami was “right out of Hollywood casting.”
“A band of old rejects comes together to beat the self-proclaimed Dream Team of the NBA,” he said in the statement. “Along the way we sweep the Lakers and beat the Thunder. No one saw it coming, which made it all the sweeter for Mavs and NBA fans everywhere.”
Longtime Rangers infielder Michael Young has seen the Dallas/Fort Worth area come a long way.
“From the time I got here to where it’s at now is night and day,” he said. “Our fans are really passionate about our teams. It was just a matter of our fans hopping on board with our baseball team. We had to make sure we gave them a reason to do it.”
Chicago likely needed a title to unseat Dallas. The Bears made it to the NFC Championship Game, and the Bulls advanced to the Eastern Conference finals. The Blackhawks won it all in 2010 but lost in the NHL quarterfinals in 2011. Baseball didn’t help the city’s cause.
Boston boasted the Stanley Cup champion Bruins, but the Patriots lost to the Jets in the divisional round of the playoffs, the Red Sox didn’t make the postseason and the Celtics lost in the conference semifinals.
–ESPN
