3 cities with title droughts similar to Cleveland

With the NBA Finals tipping off Thursday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers commence another effort to end the city's professional sports championship drought - now at 52 years - when the Browns won the American Football League title.

Cleveland remains the gold standard for athletic heartbreak and ineptitude, but it is by no means a blowout. Here are three other cities with at least two teams in the so-called "Big 4" North American professional leagues that have become long accustomed to championship-free years.

San Diego

Last title: 1963

The city's only pro sports title came in the form of the San Diego Chargers winning the AFL championship in 1963, well before the merger with the NFL. The Padres didn't come on the scene until 1969 and have reached two World Series - losing them both. To add insult to injury, San Diego's brief experience in the NBA was with the Clippers (before they moved to LA) owned by Donald Sterling.

While its title-free drought is technically longer than Cleveland's, here's the edge they have: The average high temperature in January is 65 degrees. In Cleveland, it's 34.

Buffalo

Last title: 1965

I personally have a theory that any sports "curse" involving cities like Buffalo and Cleveland is rooted in their proximity to Lake Erie. There is, of course, no empirical data to back this up, so let's just recall the three lowest moments in Buffalo sports:

Like San Diego, Buffalo's last championship came in AFL form, and one year after the Browns.

Milwaukee

Last title: 1971

Another Great Lakes entry. To be fair, the Green Bay Packers used to play some home games in Milwaukee, and the four-time Super Bowl champs are considered the region's NFL team. Yet the last championship in the city itself came from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's Milwaukee Bucks in 1971.