On Wednesday night the Washington Nationals won their first World Series in franchise history, defeating the Houston Astros 6-2 to clinch game seven and be crowned baseball world champions. The Nationals franchise, based in Washington D.C, overcame the odds, which were heavily stacked against them to record an astonishing and historic feat.
The Nationals won the seven game series 4-3 beating the Astros in the deciding game in Texas. The first time in the history of not just Baseball but Basketball and Ice Hockey too, that all seven ties in a World Series were won by the visiting team.
Washington also overcame an incredibly poor start to their season. They lost 31 of their opening 50 games. In the postseason the Nationals were behind in series on 5 occasions in their games against the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Dodgers, St Louis Cardinals and finally Houston, fighting back each time to win their maiden Major League Baseball title.
Not only did the Nationals climb the all of those obstacles but they also broke the curse of being a sports franchise based in a capital city. They became the first team from the American Capital to win the MLB World Series, since the 1924 Senators. Baseball fans in Washington have had to wait 95 years to see a hometown team clinch the coveted Commissioner's Trophy.
However, the D.C sports fans woes haven't just been limited to baseball. The Capital's ice hockey side won the NHL's Stanley Cup in 2018 for the first time in their history, ending a 45 year wait for victory. In American Football the Redskin's last Superbowl win came 28 years ago in 1991, only revisiting the playoffs on six occasions since. And in Basketball the last time the Wizard's won the NBA Finals was back in 1978 stretching back 40 years.
This phenomenon isn't limited just to the US and their major sports. In Europe, football has also seen this trend. Europe's premier club competition the Champions League, formerly the European Cup, has been won by a total of 22 clubs. Of these 22 teams only four have been from a Capital City, Real Madrid, Steaua Bucharest, Red Star Belgrade and Chelsea.
Real Madrid is the competition's most successful team, being crowned champions on 13 occasions. Real were the winners of the inaugural tournament and went on to win again for five successive seasons from 1956-1960. They lifted the Champions League trophy a further three times around the turn of the century and were victorious again in four out of five seasons between 2013-2018.
If we discount Madrid, during the European Cup's 63 year history the competition has only been won by teams representing a capital city three times. Bucharest in 1986, Belgrade in 1991 and Chelsea of London in 2012.
The competition has also only been won by teams from capital cities outside of dictatorships a total of eight times and just two teams in 62 seasons. The first victory from a team based in a democratic capital city took 41 years (Real Madrid 1998).This is significant as totalitarian regimes tended to send all major resources, including sporting talent, to their capitals.
In other domestic competitions in European football the trend continues. The Bundesliga, Germany's premier league competition, has only been represented by a team from Berlin consistently in recent years. Hertha Berlin has been the most prominent and this weekend take on Union Berlin, which will be the first Berlin derby in Germany's top division ever.
We can probably count Berlin as an anomaly due to the political history of the city, but the fact remains. Even in the last 30 years since German reunification Hertha have only finished above eight position in the Bundesliga twice, fourth in 2009 and seventh in 2016. On the other side of the city this is Union's inaugural season in the German top flight.
Even in the UK the trend continues. For the entire 100 year history of the English Football First Division from 1892-1992 only 12 times was the competition won by a team who are based in London. Arsenal won the league on 10 occasions and Tottenham Hotspur succeeded twice.
Since the dawn of the Premier League in 1992 however, London teams have seen greater relative success with Chelsea (5) and Arsenal (3) combined becoming champions of England on eight occasions.
In Scotland, Glasgow Celtic and Rangers have been the dominant forces. Hearts of the Midlothian and Hibernian from Edinburgh have won the Scottish League Championship just eight times between them since the competition was founded in 1890. Hearts have won it 4 times the last of which came in 1960. Hibs also have 4 league titles but their fans have had to wait since 1952.
This list could go, the trend exists in sports and competitions around the globe, but why?
Simon Kuper and Stefan Syzmanski in their book Soccernomics explained why football teams from provincial cities have dominated European football. They attributed the lack of success to the minimal relevance sport has in society in a major metropolis due to other opportunities and events available to the predominantly bourgeois population.
However, Dan Fieldsend in his book, The European Game: The Secrets of European Football Success, discussed the shift and upturn toward having successful teams in richer areas as opposed to the tradition of sporting success in working-class regions.
He discussed how wealthy investors have taken over clubs from major cities such as Roman Abramovich at Chelsea and the Qatar Sports Investments at Paris St Germain, as they would prefer to enter society in London or Paris.
So, do the Washington Nationals give hope to fans from other capital cities? Is this the tip of the ice burg and are we preparing to see a generation of sports franchises from major capital cities dominating in the sporting world? Are we likely to see similar scenes to these in London or Paris or Berlin come May? Well, hopefully none like this ...
Washington also overcame an incredibly poor start to their season. They lost 31 of their opening 50 games. In the postseason the Nationals were behind in series on 5 occasions in their games against the Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Dodgers, St Louis Cardinals and finally Houston, fighting back each time to win their maiden Major League Baseball title.
Not only did the Nationals climb the all of those obstacles but they also broke the curse of being a sports franchise based in a capital city. They became the first team from the American Capital to win the MLB World Series, since the 1924 Senators. Baseball fans in Washington have had to wait 95 years to see a hometown team clinch the coveted Commissioner's Trophy.
However, the D.C sports fans woes haven't just been limited to baseball. The Capital's ice hockey side won the NHL's Stanley Cup in 2018 for the first time in their history, ending a 45 year wait for victory. In American Football the Redskin's last Superbowl win came 28 years ago in 1991, only revisiting the playoffs on six occasions since. And in Basketball the last time the Wizard's won the NBA Finals was back in 1978 stretching back 40 years.
This phenomenon isn't limited just to the US and their major sports. In Europe, football has also seen this trend. Europe's premier club competition the Champions League, formerly the European Cup, has been won by a total of 22 clubs. Of these 22 teams only four have been from a Capital City, Real Madrid, Steaua Bucharest, Red Star Belgrade and Chelsea.
Real Madrid is the competition's most successful team, being crowned champions on 13 occasions. Real were the winners of the inaugural tournament and went on to win again for five successive seasons from 1956-1960. They lifted the Champions League trophy a further three times around the turn of the century and were victorious again in four out of five seasons between 2013-2018.
If we discount Madrid, during the European Cup's 63 year history the competition has only been won by teams representing a capital city three times. Bucharest in 1986, Belgrade in 1991 and Chelsea of London in 2012.
The competition has also only been won by teams from capital cities outside of dictatorships a total of eight times and just two teams in 62 seasons. The first victory from a team based in a democratic capital city took 41 years (Real Madrid 1998).This is significant as totalitarian regimes tended to send all major resources, including sporting talent, to their capitals.
In other domestic competitions in European football the trend continues. The Bundesliga, Germany's premier league competition, has only been represented by a team from Berlin consistently in recent years. Hertha Berlin has been the most prominent and this weekend take on Union Berlin, which will be the first Berlin derby in Germany's top division ever.
We can probably count Berlin as an anomaly due to the political history of the city, but the fact remains. Even in the last 30 years since German reunification Hertha have only finished above eight position in the Bundesliga twice, fourth in 2009 and seventh in 2016. On the other side of the city this is Union's inaugural season in the German top flight.
Even in the UK the trend continues. For the entire 100 year history of the English Football First Division from 1892-1992 only 12 times was the competition won by a team who are based in London. Arsenal won the league on 10 occasions and Tottenham Hotspur succeeded twice.
Since the dawn of the Premier League in 1992 however, London teams have seen greater relative success with Chelsea (5) and Arsenal (3) combined becoming champions of England on eight occasions.
In Scotland, Glasgow Celtic and Rangers have been the dominant forces. Hearts of the Midlothian and Hibernian from Edinburgh have won the Scottish League Championship just eight times between them since the competition was founded in 1890. Hearts have won it 4 times the last of which came in 1960. Hibs also have 4 league titles but their fans have had to wait since 1952.
This list could go, the trend exists in sports and competitions around the globe, but why?
Simon Kuper and Stefan Syzmanski in their book Soccernomics explained why football teams from provincial cities have dominated European football. They attributed the lack of success to the minimal relevance sport has in society in a major metropolis due to other opportunities and events available to the predominantly bourgeois population.
However, Dan Fieldsend in his book, The European Game: The Secrets of European Football Success, discussed the shift and upturn toward having successful teams in richer areas as opposed to the tradition of sporting success in working-class regions.
He discussed how wealthy investors have taken over clubs from major cities such as Roman Abramovich at Chelsea and the Qatar Sports Investments at Paris St Germain, as they would prefer to enter society in London or Paris.
So, do the Washington Nationals give hope to fans from other capital cities? Is this the tip of the ice burg and are we preparing to see a generation of sports franchises from major capital cities dominating in the sporting world? Are we likely to see similar scenes to these in London or Paris or Berlin come May? Well, hopefully none like this ...
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