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The Arizona Cardinals now have the longest championship drought in professional sports

Posted at 12:52 AM, Nov 03, 2016
and last updated 2016-11-03 10:46:29-04

The Chicago Cubs ended 108 years of misery on Wednesday night when they beat the Cleveland Indians in dramatic fashion in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series, ending the longest championship drought in North American professional sports.

With their victory, the Cubs have passed the dubious torch to a team they used to share a city with: the Arizona Cardinals.

The Cards have never won the Super Bowl but did win two world championships, in 1925 (amid controversy) and in 1947 when they were the Chicago Cardinals. 

The Cards beat the Philadelphia Eagles 28-21 in the '47 NFL championship game on their home field of Comiskey Park. They lost to those same Eagles in a rematch of the NFL title game one year later.

The Cardinals moved to St. Louis where they played form 1960-87 before relocating to Arizona in 1988. They came less than a minute of ending their championship drought in Super Bowl XLIII in 2009 before falling to the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-23.

Ironically, current Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians, who was then the Steelers' offensive coordinator, called the play that resulted in the Steelers' game-winning touchdown with 35 seconds to play.

The Cardinals' 69-year championship drought is one year longer than the team the Cubs beat Wednesday. The Indians now have the longest World Series drought of any baseball team, as well as the second-longest drought overall, as their last world title came in 1948.

A number of teams have never won a championship in their respective leagues, including the Phoenix Suns, whose 48-year drought is the 19th longest in North American pro sports.