Champa Bay Still Doesn’t Measure Up To Detroit’s Title Run

It’s been an impressive couple of years in Tampa Bay sport. The Lightning have now won back-to-back Stanley Cups. The NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers are reigning Super Bowl champions. And the Tampa Bay Rays are the defending American League champions. They came within two wins of beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.

It’s led to a rebranding of the city as Champa Bay. Well-versed Detroit sports fans think that’s cute. Collectively, they also tell Tampa Bay fans to hold their beers.

Like Meat Loaf warbled in song, two out of three ain’t bad. Three out of three, now that’s something only Detroit can boast of achieving.

In the spring of 1935, the Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago Cubs 4-2 in the 1935 World Series. That fall, the Detroit Lions toppled the New York Giants 26-7 in the 1935 NFL Championship Game.

Competing the trifecta, in the spring of 1936, the Detroit Red Wings downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 in a best-of-five series to win the Stanley Cup.

In each case, the championship was the first in franchise history for these Detroit teams.

Detroit remains the only city to be simultaneoulsy the reigning champions of the NHL, NFL and MLB.

Of course, Detroit sports fans are likely to be pointing out to their celebrating Tampa Bay counterparts that their Stanley Cup team construction of their was in part done by current Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman. Oh, they might also be mentioning that it was a Michigan man – quarterback Tom Brady – guiding the Bucs to their Super Bowl win.