To get this on a lighter note: How many North vs. South contests have there been in sports?
I'm going to limit this to the major leagues, partly because that will make it shorter, and partly to eliminate the South's advantage in college football. (No Alabama, no Florida, no Texas, no Oklahoma.)
I'm also going to limit it to the Finals in each sport. Furthermore, let's define "North" and "South":
"The North" is the Union, the States that were in the Union as late as the Appomattox Surrender, April 9, 1865: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Maine, Missouri, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, California, Minnesota, Oregon, Kansas, West Virginia, Nevada. This in spite of the fact that Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri were technically slave States until the war ended. In fact, the Confederate battle flag had 13 stars, because they considered Kentucky and Missouri to be "with them," even though those States never seceded. Count also teams from Washington, D.C., as the District of Columbia, obviously, as the nation's capital, remained in the Union.
"The South" is the States that seceded into the Confederacy: Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Texas.
Granted, few of the Southern States have older teams. Of the current major league teams in these States, only the Houston Astros and Rockets; Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers; Atlanta Braves, Falcons and Hawks; New Orleans Saints; Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers predate 1980.
Note also that Dixie vs. Canada Finals (such as the 1992 World Series and the 2004 and '06 Stanley Cup Finals) do not count. Nor do matchups between teams from Confederate States and those from teams whose States entered the Union after the Civil War (such as the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals).
So...
1970-71 Super Bowl: Baltimore Colts over Dallas Cowboys.
1972-73 Super Bowl: Miami Dolphins over Washington Redskins.
1973-74 Super Bowl: Miami Dolphins over Minnesota Vikings.
1975-76 Super Bowl: Pittsburgh Steelers over Dallas Cowboys.
1978-79 Super Bowl: Pittsburgh Steelers over Dallas Cowboys.
1981 NBA Finals: Boston Celtics over Houston Rockets.
1982-83 Super Bowl: Washington Redskins over Miami Dolphins.
1984-85 Super Bowl: San Francisco 49ers over Miami Dolphins.
1986 NBA Finals: Boston Celtics over Houston Rockets.
1991 World Series: Minnesota Twins over Atlanta Braves.
1992-93 Super Bowl: Dallas Cowboys over Buffalo Bills.
1993-94 Super Bowl: Dallas Cowboys over Buffalo Bills.
1994 NBA Finals: Houston Rockets over New York Knicks.
1995 World Series: Atlanta Braves over Cleveland Indians.
1995-96 Super Bowl: Dallas Cowboys over Pittsburgh Steelers.
1996 World Series: New York Yankees over Atlanta Braves.
1997 World Series: Florida Marlins over Cleveland Indians.
1999 Stanley Cup Finals: Dallas Stars over Buffalo Sabres.
1999 NBA Finals: San Antonio Spurs over New York Knicks.
1999 World Series: New York Yankees over Atlanta Braves.
1999-2000 Super Bowl: St. Louis Rams over Tennessee Titans.
2000 Stanley Cup Finals: New Jersey Devils over Dallas Stars.
2002 Stanley Cup Finals: Detroit Red Wings over Carolina Hurricanes.
2002-03 Super Bowl: Tampa Bay Buccaneers over Oakland Raiders.
2003 NBA Finals: San Antonio Spurs over New Jersey Nets.
2003 World Series: Florida Marlins over New York Yankees.
2003-04 Super Bowl: New England Patriots over Carolina Panthers.
2005 NBA Finals: San Antonio Spurs over Detroit Pistons.
2005 World Series: Chicago White Sox over Houston Astros.
2007 NBA Finals: San Antonio Spurs over Cleveland Cavaliers.
2008 World Series: Philadelphia Phillies over Tampa Bay Rays.
2009 NBA Finals: Los Angeles Lakers over Orlando Magic.
2009-10 Super Bowl: New Orleans Saints over Indianapolis Colts.
2010 World Series: San Francisco Giants over Texas Rangers.
2011
World Series: St. Louis Cardinals over Texas Rangers.
2015 Stanley Cup Finals: Chicago Blackhawks over Tampa Bay Lightning.
2016-17 Super Bowl: New England Patriots over Atlanta Falcons.
MLB: North leads, 7-3, 7-1 if you don't count the Indians.
2015 Stanley Cup Finals: Chicago Blackhawks over Tampa Bay Lightning.
2016-17 Super Bowl: New England Patriots over Atlanta Falcons.
MLB: North leads, 7-3, 7-1 if you don't count the Indians.
NHL: North leads, 3-1.
NFL: North leads, 8-7.
NBA: South leads, 5-3, although 4-0 of that is the Spurs.
Overall: North leads, 21-16. Pretty close, but the North wins again.
Now, this doesn't mean that a team from a Confederate State will always deserve to lose to a team from a Free State. After all, you'd have had to be a pretty hardcore Cheatriots fan to say the Falcons (despite the most spectacular choke in sports history) didn't deserve to win Super Bowl LI. And as long as the Lakers had Kobe Bryant, they deserved to lose.
There have been 5 All-Dixie championships, each having a Texas team, and all but the 1st being in the NBA:
1971-72 Super Bowl: Dallas Cowboys over Miami Dolphins.
1995 NBA Finals: Houston Rockets over Orlando Magic.
2006 NBA Finals: Miami Heat over Dallas Mavericks.
2011 NBA Finals: Dallas Mavericks over Miami Heat.
NFL: North leads, 8-7.
NBA: South leads, 5-3, although 4-0 of that is the Spurs.
Overall: North leads, 21-16. Pretty close, but the North wins again.
Now, this doesn't mean that a team from a Confederate State will always deserve to lose to a team from a Free State. After all, you'd have had to be a pretty hardcore Cheatriots fan to say the Falcons (despite the most spectacular choke in sports history) didn't deserve to win Super Bowl LI. And as long as the Lakers had Kobe Bryant, they deserved to lose.
There have been 5 All-Dixie championships, each having a Texas team, and all but the 1st being in the NBA:
1971-72 Super Bowl: Dallas Cowboys over Miami Dolphins.
1995 NBA Finals: Houston Rockets over Orlando Magic.
2006 NBA Finals: Miami Heat over Dallas Mavericks.
2011 NBA Finals: Dallas Mavericks over Miami Heat.
2013 NBA Finals: Miami Heat over San Antonio Spurs.
2014 NBA Finals: San Antonio Spurs over Miami Heat.
2014 NBA Finals: San Antonio Spurs over Miami Heat.
What a dopey, self absorbed and unenlightened premise. Sport and sport franchises evolved from East to West and North to South because the wealth and power required to create teams came from the self-referential east. They won more because there were more of them, not because of ANY inherent merit. In addition, anecdotally, I would add that in my almost 20 years since moving from New York City to the South, I have witnessed far more genuine and less self-absorbed citizens than in my previous northern lifetime. Not only are folks here FAR less self-absorbed but they are (surprisingly) FAR less covertly racist too. This piece was typical of those who blog in its egocentric, illogical uselessness. The author added NOTHING to the greater good. Unless it was intended as satire or humor in which case it failed there too. As the French would say "Quel Douche!".
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