Mpls. is happiest city without Super Bowl title

Published 4:11 pm Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Fourteen cities have NFL teams that never won a Super Bowl, leaving their fans disappointed each of the past 45 years. Of them, Minneapolis ranks as the happiest city, according to a study by Avvo.

“Americans are extremely passionate and loyal to their favorite football teams, but when their beloved team loses, or just plain underachieves, it’s not uncommon for them to be depressed or melancholy,” said Mark Britton, founder and CEO of Avvo, in a news release.

Philly won the honor of most depressed football city. Its fans have plenty of experience with heartache, closes losses and disappointment. Atlanta came in second, and Cincinnati third.

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Here is the order in which the 14 cities were ranked:

1. Philadelphia

2. Atlanta

3. Cincinnati

4. Houston

5. San Diego

6. Detroit

7. Jacksonville

8. Cleveland

9. Charlotte

10. Seattle

11. Phoenix

12. Buffalo

13. Nashville

14. Minneapolis

Avvo (www.avvo.com) evaluated five equally weighted categories for each city including psychiatrists per capita (Avvo), unemployment rate (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics), heavy drinking (two or more drinks a day for men and at least one drink a day for women) (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System), average commuting time (U.S. Census Bureau) adults with hypertension (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and average yearly sunshine (National Climatic Data Center and Weatherbase).

About Tim Engstrom

Tim Engstrom is the editor of the Albert Lea Tribune. He resides in Albert Lea with his wife, two sons and dog.

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