Are you a Washington Nationals fan? Have you been a diehard Washington Nationals fan since they moved from Montreal in 2005? Congratulations, because according to a "study" by The Business Journals, the Nationals (or, more accurately, the Nationals/Expos) are the toughest team to root for in all of professional sports.
The franchise earned the No. 1 spot in the team's misery rankings, and by a wide margin. The Nationals posted a Fan Difficulty Index score of 9.686, edging the Detroit Lions for the No. 1 spot on the list. The Chicago Cubs finished in a distant second in the baseball ratings, followed by the Kansas City Royals.
In case you're wondering how the study calculates this score, here's your answer. Half of it is based on recent performance, with teams receiving 10 points for a title, six points for a finals appearance, three points for a semifinal appearance and one point for a quarterfinal. This was then divided to make up a 10-year scale. The other 50 percent comes from "landmarks," i.e. the most recent appearance in a title game, semifinal or quarterfinal. If there were no landmarks, the number inserted was the number of years the franchise had been in existence. Add in some standard deviation, and there's your score.
As for the other local teams, the Washington Wizards finished 25th, the Washington Redskins were 40th and the Washington Capitals were 47th. So yeah, lots of misery here in D.C.