The rest of the best

Sporting News, The, June 30, 1997

2. Dallas-Fort Worth

Pluses: Emmitt Smith and Troy Aikman; Texas-Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl (with a big "Howdy!" from Big Tex at the State Fair); Juan Gonzalez; Ken Hitchcock; Friday night high school football; Texas Motor Speedway.

Minuses: The Mavericks; college football, which has gone from king of Saturday afternoons and evenings to king of Saturday afterthoughts; the Cowboys' image.

The Dish: The Rangers and Stars have announced their presence with authority recently, but the Cowboys are still No. 1 ... with everyone else tied for No. 2.

1995: 5 1994: 3 1993: 3

3. Miami

Pluses: Jimmy Johnson, Jim Leyland, Doug MacLean and Pat Riley; the Panthers' uniforms; Dan Marino; 'Zo in the regular season; Wayne Huizenga's wallet baseball spring training up the road in Fort Lauderdale; water sports and golf, the Orange Bowl (the game, not the stadium).

Minuses: Marlins attendance; 'Zo in the playoffs; it's not the Heat it's the humidity.

The Dish: A city to watch for in '98. Things are on such an upswing that one local sports columnist says, "The only debate on the south Florida sports front isn't so much which pro team is doing it fight, but which continues doing it best"

1995: 8 1994: 10 1993: 4

4. Chicago

Pluses: Michael Jordan & Co. (no, we don't mean Nike); tradition stretching back further than Mrs. O'Leary's (holy) cow; Wrigleyville (get to the park early, pay the $15 to park and walk to the Cubby Bear for a beer at a real sports bar); Northwestern football; two, count'em, good sports sections.

Minuses: The Worm; the decline of basketball at DePaul, where the only thing worse than the team was the way the school went about firing Joey Meyer; the "new" Comiskey; the Cubs' start.

The Dish: Can't anyone here win a championship besides the Bulls?

1995: 2 1994: 4 1993: 1

5. Oakland-San

Francisco-San Jose

Pluses: Steve Young to Jerry Rice ... Touchdown!; You can bridge the differences between the A.L. and N.L.; Stanford Stadium.

Minuses: C-c-candlestick P-p-park with the wind blowing; Al Davis and the Raiders (your tax dollars at work); the decline of San Jose State football; the Warriors.

The Dish: With new stadiums on the way for the Giants and 49ers, the Bay Area should be well-housed and well-heeled for years to come.

1995: 3 1994: 5 1993: 6

6. Detroit

Pluses: A first Stanley Cup since 1955 (the Howe and Y of an Original Six franchise); Barry Sanders; 100,000-plus in [A.sup.2] on a fall Saturday afternoon; Grant Hill.

Minuses: The Silverdome (30 miles up 1-75, for cryin' out loud); pro basketball (we're talking about the Wolverines, not the Pistons).

The Dish: With that coach, that running back and that schedule, the lions are poised for a big jump this season (and Motown could do likewise in next year's ratings).

1995: 10 1994: 11 1993: 10

7. Baltimore-Washington

Pluses: Cal Jr.; Georgetown, George Washington and George Mason hoops, by George; "Hail to the Redskins"; Camden Yards; Olie the Goalie; JKC.

Minuses: The Wizards (a Bullet, by any other name, will still smell), the Ravens and the Caps.

The Dish: like the Bay Area, D.C.'s and Baltimore's teams have made capital improvements and will be well-housed for a run at No. 1 in '98.

1995: 4 1994: 7 1993: 12

8. Los Angeles-Anaheim

Pluses: The NBA, NHL and MLB times two; UCLA basketball; USC football; Vin Scully; Shaq; Dodger Stadium; entertaining faces in the crowd; the Granddaddy of Them All.

Minuses: The NFL divided by zero (it was a moving experience); the Kings; fans leaving in the seventh inning; the Clippers.

The Dish: Pssst there's a league where they play football and get paid for it (and we're not talking about the Pac-10). Until L.A. gets an NFL team, it's a second-tier city in the ratings.

1995: 18 1994: 15 1993: 7

9. New York-Long

Island-New Jersey

Pluses: The world champion Yankees (say it while you can); Gretzky & Messier; Patrick Ewing; WFAN; Tuna; the Garden; Ziggy Palffy.

Minuses: Repeat after us -- "Division I-A football"; Giants Stadium; the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets (and Nets, all big-name coaching aside).

The Dish: We would rather crawl on our hands and knees across broken glass (or try and flag a cab in Manhattan at rush hour) than give our No. 1 to a city with no big-time college football in the vicinity.

1995: 6 1994: 2 1993: 5

10. Philadelphia

Pluses: Eric the Great; the Iggles; Allen Iverson; the Phanatic; Temple, 'Nova, St. Joe's and LaSalle hoops (and don't forget Drexel).

Minuses: The Phils; the Vet; the Sixers; the fans (Boo who? Don't think we didn't see you ditchin' CoreStates with five minutes to play in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals); Temple football.

The Dish: If you want great college basketball, this is the spot (of course, you could say the same about the disappearing act in the Stanley Cup finals). But even a Stanley Cup this year wouldn't have overcome the Phillies' and 76ers' seasons.

1995:11 1994: 8 1993: 2

11. Atlanta

Pluses: Maddux and Glavine; Ted Turner (the field and the free-spending owner); Lenny Wilkens; the Olympics.

Minuses: The Falcons; the tomahawk chop; Georgia Tech football (talk about a wreck ...); no NHL ('til 1999); the World Series -- again; the Olympics.