Harry Kane is perhaps the best English soccer player of the last 25 years. He is England’s record goal scorer, the captain, and often the team’s talisman. While many judge him as a genuinely world-class player and a modern great, one thing that was held over him for over a decade – and something that rival fans loved to point out – was that he had failed to win a major championship. That changed on May 12, as his Bayern Munich team – the club he had decided to join to win trophies – won the Bundesliga title.
Kane getting the proverbial monkey off his back was indicative of a soccer season where a vast number of teams finally ended droughts or won major competitions for the first time: Paris Saint-Germain won its first-ever Champions League; Crystal Palace won its first-ever major trophy, the FA Cup; Newcastle won its first major trophy in 69 years, the EFL Cup; Bologna won the Coppa Italia, ending a 50-year wait for a major title.
Of course, other droughts are sure to end outside of soccer. We have two teams with very prolonged championship droughts in the NBA Finals. The Oklahoma City Thunder is looking for a first NBA Finals win since the franchise was located in Seattle, and the Indiana Pacers, while seeing ABA Championship success in the early 1970s, never tasted NBA Championship glory. Something’s got to give.
Oilers can end the Canadian Curse.
And, of course, we have the Edmonton Oilers about to try to end the Canada Curse in the Stanley Cup. The Oilers are pre-series favorites in the Stanley Cup Final betting odds, although the rematch against the Florida Panthers looks incredibly tough to call. Still, many believe this is the Oilers’ chance to end a 32-year wait for a Canadian team to win their national sport and a 35-year personal drought for the Oilers.
While there is a long way to go in the MLB season, many pundits are beginning to see the Detroit Tigers as the real deal. The Tigers appeared in a couple of World Series since the turn of the millennium, but you have to go back to 1984 for the last Tigers World Series win. It’s been a remarkable turnaround for Detroit, although it will still be tough (the Tigers are currently 3rd favorites with sportsbooks for the 2025 World Series, which feels about right).
McIlroy finally ended his major hoodoo.
When we look back on 2025, one of the most joyful ends to a drought was Rory McIlroy’s triumph in the Masters. His drought in golf’s majors lasted eleven years, and while that doesn’t seem to be a long time on paper, the context is essential. McIlroy had so many close calls and ‘chokes,’ added to the fact his performance levels (has there been a more consistently great golfer over the last decade?) merited more luck in the majors.
In the end, this is all coincidence. Yet, it has been a notable year to see individuals and teams end long periods without specific successes. For fans of those athletes and teams, the good news is that it allows them to play with less pressure in the campaigns ahead, as they no longer have that additional weight on their shoulders.
