Sorry, Boston! Detroit remains the City of Champions (no, seriously)

It's hard to feel wicked sorry for ya, Boston — given it's been, wait, how many weeks since you last celebrated a sports championship?

When the Boston Bruins lost to the St. Louis Blues in Game 7 of Wednesday night's Stanley Cup Finals, that snapped Old Back Bay's championship winning streak at two.

And, oh, it kept Detroit atop its perch as the City of Champions. We know it's hard to believe, given the pitiful state of things 'round here right now, but 'tis actually true.

Detroit is the last (and only) city in America to hold three major championship trophies concurrently, and it happened in 1935-36, when the 1935 Tigers won their first World Series, then the 1935 Lions won their first NFL Championship, and then the 1935-36 Red Wings won their first Stanley Cup.

The Tigers beat the Cubs in the World Series, 4-2, behind the hitting heroics of Goose Goslin and the pitching of Tommy Bridges. The Lions pummeled the New York Giants, 26-7, in the NFL Championship at — get this — University of Detroit Stadium. Finally, the Red Wings beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1, in the Stanley Cup Final.

The remarkable run earned Detroit the nickname of "City of Champions."

Boston was trying to join that exclusive club, after the Red Sox won the World Series in October, then the Patriots won the Super Bowl in February.

Detroit also at that time had the heavyweight-champion boxer of the world, in an up-and-coming Joe Louis; and Olympic track gold-medal sprinter in Eddie "Midnight Express" Tolan, a national-champion bowling team, a national-champion swim team, a national-champion sailor, a national-champion fastball softball team, a national-champion doubles tennis team, and the captain of the winning U.S. Ryder Cup team was Traverse City resident and golfing legend Walter Hagen, among many other sports achievements officially cited as being part of the "City of Champions."

The governor at the time, Frank Fitzgerald, even declared April 18 "Champions Day" in the state of Michigan, and, according to an article in The Grosse Pointe Review, the Detroit Times held a "Champions Banquet" at Masonic Temple, with tickets $3.

Crazy to think about now, isn't it? Detroit's championship drought is at 11 years and counting, with the 2007-08 Red Wings the last to hold a parade down Woodward.

Meanwhile, an 18-year-old born in Boston has been alive to see 12 professional titles: six by the Patriots, four by the Red Sox, and one each by the Bruins and Celtics.

tpaul@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @tonypaul1984