Ridiculously-long droughts

It's more than just the 41 years and 114 seasons the Browns, Indians and Cavaliers have gone without delivering a championship to Cleveland. The city has also endured a lot of individual sports droughts that droned (and continue to drone) on for way too long.
Much of it is a testament to the lack of star power on Cleveland teams the past 40 years, which in turn is a poor reflection on the management of the teams. But some of it is just luck. Dumb luck. And luck is pretty dumb work around these parts.
Below is a look at the how-low-can-you-go achievement famine that we've had to endure, along with the lack of championship banners.

Browns: 20 years without a 1,000-yard rusher (1985-2005)
Considering that this franchise cut its teeth on the rushing of Marion Motley and rose to prominence on the superlative legs of Jim Brown, going 20 years without a 1,000 yard rusher is utterly disgraceful.
(OK, statheads, it was actually 17 years because the team didn't exist from 1996 to 1998.)
Reuben Droughns broke the 1,000 yard barrier last week before a meteor could hit him and extend the streak to 21 years. Droughns is the most complete running back the Browns have had since Kevin Mack, who last broke the 1,000-yard barrier along with Earnest Byner in 1985.
Since then, the list of three-digit rushers included Leroy Hoard, Tommy Vardell, Eric Metcalf, Lee Suggs, William Green and the forgettable Terry Kirby experiment.

Cavaliers: 34 years without a 50-point game (1971-2005)
LeBron James is the obvious answer behind door No. 2, pouring in 56 in a loss to the Raptors last season. But how many people know the name of the only other Cavalier to score 50 in a game?
Austin Carr? Good guess. Bingo Smith? Nope. Jim Chones? Not a chance.
The answer is center Walt Wesley, who dropped in 50 on Feb. 19, 1971 during the Cavs' inaugural season.
I might add that team was 15-67, meaning the Cavs dont have a 50-point game in a playoff season.

Indians: 25 years without hitting for the cycle (1978-2003)
When Travis Hafner broke the quarter-century drought on Aug. 14, 2003, it was within hours that the largest blackout in American history began. Coincidence, or this week's signs that the Apocalypse is nigh?
Andre Thornton was the last Indian to hit for the cycle on April 22, 1978. Between Thornton and Hafner, 80 times a player hit for the cycle (a single, double, triple and homer for the unindoctrinated).
the Indians didn't have the longest drought going at the time of Hafner's cycle, which is some small cause for relief. That honor goes to the Dodgers, who have gone 35 years (Wes Parker, May 7, 1970).
Other lengthy cycle droughts include the Orioles (Cal Ripken Jr., May 6, 1984), the Braves (Albert Hall, Sept. 23, 1987), the Twins (Kirby Puckett, Aug. 1, 1986), the Reds (Eric Davis, June 2, 1989) and the Royals (George Brett, July 25, 1990).

Indians: 24 years without a no-hitter (1981-present)
Len Barker is a legend in Cleveland. He isn't a legend anywhere else, but in Cleveland, everyone remembers May 15, 1981. Everyone remembers Rick Manning leaping up and down after catching the final out of Barker's perfect game against Toronto.
Every May 15, at least one sportscaster commemorates the occasion by saying, "If everyone who said they were there there that night actually were there, Cleveland Stadium would have held 300,000 people."
Since then, there have been a couple blips on the radar. Bartolo Colon took a no-no into the eighth inning against the Yankees in 2000, and Billy Traber one-hit the Yankees in 2003, but no cigar.
Prior to Barker's perfecto, the story was much different. Indians pitcher achieved three no-hitters between 1966 and 1977. Sonny Siebert blanked the Senators on June 10, 1966, Dick Bosman blanked the A's on July 19, 1974 and Dennis Eckersley goose-egged the Angels on May 30, 1977.
Since Barker's perfect game, the rest of Major League Baseball has combined to produce 53 no hitters, the most recent being Randy Johnson's perfect game in 2004.
The Indians were last the victims of a no-hitter in 1993, when they were handled by the Yankees' Jim Abbott.