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When it comes to winning titles, the Big Apple and its outpost in East Rutherford, N.J., are second to none.

For this Dallas-centric tally to find the top metropolitan areas for winners, we started with 1960 – the year the Cowboys entered the NFL. Only the four major sports mattered. In the time before Super Bowl I, we counted championships won in both the NFL and AFL – the only startup league to make the cut.

(Sorry, followers of the WHA, the USFL and the ABA with its red-white-and-blue ball.)

New York/New Jersey teams have registered 23 titles since 1960, with no club winning more than eight. Of course, the area has nine teams in the four major sports, so it probably should have more titles.

Boston was close with 21 titles, but two-thirds of that total came from the Celtics dynasty. Dallas did just fine, cracking the top 10 of big-league championship cities on the strength of the Cowboys' five Super Bowls, the Stars' Stanley Cup win and the long-departed Dallas Texans' AFL title in 1962.

Signature team: The Yankees delivered championships in three distinct eras. The Mantle-Maris group of the early 1960s was the last gasp of a dynasty. George Steinbrenner and Reggie Jackson put a new stamp on an old brand in the 1970s. And the Joe Torre-managed Yankees won four Series from 1996-2000.

Shining moment: The Amazing Mets were a great story. The Rangers ended a 54-year Stanley Cup drought in 1994, prompting the sign: "Now I Can Die Happy." We like the Jets in Super Bowl III. No player fit the city and times quite like Joe Namath. The historical significance to the NFL is unquestioned.

Don't overlook: The Islanders' dynasty sometimes gets obscured. It shouldn't, not with four Stanley Cups and a record streak of 19 consecutive playoff series wins.

Signature team: The Red Sox might have Boston's heart. The Celtics have the rings. They dominated the 1960s with nine titles, then kept winning in the '70s and '80s. Legendary Red Auerbach masterminded the trade that brought rookie Bill Russell to town for Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan. Later, Auerbach drafted Larry Bird a year early and fleeced Golden State out of Robert Parish and a draft pick that became Kevin McHale.

Shining moment: Seldom has an entire region lived – and died – vicariously through one team as New England did through all the Red Sox's near-misses. So you can imagine the joy that greeted the 2004 World Series victory, the first for the Red Sox since 1918.

Don't overlook: An NFL team that's 16-0 and already has three rings. In a month, the Boston landscape could probably read much differently. The Patriots are a model franchise. They just have a lot of local competition.

Signature team: It took the addition of Wilt Chamberlain, along with Jerry West, to finally put the Los Angeles Lakers on top in 1972. Then Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar took the team to the next level. "Nicholson seats" became part of the vocabulary.

Shining moment: The Dodgers have won four championships since moving to Los Angeles, the first in 1963. A pitching staff led by Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale held the Yankees to four runs in a four-game sweep. How big were they? TV buffs can point to countless cameos made by Dodgers in '60s sitcoms – everything from Mr. Ed to The Brady Bunch.

Don't overlook: Southern California celebrated one Super Bowl title, even if it came from the carpet-bagging Raiders. Al Davis' pride-and-poise boys embarrassed Washington, 38-9, helped by Marcus Allen's 76-yard run.

Signature team: Call them the Canadiens. Or Les Habitants. Or simply the Habs. Whatever the name, their dynasty was every bit as impressive as those of the Yankees and Celtics, with 10 Stanley Cups from 1965 to 1979.

Shining moment: The 1977 team, coached by Scotty Bowman, lost just eight regular-season games and went 12-2 in the playoffs. MVP Guy Lafleur led the NHL in scoring, and the roster featured players like Steve Shutt, Bob Gainey, Larry Robinson and money goaltender Ken Dryden.

Don't overlook: The long-gone Expos never won it all, but the Gary Carter-Andre Dawson-Steve Rogers group made one memorable playoff appearance in 1981.

Signature team: It might be hard to believe for anybody under 20, but the San Francisco 49ers used to exemplify greatness. You can trace the beginning of the 49ers' dynasty to "The Catch" in 1982 against the Cowboys. The first of five Super Bowl championships followed. For all practical purposes, the great run ended with the 1995 Super Bowl.

Shining moment: One of the NBA's biggest upsets was orchestrated by the Golden State Warriors. No, we're not talking about the first round of the 2007 playoffs. Back in 1975, Rick Barry led the Warriors to a shocking Finals sweep of the Washington Bullets.

Don't overlook: The Oakland A's were a colorful, brawling group that won three consecutive World Series from 1972-74. On a team that included Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers, no one grabbed the spotlight more than Charles O. Finley. A cash-poor, imagination-rich owner, Finley promoted pet ideas like colorful uniforms, orange baseballs and the designated runner.

Signature team: The best basketball player of his era made the Bulls the team of the '90s. Because of Michael Jordan and enough role players, the Bulls won six titles from 1991-98. They sagged only when the franchise player was struggling with minor league pitching. Yes, Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson deserve some of the accolades tossed their way, too.

Shining moment: That running Saturday Night Live gag about "Da Bearsss" was closer to a documentary than most people realize. At its broad-shouldered core, Chicago is an NFL city. The perfect fit of team and city came in the 1985 Bears. That team went 15-1, winning Chicago hearts with a "punky QB" (Jim McMahon), a legendary runner (Walter Payton) and an intimidating Buddy Ryan-built defense.

Don't overlook: The 1963 Bears coached by George Halas beat the New York Giants, 14-10, in the NFL title game, thanks to George Allen's defense.

Signature team: Like you had to ask. The Steel Curtain ruled the Steel City. The Steelers were awful until the 1970s, when they translated their misfortune into draft picks like Terry Bradshaw and North Texas State's Joe Greene. The result was four Super Bowl wins from 1975-80. Two of those wins came at the expense of the Cowboys in the Super Bowl.

Shining moment: Bill Mazeroski's selection to the Baseball Hall of Fame can probably be traced to one swing in 1960. His walk-off home run – decades before the term would be coined – gave the Pirates a 10-9 win over the New York Yankees in Game 7 of the World Series.

Don't overlook: The consecutive Stanley Cups won by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991 and '92. Mario Lemiuex was the star and eventually became the franchise savior.

Signature team: At first, people laughed at the Hockeytown marketing slogan in the 1990s, with the Red Wings mired in a four-decade championship drought. But the team lived up to the slogan, winning Stanley Cups in 1997, '98 and 2003. The Red Wings became Detroit's most popular team.

Shining moment: Before Kirk Gibson limped into baseball history, he was a key part of Tigers lore. His three-run home run off San Diego's Goose Gossage put the finishing touches on the 1984 World Series. The Tigers, managed by Sparky Anderson, started 35-5 and cruised to the American League East title.

Don't overlook: They might not have been pretty, but nobody played physical defense quite like the Bad Boys in 1989 and 1990. The nastiness obscured a remarkable three-guard combo of Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and Vinnie Johnson.

Signature team: America's Team is pretty big at home, too. Everything about the Boys is news, from the play-calling to the owner to the dating habits of the quarterback. Though the Tom Landry era brought Dallas its first Super Bowl victory, give Jerry Jones credit for the franchise's high point. The Cowboys won three championships from 1993-96 with the Triplets and a great offensive line.

Shining moment: The 1999 Stars brought a Stanley Cup and hockey fever to Dallas. Mike Modano became a household name, as did Brett Hull, who scored the contested, controversial Cup-winning goal in Game 6 against the Buffalo Sabres. Ed Belfour's goaltending against Patrick Roy and Dominik Hasek earned him a special place with Stars fans.

Don't overlook: The 1962 Dallas Texans produced the region's first title, beating the two-time defending AFL champion Houston Oilers, 20-17, in double overtime. Familiar names like Hank Stram and Len Dawson would do even bigger things when the franchise became the Kansas City Chiefs.

Signature team: The Philadelphia Flyers earned their Broad Street Bullies nickname. Enforcers like Dave "The Hammer" Schultz defined the franchise. Even star Bob Clarke had a chippy edge. The style produced Stanley Cups in 1974 and '75. In a Simpsons Halloween episode, the Flyers' starting lineup was part of a jury from hell judging Homer Simpson.

Shining moment: "Fo', fo', fo'" was Moses Malone's forecast for the 76ers in the 1983 NBA playoffs. He was off by one. The 76ers went 12-1 behind Malone and Julius Erving to win the title.

Signature team: Toronto has been called the center of the hockey universe, with good reason. The Maple Leafs remain the focal point of the city's passion, even though they haven't hoisted the Stanley Cup since 1967. The '60s were good to the Leafs, who won four titles. People fondly remember the '67 team for the goalie duo of Johnny Bower and Terry Sawchuk.

Shining moment: Joe Carter rocked a Mitch Williams delivery in 1993, giving the Blue Jays back-to-back World Series titles. Carter's homer prevented a Game 7 with Philadelphia.

Signature team: Just the mention of the Packers conjures up the sound of John Facenda talking about Vince Lombardi and the frozen tundra. If the Packers didn't exist, the NFL might have to invent them. The Lombardi-era Packers have become almost part of American mythology. Their rise coincided with the NFL's, producing six titles from 1961-68.

Shining moment: Back-up receiver Max McGee had sampled LA's hospitality the night before Super Bowl I. But when Boyd Dowler was injured, McGee caught seven passes for 138 yards and two TDs in a 35-10 win over Kansas City.

The Cowboys were dominant in two different eras and carved out a national footprint. And while the Cowboys are tied for the most Super Bowl wins, they hold the record of eight Super Bowl appearances.

Runner-up: Green Bay. But just one of the titles has come after the '60s.

Chicago and the Lakers enjoyed great runs. No team did it as long or as well as Boston. After nine titles in the 1960s, the team managed five more championships, with a '70s run led by John Havlicek and an '80s mini-dynasty with Larry Bird.

Runner-up: San Antonio. The Spurs are almost as big a part of the city's image as the Alamo.

Championships matter. They probably care about hockey just as much in Toronto, but there's something about the way Canadiens games are still viewed as a big event.

Runners-up: Toronto and Edmonton, which has supported the Oilers with and without Wayne Gretzky.

As hardcore as Boston is about baseball, the Mets have as many world titles since 1960 as the Red Sox. A case could be made for the Cardinals, but the Yankees symbolize baseball, for better or worse.

Runners-up: Boston and St. Louis (best between-coasts baseball city).