As I watched the Rangers pull away from the Devils on Monday, I realized that in a few days, we might be in for a New York–Los Angeles championship series. The Kings, who face the Coyotes in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals tonight, are an 8-seed, but they have a 1-0 lead on Phoenix in the series and are 9-1 in the NHL playoffs. Right now, it seems there's a solid chance that America's two most populous cities will square off for the Stanley Cup.

The possibility got me thinking about previous New York–L.A. clashes. It turns out that in 336 combined years of American championships (big four sports only), the two biggest cities in the country have met just seven times. That was it. New York is 4-3. Hooray!

That limited history set my mind to wandering, and after an hour spent looking at lists of NHL, NBA, MLB, and NFL champions, along with some furious notepad scribbling, I discovered the greatest sports trivia question of all time. It has to do with cities and championships, but after the time put into the research and the ensuing thrill of discovery, I'm going to be totally heartless and make you read a bit more.

First, a fantastic trivia question that will live forever in the shadow of the one that comes later: