They write books about sports curses in other cities, Chicago with the Billy goat and Boston with the Bambino. Cincinnati doesn’t have literature to assuage its pain.

It does have this tweet from sports talk show host Mo Egger, however:

I'm not supposed to tweet profanity, so I can't tweet how I feel right now. — Mo Egger (@MoEgger1530) March 19, 2018

That about covers it. As we learned again Sunday night in the NCAA Tournament with the Cincinnati Bearcats’ horrifying collapse in a 75-73 loss to No. 7 seed Nevada and the Xavier Musketeers' equally devastating but not as substantial 75-70 tumble against Florida State — one after the other at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena — the Queen City is not just cursed in a single, romanticized sport. It is afflicted in pretty much everything it plays. There has been no major national championship in the city since the Reds won the World Series in 1990, and that is all that has been won nationally in the past four decades, since the Big Red Machine was voluntarily dismantled with the trade of Tony Perez following the 1976 World Series championship.

PHOTOS: When did your city last win a pro sports title?

Consider how much has gone wrong, and how it has gone wrong, over the past quarter-century plus.

March 1997: The Cincinnati Bearcats were a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Midwest Region, and veteran guard Darnell Burton rebounded a missed shot by Iowa State with a one-point lead and 35 seconds left. The Cyclones' Kenny Pratt fell into Burton's legs, knocking him to the ground. Official John Cahill called traveling. Iowa State scored the game-winner seconds later. "He said I fell on purpose," Burton said afterward. Why would anyone fall with the game in his hands and the clock running out? "That's what I asked him. He said nothing."

March 1998: The Bearcats were seeded No. 2 and shipped to Boise in the NCAA Tournament West Region, but they played poorly in their second-round game against West Virginia. They were fortunate to grab a two-point lead with seven seconds left on a left-wing jumper by guard D'Juan Baker. But there still was time for the Mountaineers to advance the ball for a shot at tying or winning. West Virginia's Jarrod West brought the ball upcourt, and the defender handling him was flattened by a massive screen. Cincy forward Ruben Patterson jumped in to help as West rose to shoot and managed to get a fingertip on the ball. That probably helped West sink the shot. It took all the spin off the ball, and when it slammed into the backboard high above the goal, it simply dropped through for a 75-74 WVU victory.

September-October 1999: The Reds were 95-63 after defeating the Astros in the first of a two-game series near the close of the National League season and held a one-game lead in the Central Division. They then lost their next three games, including two against fifth-place Milwaukee, and fell into a tie with the Mets for the wild card. In Game 163 at Cinergy Field (nee Riverfront Stadium), Cincinnati fell behind New York 2-0 in the first inning and lost 5-zip.

March 2000: With the Bearcats ranked No. 1 in college basketball, national Player of the Year Kenyon Martin collided with an opponent while setting a simple down screen early in a conference tournament game against Saint Louis. His leg twisted oddly; he was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with a fractured tibia. Without him, UC lost in the NCAA Tournament second round.

January 2006: Having won the AFC North with an 11-5 record, the Bengals played host to their first playoff game in 15 years — since, indeed, 1990 — against the rival Steelers. On the Bengals’ second offensive play, quarterback Carson Palmer dropped into the pocket and found receiver Chris Henry deep downfield for a 66-yard gain. As he released the pass, however, Steelers defensive end Kimo von Oelhoffen — a former Bengal, naturally — hit him low and the result was a torn ACL for Palmer. Playing with backup Jon Kitna, the Bengals fell 31-17 to the eventual Super Bowl champs.

MORE: NFL's worst playoff collapses

December 2006: With a chance to earn a playoff berth on Christmas Eve, the Bengals rallied from seven points down to score the tying touchdown with less than a minute left. One catch: For it to be the tying TD, the Bengals had to kick the extra point. The snap was wide, the ball never got placed and the Bengals lost 24-23. The Bengals missed the playoff party. (Just to ice it, kicker Shayne Graham missed a 39-yarder the following week that would have beaten the Steelers with eight seconds remaining in regulation and the Bengals allowed a 67-yard touchdown pass on the third play of OT.)

October 2012: Eight pitches into the opening game of the National League Division Series, Reds ace Johnny Cueto walked off the mound in apparent pain and was visited by his trainer and manager. He did not pitch again that season, and the Reds lost the series in five games to eventual World Series champ San Francisco.

January 2016: The Bengals made their fifth consecutive NFL playoff appearance (but had lost their first game the previous four). They trailed the Steelers 15-0 when linebacker Vontaze Burfict slammed Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger with a sack and Roethlisberger left with an injured shoulder. With Pittsburgh’s offense suddenly inert, the Bengals rallied with two touchdowns and a field goal to take a 16-15 lead. Roethlisberger re-entered for one last, desperate rally. When he overthrew Antonio Brown near midfield with 22 seconds left, a Cincinnati victory seemed secure, but as the ball bounced down the field Burfict slammed into Brown's helmet and was called for a personal foul. Cornerback Adam Jones then was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, and the 30 yards in penalties gave Pittsburgh’s Chris Boswell a 35-yard chip shot to win it. Which he made.

PHOTOS: Most humiliating first-round chokes in NCAA history

March 2016: In the American Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals against Connecticut, Cincinnati Bearcats guard Kevin Johnson had just made a 3-pointer from the left wing to break a tie with 0.8 seconds left in a third overtime period. Somehow, in what little time was left, UConn’s Jalen Adams threw in a 75-foot shot to tie the game. And UConn won in the fourth overtime.

March 2016 (again): That Bearcats team still earned an NCAA Tournament bid and was seeded into an 8-9 game against Saint Joseph’s. Holding a one-point lead in the closing seconds, the Bearcats got caught on a bad defensive switch and allowed Isaiah Miles an open 3-pointer to put the Hawks up by two. Cincinnati’s Troy Caupain advanced the ball, drew a double-team and slipped a pass across the lane to center Octavius Ellis. He rose to dunk the ball and scored — and was struck on the top of the head by a defender as he attempted to dunk — but as he threw the ball through the rim his right hand was still attached while the red light to signal the end of the game illuminated.

March 2016 (yet again): The No. 2-seed Xavier Musketeers held a 59-51 lead on No. 7 seed Wisconsin with 5:17 remaining but scored only four more points the rest of the way, giving up the ball twice on turnovers and making only 2 of 6 from the field. After Badgers guard Bronson Koenig made a 3-pointer to tie the game with 13 seconds left, XU still had the ball with a chance to take a final shot to either win the game or allow it to go into overtime.

Freshman guard Edmond Sumner made his move with more than five seconds left, and as he approached the right side of the lane he contacted UW’s Zak Showalter. As he was being struck, Showalter gambled that accentuating his fall — potentially leaving open Sumner to shoot in the game-winner — was likely to draw a charge call on Xavier. It did. Wisconsin inbounded the ball, rushed it to midcourt, called time with two seconds left, then inbounded to Koenig, who spun into the right corner guarded perfectly by XU’s Remy Abell. No matter. This is Cincinnati sports. Of course Koenig's 3-pointer fell directly through the net.

March 2018: This was among the hardest to believe, and figures to be among the most difficult to get past. With the NCAA South Region bracket beckoning with the exits of No. 1 seed Virginia, No. 3 seed Tennessee and No. 4 seed Arizona, the No. 2-seed Bearcats controlled the first 30 minutes of their game against Nevada to such an extent they led by 22 points with 11:34 to play. They got a stop after that, had a chance to stretch it even farther or at least eat up close to half a minute, but sophomore Jarron Cumberland curiously opted to shoot a 22-foot 3-pointer with 17 seconds on the shot clock. That did not fall. It felt like maybe an omen.

It got ugly from there. Cincinnati scored just eight points in the time that remained. Nevada scored 32, including Josh Hall’s fortunate follow — ultimately the game-winner — when the Bearcats failed to clear a defensive rebound. They still had nine seconds left, but guard Cane Broome did not manage to get off a shot at the rim.

It became the second-biggest collapse in NCAA Tournament history. But it wasn't the last of the day.

March 2018: If any of the Xavier fans in Bridgestone delighted in the Bearcats' collapse, maybe even cheered on Nevada as is happened, they only had to wait a few hours for a taste of that medicine.

The No. 1 seed in the NCAA West Region, the Musketeers held a 65-56 lead over No. 9 seed Florida State with 6:12 left, after center Kerem Kanter hit a short jump shot. They then added more turnovers to their game total (six) than points (five). After XU All-America wing Trevon Blueitt slipped on the court and turned it over, Xavier gave up the lead for good on a right-wing 3-pointer from guard PJ Savoy. An open 3-pointer from Kanter with 11 seconds left would have tied the game. He shot an air ball. Naturally.

It was one of the darkest days for Cincinnati sports.

There have been so many.