Thursday, April 3, 2008

Top 10 Worst Franchises in Pro Sports

Here is your fourth installment of a new column called 'Top 10 Things In Sports', a new weekly article that I write.  Here is your list of the Top 10 worst franchises in all of pro sports; both the history and the present are taken into account for the list.

Once again, let the sucking begin.

#10 San Francisco Giants 222-263 (.458, last 3 seasons)
The last three seasons haven't even been about baseball in San Francisco; they've just been about Barry Bonds.  With all the attention on Bonds setting the home-run record, no one really noticed that the Giants were at or near the bottom of the NL West; but everyone will notice this year.  I think the San Francisco Giants have a real shot at going 1-161 this season.

#9 Los Angeles Kings 58-83-21 9 (.358, last 2 seasons)
During the last two NHL regular seasons the only race that the LA Kings have been in is for the coveted worst team in the NHL award, and this year they seem to have won.  More than them just being a bad team they own the rights to the third worst goaltending in the league and the second worst penalty killing; keep it up guys.

#8 Milwaukee Bucks 54-102 (.346, last 2 seasons)
The Milwaukee Bucks are the reason there aren't many sports teams in the state of Wisconsin.  They have finished last in the Eastern Conference Central the four seasons since the NBA's divisions were restructured.  On a side note, the Bucks surrender one of the four highest field goal percentages to opposing teams.  The other three NBA teams (no surprise) are also on this list.  And I didn't believe all those people when they said 'Defense wins Championships'.

#7 Memphis Grizzlies 42-115 (.268, last 2 seasons)
You can kind of ignore the numbers on this one because it could get a lot worse in the next few years to come.  The Memphis Grizzlies could become one of the elite worst teams in the NBA without Pau Gasol, especially if their draft picks like Mike Conley Jr. and Rudy Gay don't work out for them.  At least they have younger brother, Marc Gasol...

#6 Miami Heat 13-62 (.173, this season)
Is this the same Miami team that won the NBA Champion only 2 years ago?  The answer, obviously, is no, but talk about a fall from glory.  This team went 2-15 in the month of March, 2-10 in February, and an even worse 1-11 in January.  To be fair this team has been banged up this season including superstars Dwayne Wade and Shawn Marion, but also to be fair, this team will be remembered as one of the worst in the league in a long time.

#5 Miami Dolphins 7-26 (.212, last 2 seasons)
The city of Miami sure is putting out some winners this year.  If anyone should feel bad about the Dolphin's 1-15 season it should be the Baltimore Ravens who actually lost to them.  Come on Bill Parcells, straighten these mofos up!

#4 Kansas City Royals 245-399 (.380, last 4 seasons)
When I was looking up the Royals' past few seasons I wasn't surprised at all.  Everyone talks about how they suck and they really do sporting one 90 loss season and three 100 loss seasons.  This season things are looking up for a change; the KC Royals are a whooping 3-0 and could win more than 70 games ...and...  still finish last in the AL Central.

#3 New York Knicks 109-215 (.336, last 4 seasons)
The New York Knicks have been very consistent over the past four years, only the wrong kind of consistent.  Two seasons ago the Knicks were the worst team in the NBA and believe me, they haven't gotten any better; others teams have just gotten a little worse.  Last year the stir was Isiah Thomas and his legal trouble, and this year the NYK have turned one of the greatest sports' venues into the Madison Snore Garden.

#2 Oakland Raiders 16-71 (.184, last 5 seasons)
At this point, if I was a Oakland Raider fan I would be so outraged that I might just revoke my fan hood.  Whoever is in charge of all of the Raiders' bad decisions should just quit.  And if it's owner Al Davis than he should really think about putting up the team for public auction.

#1 Pittsburgh Pirates 552 -742 (.427, last 8 seasons)
The Pittsburgh Pirates won't wow you with their suck factor as they fly a little bit under the radar because they no longer have any fans.  Don't worry though, this team can definitively hold it's title of 'Worst franchise in all of pro sports.'  The Pirates haven't made the playoffs or had a winning season since 1992, the last year Barry Bonds was on the team.  Don't get too excited either because the end isn't in sight, with 15 straight losing seasons, and counting.

What do you think of my list of worst franchises?  What's your list?

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Raiders should've been #1 and Knicks #2

Carolyn Hastings said...

Just grateful not to see my beloved Cavs on the list.

The Ghost of Rick James said...

No Detroit Lions? With one playoff win in 50 years & 31-81 under Matt Millen, they should be #1 by a wide (receiver) margin.

Anonymous said...

Memphis can, and will only get better. Mike Conley shows great court vision and poise for someone who is only twenty years old. Rudy Gay has panned out clown! He averages 20 points a game, maybe if you did any research besides how many games these teams won you would know that! I guess that is why you blog for "Sports Nation."

Anonymous said...

So where are the clippers? i can't take this list seriously

Anonymous said...

being a bad franchise is more than a winning percentage, and you obviously didn't research too hard if you left off the New York Islanders, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Lightning, the Clippers, the Texas Rangers, Washington-Montreal Nationals etc. Try pulling your head out of your ass

Anonymous said...

I just got into an argument about this at work today. As a Pirates fan, I said it shouldnt even be close, this team has not even finished at .500 in 15 years, let alone a playoff birth. My challenge to them, and Im going to keep looking it up once Im done with this, was to find another team in the big four sports that has been as bad as the Pirates for as long. Im almost certain other then the Brewers and Expos, it shouldnt be close.

Some of the other teams people are mentioning in their comments really ought to give it some more thought. The Raiders were in the Super Bowl 5 years ago. The Lightning just won the Stanley Cup 4 seasons ago. The Rays havent been around long enough, and the Islanders have made the playoffs six times in the last 15 years. Hands down its the Pirates.

Anonymous said...

wow, i agree with the no lions? or no clippers... what about any hockey teams..... st louis blues or the blackhawks...

Anonymous said...

With no arguement the Arizona Cardinals have to be the worst team pro sports team in history

Anonymous said...

ur probally one of those geeks tht stay on the computer. pirates are not the worst team. your mom is da worst team

Anonymous said...

I don't think the Dolphins should be on that list, they have alot of pride historically, its just very recently they haven't been good.

I think the Bengals and Cardinals should definatly be on there. Since 1991 the Bengals have been flat embaressing with only 1/3 of their deserving players actually making it to the hall of fame. They haven't been able to win a super bowl and the two that they appeared in they lost to the same team. They currently have one of the consistently worst ranked owners ever. The Cardinals are the oldest team in the NFL and (aside from the Texans) are the only team to have never appeared in a conference championship. They also only have 2 NFL championships in their 110 years of existence

Anonymous said...

Its funny because the list should really be changed a lot more often than just sitting around like that in that particular order..
If it was my decision I would make Memphis on there last because it has great potential to leak into the future eastern/western conference!

Anonymous said...

ha ha its true about the pirates!

people attend the games to enjoy the stadium, a fair number of people just wander around the stadium and don't even watch the game at all.
total fans < number of immediate family members of players lol

Anonymous said...

NO detroit Lions. Dont ever write about sports again!!! the world will cease to exsist. this is the single most ridiculous top 10 the world has ever seen. we are now all dumber from having clicked on it. Lions are the worst for sure!

Anonymous said...

I can't believe the Texas Rangers are not listed as the all time worst. Look at the record:
World Series Rings: 0
Participated in World Series: 0
Playoff appearances in 37 years: 3 Playoff game wins in 3 playoff appearances:1
Playoff Record: 1-9
Let me repeat that- 1 playoff game win in their 38th year in Texas!

Anonymous said...

well... the miami heat won the championship 3 years ago... obviously the clippers need to be here somewhere, the bucks won a ring with kareem, the kings has gretzky... the knicks up until just recently were a great franchise. this is possibly the worst list of anything ever assembled.

Anonymous said...

I agree 100% with this list. The Cardinals just made the superbowl, the lightning won in '04, the knicks are in a fair enough spot, the cavs just made the finals, the Islanders were very good for a long period of time, the blackhawks just made the semifinals, the blues are starting to turn it around. The only questionable call is the Lions. But it is definitely the Pirates in the number 1 spot. That franchise died with Clemente. (too soon?)

Anonymous said...

If you want to decide which franchises (as opposed to teams) are the worst, I think you should look at long-term trends.

Their 0-16 season notwithstanding, the Detroit Lions have won practically nothing over the past 50 years. The Cubs haven't won the World Series in a century, and most of the time their times have been mediocre or simply bad. The Pirates had great teams during the
'70's, but none much better than the Cubs before or since. And the Indians...Well, a couple of winning seasons in the '90's does not a history make.

But, for my money, the worst sports franchise of all time had to be the Oakland Seals/California Seals/California Golden Seals/Cleveland Barons of the NHL. The ice always seemed to be thin underneath them: They never had a winning season, and all-time, they lost twice as many games as they won. And pretty much all through their history, they were the laughingstock of the NHL. I'll never forget when they played in white skates: Those players all looked like they were cut off at the ankles. That's about how they played most of the time!

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Unknown said...

Yeah! I am totally agree with you that these 10 are really worst franchises in pro sports. Although Los Angeles Kings 58-83-21 9 is one I does not like of them.

worst franchises

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It is a pity that Pirates can be like they used to be without people support, It will be more harder.

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