Monday, July 11, 2011

25 Years of Fail

Some fans hope for repeats, some want another championship before they die, and some want to know what making the playoffs even looks like. Here's the 11 cities who have experienced the most failure the last 25 years.*
 *Cities with at least 2 major sports teams


11) Atlanta: The Braves had a ridiculous streak of 14 consecutive division titles from 1991-2005, including 5 National League pennants. Yet they only captured one championship.
                                                             1 for 14 will do this to you

The Falcons have been bad far more often than good. They won the NFC in 1998, only to meet up with the buzz saw that was John Elway.  The Hawks haven't done a thing since the Nixon administration, and the NHL's Thrashers are leaving town as you read this.

10) Washington D.C: The Redskins are one of the more storied franchises in the NFL, which helps. They've also captured a couple of Super Bowls in the last 25 years, which also helps. But there hasn't been much success since about '91, and their fans dress like this:
The other franchises in the nation's capital haven't picked up the slack. The Bullets became the Wizards but didn't get any better. The Capitals missed their only shot at a Stanley Cup in 1998.

9) Phoenix: The 2001 Diamondbacks became the youngest franchise to win a World Series, just their fourth year in the league. Besides that, Phoenix sports have been nothing more than something to do to get out of the sun. The Coyotes have proven hockey doesn't belong in the desert. The Suns' biggest claim to fame is being a part of Jordan's first 3-peat, and the Cardinals needed a 53 year-old Kurt Warner to become relevant. For just a year.

8) Cincinnati: It's hard to find a better joke of a franchise than the Cincinnati Bengals. They had a solid 14 year playoff drought from 1991-2004. They've had just two playoff appearances since then, and their drafts have been comic gold. They once took Akili Smith over Torry Holt. Peter Warrick over Brian Urlacher. Justin Smith over Ladanian Tomlinson. Levi Jones over Dwight Freeney and on and on and on.

7) Oakland: The city of Oakland hasn't seen a championship since Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire anchored the lineup and neither was suspected of using steroids.
Al Davis still owns the Raiders, so that train wreck isn't going anywhere for a while. And the Warriors might be the NBA's worst run franchise, which is tough to do in a league with the Clippers and Knicks.

6) Buffalo: When you go to the Super Bowl 4 years in a row, the law of averages says you'll win at least 1, right? The Bills lost on a wide-right field goal in 1990, got blown out in 91, got blown worse in 92, and blew a halftime lead in 93 to make it an even four-peat. Buffalo is one invention of the buffalo wing away from being the worst city in America.

5) Cleveland: If this was the biggest failures of the last 50 years, Cleveland probably tops the list. But  they've had decent teams in the last 25 seasons. The Cavs had Lebron, which was fun while it lasted. The Browns left, came back, and have been to the playoffs a hand full of times. They also have some of the league's most passionate fans, even with all the losing.
The Indians won a pair of American League titles in the mid-90's, but couldn't win either trip.

4) San Diego: Not normally known for sports mediocrity, San Diego is quickly gaining a reputation. The Padres' biggest achievement of the last 25 years was getting swept by the Yankees in the 1998 Wold Series. They haven't won a single playoff game since, and they hadn't won a playoff game before 98. The Chargers also have an embarrassing title appearance story to tell, getting utterly destroyed by the 49er's, 49-26 in Super Bowl XXIX. Along with the laundry list of playoff failures, the team is also a candidate to move to LA.

3) Seattle: The Sonics played for an NBA title but left 3 years ago. The Seahawks have been somewhat respectable, winning 7 division titles and 1 NFC championship, and the Mariners are somewhere in the middle. Only 4 playoff appearances, but hey, at least they're still in town.
2) Milwaukee: These final two cities are in a class all their own. I'll start with Milwaukee because they won the coin flip. The Brewers once made the playoffs, and they almost won two games. Almost. They've had a few good years, winning 85+ games four times, and as of today they're tied for first in the National League Central. The Bucks have been pretty awful, not sniffing a championship since the mid-70's.

1) Kansas City: The Chiefs have 3 playoff wins in the last 25 years, getting past the divisional round only once. What success the Chiefs have had the last quarter century is undoubtedly overshadowed by the Royals, who haven't made postseason play since their World Series title in 1985. They've won more than 85 games only once, and they haven't finished better than 3rd in their division since 1995. With four 1990's or later expansion teams (Rockies, Marlins, Dbacks, Rays) making or winning the World Series recently, the annual losing in Kansas City is even more astounding.

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