# Greatest sports team you've ever seen? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 15, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-team-youve-ever-seen/618808 "2012-04-15T01:36:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Take\_the\_cannoli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5e9695/32.png) [@Take\_the\_cannoli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Take_the_cannoli)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-team-youve-ever-seen/618808/41 "2012-04-18T04:03:28Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > And they did, by 3 games. The gap between 1st and 2nd for teams with the most NBA wins is bigger than the gap between 2nd and 10th. > > The Bulls from 1995-97 were amazing, especially considering the level of talent in the NBA at the time. After setting the record for most wins in 96, they tied for 2nd most wins in 97. The '96 Bulls went 72-10. They also had a winning ATS record, even though they were laying an average of about 10 points/game to their opponents. So, the Bulls set a new record for wins, and still made money for their backers, in the process. That’s impressive. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-team-youve-ever-seen/618808/42 "2012-04-18T17:37:54Z")
I might have to say the current incarnation (well last few years) of FC Barcelona. Was not happy that I couldn’t attend a game when I was in town recently. ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-team-youve-ever-seen/618808/43 "2012-04-18T18:25:31Z")
I think the '09 version of Barcelona was their best. Messi is better now (and was last year) than in '09, but Yaya Toure and Eto’o make up for that. ---
**Author:** ![\_len](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/c0e974/32.png) [@\_len](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_len)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-team-youve-ever-seen/618808/44 "2012-04-18T18:26:31Z")
> [@mkecane](#): > > The 2002 Canes were defending champions and in the midst of a 34 game winning streak. It wasn’t their best team by any means, but probably their 2nd best non-championship team. I attended Miami during the 58-game home winning streak. There were games, against very good teams, where it never occurred to me to consider the possibility that we would lose. I’ve never been more certain about the outcome of a sporting event than watching the Canes during those years. Len ---
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-team-youve-ever-seen/618808/45 "2012-04-18T18:43:41Z")
MLB - I’d love to see the 1998 Yankees against the 1976 Reds. Or the 1998 Yankees against the 1927 Yankees. NFL - 1989 San Francisco 49ers. NBA - I’d love to see the best Bill Russell Celtics team against the best Micheal Jordan Bulls team. ---
**Author:** ![Hbns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hbns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hbns)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-team-youve-ever-seen/618808/46 "2012-04-18T19:12:57Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > My nomination would be the 1980’s Gretzky-era Edmonton Oilers. This is mine as well. Saw them play my hometown North Stars in Dec. 1982. It was a close game and we prevailed in a squeaker (had just been to the cup finals a couple seasons prior), but you could tell they were a team on the rise with unlimited possibilities. Though our boy Neal Broten got under Gretz’s skin pretty good that game and the two of them would actually fight (sort of) later that season. After that game I was more of an Edmonton fan than a North Stars fan. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-team-youve-ever-seen/618808/47 "2012-04-18T22:42:40Z")
The Harlem Globetrotters 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-team-youve-ever-seen/618808/48 "2012-04-19T00:38:55Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-team-youve-ever-seen/618808/49 "2012-04-19T01:15:39Z")
To RickJay and others of the hockey elite: Who’d win a best of 7 series between the Wayne Gretzky Oilers and the Vladislav Tretiak Soviet National Team? I hate to say it but I think I’d bet on the Commies. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-team-youve-ever-seen/618808/50 "2012-04-19T02:21:06Z")
2001 Seattle Mariners on September 9 vs the Orioles. 2 days later the season was put on hold for 8 days and the M’s lost their mojo. If they won the World Series, they would have been known as one of the great teams ever. Now they are just side note in the history of baseball. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-team-youve-ever-seen/618808/51 "2012-04-19T02:32:52Z")
1982-83 Redskins. John “The Diesel” Riggins. Yeah. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-team-youve-ever-seen/618808/52 "2012-04-20T07:49:28Z")
Here’s what I can recall reading about the '92 Olympic men’s basketball team, which pretty much tells you all you need to know: - Oh my god, it’s so UNFAIR to those other teams! - Our poor, poor collegians denied the chance! - David Robinson is going to play _small forward??_ WTF WTF WTF WTF WTF??? - Damned if they do, damned if they don’t! Can’t please anyone! Hypocrisy! Hypocrisy! - Here’s a great idea: give the medals to the '72 team! - Hey what if they all got arrested LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL - This is no fun at all! It’s completely against the spirit of the Olympics! It shouldn’t even count! Asterisk! We should be ashamed! This is immoral! James Naismith! At first I was bewildered by these topics, and then I realized, _there’s nothing else to talk about._ The Dream Team were men playing against little boys and not the least bit ashamed of it. They were going to win every game in a blowout and take the gold medal. Absolute, stone cold, lead pipe, 100%, bet-your-life-savings-assuming-of-course-you-can-find-someone-to-take-that-bet lock. Which, of course, was exactly what happened. Special mention: I don’t remember when this was, of course, but some time ago I watched a paintball tournament on ESPN, and this one team, the XSV (pronounced “excessive”…just a paintball thing, I suppose) won every match. It was a pretty deep field, too, something like 8 or 10 teams. By far the most impressive win was when it was a one-on-three at the end, and that lone XSV player took advantage of a communication miscue and took out all three opponents inside of five seconds. Think it was “Greenspan”, if that’s any help. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-team-youve-ever-seen/618808/53 "2012-04-20T21:20:03Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’ve actually used this very phrasing before. Wayne Gretzky was not just better. Wayne Gretzky was different. Lemieux, Esposito, Crosby and guys like that are all hockey greats because they were/are so much better than other hockey players at doing the same things. Gretzky was better because he played hockey in a way I’ve honestly never seen anyone else play. > > Gretzky is analagous, really, to Babe Ruth or Wilt Chamberlain, not other hockey players, in that he dominated his sport by altering the way it could be played. The difference between him and then is that they were imitated by other players. Gretzky never really was. > > But even without the Great One, that Oilers team would have been a hell of a team. They were loaded. The first time I saw Gretzky play I was awed. The way I like to describe it is that while everyone else was playing rock-and-roll, Gretzky was playing jazz. It was really true that he didn’t skate to the puck, he skated to where the puck was going to be. That Oiler team was something. They dethroned the Islander juggernaut while embarrassing the Islander goalie, Billy Smith. And remember, they did win the Cup in 1990 after Gretzky left. ---
**Author:** ![Intelligently\_Designed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intelligently_designed/32/20957_2.png) [@Intelligently\_Designed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intelligently_Designed)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-team-youve-ever-seen/618808/54 "2012-04-20T21:44:57Z")
They were together only for a tournament, but Canada’s team at the 1987 Canada Cup was something to see. Just imagine that if they wished to do so, they could muster a power-play unit made of Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Mark Messier, Ray Bourque and Paul Coffey… Still, all three games in the finals ended 6-5, and two of those went to overtime. These Soviets weren’t half bad. Man, those were the days. ---
**Author:** ![dngnb8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@dngnb8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dngnb8)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-team-youve-ever-seen/618808/55 "2012-04-20T22:12:47Z")
I dont watch a lot of hockey, if at all so I wouldnt include them in my choice. I would say either the Johnson Era Lakers or the Bird Era Celtics. Every member of these teams made significant contributions to the teams success [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-sports-team-youve-ever-seen/618808.md?page=2)