# "Loser" Sports Records **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 17, 2005, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loser-sports-records/326569 "2005-10-17T06:39:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loser-sports-records/326569/21 "2005-10-17T15:03:08Z")
> [@snorlax](#): > > Well, the Buffalo Bills are probably not particularly proud of losing four consecutive Super Bowls. You would be surprised at the pride of Buffalo fans, making it to four Super Bowls in a row is itself a record. Buffalo and Miami play twice a year and Buffalo was 0 for the 1970’s against Miami. (Then in the mid 80’s to 90’s it pretty much swung the other way. Not a clean run but enough to ease the pain and watch Don Schula retire.) ---
**Author:** ![TurdFerguson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@TurdFerguson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TurdFerguson)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loser-sports-records/326569/22 "2005-10-17T16:44:41Z")
During my college days our proud Purdue Boilermaker football team lost to Minnesota 59-56. It was the most points scored in a game by the losing team. I think the record was broken a year or two later. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loser-sports-records/326569/23 "2005-10-17T17:09:18Z")
The 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers lost 73 games, the NBA record. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost 26 consecutive games in the row, probably the longest losing streak in calendar duration ever. In the NHL, Rangers goalie Lorne Anderson gave up three goals in 22 seconds – all to the same player, Bill Moisenko. ---
**Author:** ![Amok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@Amok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amok)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loser-sports-records/326569/24 "2005-10-17T17:19:00Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The Philadelphia Phillies has 16 consecutive losing seasons (1933-1948), a baseball record. But only till the end of the 2009 season, when it will be passed by the Pittsburgh Pirates (13 consecutive losing seasons and counting). ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loser-sports-records/326569/25 "2005-10-17T17:22:18Z")
Chan Ho Park of the Dodgers gave up two grand slam home runs in the same inning. To the same batter, Fernando Tatis of St. Louis. That was a very weird event. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loser-sports-records/326569/26 "2005-10-17T20:02:18Z")
Amok: > [@](#): > > But only till the end of the 2009 season, when it will be passed by the Pittsburgh Pirates (13 consecutive losing seasons and counting). Don’t be too sure of that. Three years ago, we Royals fans thought we’d have a run at the record. We had a fluke winning season, costing us the record, and then resumed the “streak.” ---
**Author:** ![Amok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@Amok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amok)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loser-sports-records/326569/27 "2005-10-17T22:40:56Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Don’t be too sure of that. Three years ago, we Royals fans thought we’d have a run at the record. We had a fluke winning season, costing us the record, and then resumed the “streak.” I guess anything is possible, but if there’s one thing in this wide world that I have faith in, it’s this: the only thing that’s capable of stopping the Pirates’ losing ways is global warming… well, or maybe a really big comet. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loser-sports-records/326569/28 "2005-10-18T00:51:47Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Oops- sorry. The answer to #1 is Warren Moon, who was a very solid quarterback. > > Now, if you want to stick to genuinely embarrassing records, look at poor George Frazier. > > If you don’t remember George, he was a pretty good middle-innings relief pitcher for the Yankees. He lost 3 games for the Yankees in the 1981 World Series. > > There’s good news and bad news for George. First the good news: he isn’t the ONLY pitcher to lose 3 games in a single World Series. Eddie Ciccotte of the White Sox lost 3 games in the 1919 World Series. > > Now the bad news: Cicotte took money from gangsters to lose on purpose. > > Poor George Frazier is the only man to lose 3 World Series games **unintentionally!** I actually opened the thread to post this one. I remember poor George well. A better pitcher than you might think if all you knew about him was this one factoid, but it will undoubtedly end up being what he is most famous for. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loser-sports-records/326569/29 "2005-10-18T01:57:19Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Malcolm Nash, of Glamorgan, was the first first-class bowler in cricket to see every ball of an over hit for the maximum 6 runs. I have absolutely no idea what this means! (And I don’t really care to find out.) ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loser-sports-records/326569/30 "2005-10-18T02:17:27Z")
> [@Frostillicus](#): > > I have absolutely no idea what this means! (And I don’t really care to find out.) In the true spirit of the Straight Dope… ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loser-sports-records/326569/31 "2005-10-18T02:20:36Z")
> [@TurdFerguson](#): > > During my college days our proud Purdue Boilermaker football team lost to Minnesota 59-56. It was the most points scored in a game by the losing team. I think the record was broken a year or two later. The new record for Division I-A college football for most points by the losing team is 63 by Rice last year against San Jose State. They lost 70-63. In regulation no less. 63 is also the most any losing team has scored in an overtime game. That was Kentucky against Arkansas in 2003. That took 7 overtimes. Arkansas won 71-63. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loser-sports-records/326569/32 "2005-10-18T02:21:49Z")
> [@Frostillicus](#): > > I have absolutely no idea what this means! (And I don’t really care to find out.) If it were baseball, think of a pitcher having every pitch of his hit over the fence for a home run. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loser-sports-records/326569/33 "2005-10-18T02:28:07Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > 63 is also the most any losing team has scored in an overtime game. That was Kentucky against Arkansas in 2003. That took 7 overtimes. Arkansas won 71-63. I was at that game. It was ridiculously long. In other University of Kentucky-related records, Vanderbilt has never won a game in Rupp Arena in 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loser-sports-records/326569/34 "2005-10-18T03:02:00Z")
A record which is perhaps not dubious, but at least curious is that the **Tampa Bay Buccaneers** have never successfully returned a kickoff for a touchdown ( 454 games ). > [@RealityChuck](#): > > The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost 26 consecutive games in the row, probably the longest losing streak in calendar duration ever. Not even close if you count NCAA records. Northwestern lost 34 straight games between 1979-82 in D I-A, Prairie View lost 80 straight spanning nearly a decade between 1989-98 in D I-AA. More recently my Illini lost 18 straight between Oct 12th, 1996 and Sept 12th, 1998, 23 months where Tampa’s lasted about 14 months. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loser-sports-records/326569/35 "2005-10-18T03:40:45Z")
On October 7, 1916, Georgia Tech played Cumberland University in Atlanta. (Football) Cumberland lost 222 - 0. I don’t imagine that will be beat anytime soon. E3 ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loser-sports-records/326569/36 "2005-10-18T04:48:15Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > On October 7, 1916, Georgia Tech played Cumberland University in Atlanta. (Football) > > Cumberland lost 222 - 0. > > I don’t imagine that will be beat anytime soon. > > E3 And, of course, the Georgia Tech coach would one day lend his name to a trophy handed out each year to the best offensive skill position player from a big-name university. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loser-sports-records/326569/37 "2005-10-18T08:52:26Z")
> [@Frostillicus](#): > > I have absolutely no idea what this means! (And I don’t really care to find out.) Of course. You’re an American. Who cares what funny sports they play in other countries. Go USA! :rolleyes: 😛 The explanation above is broadly correct: six successive “pitches” all hit over the fence. It’s extremely unusual because in cricket you can, and commonly do, score runs with a ball hit along the ground, which is obviously safer as it can’t be caught. A ball so hit to the boundary scores “only” four runs, though you normally figure you’re scoring quickly enough if you’re regularly hitting fours. Six sixes in a row is one of those “perfect” feats seldom actually seen; not, AFAIK, as uncommon as a 17-dart 1001 but rarer than a 147 break in snooker. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loser-sports-records/326569/38 "2005-10-18T09:44:04Z")
Ravi Shastri is the only other batsman to have hit all six balls of a six-ball over for 6 (off Tilak Raj, Bombay vs Baroda, 1984-5). And there was some Kiwi nonsense where 75 were scored from an over from a bloke called Vance lasting 22 balls, but the bowling was deliberately shite (see [Cricinfo](http://uk.cricinfo.com/db/STATS/FC/BATTING/MOST_RUNS_OFF_6_BALL_OVER.html)). I cannot find any statistic for 8-ball overs but obviously the maximum possible would have been 48. Many of the examples cited above seem to come from “minor” American baseball and football games. Nobody, in the UK at least, gives a monkey’s what happens in anything other than First Class in cricket and whatever the soccer equivalent is. ---
**Author:** ![Booker57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Booker57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Booker57)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loser-sports-records/326569/39 "2005-10-18T12:23:07Z")
Zippy Chippy is a Thourobred horse that has a perfect losing record. Sorry that I have no idea how to list information about this. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2005, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loser-sports-records/326569/40 "2005-10-18T12:46:19Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > Many of the examples cited above seem to come from “minor” American baseball and football games. Nobody, in the UK at least, gives a monkey’s what happens in anything other than First Class in cricket and whatever the soccer equivalent is. Almost true. There are a few oddities worth a nod of the head, at least. The record cricket score by a single batsman (in a school match in the 1800s) was 628, comfortably beating Brian Lara’s first-class record of 501, but instances of “rabbit” sides being bowled out for 0 are common enough that the Guinness Book of Records doesn’t bother to cite any. Hampshire probably hold some kind of record for being bowled out for 15 (in response to Warwickshire’s 200-odd, some time in the 1920s) and _going on to win the game_. Football? Meh. Ask someone who cares. But in Rugby Union, I believe I’m right in saying Japan are the only international side to have both posted three-figure scores and have three figures scored against them. They’re the lions of Pacific Rim Asian rugby, but are unfortunately just good enough to merit the occasional game with the big boys. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loser-sports-records/326569.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loser-sports-records/326569.md?page=3)