# Records of fictional sports teams **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-of-fictional-sports-teams/298596 "2005-04-09T22:55:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JasonG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@JasonG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JasonG)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-of-fictional-sports-teams/298596/1 "2005-04-09T22:55:11Z")
Some time ago, there was a post about films we never see, such as the film Julia Roberts’ character is making in “Notting Hill,” or the various documentaries Paul Reiser’s character made on “Mad About You.” Here’s that link: Okay, I can’t find it. I’ve been searching for 40 minutes and I can’t find it. But it was there. On a similar but hopefully less transient note, I wanted to call for a compilation of histories and records of teams that do not exist, based on information supplied in films. These teams include: Washington Sentinels (“The Replacements”) North Dallas Bulls (“North Dallas 40”) Pittsburgh Pythons (“The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh”) South Central Louisiana Mud Dogs (“The Waterboy”) Texas State Armadillos (“Necessary Roughness”) California Atoms (“Gus”) Charlestown Chiefs (“Slapshot”) Miami Sharks (“Any Given Sunday”) And you can include the fictionalized Cleveland Indians (“Major League”), Anaheim Angels (“Angels in the Outfield”) and the Mighty Ducks – in that last case, the tail wagged the dog. The above incomplete list reflects my own football bias, so if anyone knows other made-up teams, bring 'em on (that would be the Rancho Carne Toros vs. the East Compton Clovers, am I right?). Also, if you want to throw in TV – like the Minnesota State Screaming Eagles (“Coach”), the no-city-given Cougars (“Playmakers”) or the recent short-lived New York Empires (“Clubhouse”) – that’s fine with me. So, are there any film nerds – er, buffs – who have some of these films on video, who can compile a win-loss record, or any other fun facts? I know that the SCL Mud Dogs beat the Louisiana Cougers in the Bourbon Bowl (sorry if that’s a spoiler), and the Miami Sharks played the Dallas Knights in the finals for the Championship Cup, but there’s more info out there. Anybody want to help? ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-of-fictional-sports-teams/298596/2 "2005-04-09T23:07:30Z")
> [@JasonG](#): > > Anaheim Angels (“Angels in the Outfield”) This movie never happened. ---
**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 9, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-of-fictional-sports-teams/298596/3 "2005-04-09T23:12:21Z")
The Texas State Armadillos (_Necessary Roughness_) end the season 1-1-11. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-of-fictional-sports-teams/298596/4 "2005-04-10T00:45:29Z")
Charlie Brown’s baseball team… 0 for god knows. Or did they actually win one? I think not. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2005, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-of-fictional-sports-teams/298596/5 "2005-04-10T00:57:21Z")
CB’s team has won at least two games, at least in the comic strip. The other teams missed their buses or something and forfeited. ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2005, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-of-fictional-sports-teams/298596/6 "2005-04-10T01:09:35Z")
Fortunately, I only know one anime sports team: the Shohoku High School Basketball team of _Slam Dunk_, which has suspicious parallels to the Jordan-era Chicago Bulls. Shohoku was the champions of the Kanagawa (local turney) finals, but they didn’t make it past the first round of the next tier up. (This seems to happen a lot in Shonen sports anime.) Further stats will have to await someone who’s not as lazy as I am. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2005, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-of-fictional-sports-teams/298596/7 "2005-04-10T01:40:35Z")
**dotchan** : You forgot the baseball teams of Inunabe High and Sarutama High. Granted, they only played in one episode, but it was one of the better ones. Looks like I know what I’ll be watching again tonight. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2005, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-of-fictional-sports-teams/298596/8 "2005-04-10T01:52:18Z")
How about the records of the New York Knights from _The Natural_ or the _New York Mammoths_ from _Bang the Drum Slowly_. Not to mention that of _The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings._ ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2005, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-of-fictional-sports-teams/298596/9 "2005-04-10T02:01:48Z")
What? They are a real team?? ---
**Author:** ![JasonG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@JasonG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JasonG)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2005, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-of-fictional-sports-teams/298596/10 "2005-04-10T16:40:36Z")
Thanks for the contribution, \*\* silenus \*\* – though we’d probably write the Armadillos’ record as 1-11-1. In fact, I think that film deserves credit for providing realistic goals and achievements for a bad team. Instead of going “worst to first” like in so many sports films, they just wanted to win ONE game, and/or beat their biggest rivals. How many directors, screenwriters and studio executives would allow their main characters to _keep losing_ throughout the story? While we’re on the subject, I think the hapless California Atoms of “Gus,” – you know, the film where the mule kicked field goals – went from 0-14 to Super Bowl champs, beating the Michigan Mammoths. I don’t know if they were undefeated, which would have put them in the history books alongside the '72 Dolphins. I think Gus may have been kidnapped or unable to play several games, so the Atoms actually lost a few. I’m sure Shula, Griese and Czonka broke out the champagne if/when the Atoms lost. More? ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-of-fictional-sports-teams/298596/11 "2005-04-10T19:49:22Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > CB’s team has won at least two games, at least in the comic strip. The other teams missed their buses or something and forfeited. The Peanuts Collectors’ Club’s FAQ file lists around ten separate occasions in which CB’s team actually won, the most famous of which was in 1994, when the round-headed kid himself hit the game-winning home run. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2005, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-of-fictional-sports-teams/298596/12 "2005-04-10T20:00:17Z")
The Bad News Bears… After a terrible start they won enough to make the playoffs… how many games in a Little Leage season? 30? Let’s say they went 19-11. They won something like 3 of their playoff games, but lost the final. I can’t remember whether or not they won the games in Houston or Japan. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-of-fictional-sports-teams/298596/13 "2005-04-10T23:50:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Charlestown Chiefs (“Slapshot”) > … > and the Mighty Ducks – in that last case, the tail wagged the dog. The tail actually wagged the dog in _Slapshot_, too. It was filmed in Johnstown, PA, and following the movie, the Johnstown minor league hockey team was renamed the Chiefs (I don’t remember the original name). ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-of-fictional-sports-teams/298596/14 "2005-04-11T00:07:40Z")
> [@JasonG](#): > > Some time ago, there was a post about films we never see, such as the film Julia Roberts’ character is making in “Notting Hill,” or the various documentaries Paul Reiser’s character made on “Mad About You.” > > Here’s that link: > > Okay, I can’t find it. I’ve been searching for 40 minutes and I can’t find it. But it was there. Here’s that link…[Favorite movies that never existed?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=213681) Some snide little jerk who I hope got banned was the OP. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-of-fictional-sports-teams/298596/15 "2005-04-11T00:09:48Z")
Not quite the same thing, but the Durham Bulls were an on-again off-again low-level minor league team (folding and being restarted several times) until the making of _Bull Durham_, which “put them on the map” and resulted in them seeking and receiving an International League AAA franchise. [http://www.durhambulls.com/team/history.html?1940-1988](http://www.durhambulls.com/team/history.html?1940-1988) (Fans may be interested to know that the current stadium dates from 1995, but the old stadium featured in the movie still exists, and efforts are underway to preserve it as a baseball historical site.) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-of-fictional-sports-teams/298596/16 "2005-04-11T01:39:01Z")
> [@Neurotik](#): > > > [@JasonG](#): > > > > Anaheim Angels (“Angels in the Outfield”) > > This movie never happened. Would that be the one that supposedly starred Danny Glover or the one that supposedly starred Paul Douglas and Janet Leigh? ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-of-fictional-sports-teams/298596/17 "2005-04-11T03:37:50Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Not quite the same thing, but the Durham Bulls were an on-again off-again low-level minor league team (folding and being restarted several times) until the making of _Bull Durham_, which “put them on the map” and resulted in them seeking and receiving an International League AAA franchise. [Durham Bulls | MiLB.com](http://www.durhambulls.com/team/history.html?1940-1988) Wasn’t _M_A_S_H\*'s Klinger’s beloved Toledo Mudhens a fictional baseball team? They’re a real team now (minor league). ---
**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:** [April 11, 2005, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-of-fictional-sports-teams/298596/18 "2005-04-11T04:17:58Z")
The Toledo Mud Hens were a real minor league team dating back to the turn of the (20th) century, if not earlier. ---
**Author:** ![JasonG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@JasonG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JasonG)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-of-fictional-sports-teams/298596/19 "2005-04-11T04:49:19Z")
Thanks, **Ranchoth** , I knew I wasn’t crazy! Although this post might refute that… Any stats or records of fictional teams, people? Or has this post become “Hey, was that a real team?” Sometimes SDMB OP’s remind me of the poem “I shot an arrow in the air…” Is two ellipses in a post too many? What about three…? ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2005, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-of-fictional-sports-teams/298596/20 "2005-04-11T07:00:37Z")
Well, the Miami Gators lose the World Series (to the Chicago Cubs) in 2015, according to _Back to the Future._ And I _know_ there’s a Star Trek encyclopedia that shows a closeup of a baseball card for Buck Bokai, a MLB player with the London Kings, dated a few decades from now. The card had a few stats on it (I think it mentioned that they played against the “Gotham City Bats” at one point.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-of-fictional-sports-teams/298596.md?page=2)