This far without a mention of the Devil Rays yet? Their expansion contemporaries have already won a World Series, and they’ve yet to win more than 70 games in a season. Overpaid, washed up veterans (Greg Vaughan, Jose Canseco), underpaid, never-will-be nobodies, horrible management, even worse general management (Cam Bonifay, anyone?), no attendance, no chances for the future, but still won’t be contracted because they’re in the president’s brothers state. How many more years must we watch this pathetic spectacle?
AHEM… The Jets did have a horrible 80-81 season and YES it was only 9 wins BUT they were a stripped down version of the team that existed in the 78-79 year. When the Jets were entered into the NHL the league in it’s wisdom stripped the club of any talent that it had by saying that certain players were still legally ‘owned’ by the NHL club and not the formwe WHA club. As a result several of the players that made the Jets into a dominant team in the WHA were sent off to their fromer NHL clubs. IF the jets had been able to keep all of their player they would have gone down in history as one of the best initial seasons rather then the worst. They would have challenged for The Cup!!!
The Angels. 30-odd years of futility. Atrocious personnel decisions. Poor financial management. Pathetic attempts at building a fan base. Haven’t won a World Series. Haven’t been to the post-season since 1986. Two postseason appearances in 20 years. Just sad.
Well said. Angels have sucked all over the place by choking at clutch times and now they have backing by “The Great Satan of Anaheim”…Disney
And lets not forget that Disney has a stake along with their “GOD LET’S KILL THEM NOW” hockey team “Mighty Ducks”. Easily the dumbest thing ever set on Anaheim since they banned Tortilla Tossing at the Big A. They clamp down on real hockey, discourage everything but the kitchen sink against fighting, then go out and bring in Stu Grimshaw, who was born to play for the 1976 Philadelphia Flyers if there ever was a goon born in the wrong time.
Me…I wanted em named “The Orange Crush” but now we get a 3 rate team named after a 9 rate movie. Let’s not forget the big ass Wildwing statue up front to cause more laughter.
A few corrections.
The Arizona Cardinals have only made the playoffs once, but the St. Louis Cardinals made two playoff appearances in the 1970s, so that’s three in the last 30 years. And the Cardinals did win one playoff game against the Cowboys a couple of years ago.
The Clippers have made the playoffs three times since they moved to L.A., but they lost in the first round each time. The Clippers’ ancestors, the Buffalo Braves did win one playoff series back in 1976.
I’ve always been fascinated with the train wreck that was the Cleveland Spiders.
And I love the name.
The Spiders.
I wanna root for a team called the Spiders.
**Sorry, I have to break in for a moment -
On a personal note - Vinnie - It’s Winnipeg not Winnepeg.
Okay, carry on…**
Since I WAS 8th Grade Geography Bowl Champion in 1982, you can rack that one to a typo.
Thanks for the check on the Cardinals and the Clippers, I think we can include the New Orleans Saints, who have one playoff win in their entire history to that list as well (I’m 99% sure that one is true).
As the 1980-81 Winnipeg Jets, all that is true, the Jets were an incredible WHA team, didnt they have an all Swede line? Nonetheless, with that record, for that year, they must be included.
For that matter, can we also include the post World Series Florida Marlins?
A slight nod to the PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES- they have put together some great teams, but one World Series win in over 100 years? Pathetic. (Sorry, Philly sports fan pout)
[SOAPBOX] They should be included but as a long time suffering fan I felt that it needed some justification. The Jets had some AMAZING talent. Willy Lindstrom, Kent Nilsson, Ulf Nilsson, Handers Hedberg, Bobby ‘The Golden Jet’ Hull, Lars-Erik Sjoberg to name a few. Glen Sather commented once that he modeled the Oiler team of the early 90s after the speedy skilled Jets team of the late 70s. ** [/SOAPBOX]**
The Chicago/St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals were one of the founding franchises of the NFL, back in that Canton auto dealership in 1929, and have exactly one (1) playoff win in their entire history. The New Orleans Aints only go back to 1968 or so.
Dave, you probably know this already but the University of Richmond (VA) calls its teams the Spiders.
I nominate the Montreal Expos as the worst team. They’ve made only 1 playoff appearance since their birth in 1969, and that was during the strike year of 1981. They had decent but not great teams from 1979 to 1981, with Gary Carter, Andre Dawson and Steve Rogers, and could never quite put it together. Their only other good year was 1994, when they were in first place when the great unpleasantness cancelled the season.
Hey, give the football Cardinals more credit. They have TWO playoff wins. And one NFL championship.
The Chicago Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL championship game in 1947, 28-21.
The Cardinals lost in 1948 to Philadelphia, 7-0 in a game played in a heavy snowstorm.
The Cardinals won the NFC East in 1974 and 1975, but lost playoff games to Minnesota and Los Angeles.
In 1998 the Cardinals WON their SECOND playoff game, beating the Cowboys in a wild card game. They lost to the Vikings in the next round, but gave them a good game.