Sports

25 Sports Franchises That Have Always Been Losers

Darren - November 27, 2020

Sports

25 Sports Franchises That Have Always Been Losers

Darren - November 27, 2020

8. Washington Football Team

Two words: Dan Snyder. That’s why Washington is so bad these days. After a 3-13 season in 2019 and increasing misery in 2020, it looks like they’re going to continue slipping into Loserville. Three-time Super Bowl winners with their most recent in 1991, an entire generation of Washington fans have grown up without seeing their team bring home the glory that fans expected over a glorious 10-year period.

Like their division rivals the Dallas Cowboys, Washington is on this list because they should be so much better. However, they’ve developed a loser’s mentality and Snyder’s reign of terror threatens to sink the franchise. With losing records for all four teams this season, it seems like the NFC East is a battle to see who can be the worst instead of the best. The last time they won more than 10 games was in their Super Bowl year. Since then, they’ve been mediocre at best.

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7. Minnesota Timberwolves

Minnesota made the playoffs an astounding once since 2004. This is a team so historically bad that despite having Kevin Garnett for 12 years, they only made it out of the first round one time. You can talk all you like about being a small market team but that argument doesn’t hold up. The San Antonio Spurs are a case in point while the Milwaukee Bucks are moving forward now too.

It’s all about management, or in the case of the Timberwolves, a distinct lack of it. The front office has wasted generations of talent and clearly, fans can’t trust them to set things right. With a .396 winning record, it’s the lowest in the entire NBA. That’s quite simply embarrassing. In sum, Minnesota has a loser’s mentality like few other teams in America’s major leagues. Utterly grim.

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6. Cincinnati Bengals

If it wasn’t for Joe Montana, the Bengals could have been Super Bowl champions. But since then they’ve been absolutely awful. The main reason for their historic dreadfulness is Mike Brown. Does he even want to own a sports franchise? Founded after Paul Brown left Cleveland for an even smaller backwater, the Bengals were up against it from their muddy conception.

They once went 14 years without making the playoffs. Now after flirting with the postseason for a few years they’re looking to make it another five years away in a row. They do have one of the most exciting young quarterbacks in the NFL in Joe Burrow so maybe having a loser’s mentality is just playing the long game. Only time will tell how he returns after MCL and ACL surgery.

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5. Houston Texans

The Texans are up here because some of their most recent decisions are very perplexing. For example, why did they trade of DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals? Hopkins is arguably the best wide receiver in the entire NFL but they said no, we don’t need him. How can you build a winning team with that kind of ludicrous mentality? Meanwhile, they have a genuinely good quarterback in DeShaun Watson.

But they took away his best weapon. Why not just tie his throwing arm behind his back? Overall, the Texans are a mess. They made the ridiculous decision to give Bill O’Brien the dual role of the head coach and GM. This was never going to end well because he was effectively answerable to himself. The Texans have made poor choice after poor choice. Shut them down and bring back the Oilers.

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5. Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres are the proud owners of the worst NHL record since 2011. Unfortunately, they are good at something but that something is losing. Of course, this makes it much more difficult to incentivize fans to come to games and support their team. It’s strange because on the face of it they have done some things properly. Buffalo fans are passionate and continue to come to games, while they also have drafted well.

But the Sabres play very badly. They haven’t featured in the postseason for an agonizing 10 years. When you have the New York Rangers, the most valuable franchise in the NHL, downstate, then you need to get some good results. However, with such a bad organization, it’s difficult to see where they will get those wins. This franchise could and should be much more than it is. That’s what makes them so disappointing and puts them high on this list.

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4. San Diego Padres

The Padres made the playoffs again in 2020 just to prove that the end of the world was approaching. This was only 14 years since they last featured in the postseason and only the sixth time in their entire history. But this team has always had a loser’s mentality. Founded in 1968, it took them 10 years to post their first winning season. Since then they’ve consistently disappointed.

In 1984 and 1998 they made the World Series but lost to strong Tigers and Yankees teams. But it’s the way they responded to these losses that is interesting. In short, we’re talking of years in the wilderness without making the postseason again. Furthermore, with the San Francisco Giants and LA Dodgers relatively nearby, this smaller franchise is always going to be up against it.

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3. Charlotte Hornets

The Hornets have never made it past the Conference semifinals and to be honest, it doesn’t look like they will in the near future. Michael Jordan’s vanity project ironically hasn’t made him look good at all as they have become one of the most pointless franchises in the NFL. The irony is that they weren’t bad in the ’90s and were actually one of the hipster fans’ teams of choice. But their losing mentality is too big to ignore.

One issue is the comparatively small base. This means that every executive decision when it comes to drafting and trading players needs to be on point if you want to be competitive. But Jordan and his cronies have messed this up time after time. They’ve lost the likes of Gerald Wallace, drafted one of the biggest busts ever in Kwame Brown, and wasted number-one pick after number-one pick. It’s just endless misery.

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2. Detroit Lions

One of just four NFL teams never to win the Super Bowl, it’s been a grim few years for the Lions. In truth, they could easily top this list because they’re just so bad year in, year out. Whenever they make the playoff, which isn’t very often, they inevitably crash out in the first round. Furthermore, in recent years they have one of the worst offenses in the entire league and no plan to sort it out.

A lack of identity and terrible ownership compounds this team’s problems. Historically the worst team in NFL history, they just don’t know what they’re doing. In sum, this goes beyond a losing mentality. It’s a losing culture. Only time will tell if they can ever snap out of this and end their fans’ purgatory. If a genie ever gives you a wish, ask to live as long as it takes for the Lions to win a Super Bowl.

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1. New York Jets

Is there a more depressing franchise on the planet right now than the New York Jets? In sum, they are a complete mess with a loser’s mentality. Their only championship win came all the way back in Super Bowl III in 1968. But they’ve fallen a long way since Joe Namath was their starting quarterback. Including 2020, they’ve had one winning season in the past 10 years but missed out on the playoffs then too.

Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of their playoff appearances are in the wildcard round when they almost inevitably drop out right away. The problem is that when you’re so bad for so long, fans stop getting angry. When they stop complaining then that’s dangerous because it means they no longer care. I’m just saying that when your fans start wearing paper bags on their heads you should start worrying.

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