Most hopeless pro franchises

Everyone is entitled to a down year, or cycle, now and then. But these guys take it to a whole new level, sucking the life out of their fan bases and making one wonder if they will ever see the sunny side of .500, much less the playoffs, ever again.

Who are the worst pro franchises (current or historical)?

Current

1, Baseball: Pittsburgh Pirates (18 straight losing seasons)
Dishonorable mention: Kansas City Royals, Baltimore Orioles (who have the money to be a lot better than they are)

2, Football: Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns

3, Hockey: Florida Panthers

4, Basketball, New Jersey Net
Dishonorable mention: Raptors, Warriors

 

You're taking the Raiders and Browns over the Lions?

 

Basketball: Clippers.
Football: Lions.
Baseball: Pirates
NHL: Who cares?

 

The Phillies had 30 losing seasons in 31 years between 1918 and 1948.

The Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals were a miserable swirl of feces for almost 20 years and it's looking like they're headed back to that.

 

The Islanders are as bad as the Panthers.

The Cavaliers are as bad as the Nets.

The Bills have been pretty awful for 15 years now...

 

How many Cleveland teams can I nominate?

 

I expected to open up this thread and see the answer from Mark as "The teams with the most non-white players".

 

If you're looking forward in terms of prospects for a championship:

MLB: Pirates
NFL: Raiders (as long as Al Davis is alive)
NHL: Thrashers (as long as they are in Atlanta and owned by the current goofballs)
NBA: Tie between the Cavaliers and the Timberwolves
NASCAR: Robby Gordon

 

Q: "How do you feel about the execution of your team?"

A: "I'm in favor of it."

 

MLB -- Orioles/Blue Jays. At least the Pirates have the glimmer of hope of competing in the NL Central. Not like they've taken advantage.
NFL -- Redskins/Lions. Washington has made two playoff appearance since winning the Super Bowl in '92. Ridiculous considering the amount of money that cornholing fuck Snyder has thrown out there.
NHL -- Panthers/Blue Jackets/Thrashers
NBA -- Cavaliers/Timberwolves/Wizards

 

Are you kidding? Anybody who does not put the Clippers at the very top of the NBA list should be barred from further discussion of this issue. The Clippers have BY FAR the most hopeless history in pro basketball, indeed in all of American pro sports, and it's really not even that close. Hell, the Nets and Warriors have histories shrouded in glory compared to the Clippers.

You realize that in the last 32 years the Clippers have only 2 seasons where they even finished above .500? Repeat, only 2 years above .500 in 32 years (http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAC/). And that same stretch includes a 9-41 finish, a 12-70 finish, seven season where their win total was only in the teens, seven seasons where their win total was only in the 20s, they've never won a playoff series, and they've never crossed the 50 win mark in their entire franchise history (including the 8 seasons in Buffalo before moving westward).

On top of that, their long time owner, and the person most associated with the franchise, happens to be one of the most detestable human beings in all of sports.

They do have a ray of hope now with two outstanding young players in Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon, but they'll find a way to screw that up, they always do. In terms of overall historical hopelessness, nobody beats the Clips.

 

Add to that: How many of the Big Four franchises these days are third in the franchise pecking order of their own arena/stadium?