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What is the most disappointing single season for a pro sports team ever?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Mizzougrad96, Apr 10, 2013.

  1. Stoney

    Stoney Well-Known Member

    Yes. And they showed it to me. I was surrounded by plenty of them during that time period. And my family's full of em too. There's never been a more ecstatic-with-their-team fan base in all of pro sports than Bears fans from 85 until, oh, right around early afternoon on January 3, 1987.
     
  2. JeffRoper

    JeffRoper Guest

    I'm amused at all the college teams mentioned in a thread titled most disappointing season for a PRO team
     
  3. YGBFKM

    YGBFKM Guest

    What about the 1987 season? They went 13-3. What about the 1988 season, when they returned to the NFC title game? Where those fans still ecstatic?
     
  4. Michael_ Gee

    Michael_ Gee Well-Known Member

    The idea that teams which lose in the playoffs are historically disappointing is simply asinine. ALL playoff eliminations are disappointing by definition. The '11 Phillies, to chose an example cited previously, lost their elimination game 1-0 in a pitcher's duel. That means their whole division-winning season is invalid? The '07 Pats were disappointing at 16-1? Sorry, I think that's missing the point of the thread. The '11 Red Sox, now there was a disappointment. Hyped as greatest team in franchise history, goes 0 for September to miss the playoffs.
     
  5. Versatile

    Versatile Active Member

    I take it you'd rather go 2-14 than 14-2 with a first-round playoff loss.

    Playoffs are horrible arbiters of good seasons, particularly one-and-done scenarios. The 1986 Bears were a great team that showed that greatness consistently through the four-month regular season. One bad Sunday shouldn't ruin that. I'm sorry if it did.

    I guess I should hedge all this by saying I'm a fan with exceedingly low expectations. I was fine with Mike Shula. I am very conservative on matters of coach firings, at least ones with proven track records. I didn't think the Eagles should have fired Andy Reid or UCLA should have fired Ben Howland.

    That said, the big thing for me is that the regular season is a better indicator of a team's quality than the postseason. The 1986 Bears were one of the two best teams in the NFL. They lost their first playoff game by happenstance. That's not reflective of the team. That's reflective of the random-ass nature of single-elimination playoff formats.
     
  6. kingcreole

    kingcreole Active Member

    1996. Jason Whitlock picked the Chiefs to go 16-0, Sports Illustrated picked them to go to the Super Bowl.

    Team finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs.
     
  7. KYSportsWriter

    KYSportsWriter Well-Known Member

    The 2001 Yankees would like a word with you.

    That hit by Gonzalez still haunts me.
     
  8. qtlaw

    qtlaw Well-Known Member

    Tony Womack never turned on another inside fastball for the rest of his life; not even in LL practice with his kids.
     
  9. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    I think, to further clarify the point, that the '86 Bears are particularly disappointing in hindsight because we now know the hope for a dynasty, which seemed like a foregone conclusion at the time, would resoundingly never come to pass.
     
  10. Stoney

    Stoney Well-Known Member

    Only to their delusional fanbois and kiddies wearing Bear pajamas. To the rational and objective, an NFL "dynasty" is never a "foregone conclusion", at most it was regarded as a possibility.

    Sorry, I ain't about to buy the argument that a 14-2 season should be regarded amongst the most disappointing ever because it didn't match the irrational expectations of childhood Dick.
     
  11. YGBFKM

    YGBFKM Guest

    Are you a Chicagoan? One of those city dwellers from Naperville?
     
  12. Versatile

    Versatile Active Member

    We're talking about the most disappointing single season for a pro sports team ever, not the most disappointing single season to you as a fan. I would say a reasonable rule of thumb in this kind of debate is to realize that you can't fairly evaluate teams you have ties to. There's no way to be objective about them.
     
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