Oh those poor Cougs.
Being raised a Washington Huskies fan, it takes a lot for me to have sympathy for a rival school’s athletic program, but the Washington State Cougars truly pulled at my heartstrings during the annual Apple Cup match between the two Washington schools on Saturday, Nov. 28.
I feel for you Cougar fans; it wasn’t long ago when the Huskies were pretty terrible themselves, but the Cougs have got to be one of the most inept Division I football teams I’ve seen in a while.
No matter how good or bad of a season WSU is having, they always seem to put out a good showing against rival UW in the Apple Cup, but even the sub-par Huskies were overwhelming for them this year.
A 30-0 thumping by the Dawgs was an explanation of the Cougar’s season in a nutshell.
However, while the Cougars have had a rough season, believe it or not they aren’t the only team struggling. In fact, one NBA team has had a harder time than WSU.
The New Jersey Nets won their first game of the season last Friday after losing 18 straight to start the season. After 16 straight losses, original head coach Lawrence Frank lost his job.
The 0-18 start is the worst start to a season in NBA history.
With their first win on Friday, Dec. 6, it was a big sigh of relief for Nets players and supporters, while the horrendous start of the season brought a bit of celebration around the league for a team that’s most likely a lost cause less than 20 games into the season.
When it comes to sports, whether it is NCAA football or NBA basketball, there will always be good teams, there will always be bad teams and sadly there will always be terrible teams.
Inspired by the teams above, let’s take a look at some of the worst teams of all time in hopes the Cougs and Nets don’t let themselves become part of this conversation in the future.
So, without further adieu, here is a list of some of the worst teams of all time:
Card-Pitt (NFL)- In 1944, the war caused NFL teams to merge. The combination of the Chicago Cardinals and the Pittsburg Steelers (“Card-Pitt”) went 0-10. Now, many teams have gotten the full season bagel, but what sets the Card-Pitt apart is the fact that three players were fined after one game for “inept playing.” One of the quarterbacks, John McCarthy, threw 13 interceptions and zero touchdowns; I bet he used something bigger than the broad side of a barn for target practice.
Boston Braves (MLB)- The Boston Braves have the third worst baseball record of all time at 38-115, but what makes them the worst is Babe Ruth was on the team and they still stunk. In fact, he wasn’t much help to the cause as 40- year-old Ruth batted .181 in his 72 at-bats before retiring midseason. My guess is by that age the Babe’s beer belly had gotten so big he couldn’t even swing the bat anymore.
Philadelphia 76ers (NBA)- The 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers had a season so bad it is astounding. Three quarters of the way through the season they were 4-58 while riding a 21-game losing streak. After going through a “hot” streak late in the season, they finished the season with 13 straight losses and a record of 9-73. If Allen Iverson was on the team, there is no way he would be showing up to practice.
While we never like to see teams do extremely poorly, it is a reality in sports that some teams will just be terrible.
When it’s the team we root for, despite the fact that we’re afraid to watch SportsCenter to see what Stuart Scott has to say about our team’s latest defeat, we find comfort in next season’s aspirations.
But in this light, sports can teach us one very valuable lesson: when all else is down and nothing seems to be going right, we always have hope.
God bless you Cougar and Nets fans.
Contact Colin Zalewski at editor@whitworthian.com.
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