You heard it here first (see “It starts with the Cavs,” May 9, 2016). This is it: the Cleveland Cavs are shoo-ins for an NBA championship. The same town (henceforth known as “Believe-land”) that’s going to nominate Donald Trump on his way to becoming president just after the nearby Chicago Cubs win the World Series. This is the year of the unthinkable, the unbelievable.
Welcome to Believeland.
Having had now a bit of time to reflect on the 2015-16 Washington Capitals season I can say I’m still disappointed, of course, but this was hardly the most egregious example of a great team with a playoff meltdown. The 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings had 131 points in the regular season (11 more than the Caps this year) and lost in the Western Conference Finals to the Colorado Avalanche. The 2001 Seattle Mariners won 116 games but lost in the ALCS to the New York Yankees four games to one. The 2007 Patriots? UNLV from ’91? Not every great team brings home a title.
Any team can lose one game or one playoff series. Upsets happen. This is why dynasties are rare. But the thing about great teams is, eventually they win a championship. You’ve got to come out on top some time, right?
Enter the Rock the Red era Caps.
Since the 2007-2008 campaign, the Washington Capitals have finished either first or second in their division in eight of nine seasons, including six first-place finishes.
And zero trips to the Stanley Cup Finals.
As a matter of fact, no trips even to the Conference Finals, a feat not accomplished since 1998, when the team won the only Conference championship in its 41-year existence.
This got me to thinking: which teams really are the greatest teams not to win a championship? That is, really good for a number of years but never sealing the deal and bringing home a title. The list is trickier to compile than one might think, because, once again, most good teams do eventually win a title. The great Brooklyn Dodger teams of the late ’40s and ’50s? They lost four World Series in seven years (all to the Yankees) but finally won one in ’55. The great Laker teams of the 1960s? They lost seven finals in nine years but finally got it done in ’72 with a final hurrah for Wilt and Jerry West. The Braves of the ’90s into this century? They won 14 division titles in 15 years (finishing second only in the strike-shortened ’94 season) but did win a title towards the beginning of their dominance in 1995. Disappointing in the following decade? Yes, but a mere honorable mention to this Top Five Teams Never to Win a Championship.
5. Los Angeles Rams, 1973-79. A stingy defense led by Jack Youngblood brought the ’70s Rams seven division titles in a row. One Super Bowl appearance. And zero titles. Legendary coach Chuck Knox was actually let go after the ’77 season due to his not being able to take the Rams to the Super Bowl. Their one appearance came in Super Bowl XIV (Jan. 1980), which they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
4. Detroit Tigers, 1907-09. If you’re ever wondering how many World Series Ty Cobb, the greatest badass of them all, won in his career the answer is zero. In fact, old Ty lost three in a row from 1907-09. Cobb spent these seasons playing with rightfielder Sam Crawford, one of the great hitters of the Deadball Era, a two-time home run champ and still the MLB career leader in triples with 309. Pretty good one-two punch. Alas, no World Series titles.
3. The “Phi Slamma Jamma” Houston Cougars, 1982-84. These were the high-flying teams of Hakeem (then “Akeem”) Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. Coach Guy Lewis not only condoned fast breaks and dunks as part of his team’s play, he insisted on it. Three Final Fours in a row and appearances in the ’83 and ’84 Championship Games, but came up short each time. Houston basketball hasn’t been the same since.
2. The “Moneyball” Oakland Athletics, 2000-03. Most people today assume these teams were managed by Brad Pitt. In 2011’s Moneyball Pitt plays A’s GM Billy Beane, he of the Sabermetric revolution pioneered by statistician Bill James. The real-life A’s won 91, 102, 103, and 96 games in 2000-03 but never appeared in the World Series. In fact, they never won a playoff series, a dubious honor the other teams on this list cannot claim. (Sometimes WAR and VORP just don’t cut it in a short series.) Two MVPs (Giambi, Tejada), one Cy Young (Barry Zito), three division crowns. Four straight losses in the ALDS.
And, speaking of four straight losses… the Greatest Team Never to Win a Championship:
1. Buffalo Bills, 1990-93. Everyone knows this one. Losing four Super Bowls in a row is quite a feat by any standard, and the Bills were actually coming off division titles in the previous two seasons as well. Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith, Marv Levy… Scott Norwood. Jokes aside, the Bills had great teams in the early ’90s. The greatest, in fact, Never to Win a Championship.
Surprise, surprise, the Oklahoma City Thunder are off to play the Warriors in the NBA’s Western Conference Finals, spurring the Spurs last night in Game Six of their semifinal matchup. I’m a bit disappointed not to see a Game Seven there, but given the last couple game sevens I’ve seen (cough—hockey) I’m not sure I’m missing too much.
This is what passes for a sob story where I live.
Front-page article in my local rag—that’s The Washington Post—Sunday about poor old Loudoun County, where million-dollar homes now sell for only $900,000. Or some such thing.
Kind of makes hockey losses seem pretty insignificant.
I’ve been waiting for two NBA matchups all season (haven’t we all?): San Antonio/Golden State in the Western Conference Finals and Golden State/Cleveland in the Finals (with about a 99% chance Golden State will win). Could have locked those up in October.
How quickly we dismiss the Eastern Conference, even with its venerable soon-to-be champion. Has not Cleveland more than any Western team seemed most dominant in its games thus far? Will this be the year?
The Cavs.
The Cubs.
Donald Trump.
This is the year of the unthinkable.
Start believing.
The Capitals may be down three games to one, the Wizards and Nationals may have missed good chances to make the playoffs last year, and the Redskins’ 2015 run may have been a fluke, but all is right in the D.C. sports world because of one thing.
The return of The Sports Reporters on ESPN 980.
Taken off the air three years ago, TSR has returned among a myraid of changes at WTEM, around here proudly called “Redskins Radio.” What was behind shuffling around pretty much every show the station offers was never really explained, but I’m in favor of whatever brings Andy Pollin back to a regular slot, teamed now again with perhaps my favorite sports radio personality (and neighbor) Steve Czaban.
If you’re in the DMV, check out The Sports Reporters weekdays from 4-7 p.m., or catch any 980 programming anywhere from its “audio vaults” at www.espn980.com.
I’m Michael O’Connell and approve this message.
Former New York State Senator Tom Libous (“R”-Binghamton) died yesterday in the community he professed to care so much about. Over the past 24 hours there have been many glowing tributes among the political class, “business” leaders, and boot-licking local media outlets.
This will not be one of them.
In “The Barry Bonds of Binghamton” (Nov. 30, 2015) I told you I’ve said it many times before and I’ll say it again in his obituary: Tom Libous was a blight on the Southern Tier for 30 years and did irreparable harm to the community he professed to care so much about.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Libous’s legal troubles the past few years? Those which made him lose his senate seat and would have landed him in jail had not the man been dying anyway?
His fall from grace is no stain on his legacy: it is a perfect illustration of a career of malfeasance.
Agreed. And as decorum prevents gloating in an obituary, I will stop there.
Simply put, Tom Libous is gone. And I am glad. As one who has made a career of saying the emperor has no clothes, I will say it one final time when no one else seems willing to do so.
In addition to ruining the community in which I grew up, Tom Libous used his influence time and again to harass and intimidate me personally and professionally for a decade. It stopped when I left.
Well, now both of us have left.
Goodbye, Tom Libous.
Goodbye.
Watching the Golden State Warriors yesterday do their thing even without their brightest star made me realize I should triple-double down on whatever bets I can take for them to win the NBA championship. Lock it up.
I wish I could say the same for the Caps, Caps, Caps, though I proceed with the cautious optimism growing among the vast wilds of suburban D.C. Look for tonight’s matchup to be a tone setter.
And in the game of base… how about the delightful assortment of aces on parade yesterday throughout MLB? They say baseball doesn’t market its stars; by divine or planned intervention yesterday’s pitching performances were a treat for the most casual or diehard fan. Leading the charge, of course, was a certain Mr. Kershaw of Los Angeles, who not only pitched a shutout while fanning 14 and surrendering zero walks—compiling a game score of 95 for those of you interested in such things—but knocked in the game’s only run!
Then there were my friends visiting Fenway Park. For once I was not envious of those sitting in the rain and cold of Boston in May. A classic Yankees-Red Sox affair, no doubt, won unfortunately by the home team to complete their sweep of my beloved and recently hapless Bronx Bombers. Proof again, though, why these teams deserve to play on the national stage every night of the week.
And now we commence the silly part of the day known to some as “work,” and to others, “no sports happening yet.”
It would be hard to top last night’s lineup on TV, especially if you care about things that are awesome. NFL Draft, Capitals hockey (woot woot!), The Eighties, Archer, and… bonus after midnight… It’s Arbor Day, Charlie Brown (that one I had on DVD).
Happy Arbor Day, everyone!
I love thinking about the environment…
On TV!
You’ve got to hand it to truTV. You know truTV—that other station that shows NCAA Tournament games? All through March I intended to watch some of their other programming but never got around to it. Well, better late than never.
If you want to watch something good before more episodes of Better Call Saul roll around, check out Adam Conover’s Adam Ruins Everything. A few episodes in I’m already hooked. (You should be able to see a bunch on demand.) Without giving too much away, Adam’s got the exact show I’d put together were I doing a TV show again, so yeah, thanks, Adam. Now I don’t have to. Ruined that too
Sort of a Freakonomics brought to the screen, few have presented the “dismal science” so cleverly. Adam’s energy and enthusiasm for his topics is contagious, and he ruins otherwise happy thoughts like charity and democracy with great flair. I don’t think he’d ever admit to being a Republican, but it’s hard to watch without feeling at least pro-free market.
Nice work, truTV. See you again in March.