From the Yankees to the Red Sox, the rivalry between fans of Boston and New York is one of the oldest in American sports. Often, when the Yankees make it to the World Series, they are guaranteed to win it, that is, except for those years when they lost, like in 1996, when they were beaten by the Atlanta Braves. The rivalry between these two teams is so fierce, that when Red Sox fans found out that the Yankees were to win the World Series, some of them burned a Yankees jersey in the streets of Boston. The sports world is full of ups and downs, coming at and from all angles. Yet, despite their best efforts, some teams go through the most trying of times and their misfortunes continue for years, sometimes decades. The good news? These are some of the most unlucky teams in sports history.
The usual rules of sports history don’t apply to the Boston Red Sox. The team that went an unprecedented eight decades without a World Series title has now won three in the last seventeen years. But the Red Sox are just the most famous of sports teams that have turned bad luck into a cruel and lasting legacy. History is littered with teams that have found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory–and then found a way. To win in sports, you have to be physically gifted and have a fighter’s mentality. Winning is a matter of faith, even if sometimes a little luck is involved. A bad decision by the referee can change the course of the match and the team that should have won ends up losing. Some teams are immune to bad refereeing decisions and seem doomed to lose again and again. They are the unluckiest sports teams of all time.
Boston Red Sox
Boston baseball fans are familiar with the curse of the bambino. For those who don’t know: Then Babe Ruth left the Red Sox team to play for their great rivals, the New York Yankees. The Red Sox first had success in the World Series, but when Ruth was traded to the Yankees, everything came to a screeching halt. While the Yankees have won numerous World Series and become the greatest baseball franchise in history, the Red Sox have failed to achieve success. That curse lasted 86 years, from 1918 to 2004, when the Red Sox finally won another World Series. It was a strange confluence of circumstances that made Boston one of the unluckiest teams in history. The unluckiest sports teams of all time
Minnesota Vikings
Imagine being a Vikings fan and knowing that your team has never won a Super Bowl. Not that they didn’t have good teams, they even went 15-1 in one campaign, but then they lost the first game of this post season. In Minnesota, it feels like his team is destined to never get the big win. Even in the last decade, they have made it to the conference championship twice, but lost both times. Since 1970, they have qualified for the postseason 27 times, which is third among the top teams in terms of playoffs. Although they are in the running for the title most years, they can’t win the Super Bowl. In fact, in the 1970s they lost the Super Bowl three times in four years and at this point they should be ridiculously unlucky. They had players, but luck was never with them.
Toronto Maple Leafs and all Canadian NHL franchises
Canadians are good at hockey, right? So why can’t their teams win the Stanley Cup? It’s been over 25 years since a Canadian team last won the Stanley Cup, and that was the Montreal Canadiens. The Toronto Maple Leafs are the epitome of Canada’s problems in the NHL, as they have not won a Stanley Cup since 1967. It’s been more than 50 years since the famous trophy was last awarded, which is a shame considering the franchise won the Stanley Cup for the third time in terms of the number of wins – 13. The unluckiest sports teams of all time These teams, more than any other, have shown what sports curses really look like.
The Maple Leafs and the Vikings can take some inspiration from the fact that the Red Sox have turned things around. They can only hope they don’t have to wait 86 years to break the curse like the Red Sox did.In a sport that is often defined by its unpredictably, teams of all eras have had their share of bad luck. The year could be bad, or the player could just be having an off day, or maybe the whole team gets the “yips” at one point and loses every game they play. Whatever the case, the teams on this list have had some seriously unlucky moments in their history.
Frequently asked questions
What sports team loses the most?
The New York Mets are a baseball team that has suffered one of the longest stretches of losing seasons in MLB history. The Mets have been in the league for 53 years and have had 11 winning seasons, with their last one being in 2008. The Mets have made the playoffs only three times, and have won only one post-season series and one World Series. The Mets are known as the “Lovable Losers” and have had some memorable moments over the years. Did you know that in the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs have had the best winning percentage of any team over the past 20 years? Unfortunately, they’ve also had the most top-ten draft picks – with a total of eleven lottery picks in the last 23 years. Of these eleven lottery picks, Tim Duncan and David Robinson were the only players that managed to stick around for more than a few seasons.
What team has the worst winning percentage in all of sports?
The Chicago Cubs have been playing baseball for well over a century, and have a long history of terrible luck. Some would even argue that the curse of the billy goat kicked off the bad luck of the franchise. The Cubs have been trying to win the World Series for 108 years, and have yet to do it. Even though they have had some very good teams over the years, they have been historically terrible. (And even the best teams in team history have never won the World Series.) Winning a championship is something of a rarity in the world of sports. Since the Super Bowl was founded in 1967, only 22 teams have won the ultimate prize of their respective sports. Of course, there are hundreds of professional teams in the United States, and thousands more across the globe, so it’s not like every team has at least one chance to win a championship. But what about the teams that have the worst winning percentage in all of sports?
Who is the greatest sports team of all time?
With the 2014 World Cup now in the books, who was the greatest team of all time? Brazil is a popular answer, because the Seleção is the only team to have won more than four World Cups. But there are other contenders out there, and one that deserves more attention is the 1992 U.S. Olympic hockey team, which was nicknamed the “Dream Team” because of its unprecedented talent. The NHL players on the team were all stars, but had never had a chance to play together before because of the league’s season-long structure. And the team was unbeatable, going 8-0 to win the gold medal. There are a few factors that go into determining the best sports team of all time. You can look at how many championships they won, their win percentage, head-to-head match ups, and many other factors. The problem is that there are so many different ways to measure the best sports team of all time that it’s difficult to get a consensus. Are you a fan of classic teams like the 1980s Edmonton Oilers that dominated the NHL for the decade, or are you a fan of the stacked rosters of the 1990s Chicago Bulls that won six NBA championships in eight years?
