Next year’s champions, missing the ring, a legacy of bums?

Sports Thoughts for May 14, 2010 — Next year’s champions, missing the ring, a legacy of bums?

Please allow me to make the following disclaimer — I am not a big NBA fan. I am not gaga over LeBron James. While he’s a very talented player, perhaps one of the best currently in the NBA, I don’t care if he wins an NBA title or not, how many MVP awards he wins, or which uniform he wears next season and beyond.

That being said, I am fascinated with “losing” in professional sports, especially from a historical perspective.

1. “Next Year’s Champions”

Is it possible the Cleveland Cavaliers may never win an NBA title with LeBron James and head coach Mike Brown leading the way? Sure. Is it possible the Cavs may someday finally put it all together after multiple years of post-season disappointments? Sure. Allow me to introduce you to a few NBA teams who spent several years chasing a title only to keep falling short:

1990s New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers
2000s Dallas Mavericks

This year became next year, and next year eventually becomes never, despite rosters loaded with talented players along with passionate coaches, owners, and/or fans.

Is this phenomenon unique to basketball? Take a look at this MLB list:

1940s and 1950s Brooklyn Dodgers
1960s, 1970s, 1980s Boston Red Sox
1950s and 1990s Cleveland Indians
1960s and 1970s Philadelphia Phillies
1990s and 2000s Atlanta Braves
21st Century Chicago Cubs

How about the NFL?

New York Giants, 1958-1963
Oakland Raiders, 1967-1977
Dallas Cowboys, 1966-1985
Minnesota Vikings, 1968-2009
Los Angeles Rams, 1967-1990
Cleveland Browns, 1968-1989
Buffalo Bills, 1989-1998
Denver Broncos, 1977-1996
Philadelphia Eagles, 2000-2009
Early 1970s and early 1990s San Francisco 49ers
Late 1970s New England Patriots
1970s Washington Redskins
Post-1973 Miami Dolphins

Some of these teams provided fans nothing but heartache and disappointment year after year. The old Brooklyn Dodgers’ mantra was always “wait until next year” while the Yankees dominated the interborough world series during two decades. By the time Brooklyn won the 1955 world series, their fans had been eating their hearts out since prior to Pearl Harbor. For all post-season visits by the Atlanta Braves, they only won one world series. Fans on Chicago’s north side are STILL waiting for the Cubs to appear in the world series again, much less win it.

In the NFL, heartache is synonymous with the Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills, four-time super bowl losers, 0-4 in super bowl appearances. Since ruling the NFL in 1972-73 with back-to-back super bowl titles, the Miami Dolphins continue to disappoint their fans. Cleveland Browns fans curse the days of losing the AFC championship to the Denver Broncos, while Broncos fans cursed their super bowl disappointments until almost the very end of John Elway’s career.

And, of course, Philadelphia Eagles fans cry out for a reprieve from purgatory despite head coach Andy Reid and the recently traded Donovan McNabb leading them to 5 NFC championship games during a 10-year stretch.

But Eagles fans have nothing on the New York Giants, Oakland Raiders, and Dallas Cowboys of decades ago.

Between 1958 and 1963, the Giants lost 5 NFL title games — two to Weeb Ewbank’s Colts, two to Vince Lombardi’s Packers, and the last to George Halas’ Chicago Bears.

Between 1967 and 1977, the Oakland Raiders were indeed committed to excellence, but the “Pride and Poise” boys offered this post-season legacy, most under hall of fame head coach John Madden:

1967 — lost Super Bowl II to Green Bay, 33-14
1968 — lost AFL title game to New York Jets, 27-23
1969 — lost AFL title game to Kansas City Chiefs, 17-7
1970 — lost AFC title game to Baltimore Colts, 27-17
1972 — lost AFC divisional game to Pittsburgh Steelers, 13-7
1973 — lost AFC title game to Miami Dolphins, 27-10
1974 — lost AFC title game to Pittsburgh Steelers, 24-7
1975 — lost AFC title game to Pittsburgh Steelers, 16-10
1977 — lost AFC title game to Denver Broncos, 20-17

For all the accomplishments of the Oakland Raiders of the 1960s and 1970s, they won only one super bowl, to cap the 1976 season, against everyone’s super bowl punching bag, the Minnesota Vikings, 32-14. During an 11-season stretch, the Raiders fell short 9 times, and even missed the playoffs in 1971.

People refer to the Cowboys as “America’s Team”, but forget how painfully long it took for Tom Landry’s team to break a pattern of post-season disappointments to finally win Super Bowl VI after the 1971 season. Until that point, they lost two NFL title games to Lombardi’s Packers (1966-67), lost two NFL divisional games to Cleveland (1968-69), and lost Super Bowl V to Baltimore (1970). And for all of Landry’s run of post-season appearances, the Cowboys were 2-3 in super bowls, and lost in the NFL or NFC playoffs 13 times (1966-69, 1972-73, 1976, 1979-1983, 1985). In fact, after losing Super Bowl V, the Cowboys were dubbed “Next Year’s Champions.”

2. The ring’s the thing

If LeBron James never wins an NBA title, does this make him a bum? If it does, allow me to introduce you to part of a very long list of bums from the NBA, MLB, and NFL...

Patrick Ewing Ernie Banks Merlin Olsen
Allen Iverson Carl Yazstremski Deacon Jones
Charles Barkley Carlton Fisk Sonny Jurgensen
John Stockton Luis Tiant Gayle Sayers
Karl Malone Nomar Garciapara Dick Butkus
Elgin Baylor Jim Rice Joe Klecko
Bob Lanier Barry Bonds Dan Marino
Dirk Nowitski Don Mattingly Fran Tarkenton

While winning a title is a clincher for one’s professional sports career, there’s an incredibly long list of stars in the NBA, NFL, and MLB who’ve never won a title or even played in a title game.

3. Coaches who can’t win the big one?

We all know about the long struggles of Tom Landry and John Madden in their quest to win a super bowl, but these are just two examples. Don Shula, the winningest coach in NFL history, didn’t win his first super bowl title until the third try, and spent the last 20-odd years chasing a third that never came. Were Bud Grant and Marv Levy great coaches? You bet, but they were also 4-time super bowl losers. Was Dan Reeves a very good coach? Yes, but he also lost four super bowls. Mike Ditka? For all his great achievements with the 1980s Chicago Bears, he only won one super bowl, the only one his Bears ever played in.

Want an even longer list of coaching losers who were hardly slouches? Try Marty Shottenheimer, Bum Phillips, George Allen, Chuck Knox, and Don Coryell.

What about in the NBA? For all their years of success and winning, Don Nelson, Larry Brown, Lenny Wilkins, Dick Motta, and Rick Adelman are among a list of coaches who have known much more disappointment than exhilaration.

How about MLB managers? For all his years of success, Tony LaRusa has only won two world series, same as Tommy Lasorda. Consider that long-time deans of the managerial fraternity, Jim Leyland, Lou Pinella, Mike Scioscia, and Bobby Cox each only won one world series, same as Leo Durocher, Davey Johnson and the great Earl Weaver. Dusty Baker never won a world series. Neither did Gene Mauch.

What’s my point? Win or lose, there are many players and coaches in sports history who have made great contributions to their sport and never won the big one. While we measure legacies in terms of championships, we need to appreciate how rare it is for the vast majority of players and coaches to win one or even play for one.