My 5 Best (and Worst) Franchises of the Last 25 Years

I was born in the 80s, so I’ve been watching sports for about 25 years (since 1988).

In that quarter-century, many franchises spanning the "Big Four" leagues (MLB, NBA, NHL and NFL) have separated themselves from the pack: some in a dominating way, and some in an embarrassing way.

Without further adieu, this is how I view the five best and five worst franchises of the past 25 years.

The Dominators:

1. Detroit Red Wings—As a huge Wings fan, I may be a little biased, but the proof is in the pudding.  The Wings haven’t missed the playoffs since the 1990 season. That’s a longtime folks. Oh, and in that span they’ve won four Stanley Cups and finished runner-up two other times. Not to mention taking home 14 divisional banners.  They’re also on their way to an NHL-record 12^th consecutive 100-point plus season. Did I mention there’s also a salary cap that the Wings have to abide by? Enough said!

2. New York Yankees—The Yankees are the most successful franchise in sports history. But let me preface that by saying that if there was a salary cap in Major League Baseball, this franchise would be nothing but average. They constantly over pay for stars (and even fringe players—hello AJ Burnett). Why is an average Joe like Burnett making $85 million? I guess because it’s the Yankees. Why is A-Rod getting paid $25 million per season when he’s no longer an elite player? Because it’s the Yankees. Why are they paying their closer (an admittedly great one) $15 million per year? Because it’s the Yankees. The Yanks’ have won five World Series and 12 divisional crowns in this time frame. They also reached the playoffs for 14 straight seasons before failing to do so in 2008. But as I said, it’s all about the money with them.

3. Los Angeles Lakers— Despite doing virtually nothing in the 90s, the Kobe Bryants (I mean Lakers) have won six championships in this era (including a threepeat from 2000-2002. They also have four runner-ups (two after losing to my Detroit Pistons). There’s a reason this team plays on Christmas Day every single year.

4. Chicago Bulls—The Bulls Might be No. 1 if not for the fact they’ve done nothing since 1998. Winning six championships in the 90s kind of makes up for that I guess. The Bulls had a guy (Michael Jordan) that simply would not let his team lose in the NBA Finals (they were a perfect 6-for-6). Had Jordan’s father not been tragically murdered, we might be talking about the eight-consecutive-championships Bulls.

5. San Antonio Spurs—The Spurs were kind of an afterthought as a franchise, and then something magical happened. They were so bad in 1996-97 that they managed to land the No. 1 pick in the draft, and the rest was history. Tim Duncan anyone? The guy might be a bore, but he led the Spurs to four championships from 1999-2007 (never losing in the Finals) and might be the best power forward of all-time.

The Embarrassments:

1. Los Angeles Clippers—The ugly stepchild (to the Lakers) have had a tough go of it. The Clips have only won a single playoff series and made the playoffs just four times in these 25 years. The good news for them is that nothing lasts forever, and with Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and company, the Clippers finally have some hope.

2. Detroit Lions—One name: Matt Millen. One word: moron. You have to be pretty darn bad to take over a franchise that had just gone 9-7, and lead them to eight straight losing seasons (including an 0-fer in 2008). I guess that’s what happens when you take 19 straight WRs in the first round. The Lions weren’t that bad until Millen arrived, and even made the playoffs six times in the 90s, though they won just one playoff game. It’s no coincidence that after the Lions finally canned Millen, they started building a great core of young stars, and seem to have a bright future ahead of them after going 10-6 this past season.

3. Columbus Blue Jackets/Florida Panthers—Flip a coin with these two non-factor NHL franchises. Now, the Jackets get a bit of a pass as they’ve only been around for 10 seasons, but in those 10 seasons, they’ve only made the playoffs once, and they got swept in the first round. And now, wouldn’t ya know it, they’re by far the worst team in the league this season. It’s going to get a lot worse before it gets better for these guys. The Panthers have been around a little longer (18 seasons), but they haven’t made the playoffs in 11 seasons and haven’t won a series since 1996.

4. Pittsburgh Pirates—Call it the curse of Barry Bonds. Ever since their near miss against the Atlanta Braves in the 1992 ALCS (they lost game 7), it’s been all downhill for this franchise, to the tune of 18 consecutive losing seasons. It’s no coincidence that the losing started when they let the best player of our era (Bonds) get away when they determined that he wasn’t worth the same money as Andy Van Slyke. Ouch!

5. Cincinnati Bengals—The Bungles, I mean Bengals, have made the playoffs five times in the last 25 years, but haven’t won a playoff game since 1990, after which they promptly endured a stretch of 15 years without making the playoffs. At least they are no longer home to the most overrated WR of our generation in Chad Ochocinco.