10 Franchises That Can't Catch a Break
Misfortune is not equally distributed among sports franchises. Instead, some teams enjoy euphoric highs while others toil in frustration for years, even decades.
Although talent and smart planning certainly play a part, some teams just always seem to catch the breaks. The Indianapolis Colts landed the jackpot when they picked No. 1 the year Peyton Manning came out of school, and they struck gold again when the star quarterback got hurt right in time to replace him with Andrew Luck.
The New York Yankees can't even lose when they try. Despite trading three of their key veterans (Carlos Beltran, Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller) in July, they played better in August with rookie Gary Sanchez hitting like Barry Bonds.
On the bright side? Misery is often cyclical. A series of fortunate events landed the Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James twice, graduating them from this list. A dozen years ago, the Boston Red Sox would have headlined this grouping of unlucky franchises.
Before offering condolences to these poor sports teams, it's important to distinguish bad luck from incompetence. The New York Knicks have nobody to blame but themselves. (Well, mostly James Dolan and Isaiah Thomas.)
Since the postseason deals in unpredictably small sample sizes, constant shortcomings aren't categorized as bad management.
Also, the full franchise history counts. Several teams with rich pasts have recently hit a rough patch, but their stadiums hoist too many banners to make the cut. They'll live.
Honorable Mentions
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Dallas Cowboys
The Dez Bryant catch that wasn't a catch. Yet another lengthy injury absence for Tony Romo. The once-proud Dallas Cowboys have compiled five losing seasons in the last six years, and they're likely headed for one more without their starting quarterback.
But come on, this is a franchise with five Super Bowl titles in eight appearances. Any organization is going to endure some down years. Don't get greedy.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers recently tied an MLB record for most players placed on the disabled list (27) in a single season. Chief among those injuries is ace Clayton Kershaw, who was running away with the National League Cy Young Award before a back injury slowed him down.
They have not cashed in any of their seven playoff appearances over the past 12 years into a World Series trip, but they still have six championships and unlimited financial resources in a league without a salary cap.
San Francisco 49ers
Wait, didn't the San Francisco 49ers have a perennial title contender a couple of years ago? Their powerhouse came crashing down before the 2015 season, when Patrick Willis, Justin Smith, Chris Borland and Anthony Davis all left football while off-field issues caused them to part ways with Aldon Smith.
Perhaps they were fortunate to foster Colin Kaepernick's improbable rise, but his just-as-quick regression leaves them scrambling for answers under center. They also have five Super Bowls and hosted the likes of Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, so they're still ahead in the long run.
Buffalo Bills
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Any team that reaches its sport's championship game four straight times is incredible. Especially in the NFL, where injuries, a 16-game schedule and single-elimination postseason cause many dynasties to quickly crumble.
The Buffalo Bills are the only team to reach the Super Bowl four straight times. Rather than fondly remember their sensational run from 1990-94, everyone treats them as a punchline.
Four 6-10 seasons probably wouldn't sting as much as four championship losses. Nothing hurts more than traveling all the way to the top, only to stumble at the final checkpoint. Bills fans suffered this cruelty a mind-boggling four consecutive times.
Why categorize them as unfortunate instead of bad? It takes a whole lot of success to make one Super Bowl, let alone four. Before getting destroyed the dynastic Dallas Cowboys twice, they lost by one point to the New York Giants because of a missed field goal and fell 10-7 to Washington.
If even one of those tight encounters goes Buffalo's way, those teams are iconic instead of infamous. Making matters worse, the Bills haven't won 10 games in a season since 1999. They haven't made the postseason this millennium, and their last game ended on the Music City Miracle, where the Tennessee Titans probably got away with an illegal forward pass.
Chicago Cubs
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The Chicago Cubs should soon escape from this consideration. They still haven't won a World Series since 1908, so they're not there yet.
From the Billy Goat to Steve Bartman, Cubs fans are excused for wondering if they're cursed. They're not, but their team has certainly experienced a string of crummy luck.
Remember how good Kerry Wood and Mark Prior once were? After the dominant young starters led the Cubs to the National League Championship Series in 2003—the year of the Bartman incident—neither pitched 170 or more innings in a single season again.
Yet Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Jake Arrieta might as well advertise themselves as the Cursebusters. Having won 86 games with a plus-223 run differential, they're the best team in baseball. Nobody else is close.
This should be the year the Cubs finally exorcise their demons and snap their century-long title drought. Then again, things rarely go as planned in MLB's postseason. They learned the hard way last year, when their hopes died because Daniel Murphy suddenly morphed into a superstar slugger.
It doesn't get much more on the nose than a man named Murphy reenacting Murphy's Law for the hard-luck Cubs, who can reverse their misfortune this fall.
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Cleveland Indians
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Hungry for their first postseason victory since 2007, the Cleveland Indians addressed their biggest need before MLB's non-waiver trade deadline. Their catchers have combined to post a putrid .544 OPS, per FanGraphs, so acquiring All-Star Jonathan Lucroy represented a major boost to their title chances.
One problem: The Milwaukee Brewers catcher vetoed the trade.
Is Cleveland so synonymous with failure that someone would block a move there despite their first-place standing in the American League Central? It's probably not the best sign that Major League, a movie about a miserable baseball organization that improbably wins against management's wishes, thought to use the Indians as their muse.
They must now compete for their first World Series crown since 1948 with a gaping vulnerability behind home plate. They also won't receive a late boost from Michael Brantley, who underwent season-ending surgery on his right shoulder.
Nine years ago, they held a 3-1 lead over the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series. With ace C.C. Sabathia taking the hill for Game 5, the pennant was theirs. They then allowed 30 runs over the final three games.
That collapse was their fault, not bad luck, but it didn't help that former Indian Manny Ramirez—whom they couldn't afford to retain—was at the center of Boston's offensive explosion.
Detroit Lions
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Right now the Detroit Lions must feel like Matt Saracen, crying in the shower and wondering why everyone leaves them.
The maligned NFL franchise finally received a reason for excitement with Barry Sanders, who averaged 5.0 yards per carry over a brilliant 10-year career. With the Lions unable to translate his individual excellence into team success, he retired on top of his game at age 30.
In a decade of futility featuring a winless 2008 season, they found another star skill player in Calvin Johnson. The wide receiver averaged 1,452 yards per season during a brilliant eight-year career, but he retired on top of his game at age 30.
Anyone who wants to see him in action must now watch Dancing with the Stars instead.
Their 25-year-old drought without a playoff victory is a few months older than this author. Although no football team should rely so much on one player, especially a non-quarterback, witnessing their two best players walk away early will leave the Lions wondering why they're not good enough for anyone.
Minnesota Vikings
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The Minnesota Vikings have made the playoffs 28 times. They made four Super Bowl appearances, but not since 1974. By the law of averages, they should have at least one title to show for it.
Yet the Vikings are still searching for their first ring. Their '70s squads have avoided Bills infamy despite losing three of four Super Bowls in 1974, 1975 and 1977.
Although running back Adrian Peterson has led them to a couple of postseason bids, they haven't looked like serious contenders since the 2009 season, when a late Brett Favre interception set the table for an NFC Championship Game overtime loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Fans probably don't want to think back to 1999, when a 15-1 season came crashing down after Gary Anderson missed his first field goal in two years. Don't blame the kicker, though. The Vikings still had a seven-point lead against the Atlanta Falcons, who engineered another NFC Championship Game heartbreak in overtime.
On Tuesday, Minnesota suffered another ugly blow when quarterback Teddy Bridgewater dislocated his knee and tore his ACL in a non-contact practice injury. The 23-year-old quarterback faces a "significant" recovery time.
The injury puts a damper on Minnesota's upcoming season and jeopardizes the future of a talented passer previously poised to finally stabilize the vital position.
New York Mets
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Last year's NLCS showdown with the Cubs symbolized the sun rising on two downtrodden franchises. The Mets emerged victorious, but not in the long run.
An up-and-coming club has dwindled to a slightly above-average team fighting for a Wild Card bid. The face of the franchise, David Wright, has been sidelined by a neck injury in addition to back problems which put his future in serious doubt. The same goes for Lucas Duda, who has not played since May.
Travis d'Arnaud and Michael Conforto looked like future cornerstones last summer. The former has a .648 OPS in another injury-prone season while the latter has been shuttled back and forth from Triple-A, despite a tremendous April.
But what about the lights-out pitching staff set to rule the league? They recently skipped a run-down Jacob deGrom, who is the healthiest ace of the bunch. Noah Syndergaard is pitching with a bone spur, which could also cause the team to shut down Steven Matz.
Following a successful return from Tommy John surgery last year, Matt Harvey labored before being diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome, which sidelined him for the entire season.
These woes will give older Mets fans flashbacks to Generation K, another heralded group of young hurlers who never reached their potential. While they won it all in 1986 with help from a lucky bounce, off-field problems for Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry stifled their quest for more rings.
As Murphy leads the Washington Nationals to an NL East title, the Mets must fear another short-lived rise going sour like a decade ago, when they followed 2006's division crown with consecutive September swoons.
Orlando Magic
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When stars don't leave the Orlando Magic, they get hurt with them.
Back in 1995, Shaquille O'Neal vaulted the upstart organization into the NBA Finals. They couldn't celebrate their meteoric rise too long. After one more dominant year, the star center chased the Hollywood spotlight by signing with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Does this sound familiar to younger fans? Probably because Dwight Howard followed the same blueprint, except his Finals appearance came three years before leaving to the Lakers.
Life in Los Angeles didn't go as well for Howard, but Orlando hasn't sniffed the playoffs in four seasons since his departure. Last year's 35-47 record represented a significant step forward, but the rebuild can't last longer without a massive overhaul.
Orlando hasn't always struck out on the free-agent market. Back in 2000, they formed a formidable duo with Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady. Injuries, however, limited Hill to 200 games played over six seasons.
It's easy to remember him now as the guy who found a second life as a role player for the Phoenix Suns, but he averaged 25.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game the year before joining Orlando.
Thickening the "What could have been?" plot, Orlando nearly signed Tim Duncan that summer as well. The Magic nearly became this decade's Miami Heat, but instead settled for a few first-round playoff exits.
Portland Trail Blazers
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The Portland Trail Blazers have made questionable decisions compounded by bad breaks.
They had two chances to land MVP megastars, but they came up empty twice. In 1984, they selected Sam Bowie with the No. 2 pick over some guy named Michael Jordan. Twenty-three years later, they again were tempted by the big man, drafting Greg Oden over Kevin Durant.
This writer can't speak for the Jordan blunder, but many observers now mocking them for missing Durant did not express those same concerns before the draft. Back when "Oden or Durant?" debates dominated the discussion, NBA.com's Maurice Brooks called Oden "the next Bill Russell."
He wasn't alone in viewing the mammoth Ohio State big man as a franchise cornerstone. Oden offered a small glimpse of what could have been in 2009-10, averaging 8.5 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 11.1 points per game in 23.9 minutes. Injuries, however, derailed a promising future.
He was supposed to form the next dynasty alongside shooting guard Brandon Roy. Per Basketball-Reference.com, the shooting guard ranked No. 7 with a 24.0 player efficiency rating (PER) during 2008-09, his third NBA season.
The guys above him: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant.
Just when the Blazers turned a corner behind two new stars, LaMarcus Aldridge fled to the San Antonio Spurs. Damian Lillard still guided them to a No. 5 seed in the Western Conference last year, but that's probably their peak until they find the point guard a new star sidekick.
St. Louis Blues
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It's right in their name, but St. Louis Blues fans are singing the...you get the idea.
Despite finishing first or second in the Western Conference in each of the past five seasons, the Blues have no Stanley Cup Final appearance to legitimatize their regular-season success. They haven't reached the final round since 1970, despite making the playoffs 25 straight times from 1980 to 2004.
Despite tallying a franchise-best 114 points in 1999-2000, they lost a seven-game series to the San Jose Sharks in the first round. The Sharks also ousted them in last year's conference final.
If the Blues fall short again in 2016-17, general manager Doug Armstrong will deserve more blame than playoff volatility. He sent goalie Brian Elliott—who notched a .930 save percentage and 2.07 goals-against last season—to the Calgary Flames for a second-round draft pick.
Washington Capitals
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Picking first the year Alex Ovechkin entered the NHL draft? Lucky. Making eight of the past nine postseasons is also really good.
Yet the Washington Capitals have still never hoisted the Stanley Cup.
In the 2015 postseason, Washington squandered a 3-1 lead in the second round to the New York Rangers. For Capitals fans, it was an all-too familiar sight.
Before the Game 7 loss, Sean McIndoe detailed all of the franchise's collapses on Grantland. As he noted, that latest blunder marked the 10th time Washington blew a two-game playoff lead and the fifth 3-1 edge.
"That’s not easy to do; historically, teams that lead a series 3-1 go on to win 90 percent of the time, with those that lead 2-0 faring almost as well," McIndoe wrote. "And yet the Capitals find a way to do it every few years. That’s almost impressive."
Perhaps all of their teams throughout time have lacked the intrinsic clutch gene necessary to finish the deal. Regardless, they have caused their backers a statistically improbable level of heartbreak.
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