The 25 Most Memorable Numbers (Streaks, Scores, and Records) in Sports History

These aren't all winning streaks. There are going to be some terrible losing streaks, too.

In the following slides, there are going to be numerous sports included: football, golf, soccer, tennis, basketball, cricket, hockey, and baseball. 

I found it very interesting to do research on the best and worst streaks and records in sports history, because nowadays, you mostly hear about current events. This article will go a little bit into events from last century, as well as things that are happening now.

It is very hard to narrow something like this down to 25, as there are so many streaks and records in the history of the sporting world. I would be very interested to hear your opinions on which ones belong, which ones don't, and if you could add some that would be great.

Here are 25 memorable streaks and records in sports history. 

2008 Detroit Lions

Number: The Detroit Lions went 0-16 in the regular season in 2008, as they became the first team in the 16-game season to do so.

Rod Marinelli's 2008 Detroit Lions squad was led by quarterback Jon Kitna in the first few weeks of the season, but he was placed on the injury reserve due to back pain. Dan Orlovsky took over the next game, but didn't do that well either. Their best player all season was probably Calvin Johnson, who caught a good amount of touchdowns.

After the season, there was a lot of jeering and nasty jokes about Detroit, and that is a season that not many people will forget.

1980 San Francisco 49ers

Number: The 1980 San Francisco 49ers came back from a 28 point deficit en route to win a game.

On December 7, 1980, the New Orleans Saints snatched a 28-point lead in the second quarter against the Niners. Led by Joe Montana, who ran a touchdown and threw for two more, the 49ers overcame a 35-7 deficit, and ended up winning the game in overtime, 38-35.

Rasheed Wallace

Number: Rasheed Wallace had a record of 41 technical fouls in the 2000-2001 season, beating the previous record (which was his own) of 38.

Rasheed Wallace has always had a temper. Whether it was retaliation against a foul, or a call which he thought was wrong, Sheed is the kind of guy who can get physical or verbal. After he was drafted by the Washington Bullets, he set the record with 41 technical fouls in a season with his second team, the Portland Trail Blazers.

Holding the top two records for most technicals in a season is quite impressive!

Roger Federer

Number: Roger Federer made it to 23 consecutive grand slam semifinals; the most in tennis history.

Federer's streak started in 2005 at Wimbledon, when he advanced to the semifinals (and went on to win the tournament). He kept making appearances in the last four of grand slams, but his streak eventually ended when he lost to Robin Soderling in the quarterfinals of the 2010 French Open in four high-quality sets.

This record of the Swiss Maestro is completely unprecedented, as the second most consecutive semifinal appearances is just 10 by Ivan Lendl; not even half of Roger's.

1976-77 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Number: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost 26 consecutive games over the course of 1976 and 1977.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers entered the NFL in 1976. The first two seasons in the franchise's history featured a very bright 0-26 start. They also had a streak of 14 consecutive losing seasons.

The Buccaneers set the record of 26, which is still the most consecutive games a team has ever lost. The 2008 Lions (who were in the first slide) are second with 19 straight losses.

Australian National Soccer Team

Number: The Australian national soccer team defeated American Samoa 31-0 in a qualifier for the 2002 World Cup.

In the biggest defeat in international soccer history, Australia absolutely demolished a hapless American Samoa 31-0. This was just two days after the Socceroos destroyed Tonga 22-0. In the match against American Samoa, forward Archie Thompson scored thirteen goals, David Zdrilic scored eight and Con Boutsianis had a hat-trick to help the Aussies achieve such an emphatic result.

This was a hilarious event, given that American Samoa is such an obscure soccer team, and that the big Australia would pick on somebody as they did, so that they could run up the score.

Anthony Young

Number: Anthony Young recorded 27 losses in a row.

Mets pitcher Anthony Young started off the 1992 season 2-0. However, on May 6 of that same year, he picked up a loss, as the Mets fell to Cincinnati 5-3. Young didn't know what was coming. Out of his next 26 results as a pitcher, 26 of them were losses. Then, on July 28, 1993, Young's streak snapped, after the Mets beat the Marlins 5-4.

You can't help but feel bad for the guy. It must stink to have 2 or 3 losses in a row. But 27!

Joe DiMaggio

Number: In 1941, Joe DiMaggio recorded at least one hit per game for 56 consecutive matches.

The Yankee Clipper Joe DiMaggio is considered one of the best baseball players of all time, after he lead the New York Yankees to ten World Series and nine World Series titles. In 1941, Joltin' Joe recorded an unbelievable record of 56 consecutive games where he had at least one hit. Unfortunately, Di Maggio died in 1999.

DiMaggio beat the record of 45 consecutive games that was set in 1897 by Baltimore Orioles star Willie Keeler.

Chip Beck

Number: Between 1997 and 1998, American golfer Chip Beck missed 46 straight PGA Tour cuts.

Chip Beck isn't a bad golfer. He has won four PGA Tour titles, and has been a runner up twenty times. However, between 1997 and 1998, Beck had a terrible run: He missed 46 consecutive cuts in PGA tournaments.

Poor guy.

Rafael Nadal

Number: Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal won 81 consecutive matches on clay.

"The King of Clay" is a title that is often given to Rafael Nadal, as he has only lost one match at the French Open, and that was mostly because he was injured. Rafa is absolutely unstoppable on clay, as he is one of the fastest players in the world, and can therefore track down any ball that is hit to him. His run of 81 consecutive wins on clay was snapped when he was defeated by Roger Federer at Hamburg in 2007.

The next best record of consecutive match wins on clay was set by Guillermo Vilas, who won 59 in a row on the dirt.

Thailand Hockey Team

Number: In 1998, the under-18 hockey team from Thailand lost a game 92-0 against South Korea.

When I first saw this, I honestly thought it was a joke!

But it's true. The Thai hockey team lost to South Korea 92-0 in the 1998 IIHF Asian Oceanic Junior U18 Championships. One of the South Korean forwards, Donghwan Song, scored 31 goals.

Wilt Chamberlain

Number: Philadelphia forward Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a single game in March 1962.

This is one of the most famous scores in sports history; this one game is associated with Wilt Chamberlain by most people. Wilt the Stilt managed to score 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors in a match against the New York Knicks. Philly went on to win 169-147. Chamberlain stopped trying after his 100th point, because he thought that 100 would be a better milestone than another number.

This record is much larger than the next mark for most points scored in a single game. Kobe Bryant's 81 points is second.

Bobby Cox

Number: As a manager, Bobby Cox has been ejected 161 times in his career. 

This record is a bit like Rasheed Wallace's because it's something that is completely anger-related. Cox used to play for the Yankees, but when he retired, he decided to pursue baseball as a manager. During his two spells with the Atlanta Braves and his one with the Toronto Blue Jays, he got ejected from a game 161 times.

This record is by far the most, as the next number of career ejections is 98 by Baltimore's Earl Weaver.

Georgia Tech Football

Number: The Georgia Tech football team beat Cumberland 222-0.

Like the South Korea-Thailand hockey match, this is one of the most ridiculous scores ever. The Georgia Tech Engineers creamed the Cumberland Bulldogs in one the most one-sided matches in history. Tech scored 63 points in each of the first two quarters, and then added 96 more points to make the score 222-0. In this match of 1916, Tech didn't hit a single field goal; they scored 32 touchdowns (and twice they failed to convert the extra point).

Caltech Basketball

Number: California Institute of Technology lost 310 games in a row in conference play.

Look at the video above. You would think that they had just won March Madness, or something great like that, right?

Wrong.

This is Caltech celebrating after they had snapped their 310 game losing streak in SCIAC play. I find this absolutely hilarious, given how happy they were, just for a 1-310 record in the last 311 games.

In the past, Caltech also had a 207 game losing streak.

2003-04 Arsenal FC

Number: Arsenal FC went 49 consecutive matches without a loss, including a whole unbeaten season.

In the 2003/2004 season, Arsenal went 38 games without a loss, which gave that squad the titles of "Untouchables" or "Invincibles." They were led by defender and captain Tony Adams, strikers Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, and Dennis Bergkamp, goalkeeper David Seaman, and holding midfielder Patrick Viera. This is one of the milestones in Arsene Wenger's coaching career.

Vince Spadea

Number: Tennis player Vince Spadea lost 21 consecutive matches.

I don't think it would be fun to get kicked out of a tournament in the first round 20 times a row. That's got to burn! When he lost 21 straight times in 2000, Spadea set a benchmark for the ATP. Nonetheless, Spadea, who is from Chicago, was not at all a bad player, as he once achieved the ATP ranking of 18. He did win one singles title and three doubles titles.

1970 Brazilian National Soccer Team

Number: For the 1970 World Cup, the Brazilian soccer team won every single qualifier, as well as every match in the tournament itself.

Led by Edson Arantes do Nascimento, or Pele, the 1970 Brazilian squad is considered one of the best national teams ever. They won all of their matches in preparation for the World Cup, as well as all the matches in the World Cup itself. They beat Italy in the final, as they won their third World Cup out of four, giving them the right to keep their Jules Rimet trophy.

1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers

Number: In the 1972-1973 season, the Philadelphia 76ers finished with a 9-73 record.

The Philadephia 76ers started off the 1972-1973 season off with 15 losses in a row. A few months later, they had 20 losses consecutively. After the 20-game losing streak, they were 4-58, and they had lost 34 out of 35 games! Here is another great stat: At the end of the season, the Sixers finished 59 games behind the Boston Celtics, who lead the conference.

Australian Cricket Team

Number: The Australian Cricket Team won 16 straight test matches.

A lot of people are probably thinking, "16? That's nothing!" Well, a test match is one of those cricket games that lasts five days, for over six hours a day. So, the Australian cricket team managed to accomplish this streak of sixteen straight test match wins. Twice! They Aussies achieved this streak between 1999 and 2001, as well as between 2005 and 2007.

1940 Washington Redskins

Number: In the 1940 NFL Championship Game, the Washington Redskins conceded 73 points to the Chicago Bears, while scoring none themselves.

OK, maybe this isn't as ridiculous as the 222-0 Georgia Tech win, but that was a lopsided college match. This was an NFL match, where the Redskins allowed Chicago to score 73 points the whole match. And they couldn't even score any themselves. This is the biggest win in NFL history, as the Bears had a 26-point third quarter.

The weirdest thing about this match is the emphatic result, given that both teams had the same amount of first downs (17).

1995-96 Chicago Bulls

Number: In the 1995-1996 season, the Chicago Bulls went 72-10.

In the first year of their second three-peat, which was the 95-96 season, the Bulls completed the best NBA season in history, in terms of the record. Finishing with a 72-10 record, Chicago ended up with an 87.8 winning percentage. They would later go on to win the championship with Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman, Scottie Pippen and others.

2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers

Number: The Cleveland Cavaliers lost 26 games in a row.

Earlier this year, the Cleveland Cavaliers lost 26 consecutive games. Having lost LeBron James to Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and the Miami Heat, the Cavs looked extremely unstable last year, so it was no wonder that they had such a bad streak. However, on February 11, Cleveland snapped that losing streak with a 126-119 overtime win against the LA Clippers.

1983 Detroit Pistons

Number: In a game against the Denver Nuggets in 1983, the Detroit Pistons scored 186 points.

The Pistons beat the Nuggets 186-184, in the highest scoring game in NBA history with 370 points between the two teams. Kiki Vandeweghe scored 51 points, Alex English and Isaiah Thomas each had 47, John Long had 41, Kelly Tripucka had 35, and many more people had high scores. In one of the most thrilling matches of all time, the game went to three overtimes, and lasted 3 hours and 11 minutes.

Chicago Cubs

Number: The Chicago Cubs haven't won the World Series in 103 years.

This is one of the most famous droughts in sports history. The Chicago Cubs, whose expectations are always high, haven't won the World Series since 1908. The fans are extremely unhappy about this figure, and hopefully for Chicago, they can end this streak soon.