Worst sports franchise this decade. Pirates or Lions

The Pirates have become institutionally bad. They play in a league with no salary cap, unlike the Lions. If the Lions management were to make smart picks and player personnel decisions, they could easily become competitive again. There is no hope in sight for the Lions.

 

EDIT: No hope for the Pirates.

 

Pirates. They gladly take all of the revenue sharing money and don't spend it. That team should be eliminated from existence.

 

Which is why the Lions should be considered the worst franchise IMO. If all they have to do is make reasonably intelligent picks and have the financial ability to compete with the other NFL franchises. The Pirates have at least produced a ton of good players (Jason Bay, Aramis Ramirez, Xavier Nady, Adam Laroche, Nate McLouth, and currently Andrew McCutchen) but their owner just doesn't spend, and whether that's due to frugality or poor fan support I'm not sure. I can't name a good Lion over the past decade other than Calvin Johnson. Seriously, Jon Kitna was their starting QB for multiple years. Matt Millen drafted 3 WRs in the first round for three consecutive years, two of which (Rogers and Mike Williams) were colossal busts. They've just made terrible personnel decision after terrible personnel decision in a league that prides itself on parity and have pretty much been the ultimate anti-dynasty. At least the Pirates can evaluate talent; the Lions can't even manage that. Ergo, I vote for the 0-16s.

 

Over the last 2 years, the Pirates have a new primary owner, and have spent more money. In 2008, they were top 5 in draft spending, and about the same this season. They also spent $5M on a new training facility in the dominican republic, and spent more on international signings than they had in the previous 5 years combined. The last 18 months have been dedicated to improving the talent throughout the minors. That may not work, but it is a big difference from the previous regime.

 

"The Curse of the Barroid"

We're on the verge of clinching our unprecedented 17th consecutive losing season. It's pitiful. Although, I would like to point out that a mere one winning season is all that separates the Pirates from, say......the Bengals, Lions, Royals and Clippers. Plus, the Nationals and Bobcats have never had a winning this decade or ever. All the same, 17 years of losing is difficult to overlook....even when we're comparing that team to the fricken Lions.

I could go on one of my "Baseball is a joke. It's structurally flawed yet nobody seems to care" rants that screws a team like the Pirates and skews the competitive balance in the sport but i'll spare all of you. What I will say is: make no mistake about it, the Pirates are TRYING to get better. That much I can promise you. Second year GM Neal Huntington has cleaned house from all the Littlefield hangovers and has instituted an approach very similar to Billy Beane's "Moneyball" strategy. Huntington has very quietly collected a ton of prospects (via robbing teams in trades) and completely bolstered the farm system by jettisoning the Freddy Sanchez/Jack Wilson/Adam LaRoche types that the Pirates hang onto every year for veteran leadership yet are clearly peaked and not necessarily in the long-term plans. No Pirates' GM during this 17-year funk has tried such a strategy.

I'm a realist and usually i'm a Debbie Downer type that shows little optimism or hope. I can 100% state my belief that this strategy will pay off in 2-3 years and that the Pirates will FINALLY record a winning season. I just pray that both: A) that finally happens and B) they can build off that success and prolong it.

 

Some may view it as unique, but the Pirates' scouting and signing of Indian cricket players really perplexes me.

 

That's a tough question that requires you to consider the term 'worst'. The Lions front office has simply been incompetent. The Pirates have made dumb decisions based on financial considerations, such as drafting players in the top 5 based on risk aversion and signability issues. As a fan, rooting for either team would be frustrating, but I think the Lions win out as the worse of the two.

 

"Worst sports franchise this decade"......hmmm

wheres the New York Knicks option.........

-rocketblaze

 

I can honestly say that being a Rockets fan has brought upon more torment and anguish for me than being a Pirates fan has.

I guess it's easier to root for a team that's supposed to suck and then sucks than it is to have high expectations for a team that gets snakebitten by bad luck every year.

 

I tend to disagree. As a Braves fan *ducks*, the seasons ending in an unexpected playoff loss (and there were many of them) were far easier to stomach than the realized expectations of annual mediocrity have been.

 

Its the Lions in a league full of parity they have been at the bottom for years.


The Pirates have been brutal for longer but theyre a small market team the reality is there are limitations on what small markets can do.

The NFL everybody is equal which makes the lions the worst IMHO..

 

The Lions needs better management choices. The Pirates are a small market in a league without a salary cap. I like the Pirates as the worst. I think the Lions will come out of the muck before the Pirates, because the Lions will get better management before baseball gets a salary cap.

 

The Pirates are horrible, though there are few other odd teams out there in baseball land who have just as equally bad ... *cough* ....theRoy ...als. Milwaukee and Florida minus about 2 to 4 seasons. The Devil Rays, not counting last year. Also, the Pirates actually have pretty decent farm system, which does give them a glimmer a hope.

The Lions in the NFL almost take the cake for being far and away the worse franchise. I know you have San Francisco, Oakland, Arizona, Cleveland, and Houston. But, first four teams have been playoffs in this decade, and two have reached the Super Bowl. While, Houston is still a fairly young franchise, not even 10 years old yet. On top of that, the Texans still have a better record than the Detroit (plush) Lions.

They are the only team in modern NFL history who has a legitimate chance to reach the Bucs of the late 70s. If they lose their 1st 10 games, which has a fair chance of happening. Another bad distinction about that record ... the 0-26 one . . . happens to be the worst in professional sports. I believe

23 - NBA (Denver, Vancouver)
21 - MLB (Baltimore)
17 - NHL (San Jose)

 

heh interesting. hadn't heard of that. If it works it works.

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=573652

 

It's close, but the fact the Pirates are wasting that beautiful ballpark puts them over the edge for me.

 

I vote Pirates because I feel like the Lions have tried harder to be successful whereas the Pirates (up until this new management) have been content to take their revenue sharing dollars and suck.

 

I voted for the Lions simply because I no longer care that baseball exists.

0-16? That's impressive...