Forgettable sports teams

[Jigga]

The oxymoron here, is that once you make a list of irrelevant teams they begin to become relevant. I'll make one anyway:

Ranked by most irrelevant:

1. Indiana Pacers

2. Golden State Warriors

3. Milwaukee Bucks

4. Minnesota Timberwolves

5. New York Knicks

6. Los Angeles Clippers

7. Sacramento Kings

8. New Orleans Hornets

9. San Antonio Spurs

10. New York Islanders

Damn, you really don't like the NBA, do you?

[Mac the Knife]

MLB: Pittsburgh Pirates. Not even a question in my mind. The Royals have at least tried to compete.

NFL: Kansas City Chiefs, or perhaps the Miami Dolphins, at least in my mind.

NBA: Los Angeles Clippers. Lower on the overall sports totem pole than even the Pirates.

NHL: Atlanta Thrashers, though arguments could be made for a number of teams I reckon.

[chuckymack]

Change the Chiefs to the Jaguars and you're pretty much correct. I honestly think the Jags, in any other market, would fare just as well as Carolina, Detroit or Houston.

[omnivore]

Some people in this thread are clearly confused about what relevance is. I think the Florida Panthers are a healthy candidate for this category though.

[Lights Out]

NBA: Los Angeles Clippers. Lower on the overall sports totem pole than even the Pirates.

Really? Who's the butt of almost every NBA-related joke? That'd be the Knicks and the Clippers. Whose owner still gets written about when sportswriters run out of ideas? That'd be the Clips. It's not good relevance, but it's relevance none the less.

[Stampman]

Here's something to spruce things up around here.

Are the Toronto Argos the most irrelevant CFL team?

Like the Leafs the Argos are disappointing and bad, but they aren't irrelevant. They get a story on TSN every time the coach changes loafers.

As much as I hate to admit it being a fan, I think the Ti-Cats get the honour of being the most irrelevant team in the CFL.

You kind of have a point--even the Ottawa non-team gets more press.

[IceCap]

NBA: Los Angeles Clippers. Lower on the overall sports totem pole than even the Pirates.

Really? Who's the butt of almost every NBA-related joke? That'd be the Knicks and the Clippers. Whose owner still gets written about when sportswriters run out of ideas? That'd be the Clips. It's not good relevance, but it's relevance none the less.

See, I wouldn't call either team irreverent, because they're both widely known for their futility. No, if I had to pick an irrelevant NBA team it would actually be the Raptors. They make the playoffs, they don't make the playoffs, it never really matters.

Here's something to spruce things up around here.

Are the Toronto Argos the most irrelevant CFL team?

Like the Leafs the Argos are disappointing and bad, but they aren't irrelevant. They get a story on TSN every time the coach changes loafers.

As much as I hate to admit it being a fan, I think the Ti-Cats get the honour of being the most irrelevant team in the CFL.

You kind of have a point--even the Ottawa non-team gets more press.

Yeah, it's kind of disheartening. Though the team had recently made an effort to rectify this, trying to become the non-Toronto southern Ontario team. It's nice to see the effort at least.

[The_Admiral]

I was checking out the most irrelevant team in sports' 2010-11 schedule to see if the champs were coming down, the rationale being that it's probably cheaper at this stage to grab a cheap flight to Fort Lauderdale and tell someone at the BAC box office "I'll buy a nine-dollar Coke if you let me in for free." Sure enough, Hawks @ Panthers on March 8th, so it's something to aim for. But I couldn't help enjoying their press release:

DOWNLOAD SCHEDULE (CHRONOLOGICAL - PDF)

I don't know what a non-chronological schedule could possibly entail, but I can't imagine it's of much use. Maybe they have the option of viewing the season's games in alphabetical order for the benefit of those afflicted with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The revamped game presentation will draw on the passionate and emotional experience and party atmosphere of Panthers home games at the BankAtlantic Center.

They really unpacked their adjectives. Look, if you're going to attach the experience to "and party atmosphere," you can either say it's passionate or you can say it's emotional. You can't use both. Technically, the experience is probably neither passionate nor emotional, but that's not important. You can't be that fast and loose with conjunctions unless you're lazily banging out message board posts and it's late at night and you don't care because it's not a professional context.

The Panthers will reduce the overall capacity to 17,040 for Cats home games during the 2010-11 NHL regular season. The reduced seating capacity will be accomplished though the installation of a 22-piece tarp system sponsored by Party City that will cover the last six rows of seats located on the terrace level.

Unsold inventory is a party, I guess, and yet when it comes to selling things that aren't tickets to games, the Panthers whore themselves out better than anyone. Even their offseason is sponsored, God knows how. If this team deprives me of Florida Panthers Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing Presented By Peter Francis Geraci's Bankruptcy (Info) (Tapes) I'll be supremely upset.

From the moment Panthers fans enter the BankAtlantic Center parking lot (for free)

You know, free parking is one of the things that almost killed the Phoenix Coyotes, and paradoxically, taking away that free parking might finish the job. Just sayin'. It certainly is enticing as long as it still applies to me. I'm worried they either rescind the free parking when they notice I'm suspiciously pale, or they charge you for parking when you exit the lot.

Cats hockey represents non-stop, fast-paces action packed fun experience for fans of all ages, and the entire family.

This was translated from the original Japanese.

[Sodboy13]

Season ticket packages for the Panthers start at $8.25 per game.

The cheapest season ticket for the AHL Chicago Wolves is $9 per game.

Take a guess who's got more actual butts in seats on a Saturday night.

Also, back in '06, when the Wolves missed the playoffs for the first time ever, the team sent out a letter of apology to all ticket plan holders - even someone like me with a 10-voucher pack for the 200 level. The Panthers, upon the close of their 9th straight season of missing the playoffs? CONFETTI!

BTW, I'm game for the trip to Sunrise, because Lord knows I won't be able to afford to see the Hawks at the UC for the next decade.

[sabretooth47]

Now that the Panthers have ditched Horton as part of their 4-month fire sale, I'd be hard pressed to name 2-3 guys on that roster (not including Wideman who was part of the Boston trade). As someone who follows hockey pretty closely, I find this disturbing. Right now, I'm thinking the Cats win the relevance argument, hands down.

[CJR]

The Panthers are irrelevant enough that they're actively trying to bring in fans of the opposition. I got an email through my site awhile ago about the Wings visiting Sunrise this season, asking if I or anyone I knew would be interested in ticket deals. Conveniently, the wife and I were planning on going down there this season, but for them to have to seek out fans of the visiting team? Great for me, not so much for them.

[Canadian_Idiot]

Some people in this thread are clearly confused about what relevance is. I think the Florida Panthers are a healthy candidate for this category though.

Agreed.

I would argue the Phoenix Coyotes don't belong in the "Irrelevant" category merely due to the fact the sale of their team has turned into the biggest debacle in the last decade.

Even bad news is news, and the Florida Panthers have no news.

[The_Admiral]

Are we still quibbling over the original topic? I thought this had just become the dedicated Panthers-mocking thread.

[Cujo]

Are we still quibbling over the original topic? I thought this had just become the dedicated Panthers-mocking thread.

Florida or Carolina? Both teams have a pretty mediocre history, at best.

[Lights Out]

Carolina went to the NFC Championship Game in only their second year of existence (1996), the Super Bowl in 2003, the NFC Championship Game again in 2005, and the divisional round of the playoffs in 2008. Hardly irrelevant and definitely not mediocre. They've done better than the Jaguars at least.

Florida, meanwhile, has been around longer in the NHL than Carolina in the NFL, and yet, people forget they exist. That's true irrelevance.

[njmeadowlanders]

DOWNLOAD SCHEDULE (CHRONOLOGICAL - PDF)

I don't know what a non-chronological schedule could possibly entail, but I can't imagine it's of much use. Maybe they have the option of viewing the season's games in alphabetical order for the benefit of those afflicted with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

A non-chronological schedule would be one that is sorted by opponent.

For example: "When do the Rangers come to town"?

Instead of looking through the calendar, it'd just give you the games against the Rangers, or whatever team you were looking for as it were.

I make mini-schedules for all my teams to put in my cube at work each season. The Jets is the only one I put chronologically because there are only 16 games. The others are all alphabetical by opponent city/state.

[Cujo]

If you really want to get into it, as far as the Unites Staes are concerned, the most irrelevant NFL team is probably more relevant than the most relevant franchise in the NHL, with maybe an exception to the Red Wings or Rangers.

[falcons007]

NBA - lakers and celtics

MLB - Yankees and red sox

NFL - cowboys and patriots

NHL - penguins and red wings

I kid, I kid

NBA - kings - if lebron leaves Cleveland then the cavs take this dubious honour.

MLB - orioles

NHL - panthers

NFL - rams

[ltjets21]

NBA: Los Angeles Clippers. Lower on the overall sports totem pole than even the Pirates.

Really? Who's the butt of almost every NBA-related joke? That'd be the Knicks and the Clippers. Whose owner still gets written about when sportswriters run out of ideas? That'd be the Clips. It's not good relevance, but it's relevance none the less.

The knicks have titles and good seasons, the clippers have nothing other than a trip to the 2nd round in the playoffs.

[BBTV]

NBA: Los Angeles Clippers. Lower on the overall sports totem pole than even the Pirates.

Really? Who's the butt of almost every NBA-related joke? That'd be the Knicks and the Clippers. Whose owner still gets written about when sportswriters run out of ideas? That'd be the Clips. It's not good relevance, but it's relevance none the less.

The knicks have titles and good seasons, the clippers have nothing other than a trip to the 2nd round in the playoffs.

Neither titles, nor good seasons, nor playoff appearances have much to do with relevancy. The Florida Panthers went to the cup finals, yet were still pretty irrelevant (though not to the extent they are now.) However, simply by being the "flagship" team in the biggest market (as well as for things like the Isaiah Thomas scandal), the Knicks are hardly irrelevant. I don't think it's because of any past successes though. Heck - the Warriors have titles and had arguably the best player ever in their history, and are in that top (bottom?) tier of irrelevancy.