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Flavs44 won the Throwdown.

Flavs44

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Cowboys-Celtics-Chisox

Throwndowns: 8
Record: 3 - 5 - 0
Studio City , CA
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13
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Throwndowns: 516
Record: 333 - 153 - 30
Middle, TN
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17
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Pro Franchise Where Things Are the Bleakest


I'm going to go New York Knicks.


True that the Knicks are a mess, but at least they have the resources to turn it around.

Among the major sports an argument could be made for the Marlins who spend less money on their players than the Yankees do on their bat boys, but they have a tremendous developmental system keeping them from being utter garbage every year.

With that said, the bleakest professional franchise is the Kansas City Royals. They can't do anything right, and don't have the money to fix what ails them.


The Royals have something the Knicks don't have right now: hope. The only way a completely ratty team like the Royals can even garner interest in their area is to have something to look forward to (see Alex Gordon, Gil Meche, etc.) Although the Royales With Cheese have had a number of losing teams, there's no 18 Million Dollar bust weighing them down. There's no allegations of sexual harassment being brought down on Trey Hillman. You don't see fans showing up calling for coaches' heads or over paid veterans just eating up salary that could be used for the future.

I concede, the Royals have been much worse the past 4-5 years. But based upon the salaries the Knicks have taken on, their angry fan base, plus the much loftier expectations leveled upon them, I have to say the days right now are darker in the Big Apple.


Things might have BEEN darker in Madison Square Garden, but they aren't anymore.

Royals fans have hope? What are they hoping for, the team to move? They have zero chance of competing in one of, if not the, toughest divisions in baseball and can't even fathom their team spending the kind of money the Tigers and White Sox do, or developing players the way the Twins and Indians do. They know their team is going to finish in last place this year, next year, and likely for the near and distant future.

All of the things you mention are past history for the Knicks and their fans. See THAT is a team whose fans now have hope for the first time in a while. They finally, albeit late, cleaned house. The cancer destroying that team was Thomas, who has been relegated to picking up trash, or something. They brought in one of the better general managers in the game to turn the team around, and have the resources and desire to just that.

Knicks fans were among the most miserable a few weeks ago, but now are among the most giddy because they know the current front office will do everything they can to return that once proud franchise to prominence.


Knicks fans giddy? Please? Getting rid of Isaiah was like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. The Knicks are bogged down for at least 2-3 more years with their ridiculous back court which includes the most untradeable (in a bad way) player in professional sports. On top of that, their head coaching position has been a game of musical chairs with the last two being the Elizabeth Taylor of NBA head coaching (Brown) and the Elizabeth Berkeley of head coaching (Zeke himself).

On the Royal/Pirate front, they might be perennial losers, but unlike the Knicks, there are definite bright spots (Freddy Sanchez, PNC Park, Alex Gordon, etc.).There are teams that have lost more games than the Knicks over the past few years, but with the money they have wasted on terrible players combined with the overall bad vibe that ascends over the franchise, it is definitely a very bad time to be a Knick fan.


Yes, Giddy.

For the last several years Knicks fans had NO hope. They watched as their team go progressively worse while the owner kept giving Thomas pats on the back.

Now that Isaiah is where he should be (picking up trash outside the arena) the fans are THRILLED. Sure, it might take a year or three to fix the problems, but at least the fans know the ship is being righted...finally.

In Kansas City they might be excited about the individual performances of some youngsters, but they also know those same kids will be spending their best years elsewhere.

It's been a LOOOOONG time since George Brett, Hal McCray, and company gave that city something to cheer for. Times have changed, the financial aspect of the game has certainly changed and the Royals simply can't compete.

What is a Royals fan to root for over the next several seasons? Hoping the kids can produce a 3rd place finish in their own division before they leave for greener pastures?

There is hope for Knicks fans to cling to, even if it's realistically a few years away. There is no hope for Royals fans that their team will EVER be a serious contender, again.

Comments (27)

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Damn!

I was thinking the Pirates. It's been 15 years since a winning season and it's not looking much better now.

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I disagree with the Royals.

New GM Dayton Moore has installed a new mood for the organization. The starting rotation has been great for them thus far, Alex Gordon and Bully Butler are the future faces of the franchise, and they have money (look at the Meche and Guillen signings). They're looking up.

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*Billy

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"(look at the Meche and Guillen signings)"

Yes, look at them. They had to WAY overspend to get them. A team on a budget can't overpay a couple of players and expect to put a competitive team on the field.

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But they aren't poor. They have money. Add the fact that Meche has been good ever since coming to the Royals.

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You could also make a good case for the Raiders. They had to overpay to get Wilson to leave the Giants. But I agree with the Royals over the Knicks. Kansas City is a small market team and does not have the mystique of a Boston, New York, or LA Angels - all in their league. At least the Knicks have a possibility of drawing people to their team.
The Knicks will get better once a lot of their outrageous contracts start coming off the books and the new GM looks to making good moves and not just going after big names.

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Pirates are a solid choice as well

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Well Meche had a decent year last year. He's dog meat so far this year and never was the kind of pitcher you can justify throwing $10mil/yr at. Particularly when you aren't going to be competitive with or without him.

True that they aren't Marlins poor, but they are in a division with two of the biggest spending teams in baseball (Tigers and White Sox). They can't come close to those kind of payrolls.

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Pirates are a solid choice as well

djroxalot: My Block, Tupac | 05/01/08, 06:08 PM
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What is it now 15 years or something since they made the playoffs?

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"They can't come close to those kind of payrolls"

That's true, but they have hope. With the young hitters and arms they have, they have hope for the future.

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The bleakest are the ones that CAN'T afford to get better, and never will be able to afford to get better. They suck, the fans know they suck, and everyone knows they'll suck forever.

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Grienke, Gordon, Butler, Soria...There are some lights at the end of the tunnel for old KC...

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um kc has actually very good young players how bout the SAN FRANSISCO GIANTS all their players are old and there only young talent is cain who really didnt do much this year (last year thought he was good) and linceum who looks so good that he can win a cy young in a few years but they have nothing on the rise no young talent in the field and then a great choice would be THE TEXAS RANGERS

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I would've said the Sonics, only because the owner betrayed the city of Seattle and b.s.ed the rest of the owners into helping him move the franchise to OK City.
But hey, what do I know??

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vote----------->

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Except this isn't between the Royals and the Giants/Pirates/insert team here. It's between the Royals and Knicks since those are the two teams chosen...

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Fans of the AL Central know fairly well how much it sucks to be a Royals fan. Almost about as much as it does to be a Cubs fan.

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Make that a Sober Cubs fan. The drunk ones seem to enjoy themselves...

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I wouldve taken the Oakland Raiders and smashed whoever. Oakland has no forseeable hope for one reason: Al Davis. As long as hes alive, they will be a disaster, with DMC and Russell or not. He just doesnt get it anymore and it seems like he makes personell decisions just to spite people. The Oakland Raiders have the Bleakest chances of making the playoffs in the next decade. THe Knicks, psh, they just got rid of the franchise killer and have a bright future ahead of them with the hiring of their GM and a good coach coming in(I assume). The Royals? They can only get better, so whats to be bleak about? Its the teams like the Raiders who have won Three super bowls where fans are most depressed because they arent used to this kind of bottom dwelling.

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LMAO, Stauff.

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