Collegiate Times

In the past 30 years, the four major sports in the United States have added 21 franchises to its respective professional leagues. Among that group of teams, there has been a varied level of success, mostly on the level of “none at all.”

The number of championships claimed by the group can be counted on a single hand. Between those 21 teams, there have only been five titles.

In the NFL, only four brand-new franchises have been added to the league since 1980. They have just one Super Bowl appearance (the Carolina Panthers in 2003) among them.

Baseball has the best track record. Every team that has been a part of the MLB’s expansion has appeared in at least one World Series. The Marlins have two championships, while the Diamondbacks have another.

The Miami Heat is the only newer team in the NBA to have a title banner hanging from its rafters. Ditto for the Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL, which stunned the league in 2003-04 before it disbanded for the following season.

It’s permissible to say the number of expansion team success stories is limited.

The NBA free agency period begins today, and one of those expansion-era teams is on the brink of losing the centerpiece of the franchise — again. According to numerous reports, Chris Bosh is expected to leave the Toronto Raptors and sign to a team where he is more likely to contend for championships.
The expected Bosh departure instigated a revelation this week that hit me harder than a flying Dwight Howard elbow.

I realized that the Toronto Raptors’ NBA history parallels Jennifer Aniston’s dating career. I mean, let’s face it, that girl has had some promising relationships, but she always finds one way or another to fumble them away.

For the Raptors, the team was doomed from the start when its first ever draft pick, Damon Stoudamire, was booed by Toronto fans on draft night and lasted only two and a half years in Toronto. He ended up enjoying a successful and sustained 13-year career, mostly in Portland.

It happened with Vince Carter, who in 2004 — only a year removed from his fifth consecutive all-star game appearance — clashed with new head coach Sam Mitchell and ended up being traded to the Nets.

This is what the Raptors got in return: Alonzo Mourning (never reported to the team), Aaron Williams (averaged 1.7 points per game in two seasons), and — here’s the best one — Eric Williams, who averaged four points per game in two seasons with the team, but in 2005 started his own clothing line honoring the Negro Basketball League. One small problem: Such a league never existed. I believe the words you’re searching for are “epic” and “fail.”

Tracy McGrady, the two-time NBA scoring champion, also began his career as a bench player for Toronto, who traded him to Orlando in 2000. In fact, the Raptors’ initial four first-round draft picks were all dubiously traded from the team — Stoudamire, Marcus Camby, McGrady, Carter.

Now the Raptors look like another star will walk out the door in search of greener pastures. General manager Bryan Colangelo’s only hope is to issue a sign-and-trade with another team that will allow the Raptors to get something in return for their star forward.

Either way, the Raptors are the epitome of a franchise that is clearly immune to success.

At least they aren’t the only ones. Here’s a look at a few other teams in the past three decades that still don’t have the ship headed in the right direction:


CLEVELAND BROWNS (1999)

The Browns were a proud franchise for a long time before they up and moved to Baltimore a year before their 50th anniversary and became the Ravens in 1995.

Then-NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue reunited Cleveland with professional football just four years later, but the Browns had to start from scratch as an expansion team.

In 11 years, the Browns have made the playoffs just once and have never won a division title. They have compiled an embarrassing record of 59-117 in that span, which includes just two winning seasons.

Hopefully for Cleveland fans, the Browns have finally found stability in the front office with President Mike Holmgren, who has a sterling track record in the NFL. Of course, so did Carmen Policy when he held the job in 1999, before five turbulent seasons led to his departure.


VANCOUVER/MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES (1995)

The fact that there are two completely different locations in the above listing of the Grizzlies’ hometown is Exhibit A of how they made this list.

Memphis just wrapped up its 16th season under its 11th different head coach and fifth general manager. From 2004-06, things were looking up for the Grizzlies, as they made three consecutive playoff appearances after failing to make it so far before. Instead, Memphis has yet to return to the postseason since.

In its six years in Vancouver, the Grizzlies never won more than 23 games in a season. Those three years amid the playoff streak are the only seasons that the team has posted a winning regular season record.

A 40-42 record and a young nucleus of talent has fans in Memphis optimistic about the future, but until the Grizzlies prove they can get it done on the court, nobody should hold their breath.


COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS (2000)

These guys make the Browns look like the 1990s-era Cowboys. It’s been 11 long seasons in central Ohio, where the Blue Jackets have made the playoffs just once.

How’d that playoff series go? Columbus was outscored 18-7 in a four-game sweep at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings in 2009.

The Blue Jackets have been so bad since their inception that they were probably the only team to welcome the NHL’s lockout in 2004 because there were no games to lose.

Not only does this franchise not know how to field a winning team, they can’t seem to decide on a logo either. The three logos used in 11 years for the team consisted of a hockey stick, some sort of bird with what appear to be angel’s wings and a Civil War soldier’s hat. When you’re called Blue Jackets, I guess anything is possible.

There are several teams I’d like to thank for participating, but you just didn’t stink quite as bad as the aforementioned clubs. These teams include: the Charlotte Bobcats, Minnesota Wild, Houston Texans, Minnesota Timberwolves and the Nashville Predators.

Just keep trying guys, I hear Seneca Wallace is poised for a breakout year in Cleveland.

A version of this article appeared in the Jul 1 issue of the Collegiate Times.