November 23, 2015
My dad has a pretty solid grasp of Philadelphia sports history. So when I asked him if the four major sports teams have ever been as bad across the board as they currently are, I expected him to have an answer ready. “Yeah, the early-‘70s or mid-‘90s were definitely worse,” or something like that. This is Philadelphia we are talking about, after all.
So when he shrugged and expressed uncertainty, it piqued my interest. Maybe right now actually is as bad as it has ever been.
You see, Jimmy’s post from last week is what initially brought the subject to my attention. Now that the city knows it currently has the worst sports teams in North America — By the way, the Eagles, Flyers, and Sixers went a combined 0-6-2 in the last week to strengthen our hold on last place — why stop there? What about the worst sports teams of all-time locally?
Here is how I went about trying to answer that question:
• All of the sports matter equally in this exercise, so the final number is the average of the four teams’ respective winning percentages. Adding all of their records together wouldn’t work, because then the Phillies’ performance (162 games) is ten times more important than the Eagles’ (16 games).
• For the Flyers, that number is “points percentage,” which I took directly from Hockey Reference.
• To try and compare all of history to our current sorry state (2015 Phillies, 2015 Eagles, 2015-16 Flyers, 2015-16 Sixers), I used the calendar year that the team began its regular season to group them together.
What were the results according to these kind of arbitrary rules? In the 48 years since the Flyers joined the NHL and gave us a fourth team, the 2015-16 Philadelphia sports scene is on pace to be… the second-worst ever, but just barely. In what is truly a two-horse race, 1972-73 is your leader in the clubhouse with the lowest total, an average .303 winning percentage. The scorecard is signed on that one, too, which is a major advantage. First, here is a closer look at the worst five years statistically:
| Year | Flyers | Eagles | Sixers | Phillies | Average |
| 1972 | 37-30-11 (.545) | 2-11-1 (.179) | 9-73 (.110) | 59-97 (.378) | .303 |
| 2015 | 6-9-5 (.425) | 4-6-0 (.400) | 0-14 (.000) | 63-99 (.389) | .304 |
| 1969 | 17-35-24 (.382) | 4-9-1 (.321) | 42-40 (.512) | 63-99 (.389) | .401 |
| 1971 | 26-38-14 (.423) | 6-7-1 (.464) | 30-52 (.366) | 67-95 (.414) | .417 |
| 2012 | 23-22-3 (.510) | 4-12-0 (.250) | 34-48 (.415) | 81-81 (.500) | .419 |
As you can see, there is a decent gap between the second and third-worst winning percentages. So despite not coming in last, this shows you how uniquely awful Philadelphia sports currently are.
Alas, that pesky 1972 mark might be tough to “top.” As bad as the Sixers look right now, they certainly aren’t going to finish 0-82 (which is how they are factored into the math). Just last year, Brett Brown's crew started 0-17 and managed to finish with 18 victories. The crown jewel of ineptitude from that 1972 group was Roy Rubin and Kevin Loughery’s Sixers, who finished with what is still the worst 82-game record in NBA history at 9-73. Because there wasn't any lottery, they got the number one pick after winning a coin flip with Portland. Doug Collins was the player they selected, which is ironic because he is part of the reason the Sixers are so bad today.
That said, the Eagles look absolutely primed to go in the tank down the stretch. Let’s say they finish 5-11, the Sixers win 15 games, and the Flyers keep their current pace. That would still leave the 2015 group with a .327 average winning percentage, an improvement on their current mark.
There is a popular story that members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only undefeated team in NFL history, pop some champagne each season after the last undefeated team loses. Members of the 1972 Eagles-76ers-Flyers-Phillies can’t do the same for their record yet, but the guess here is it’s pretty safe.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
