Wait, the 76ers played in Syracuse?
Yesterday’s clubbing of the Baltimore Orioles got me thinking about how an individual’s perception of a franchise is shaped by when somebody is born. The O’s went 1-2 in three straight World Series from 1969-1971 with two more appearances in 1979 and 1983. I’m sure in my father’s mind, the Orioles were a model franchise now fallen on hard times.
But for me, they’ve pretty much always sucked because to their mediocre-to-terrible play since I became aware of baseball. I was three in 1983, so that last World Series appearance is rather irrelevant. Ten straight losing seasons since 1997 obliterates that “ancient” World Series success.
The New York Islanders are a similar case. They won four consecutive Stanley Cups from 1980 to 1983. Since then, “garbage” is a polite term for that franchise over the past 15 seasons. Again, model franchise fallen on hard times from my father’s perspective. Puke bucket franchise from my perspective. Those four Cups might as well occurred in the 18th Century.
What other franchises fit the above model?
What about a franchise from your youth that was great (Toronto Blue Jays, Buffalo Bills), but has since “fallen on hard times”?