that’ll happen
JohnUpdate Monday 23 July 2007 at noon: I’m an idiot. The calculations for the Lightning are wrong. I calculated the win pct. on this post incorrectly (not John). Sincerely, Tommy.
Tommy took the time Monday to break the news to me that over the weekend the Philadelphia Phillies became the first American pro sports franchise to reach 10,000 losses.
“Lets put a new poll up asking who’s gonna’ be the next sports team to lose 10,000 games,” Tommy suggested, and include all of Tampa Bay’s pro sports teams as answers.
“That poll doesn’t make sense,” I told Tommy. “Only one team even has an outside shot at it and it’ll take about 100 years.”
“You’re too damned serious,” Tommy retorted.
“I’m not being serious,” I told him. “I’m being logical. The Rays play 162 games in a season. The Bucs play 16. The Lightning play 82. Who do you vote for with that knowledge? Do the math.”
Now, any long time local sports aficionado can tell you that it feels like Tampa Bay teams have lost over 10,000 games already. The Bucs had 14 straight double-digit losing seasons before 1996, the Lightning had back-to-back-to-back 50 loss seasons, and the Devil Rays… are the Devil Rays. In honesty, the Bucs are 193-304-1 (.388) in the team’s 30 year history, the Lightning are 415-553-113-38 (.384) (.413) in 14 seasons, and the Devil Rays are 615-932 (.398) in 9+ seasons. For those of you with no calculator, that equals 1,223 wins and 1,789 losses (including OTL), and 39 ties.
Grudgingly, Tommy conceded the point (but I swear, I could hear him mumble “party pooper” under his breath), but his poll concept gave me an idea of my own: What is the next major feat to be accomplished in Tampa Bay sports?
Loading ...Mentioning the Bucs kickoff-return-for-a-touchdown drought was a no-brainer to begin. The Buccaneers are oh-fer the franchise (that means the team has scored a grand total of zero (0) times on kickoff returns), making it the most renowned non-accomplishment in Tampa Bay sports.
The Rays winning their division seemed like the next choice as the team has yet to win more than 70 games in a season, let alone challenge for anything more than 4th place in Major League Baseball’s AL East.
From there it got murky. The Lightning have won the Stanley Cup, they’ve had the league MVP, they’ve had the league scoring leader… They’ve even had the most gentlemanly player in the league (the wuss)! What the hell could their next challenge be? Well, seeing it took the New York Rangers 54 years between Stanley Cup championships and the current longest drought in the NHL is 40 years (held by those crazy kids in Toronto, East Canucklestan) having the Lightning win the Stanley Cup a second time seemed like a good choice.
Speaking of franchises, will Tampa Bay get an NBA team before any of the aforementioned goals are reached? What about a new Major League Soccer team? Heck, there are so many feats to add to the list that we’d love to hear your suggestions in the comments.
July 19th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
[...] Sticks of Fire: a Tampa blog abouthelptampagift shopadvertise « that’ll happen [...]
July 19th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
[...] The poll is currently posted on Sticks of Fire, have a look will ya? [...]
July 19th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
I guess one of the OTHER answers could easily be the Rays getting a new Baseball stadium. Not a feat on field but neither is the expansion franchise possibilities with the NBA/MLS.
July 19th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
It should definitely be a new MLS franchise. I know that the Tampa Bay Mutiny got folded for poor ticket sales, but judging from the US Soccer friendly against Ecuador held at RayJay back in March, Tampa Bay might be ready for an MLS team once more.
Tina (avid soccer fan)
July 19th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Tina — the Mutiny also got folded because they could find no local ownership. The league was basically running the Mutiny here.
July 19th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
John is correct. Unfortunately, because the Glazers lease at the stadium gives them such huge chunks of the suite, parking and concession revenue, there’s no incentive for anyone besides them to own a team that plays there.
July 19th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
….and I don’t think the Glazers are keen on owning another Soccer team just yet. After all, they own the worlds most famous soccer club as is.
July 20th, 2007 at 8:09 am
the last thing tampa bay needs is another european sport (aka soccer). we already have hockey
and just having the rays get above .500 would have been more realistic. florida will freeze before the rays win the al east.
July 20th, 2007 at 11:22 am
Ski dont’ be a hater! This area desires an MLS team. I think we are in a better situation now. MLS requires soccer only stadiums now.
July 20th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
If Tampa Bay doesn’t get the MLS team — my gut feeling is Orlando will.
Whatever happened to the idea of high speed boat races and the stadium seating built on one of the bridges??
July 20th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Lee, that wouldn’t happen. Environmentalists and just outdoors people in general would scream about that.
July 21st, 2007 at 12:18 pm
Are you sure about the lightnings winning percentage?
July 23rd, 2007 at 11:08 am
The win pct. for the lightning 415-553-113-38 (.384) was calculated simply ignoring ties (like other sports):
415 wins / 1081 (wins & losses) (415 + 553 + 113)
The correct way to calculate hockey win pct. is total points / total possible points. In this case, the win pct is .435 (973/2236)
July 23rd, 2007 at 12:10 pm
errrr… If i had taken the time to actually READ the charts, I may have gotten something right. The lightning win pct. is incorrect in the original post. It should be .413 based on the W/L formula and the .435 based on typical hockey calculations…
Which also means that the related post is wrong too: http://sticksoffire.com/2007/07/19/devil-rays-are-tampa-bays-best-pro-team-ever/
Unless I screwed it up again.
July 23rd, 2007 at 12:31 pm
[...] John’s original post with incorrect calculations by Tommy Duncan: That’ll Happen [...]