The worst era in sports.....

[Damaramu 0]

I was just wondering what everyone thinks the worst era in each sport has to be? You know a year or a decade where the games weren't that exciting and you just knew one team would take it all. I can't really comment on MLB, NHL, NCAA, or NBA(that's what i'm hoping you can do) but I will say I think the worst period for the NFL was the 90's.

It was during the time when you didn't have the "Anyone can win!" mentality. We had two great teams that you knew would go every year. And you knew that the AFC would offer up a sacrificial lamb for the Cowboys or 49ers to slaughter in the end. I've heard it called the Dynasty era. Where a rich owner just bought all the talent and ruled the league.

I don't really know exactly when this era ended and football became fun again. I quit watching shortly after the Bronco's won there second superbowl...which I believe is when it got fun again. Hmmm..........and now I'm back and it seems to be better than ever.

 

Anyways post your worst era in sports and why.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

For MLB, probably the late 80s. Labor strifes, drug scandals, owner collusion, Pete Rose, etc.

[Red Baron 0]

Hockey

 

1994-Present.

 

Its simple, after the strike the game really went downhill

[Slayer 0]

Hockey

 

1994-Present.

 

Its simple, after the strike the game really went downhill

Not to mention realignment and expansion out the ass

[Red Baron 0]

or just stating that when Gary Bettman joined the league, it went downhill

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

The NBA strike till now. It's been totally unwatchable for years now.

[Guest Anglesault]

Baseball: The present era.

 

Now, I've been enjoying it to an extent, but I despise the idea of second place teams even making the playoffs, let alone winning the world series. That was always baseball's thing. In the other major sports, (hockey is a real standout) it was almost absurd who could make the post season, but baseball was always the best teams of however divisions. That's how a sport should be.

 

I've also begun to totally lose interest in interleague play. It was a cool novelty, but it's worn thin. Especially since, let's be honest, there there are two real big "draws" between the AL East and AL West, (Yankee-Giants, Yankee-Bums) and for Lord Knows what reason (scheduling, obviously) we can't get those in the same season.

[Guest Ghettoman]

This era, with all sports.

 

The way everythings driven by money is just nausiating, and it's never been this bad.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Baseball: when the White Sox had collars and all those absurd 70s fashions.

Basketball: Strike until now

Hockey: Strike until now (Bettman DOES have to be just like the NBA!)

Football: not sure

[razazteca 0]

This era, with all sports.

 

The way everythings driven by money is just nausiating, and it's never been this bad.

I agree what is the deal with the new jerseys in the NBA? Most if not all of them look bad and the color scheme looks to be all in pastels such as the Nuggets baby blue or the Suns PHX orange. And what makes it worst is that the league is bringing back some lame retro jerseys for the sole purpose of selling them in stores.

[Damaramu 0]

This era, with all sports.

 

The way everythings driven by money is just nausiating, and it's never been this bad.

Whoa whoa......you're telling me football now is worse than football in the 90's? When you knew who was going to win the Super Bowl at the beginning of the season? When the richest teams had all the good players?

These days anyone can win and you don't know what will happen. I mean these playoffs have been some of the most exciting in a long time.

 

And I figured everyone would say Basketball now. I used to watch when I was a kid back in the days of Jordan and such but now it's just boring. And they all seem to be overpaid kids that think they're god.

[King Kamala 0]

I'd say NBA's worst era was the late 70's before Magic and Bird were drafted, buncha cokeheads running around in short shorts. Magic and Bird saved the league from self destructing. I think the NBA is far better off now than then.

[Bored 0]

On top of that the NBA Finals were shown on tape delay during that time including Magic's first Finals in 1980 when they beat the Sixers.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Hey remember when I said I wasn't sure what the worst era of the NFL is? It's now. The boring as hell New England Patriots somehow winning, and the Eagles trying to out-do Buffalo's record of postseason futility, with Super Bowls like Oakland-Tampa and Baltimore-New York that have nothing interesting about them. I actually liked the 90s with Steve Young's 49ers as a kid.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

This era, with all sports.

 

The way everythings driven by money is just nausiating, and it's never been this bad.

Nonsense. If you look back at every era in sports, you'll always find someone who says this era's players are overpaid, lazy, etc.

 

It makes me weep to think of the men of the old days who played the game and the boys of today.  It's positively a shame, and they are getting big money for it, too."

Bill Joyce, 1916

[King Kamala 0]

NFL's never had a bad era in my book. If I had to say any I'd say around 90-95 but even that era had that great Bills-Giants SuperBowl.

[Bored 0]

No the NFL's bad era was from 1982 to 1987. '82 you had the first strike season where they only played nine games. Then partly because of the strike the USFL comes into exsistence which obviously didn't provide much competition in terms of box office but they did steal away several good college players from the NFL like Steve Young, Herschel Walker, Jim Kelly, and others. Then '87 you have a another strike season which they had the embarassment of the "scab" games.

 

Oh and as for MLB they've had several up and down periods. Obviously the most recent "bad era" would have to be the mid 90s.

[Damaramu 0]

Well didn't they just recently put a salary cap on the NFL? Hasn't it gotten much better since then?

Do you think that would work for MLB and NBA? Or would the players just strike and make it all for naught.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

I was just wondering what everyone thinks the worst era in each sport has to be? You know a year or a decade where the games weren't that exciting and you just knew one team would take it all.

 

But for every person like you there's someone that wants that one dominant team...

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Well didn't they just recently put a salary cap on the NFL? Hasn't it gotten much better since then?

Do you think that would work for MLB and NBA? Or would the players just strike and make it all for naught.

 

Judging by the last three postseasons, the lack of a salary cap suits MLB just fine.

[The Czech Republic 0]

I was just wondering what everyone thinks the worst era in each sport has to be? You know a year or a decade where the games weren't that exciting and you just knew one team would take it all.

 

But for every person like you there's someone that wants that one dominant team...

There's gotta be a happy medium between one team running the show from start to finish, and all these nothing teams coming out of nowhere to miraculously pull it all off (both Carolinas, both Anaheims, the Marlins, etc)

[sfaJack 0]

Well didn't they just recently put a salary cap on the NFL? Hasn't it gotten much better since then?

 

Salary cap took effect in the NFL in 1994, I believe. And, no, it's not much better since it started. You could make a case that's it's worse, actually. Players change teams too often now, and the overall quality of play has slipped, in my opinion.

 

Do you think that would work for MLB and NBA? Or would the players just strike and make it all for naught.

 

You don't follow those sports too closely, do you? MLB has been fighting over the cap issue for years; it's probably never gonna happen, and I'm not sure it should. Having teams like the Yankees that "buy" everyone is ok, and makes for some great drama when they get beat. Having such teams creates very rigid love/hate lines towards those teams. I know several people, me among them, who get overjoyed every time the Yankees or Braves or whoever get taken down. It's great.

 

The NFL used to have that. Being a Cowboys' fan in the early-mid '90s was great; watching everyone get all bent out of shape when they won was priceless. Every time a team like that was involved in the championship, every football fan in the country was into the game emotionally, whether to see them win or to hope they lose. The level of interest on the whole was simply higher. The NFL doesn't have that anymore. Outside the northeast and the two dozen Panther fans in Carolina, who is going to get excited about a Patriots/Panthers Super Bowl?

 

The NBA has some rules for something pertaining to a salary cap, but they don't seem to enforce them. It's ridiculously soft.

[Bored 0]

The thing about the NFL is parity is really a recent phenomena. People can point to the early 90s when it was always the Cowboys and 49ers all they want but it was always like that in the NFL. 60s of course had the Packers. In the 70s it was pretty four teams who dominated the rest of the league: Steelers, Cowboys, Dolphins, Raiders. In the 80s of course the 49ers but you also had the great Redskin teams and the Raiders continued to win. When those teams weren't winning the Super Bowl you had to ass kicking, dominate teams like the '85 Bears and the '86 Giants. Then the 90s came you had Cowboys, 49ers, Packers, and Broncos who were all dominate teams at times.

 

Really until the late 90s there was no such thing as parity in the NFL and personally I liked having a dominate team (plus I grew up a 49er fan) and having teams that you absolutely wanted to see lose just because they always won and it was a big deal when they lost. From Super Bowl VI (1971 season) to Super Bowl XXXIII (1998 season) there were only ten different teams who won the Super Bowl. We've had four different teams in the last four years, all first time winners, although that might change this year with the Patriots.

 

As bad as baseball can be perceieved and as annoyed as many of us get with the Yankees, they have it pretty well right now. You have a dominate team everyone roots against (Yankees), you have teams who are regulars to the playoffs who are a cut above the rest (Braves, A's, Red Sox, Giants), and then you have teams that come out of no where to win it all (Angels, Marlins).

[The Czech Republic 0]

The NFL used to have that.  Being a Cowboys' fan in the early-mid '90s was great; watching everyone get all bent out of shape when they won was priceless.  Every time a team like that was involved in the championship, every football fan in the country was into the game emotionally, whether to see them win or to hope they lose.  The level of interest on the whole was simply higher.  The NFL doesn't have that anymore.

I agree. It seems like the Cowboys really were, for the longest time, larger than life, larger than the league itself, America's Team. Now four expansion teams and a salary cap later, they're just another team with a hole in the roof.

[MrRant 0]

3 expansion teams.

[The Czech Republic 0]

3 expansion teams.

Panthers, Jaguars, New Browns, Texans.

[MrRant 0]

I forgot about the Browns... seems like they never left.

[Mole 0]

The NFL used to have that.  Being a Cowboys' fan in the early-mid '90s was great; watching everyone get all bent out of shape when they won was priceless.  Every time a team like that was involved in the championship, every football fan in the country was into the game emotionally, whether to see them win or to hope they lose.  The level of interest on the whole was simply higher.  The NFL doesn't have that anymore.

I agree. It seems like the Cowboys really were, for the longest time, larger than life, larger than the league itself, America's Team. Now four expansion teams and a salary cap later, they're just another team with a hole in the roof.

Ugh, I hate that.

 

How were the Cowboys' "America's Team?" It was just a stupid marketing tool to make money. In NY, you won't find any Cowboy fans anywhere. Everyone either likes the Jets or Giants, and they especially hate the Cowboys because they are in the NFC East with the Giants.

 

Right now, the NFL stands for "Not for Long" because you can't stay on top for long. The past two years, both teams who went to the Super Bowl (Pats/Rams in 02' and Bucs/Raiders 03') didn't make the playoffs the next year.

 

Football is the most popular sport in the US, so how could it be in a bad era?

[The Czech Republic 0]

How were the Cowboys' "America's Team?" It was just a stupid marketing tool to make money. In NY, you won't find any Cowboy fans anywhere. Everyone either likes the Jets or Giants, and they especially hate the Cowboys because they are in the NFC East with the Giants.

A marketing tool, but obviously an effective one.

 

 

And as for the Super Bowl teams missing the playoffs, that just bugs me. I'd like a team to at least stay strong into the next year.

[sfaJack 0]

How were the Cowboys' "America's Team?" It was just a stupid marketing tool to make money. In NY, you won't find any Cowboy fans anywhere. Everyone either likes the Jets or Giants, and they especially hate the Cowboys because they are in the NFC East with the Giants.

 

This is exactly what I'm talking about. The "America's Team" thing is what makes the Cowboys great. You either love them or hate them; there is no middle ground. You either watch to see them win, or you watch to see them lose.

 

Right now, the NFL stands for "Not for Long" because you can't stay on top for long. The past two years, both teams who went to the Super Bowl (Pats/Rams in 02' and Bucs/Raiders 03') didn't make the playoffs the next year.

 

And how is that a good thing? How is it good that the defending champion doesn't get back to the playoffs the next year?

 

Football is the most popular sport in the US, so how could it be in a bad era?

 

I hate to use a wrestling analogy, but I will. WWE is the most popular wrestling federation in the world. I think it's safe to say that it's currently in a bad era. Popularity of a sport has nothing to do with how good/bad an era it's in....