By: Eric Gettemy, Executive Editor
We all know who the winners are because they are the ones wearing the rings, hoisting the trophies, or have DVDs for free with a paid subscription to Sports Illustrated (which of course you have no use for because you get The Forum for free!). However, who is at the opposite end of the spectrum? Who is the anti-champion? It can’t simply be the team that came in last place or has the worst statistics. That really doesn’t tell the whole story.
It is like saying the champion is the team with the best record or the best statistics. We know this not be the case. In fact, in most instances, the “Champion” is the team that makes things happen at the right times. Therefore, the Anti-Champions are the teams which (A) Don’t make things happen at the right times AND (B) Were in a objectively reasonable position to be a Champion to begin with. Obviously, if this analysis would stop at A, you could include roughly every team in every sport at some point during the season.
The real turning point is, what are the teams that actually shoulda woulda coulda, and did not. So, being an Anti-Champion is a rather dubious distinction, but it isn’t the worst thing in the world. A team could just be terrible, at which point they would become ineligible to be an Anti-Champion. Which is worse, well, that is up to you.
The Anti-Champions of Baseball:
This one has been a hot race as the Cubs, Mets, and Yankees are all great contenders. However, I think when all is said and done (and it is) the Mets pull this one off.
The Yankees bring a lot to the table, but I have to say its all a little redundant. The Yankees again spent nearly $200 million on their squad this past year, and yet, fell short. This is nothing new. Some salaries that, at this point, become comical are Jason Giambi’s $23.5 million, Bobby Abreu’s $15.6 million, Mike Mussina’s $11 million, and Kyle Farnsworth (Who? A mediocre middle reliever/setup guy) at $5.6 million. Yes, they are in the most profitable market in the game and have it to spend, but to spend it on these guys…really? With this kind of contract negotiation you have to wonder if the AARP has a lobbyist inside the GM’s staff.
Yea sure, the Yankees signed them when they were younger, but apparently they didn’t bring an abacus with them to determine that Giambi would eventually be 37 years old and making roughly a tenth of the payroll while platooning at first base with Shelley Duncan. Even so, despite their best efforts at championship futility, mere boardroom miscalculation is not enough to earn the coveted Anti-Championship. It must be coupled with a healthy mix of a strong collective negative self-fulling prophecy urge and several in-game managerial and/or team meltdowns.
I would say the Cubs satisfy this fairly well being that next year we can all celebrate an entire century of the Cubs not winning a championship. In fact, the Cubs tend to personify the self fulfilling prophecy prong of the Anti-Championship analysis. But, all things considered, they did mount a comeback to swipe the division championship from the Brewers this year to even get into the playoffs. Thus, you can’t really consider their loss in the playoffs to be a meltdown, when they barely made it in to begin with. Also, the Cubs displayed competent coaching from Lou Pinella and had a solid showing from a young pitching staff. Taken as a whole, I think these facts tend to preclude to Cubs from being anti-champions, and move them into, dare I say, the “contender” category. Even so Cubs fans, don’t pound the Old Style just yet, because being a contender means that with a strong showing next year, they are also in the running for the Anti-Championship.
Finally, the moment you’ve been waiting for: The Crowning of Baseball’s Anti-Champion of 2007. Congratulations Mets. You’ve managed to have the third highest payroll in baseball, a team full of stars, and still had one of the worst collapses in baseball history. The Mets went 5-11 in their last 16 games of the season to relinquish the division to the Phillies by one game, and subsequently missed the playoffs. All this after the 2006 performance of coming one game away from the World Series. Simply devastating.
The Anti-Champions of Basketball:
The Dallas Mavericks are your 2007 Anti-Champions. This team led the league in wins with 67 only to be thoroughly disposed of in the first round by a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 1994, the Golden State Warriors. The score of the final game in this series was 111-86. It also should be noted that Mavs owner Mark Cuban is no slouch when it comes to the payroll either. Thus, not only did the Mavericks become the 2007 Anti-Champions of Basketball, they set the precedent forevermore of what we look for in our Anti-Champions. The Mavs could win the next three NBA championships, and people will still remember when they lost in 2007.
The Anti-Champions of Hockey:
This has been really difficult. The 2007 NHL playoffs proceeded was one of the most predictable in recent memory. Nearly all the top seeded teams beat the lower seeded teams throughout the playoffs. There were no collapses, there were no meltdowns. Be that as it may, there is a championship to be awarded and an article to write. Thus, the Detroit Red Wings are your 2007 Anti-Champions of Hockey. But they fared well in the playoffs, and even lost in the western conference finals in game 6. That they did. However, you just can’t go around and call your city “HockeyTown USA” and expect not to set yourself up for an Anti-Championship. The burden is on Detroit once they hold themselves out to be the be-all-end-all of hockey to win. If they don’t, welcome to the Anti-Championship, the Forum Sports eqivalent of the 2nd showcase showdown in the Price is Right. Enjoy your Foreman Grill and random camping equipment Detroit!
Anti-Champions of the NFL:
It saddens me to admit that the Steelers will have to be the 2007 Anti-Champions. You simply cannot go 8-8 after winning the Super Bowl. Also, you shouldn’t ride motorcycles into car windshields when you are the starting quarterback for an NFL team. I believe this is covered at every mini-camp, or it should be from now on. However, there is a silver lining to it all, and that is the Colts finally got to win the Super Bowl when they didn’t have to play the Steelers.
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