Unlucky 26

Every once in awhile I'm going to do my best to keep these short and concise.  I enjoy writing this long diatribes about random facts, but I'm afraid if I only do that I will quickly run short of interesting topics.  Therefore, I'm going to try to keep this one shorter.

Most sports fans would know the MLB, NBA, and NFL seasons are vastly different lengths in terms of how many games are played.  The NFL season has a mere 16 games.  The NBA plays more than five times that amount at 82 games.  Meanwhile, MLB is nearly twice that long at 162 games.

So what do the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL, the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA, and the now defunct Louisville Colonels of Major League Baseball have in common?  They all hold the record for the longest losing streak in their respective sports.  The coincidental part?  The record is 26 games in all three cases.

Obviously, given the shorter NFL season, the Buccaneers needed two seasons to accomplish this feat.  As an expansion team, they went 0-14 in 1976, and then started the 1977 season with 12 more losses before winning their final two games of the year.  Interesting side fact, the Buccaneers first win would come against the Archie Manning led New Orleans Saints.

The Cleveland Cavaliers only recently joined this club having lost 26 games in a row in the 2010-11 season.  The fact that they only lost 26 games in a row is almost lucky.  Prior to losing the 26 in a row, they lost 10 in a row, but narrowly beat the New York Knicks in overtime to separate the two streaks.

That leaves the Louisville Colonels of the Major Leagues.  The Colonels were from an era long ago, starting in 1882 and vanishing in 1899.  Interestingly enough, they participated in more MLB games than any other now defunct team (2,355 games).  In 1889, they lost 26 games in a row playing in what was known as the American Association in route to a 27-111 season (.196 winning percentage), the first MLB team to lose 100 or more games in a season.  It wasn't until 1892 that they moved to the National League, and after 1899, their owner purchased control of the Pittsburgh Pirates and took some of his best players there including future Hall of Famer Honus Wagner.

Anyway, just found it interesting that three of the four major sports leagues share this record despite vastly different lengths of season.  For those wondering, the NHL longest losing streak is merely 17 games by both the Washington Capitals and San Jose Sharks.  However, the Winnipeg Jets did manage to play 30 games without winning a game.