Over the next few days, we are counting down the 16 fanbases that suffered the most pain during the 2012 calendar year. For more on how this countdown works, click here. Friday: teams 12-9.
‘Could be worse’ countdown: Nos. 12-9
Our countdown of the team that put its fans through the most painful calendar year continues with Nos. 12-9.
USA TODAY Sports
INTRODUCTION | 16-13 | 12-9 (HERE) | 8-5 (COMING SATURDAY) | 4-1 (COMING MONDAY) | ALL POSTS
12. UCONN BASKETBALL
Jim O’Connor-USA TODAY Sports
Opening statement, by Mike Prada
In the first stage of this exercise, we talked about how Auburn football's demise may be the quickest we've ever seen from a college football champion. If things freefall as much as they did this year in Storrs, Connecticut basketball's might be just as quick. Twenty months ago, Kemba Walker electrified the college basketball world in leading Jim Calhoun to his third title. Now, Calhoun has retired amid controversy, the team itself has disappointed greatly and the athletics program is being left behind in a decaying conference.
Unlike the other three teams that follow, UConn wasn’t an awful team. The Huskies still managed to slip into the NCAA Tournament last year, after all. But huge things were expected this season, and instead, UConn disappointed, saw the seemingly forced retirement of one of the game’s greatest program-builders and now has no idea where it’ll end up in the conference realignment landscape. They belong on this list because of the rapid fall from grace.
The evidence, by Mike Rutherford
- Watched an incredibly talented team underachieve all season and ultimately lose in their first game of the NCAA Tournament.
- Got banned from all postseason play in 2012-13 because of poor APR scores.
- Jim Calhoun retired.
- Appeared to be a lock for an ACC invite and then got beaten out by Louisville.
- Appears to be in no man’s land with the seven Big East Catholic schools leaving.
Expert Witness: Andrew Porter, The UConn Blog
A UConn basketball fan describes the difficulty of rooting for their team in 2012.
It's physically painful for me to recount the events of 2012, an awful year for a fanbase coming off the high of a 2011 National Championship. The year started with coach Jim Calhoun serving an NCAA suspension, and two weeks later the NCAA also suspended freshman guard Ryan Boatright (for the second time in the season). That suspension came the day before he was scheduled to play in front of 400 friends and family members, and was the centerpiece of two columns in the New York Times blasting the NCAA. Calhoun missed the entire month of February with a debilitating back injury and point guard Shabazz Napier called the entire team out for lacking heart. Whatever the Huskies were lacking, it caught up with them in March when a team that started the season ranked No. 4 was knocked out in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Following the season an impending NCAA tournament ban helped convince Jeremy Lamb and Andre Drummond to go to the NBA, while Ales Oriakhi jumped to Mizzou and Roscoe Smith left for UNLV, decimating UConn's front court. Oh, and that ban? It doesn't help that it only came about because of a retroactive rule change, and the tournament ban was UConn's second punishment for the same offense.
In the fall Calhoun got in a serious bike accident, which led to his retirement a month before the season started. Calhoun was replaced by Kevin Ollie, who's rapidly become a fan favorite. The only problem is that the one fan he hasn't won over is the AD, who has refused to give him more than a seven-month contract (though an extension would be a great way to start 2013).
The final, and worst blow, is that the Big East completely disintegrated in 2012, leaving the Huskies as the only founding member left in the conference, and in a position where Cincinnati and USF are about to qualify as UConn's only "long-term" conference rivals. It's a miserable state of affairs, and it's left a school that is two years removed from a BCS Bowl and a basketball national championship in a position where the entire future of their athletic program is in doubt.
(Editor’s Note: Andrew also wrote this piece on The UConn Blog that goes into more detail).
11. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
Opening statement, by Mike Prada
The Jaguars are one of three teams on this list that were expected to be terrible and ended up being hilariously terrible. In Jacksonville’s case, the putrid on-field play was exacerbated by the lack of development of a former first-round quarterback and the ongoing perception that the team is better off elsewhere. There’s no real threat of relocation, and ticket sales have actually improved dramatically, but warding off the national perception gets tiring for fans.
Oh, and there’s also the Tim Tebow thing. Want to piss off Jaguars fans, you troll? Just tell them that Tim Tebow is going to save the day.
The evidence, by Alfie Crow
- Jaguars fans got to watch their hometown team go 1-7 at EverBank Field with a scoring differential of -118 and averaged 11.75 points per game, but still averaged 65,000 in attendance
- The Jaguars starting quarterbacks were Blaine Gabbert AND Chad Henne.
- Maurice Jones-Drew led the Jaguars rushing, despite missing the final 10 games of the season.
- Jason Babin was actually an upgrade for the Jaguars.
- A gallery was made of the team's poor safety play, because they were hurdled so much.
- The Jaguars secured the worst record in the history of the franchise after Tom Brady played his worst game of the season.
- The Jaguars have made more roster moves (95, as of 12/25/12) than they scored points at home in 2012 (94).
Expert witness: Adam Stites of Big Cat Country
A Jaguars fan describes the difficulty of rooting for their team in 2012.
The Jaguars in 2012 had a fantastic ability to get blown out when there was hope for a win, yet keep it tantalizingly close only to lose when fans felt they had no shot. But hey, rooting for a team that wins only two games in a season is never fun. It's the team's failings as an organization off the field that really set them apart as a painful team to root for, though. Whether that's leaving their playbook on iPads that others teams can take advantage of or spending a third round draft pick on a punter, because we all know there's nowhere else on the roster that pick could've been useful. If being a Jaguars fan in 2012 wasn't the most painful experience for a sports fan, I have the most sincere sympathy for any fanbase that hurt more, but somehow I doubt they exist.
10. CHARLOTTE BOBCATS
Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Opening statement, by Mike Prada
The Charlotte Bobcats were the absolute worst team in NBA history last season. Often times, when that happens, fans can at least laugh at some of their players. "They may be losers, but their OUR losers, and we will remember their ineptitude forever."
Except ... that doesn't really apply to last year's Bobcats. They mostly had nice, unassuming guys that never got down as much as one would think. Save for an amusing story about Paul Silas and Tyrus Thomas fighting, there wasn't anything for us to reminisce about. They were just a professional basketball team horribly devoid of professional-level talent.
That, in and of itself, yields a certain kind of misery.
The evidence, by Mike Prada and Tom Ziller
- The Bobcats were so bad that Paul Silas felt like it was no problem to let his son coach the team for a few games in the spring.
- Their 23-game losing streak was a full 34 percent of the season.
- They ended up setting the record for worst winning percentage in an season in front of a national audience on TNT that was dying to revel in their sorrow. OK, maybe not, but knowing that everyone was watching to see if the Bobcats could set the record had to sting on some level for fans.
- They earned the No. 2 pick in what many felt was a one-player draft at the time.
- They seemed to be doing just fine early on before a 15-game losing streak to end the calendar year crushed their hopes again.
Expert witness: Ben Swanson of Rufus on Fire
A Bobcats fan describes the difficulty of rooting for their team in 2012.
At the time of writing this, the Bobcats are 13-77 in 2012.
"That's so Bobcats," everyone thinks in unison, I'm sure.
Yes, it's just the most recent and most sad chapter in the Charlotte Bobcats' short history. They lost so many games in such depressingly uninspired fashion, fans were pleased with losses by only 10 points. No one played well with any consistency. Then-head coach Paul Silas got into a physical altercation with underperforming Tyrus Thomas. Tyrus Thomas asked a fan from the bench during a game to get him a steak. You know it's rough when you look forward to Corey Maggette playing for your team.
Thankfully, the season ended and the pain ceased. Or so it seemed. They traded Maggette for Ben Gordon and nice future first round draft pick. They drafted Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Jeffery Taylor and headed into the new season with renewed hope to improve upon rock bottom.
And they did. The new plucky Bobcats were reborn. They won their first game of the year, ending a 23-game losing streak. They beat the Mavericks for the first time in franchise history. Somehow, they managed to string together a win streak (even if their wins came overwhelmingly against teams missing their best players). Some fans even began to wonder if they could make the playoffs.
Alas, they reverted back to their old form, en route to their current 15-game losing streak. The offense struggles and the defense can't rotate for crap, and it shows.
The young guys are playing pretty well and the effort is much-improved, but losing every game still hurts. To see the team give much better focus and with better talent and still go on a terrible losing streak and to suffer their worst loss in team history -- well, that just makes it all the more painful.
They flew too close to the sun. And if that isn't the saddest commentary of a team -- that their ceiling is mediocre .500 play, and they still regressed to the mean of going on huge losing streaks -- then I don't know what is.
9. HOUSTON ASTROS
Opening statement, by Mike Prada
I think any reasonable Astros fan knew that this wasn't going to be a good year, but how many predicted that their favorite team would be this embarrassing? The above .gif might have been the most famous #LOLASTROS moment of the season, but there were many, many more. A couple funny moments in a dreary season is one thing. A funny moment seemingly every week in a dreary season is another thing entirely. At some point, it gets old to be the butt of every single joke.
The evidence, by Bill Hanstock
- The 2012 Astros fanbase had to watch what was, bar-none, the worst team in Major League Baseball. Heading into the year, it was expected they would be bad. Then they were! Then they kept being that. Among the high lowlights for Astros fans this year:
- Their lone semi-desirable veteran, Carlos Lee, could have netted them some decent prospects before the trade deadline and given Houston fans a rooting interest with a contending team. Instead, Lee blocked a trade to the Dodgers. Then he blocked a trade to the Yankees. Then he accepted a trade to the ... Marlins?! That can't be right.
- The Astros had one of the very worst fielding plays in the history of baseball.
- Then they had another one.
- The Astros players even managed to forget how to run and touch a base, to the point that they defied the very laws of physics
- Houston fans had to watch their team go 55-107 -- a full six games worse than the next-worst team in baseball -- with the constant knowledge that next year, the team will be moving to the American League. Into an intensely top-heavy division.
- Did I mention that they traded away their best pitcher this season? Because they did that too. And their big offseason acquisition this winter has been to sign Carlos Pena. He's expected to be the first-ever Designated Hitter for the Astros. He hit .197/.330/.354 last season. But hey, Orbit's back!
Expert witness: David Coleman of Crawfish Boxes
An Astros fan describes the difficulty of rooting for their team in 2012.
Worst season in franchise history coming off the previous worst season ever. Lost 50 years of history by moving to the AL. Lost fan favorite broadcaster Jim DeShaies to the Cubs. Endured constant PED speculation about franchise icon Jeff Bagwell. Oh, and also became the butt of every baseball futility joke for the past nine months. If that's not a rough calendar year, I'm not sure what is.
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