While listening to the Michael Kay Show this week, they were talking about a topic that inspired this week's blog post. The past few days leading up to the Rangers Game 7(which they lost), Michael Kay asked " If the Rangers don't win the Stanley Cup, is their season a failure?" Michael Kay said absolutely it would be failure, Don La Greca and Dave Rothenberg both said it would be considered a success. If you want my honest opinion, it all really depends on the sport and team. What do exactly do I mean?
Let's start this out, I am a huge a Yankees Fan. As a Yankees fan, it's like Michael said, "Championship or Bust" if they don't win the World Series. With that in mind, baseball varies when it comes to this topic. There are really only 2, maybe 3 teams, if they don't win the World Series it's a failure. The Yankees, Dodgers, and Cardinals fall under "Win or fail" concept. The Yankees and Cardinals fall in this category for a different reason than the Dodgers. Both the Yankees and the Cardinals are known for winning. By a wide margain, the Yankees have the most World Series victories in baseball history. When George Steinbrenner bought the team, he really set up a high standard. The Cardinals, however, have the second most World Series victories. St. Louis has such a rich history of winning, even if it is just the pennant.
The Dodgers are in category of "Championship or Bust"(even though you can throw the Yankees with them too). With a record setting payroll of 290 million dollars, the Dodgers have put together a superstar team. Last year, they were expected to at least make it to the World Series, but didn't make it out of the first round.
Baseball is very weird when it comes to success and failures. For 20 consecutive seasons, the Pittsburgh Pirates had a losing season. Finally, in 2013, they broke the barrier and had a winning season. Not only did they win 94 games, but they made it to the playoffs. The did not win the World Series that year, but by no means do I consider that season for the Pirates a failure! It was considered a successful season for them. Last year, the Kansas City Royals had a winning season and made it all the way to Game 7 of the World Series. Even though they lost, I feel that for the Royals it was a successful season. They had not made it to the playoffs in 30 years.
In football, success and failure are measured similarly to baseball. How so? For the past 13 years, teams like the Patriots, Colts, Broncos, and Packers have been expected to win every year. It's a failure of a season if they don't win the Super Bowl. The Patriots are the most recent dynasty in football. When they lost both Super Bowls to the Giants, it was considered a failure for them. During the 90's, it was on the Cowboys, the same with the 49ers in the 1980's.
On the contrary, there are teams like Detroit Lions, New York Jets, or Cleveland Browns that a successful season will include a winning season, making it to the playoffs, or just improving on wins. I like to compare the Lions to the Pirates. They both had multiple losing seasons, before having a winning season and making it to the playoffs. A lot of the time, team management, ownership, or the media of that market, puts so pressure on their teams to "Win It All."
Basketball is very different. Basketball success or failures fall on the superstars. If you look at it, many people are talking about how Lebron made it 5 consecutive finals, not the Heat. Like every other sport, basketball has its royalty with the Lakers and Celtics, but basketball is more about the superstar than any other sport. If Lebron does not win the Championship this year, it will be a failure for him. When Michael Jordan made it to the Finals, it was the same concept. People compare Lebron James to Michael Jordan, which is a bit unfair. Lebron's career is not over yet and still has a lot to play. If someone wants a failure in the NBA look at Carmelo Anthony. He has great ability and talents to play the game, but has never made it to an NBA Finals. Tim Duncan, Shaq, and Kobe Bryant are all not failures.
Everyone has their own opinions about what a failure is with sports. No one will every have a definite answer. The one thing everyone will agree with is that a successful season is when your team wins it all. Many athletes have individual success and failures, but a teams success and failures all vary. Let's hope we have more stories like the Kansas City Royals and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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