Seattle's Never Had a Year This Bad, But We're Not Even Close to Detroit's 2019-2020 Nightmare
There's a reason we don't talk about the worst sports years. They hurt. But sometimes, staring directly at the pain is the only way to understand just how deep it goes.
A data analyst just ranked every four-sport city season since 1950, and the results are brutal. Washington DC thought 2025 was their worst nightmare. Nationals went 66-96, Commanders finished 5-12, Wizards posted a 17-65 record, and the Capitals missed the playoffs for the first time since 2022-23 despite posting a winning 43-30 season. It was supposed to be catastrophic. But here's the thing: DC wasn't even close to the bottom. They ranked 39th overall.
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👉 Claim Your Free $10 at KalshiThe methodology is simple but ruthless. The analyst averaged each team's end-of-year ranking percentile within its league, making a 29th-place finish in MLB (out of 30) directly comparable to a 29th-place finish in the NFL (out of 32). Only one team per sport counts. You don't get bonus misery points for having multiple losing teams in the same city.
Chicago Knows This Pain All Too Well
Chicago ranked 17th in 2022, 27th in 2023, and 34th in 2024. That three-year stretch was absolutely brutal. The elation that hit when the Bears and Packers faced off in the playoffs a couple months ago wasn't just about beating a rival. It was about finally, finally having something to celebrate after years of absolute drought.
Detroit in 2019 and 2020 Was a Different Animal Entirely
Then there's Detroit. They ranked 3rd worst in 2019 and 1st worst in 2020. Not a single team had any business being anywhere near the playoffs. Tigers or Pistons? Take your pick for which one embarrassed the city more. Neither had a snowball's chance in hell.
New York in 2017 was scattered across six different horrible seasons depending on which combination of Mets, Giants, Jets, Yankees, Knicks, Nets, Islanders, and Rangers you were rooting for. The Mets were dragged into multiple catastrophes that year.
So where does Seattle stack up in this misery index? That's the question every fan in the Emerald City should be asking right now.
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