Author: scatty

Designing a kit for the biggest football teams in the world can be a challenge for athletic apparel companies, and you have to make sure that you get it just right since the kit is going to be worn for an entire season. Unfortunately, there are times when companies like Nike, Adidas, and more, simply miss the mark. There are five instances in English Premier League history in which these teams really missed, creating the worst kits the EPL has seen.

One thing that you’ll notice about the list right away is that every single one of these uniforms is from the 1990s. Needless to say, those who were around during the decade had an interesting taste in fashion. We’ll also be the first to admit that it hasn’t aged well, which is why so many of the “fashion fails” that you see these days came from the 1990s.

Middlesbrough 1996-97

The background on the home kits for Middlesbrough was already kind of weird with the strange background that clashed with the Cellnet advertisement on the front. Things got even harder to look at for the road kits as they were white with one of the strangest mismatched patterns we’ve ever seen. The blue pattern made us all squint, it was off-centered, and for some reason extended onto the sleeve.

Middlesbrough had a rough go at it in the 1996-97 season, finishing with just 39 points on 10 wins and 16 draws. The club was relegated from the English Premier League as only Nottingham Forest (more on them later) had fewer points.

Manchester United 1995-96

The road and home kits were just fine for Man U in the 1995-96 season, and the home kits were even considered some of the best in English Premier League history. As for their alternate kit, though, people were not fans. The tops were a faded-out grey with a stripe across the middle that had an advertisement for Sharp Viewcam. It was too busy, and the large numbers and names on the back with thick borders just made things worse.

Even on the rare occasions in which they were wearing the grey kits, it didn’t negatively affect Manchester United’s performance throughout the season. They would win up winning the English Premier League with ease, finishing with 84 total points. That was 10 more than any other team, qualifying Man U for the Champions League.

Coventry City 1992-93

Some kits are bad because they’re boring and don’t have much going on, and then there are those that are bad because there’s simply too much happening. The 1992-93 kits worn by Coventry City fall in the latter category for both the blue and red versions. The patterns didn’t really have any history behind their use and were an eyesore for anyone watching, especially on early 1990s televisions.

The kits were almost as ugly as Coventry City’s performance in the 1992-93 season. Only two teams scored fewer points than Coventry City that season as they put up just 38 points. Luckily for them, two other teams finished with 38 while Coventry had the best goal differential out of the three clubs, keeping them from relegation.

Norwich City 1993-94

In another case of kits that were way too busy and drew attention in a bad way, the Norwich City kits from the 1993-94 season were green and yellow, but not in a good way. The pattern looked like it was a botched attempt at tye-dye, and it clashed with the solid-colored collar. The advertising patch that was dead-center was also an eyesore, with the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society logo not fitting in at all.

There was some good news for Norwich City, though. They were one of the highest-scoring teams in the EPL during the 1993-94 season and easily avoided relegation. The finished with 53 points, which was good enough for 12th overall in the standings.

Nottingham Forest 1996-97

Nottingham Forest had some solid kits when they wore red during the 1996-97 season, but it was a much different case when they wore yellow. With lettering that started at the shoulders and literally dripped down unevenly, it looked like someone made a printing mistake when making these uniforms. Without those, the yellow kits with the red lettering would’ve actually been great.

It was bad enough that Nottingham Forest had to wear the uniforms, and it was made worse by the fact that they finished dead last in the English Premier League. Nottingham Forest finished with just 34 points (five behind 19th-place Middlesbrough) and were relegated to the Football League First Division. They would end up winning the division the following year but then again finished last in the EPL in 1998-99.

Each season in the NBA, there are only a handful of teams that end up having a realistic shot at winning the NBA Finals and oddsmakers know that. For this reason, there are typically two or three teams that are close to even odds while the rest end up being longshots. After all, the way that the NBA Playoffs are set up, being an underdog gives you almost no chance as you have to beat the better team in a best-of-seven series.

Still, there have been a few long shots to overcome the odds and not just make it deep into the tournament, but win the entire thing. Here are the five biggest longshots in NBA history to win the Larry O’Brien Trophy as league champions.

Houston Rockets (1993-94)

After the Chicago Bulls won three straight NBA titles, Michael Jordan unexpectedly retired. Oddsmakers weren’t quite sure what to do, and they ended up making many of the NBA teams into longshots since there was no clear-cut team expected to win. The Houston Rockets received +1200 odds to win the title as they were considered the third-best team in the Western Conference.

Equipped with the likes of Sam Cassell, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Otis Thorpe, the Rockets had a lot of potential. Houston secured the two-seed in the Western Conference and got by Golden States, Phoenix, and Utah on their way to the FInals. In seven games, the Rockets finished their underdog story by defeating the New York Knicks and winning the first of their back-to-back titles.

Detroit Pistons (2003-04)

There was one thing for sure about the 2003-04 Detroit Pistons, and it was that they played a tough defensive game. Still, they weren’t considered the top team in the Eastern Conference and oddsmakers felt that the “dream team” built by the Los Angeles Lakers would easily defeat any team that came from the East. As a result, the Pistons were given +1500 odds to win the 2004 NBA Finals.

Detroit was the clear-cut second seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs as they finished seven games behind Indiana and seven games ahead of New Jersey. The Pistons dispatched the Milwaukee Bucks, won in seven games against New Jersey, and took care of Indiana in six games. Still a big underdog in the Finals, the Pistons only needed five games to take down Shaq, Kobe, and the L.A. Lakers.

Toronto Raptors (2018-19)

Heading into the 2018-19 NBA season, the Golden State Warriors were expected to repeat as champions while some other surprise teams in the Western Conference popped up. As for the East, Toronto wasn’t given much of a chance to even make the NBA Finals as oddsmakers made them a +1850 longshot to win the NBA title.

That didn’t stop Kawhi Leonard and the Raptors from making waves, and they only needed one game seven to win the title. They defeated Orlando in the first round, Philadelphia in the second (in seven games), then Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference Finals. In six games against the Warriors, the Raptors clinched their first-ever championship with Leonard winning the Finals MVP award.

Dallas Mavericks (2010-11)

The Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers were the runaway favorites to meet up in the NBA Finals during the 2010-11 season, especially with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade joining forces in Miami and Kobe Bryant leading the Lakers. Dallas was seventh overall, carrying +2000 odds into the season. They played slightly above expectations in the regular season, finishing 57-25.

As the three-seed in the West, the Mavs needed only 21 games to win the championship. They defeated Portland in six games, unexpectedly swept the Lakers, then knocked out Oklahoma City in five games. Facing the Miami Heat, the Mavericks were able to win in six games to give Dirk Nowitzki the MVP award during his only championship win.

Golden State Warriors (2014-15)

It’s hard to think of the Golden State Warriors with Steph Curry ever being an underdog, but that was the case before their dynasty got started. The Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs were expected to meet in the 2015 NBA Finals, with Golden State being a massive +2800 longshot to win it all.

The Warriors quickly showed that they were legitimate, however, finishing with a 67-15 record, 11 games ahead of the second-place Houston Rockets. The Warriors swept New Orleans in the first round, then defeated Memphis (six games) and Houston (five games) to make the NBA Finals. In six games, they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers to claim their first title since 2015 thanks to the unlikely MVP-winner Andre Iguodala.

Each year, the NFL Draft’s first round is comprised mainly of players from colleges with massive college football programs. Colleges like Alabama, Notre Dame, Georgia, and more put out multiple first-round players seemingly every year, and have done so for decades. Then, there are surprises from small colleges, even all the way at the top. Let’s take a look at the first overall picks that came from surprising college programs.

For this list, we decided to stick with colleges in the Super Bowl era of professional football. Prior to then, it wasn’t uncommon to see a lot of small programs end up having a first-overall pick. After all, the University of Chicago hasn’t had a Division I team since the start of World War II, and they produced first-overall pick, Jay Berwanger.

Utah

Leading up to the 2005 NFL Draft, there had only been one Utah Ute drafted in the top 10, and that was two years prior when tackle Jordan Gross was selected eighth overall by the Carolina Panthers. In 2005, many thought that Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers was going to end up being the number one pick, but the San Francisco 49ers surprised many and went with quarterback Alex Smith at the top spot.

Smith became a starter in his first season with the 49ers and played for eight seasons in San Francisco. He also spent five seasons in Kansas City and three more with Washington before calling it quits after the 2020 season. Smith finished with 199 touchdowns and was a three-time Pro Bowl player.

University of Tampa

If you think of college football in Tampa, Florida, you probably think of the University of South Florida. However, the University of Tampa had a football program from 1933 until 1974, spending its final few years as an NCAA D-1 Independent. In their third-to-final season as a program, the Tampa Spartans produced defensive end John Matuszak, who was a surprise pick at number one in 1973 by the Houston Oilers.

Matuszak bounced around the league for a few years before finding a home with the Raiders from 1976 until the end of his career in 1982. He had no Pro Bowls and played in 123 career games, amassing 48.5 career sacks.

Fresno State

Prior to 2002, only two players in Fresno State history had been drafted in the first round. The first came in 1990 when defensive back James Williams (16th overall) was selected by the Bears, and quarterback Trent Dilfer was the sixth overall pick by the Buccaneers. David Carr became the third first-round Bulldog and the first to be taken with the number one pick by the expansion Houston Texans.

Carr became the day-one starter for the new franchise but failed to produce as a lack of an offensive line made him the most-sacked quarterback in the league twice in his first four seasons. Carr finished with a record of 23-53 in Houston and became a backup for Carolina, San Francisco, and New York (Giants) before retiring after the 2012 season.

Tennessee State

HBCU school Tennessee State began play in 1912 and has yet to produce two dozen players into the NFL. However, one of those players was the number one overall selection, and it happened when Ed “Too Tall” Jones was selected first by the Dallas Cowboys in 1974. The defensive end was selected ahead of the likes of Bo Matthews and John Hicks, and for the Cowboys, it was the right pick.

Jones was a three-time All-Pro in his career, all of which was spent with Dallas. He won a Super Bowl and was named to a trio of Pro Bowls, as well. Jones finished with 106 career sacks over 224 games with the Cowboys, achieving legend status with the franchise.

Central Michigan University

Mid-American Conference teams simply don’t have many first-round picks, and it took until 2013 for one of the MAC members to have a number one overall pick. Nobody knew what the Kansas City Chiefs would do with the number one pick that year since there wasn’t a clear-cut top player in the draft, so they selected offensive tackle Eric Fisher, which was even a surprise to the fine folks of Mount Pleasant, Michigan.

Fisher spent all but one of his 9 NFL seasons with the Chiefs, earning himself a Super Bowl title and a pair of Pro Bowl honors. Fisher was the full-time starter for the Chiefs during their rebuild that saw the team draft Patrick Mahomes. To date, he is the only MAC player drafted first overall, and only three have been within the top five.

More than any other league in the United States, the NBA is the one where the best players are typically taken in order and you expect a lot out of the first overall pick in his rookie season. However, not all #1 picks shake out, and some are so disappointing that they can’t even crack the starting lineup or even the roster itself after a few seasons. Who were the most disappointing #1 picks in NBA history, though? Here are our picks for the five worst.

Before we get into the list, we want to point out that the names that you’ll see are more modern. Some players who were drafted in the early days of the NBA didn’t produce much and simply left the game for various reasons, with the NBA hardly paying enough to be considered a job among them. Instead, we wanted to focus on the players who were making millions before even getting into a single game.

Anthony Bennett

The Cleveland Cavaliers were given the top overall pick of the NBA Draft for the first time since they selected LeBron James in 2003. While the Cavaliers could have still skipped out on James and gotten an All-Star in that draft, that wasn’t the case in 2013 when the talent pool was much shallower. 

Not many knew who they were going to select, and they wound up taking forward Anthony Bennett out of UNLV in a surprise to many. Bennett lasted just four seasons in the NBA and played for a different team in each season. He finished his career with 4.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per game.

Kwame Brown

After the final retirement of Michael Jordan, he stuck with the Washington Wizards to be part of the front office as the team had won the lottery and received the number one pick in the 2001 NBA Draft. There were some solid names on the list that included Tyson Chandler, Pau Gasol, and Shane Battier, but overall it was a weaker class. The Wizards took power forward Kwame Brown, who entered the draft straight out of high school.

Brown was still able to get 13 NBA seasons in before retiring, but nothing remarkable really happened. He finished his career in 2013 with a total of 6.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, playing for seven different franchises.

Michael Olowokandi

There were a lot of amazing names that came out of the 1998 NBA Draft. Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki, and Paul Pierce were all Hall of Famers who were selected in the top 10, but the Los Angeles Clippers selected none of them. Instead, the Clippers put all of their hopes on Michael Olokowandi, a Nigerian center who graduated from Pacific University.

Was Olowokandi horrible as a Clipper? Not really, but for a number one selection you expect a lot more. Olowokandi averaged 9.9 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in five seasons with Los Angeles before splitting his final four seasons with the Timberwolves and Celtics. With Boston, he put up just 2.1 points and 2.2 rebounds per game before retiring at 31.

Markelle Fultz

The 2017 NBA Draft was one that evaluators were having a tough time with. There was no clear-cut number-one player, though the talent pool was deep. Players like Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell, and Bam Adebayo were all available, but the Philadelphia 76ers surprised everyone with the top selection when they took guard Markelle Fultz from Washington.

Fultz played for just two seasons in Philadelphia where he averaged a disappointing 7.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game. He was then traded to the Orlando Magic with hopes of reviving his career, and he did show some promise. However, injuries set him back repeatedly to hinder his development into a star player. He’s still expected to be around in the NBA for years, though, just not as an All-Star.

LaRue Martin

Though this pick is by far the oldest on the list, it’s hard not to leave it off because of the talent taken after the number one spot and the fact that the NBA had become nationally popular by 1972. The Portland Trail Blazers held the number one pick that year, and instead of taking future Hall of Famers Bob McAdoo, Paul Westphal, or Julius Erving, they selected center LaRue Martin from Loyola (Illinois).

Martin ended up playing just four seasons in the NBA and never really cracked the starting lineup. He averaged 5.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game during those four seasons but isn’t too shaken up about not having a lengthy NBA career. “I took care of my family…I’m the type of person (who) can’t dwell off the negatives,” Martin said.