Especially as of late, it seems, I've been getting a lot of football-related emails from assorted external groups. Some of them are pretty comical in nature (such as those talking about how fans should have a seat during the CBA negotiations. Yeah, right, like the owners or players give a crap about the fans or care about our opinions.). Some, like the one below the jump, are downright insulting. Follow me, won't you?
The entire thing is sic'ed:
Tim/Mike (Note: Either Mike was BCCed or he wasn't on the distribution. I was.)
We’ve written a post about the Top 10 Worst Sports Franchises of Our Generation (the past 30 years), listing the teams from the NFL, NBA and MLB in order if win percentage since 1981.
The list unfortunately includes the Titans, which, like some of the other teams on the list, is arguable. That said, we’re giving one blogger who follows each of the 10 teams on the list an opportunity to stand up for that franchise with a blog entry rebuttal explaining why they’re not one of the Top 10 worst franchises of our generation. The post could be double published on both your site and BallHyped.com, where we’d make it the featured post at the top of our homepage.
Here’s the post along with the Top 10 list below:
http://ballhyped.com/2011/02/19/top-10-worst-franchises-of-our-generation/
10. Tampa Bay Rays (.439 win pct.)
9. Cincinnati Bengals (.422 win pct.)
8. Toronto Raptors (.411 win pct.)
7. Minnesota Timberwolves (.407 win pct.)
6. Charlotte Bobcats (.384 win pct.)
5. Houston Texans (.382 win pct.)
4. Arizona Cardinals (.380 win pct.)
3. Detroit Lions (.380 win pct.)
2. Clippers (.346 win pct.)
1. Memphis Grizzlies (.342 win pct.)
Let me know if this is something you’d be interested in responding to so we can plan accordingly.
Thanks for your time!
Brian Milne
Founder, BallHyped.com
Obviously, Brian is correct in stating the Titans are a horrible, disgusting franchise, but you already knew this.
At best, a list like this is sure to be littered with newer franchises, the Bengals, Lions, and Clippers notwithstanding. Lists like this also lack a certain common sense aspect, such as including the Tampa Bay Rays, who have a young and exciting team and are just a couple years removed from a World Series berth.
Alas, after nine years of existence, your Tennessee Titans Houston Texans are there. Here's my requested rebuttal in its entirety:
Bite me.^
Week in/week out, we (as in me and you, my dear readers) watch this team. We chug the kool-aid in the summer, and we follow it with a bleach chaser throughout the fall. We aren't a fan-base like the Dallas Cowboys, fair-weathered and flaky. Here on BRB, we have a large, thoughtful, intelligent fan-base. Hopefully, one day, we won't suck, but we follow the Houston Texans passionately because they are our team, good or bad. This is what really matters.
What say you, Texans fans? Do you have a rebuttal?
^ I was going to go with "Nuts" as a kind of tribute to General Anthony McAuliffe, but it just really wasn't caustic enough for me.