Which do you want more in sports?

[7teen]

Was thinking about this today. I’m sure most of you are like me and dedicate a lot of time and energy towards your bba team and real life teams.

So which title would mean the most to you?

You can vote for 2.

[usnspecialist]

Voted super bowl as being a Chicago sports fan (white Sox side) born in 1987 I have seen my teams win the rest (multiple in case of bulls and hawks).

[JimBob2232]

Bills fan...its a no-brainer.

[Joshua Biddle]

Really tough one, I thought about this not too long ago re: sim championships VS pro leagues I follow.

I have one sim team each in baseball, basketball, hockey, and football, so it'd be hard to choose a preference towards any specific championship in relation to those. The hockey league is the only one in which it's a team I started rather than took over, so there's probably a tiny bias towards it if I had to choose one, though it takes the least thought and management to export. I'd put a Landis ahead of all of those simply because of the time that goes into managing the Gamblers and simply the depth that is involved in OOTP, and the business of baseball in general. Present VS Future and everything you have to weigh is like no other sport, sim or real life. Also have a sim soccer and F1 team, both of which have won championships, so I'd put them below my other teams. If I still ran a sim racing team where we had other actual sim racing drivers, that'd probably be #1 on the list given how much time went into it and having to deal with actual team chemistry and car setups, and how the Cup races took like 3 hours to run. The on track drama was hilarious at times too.

I've witnessed the Ravens winning two superbowls, and the Phillies winning the '08 WS, so that was cool, but probably drift a bit further down due to having experienced it. The Flyers have always choked so that's up there, though their upper management is so messed up it's hard to hope they win while Holmgren is president. I hate the 76ers coach Brett Brown, so it's hard for me to feel ownership deserves one when they employ an idiot. So I'd put both of those two ahead of the Ravens (who also probably drift down a bit because my NFL interest has fallen substantially since when I was a kid, game has softened), but behind the Phillies. I like the Phillies and the Orioles, and the O's haven't won in my lifetime, so I'd put them ahead of the Phillies, but they're obviously a LONG way off as of now.

Huge NASCAR fan, so I think I'd put Erik Jones winning a Cup championship at the top of the list, and John Hunter Nemechek winning the Xfinity championship as #2, so I'd technically vote "other" twice. Started following EPL lately, so those two teams come in next following my NASCAR drivers.

Final Rankings following the above droning:

Erik Jones NASCAR Cup championship
John Hunter Nemechek Xfinity Series championship
Aric Almirola NASCAR Cup championship
Tottenham Hotspur EPL championship
Any sim team championships
Brighton & Hove Albion EPL championship
Orioles World Series
Phillies World Series
76ers NBA Championship
Flyers Stanley Cup
Ravens Super Bowl

[GoldenOne]

Nats World Series then a Landis!!

I cant wait a while for another Stanley Cup! Go CAPS!!!

[Ted]

Titles can be fickle. They are nice every now and then, but I've been both blessed and cursed in terms of getting to enjoy them. I'm fortunate being a Cards fan. As a Blues fan it gets pretty disappointing. I have a couple Landis here, but I did have a 20 year streak in another league without one.

What I've come to realize, is that I enjoy a well run franchise. I just want to see a front office put together a smart, competitive group of players that enjoy the game and play hard. That's enough. Logically, titles will follow. Sometimes right away, sometimes they take a little longer. But the process and the journey to me are way more worthwhile than the results (Only if the process is good. If not, it can be intensely frustrating). Defining your success in terms of titles is a surefire way to miss out on how entertaining and fun sports can be.

[7teen]

I'd take a Reds World Series over anything. Chose a Landis second.

As a Bengals fan I've pretty much given up on ever winning a Super Bowl.
Lakers fan in the NBA and they've won close to 10 titles I'd say in my lifetime so that is what it is.

Watching the Caps win the Stanley Cup last season was awesome. Been following hockey for about 6-7 years so I wasn't as invested as many other Caps fans but when I started following back then I chose the Caps because I lived in VA and they are the team always on tv but its been a fun ride the last few years watching.

I don't follow anything else. Could care less about College sports. My "other" option would be having one of my sons winning a High School State Championship in something (baseball) when they get older. My oldest son enters High School next year.

[indiansfan]

It has got to be a Super Bowl. I've at least seen the Indians in the World Series. The last time the Browns won a championship was 1964. I was in diapers. I'd like to see another championship before I am diapers again.

[agrudez]

Following the 'Process' is one of my favorite sports things ever. Seeing it vindicated with a NBA championship (despite Silver's best attempt at foiling it by inflicting the Colangelos on us) would be so amazing. Plus, Joel Embiid is probably my favorite sports personality ever and his story is so unique and uplifting so I would love to see him win on a personal level, too.

Other than that, I like watching sports, but I find myself generally enjoying the journey more than the result - even when my team actually comes out on top (Phillies in '08 and Eagles last year). I probably enjoyed the multiple Pens-Flyers playoff series where we put those shit stains down and then promptly got pummeled by someone else in the next round more than the Super Bowl last year.

[7teen]

Not as long term, but I would be completely invested for 4 days if Tiger Woods won another major.

I didn’t leave my couch during the British Open when he was in contention. Loved watching the Tour Championship when he finally broke through.

As someone who got into golf in High School just as Tiger was bursting onto the scene, he’s always been a favorite of mine.

[Ted]

Following the 'Process' is one of my favorite sports things ever. Seeing it vindicated with a NBA championship (despite Silver's best attempt at foiling it by inflicting the Colangelos on us) would be so amazing. Plus, Joel Embiid is probably my favorite sports personality ever and his story is so unique and uplifting so I would love to see him win on a personal level, too.

Other than that, I like watching sports, but I find myself generally enjoying the journey more than the result - even when my team actually comes out on top (Phillies in '08 and Eagles last year). I probably enjoyed the multiple Pens-Flyers playoff series where we put those shit stains down and then promptly got pummeled by someone else in the next round more than the Super Bowl last year.

I thought the NBA's intervention in the 76ers situation was one of the worst in sports history. While the transparency of the situation was perhaps alarming to some, so many other teams have tried the same without simply stating the obvious or without being so successful. I do think the 76ers tried to lose on purpose maybe a year longer than necessary. But the solution is to have rules that enforce better competition and prevent tanking. Not to kick out a GM and replace them with proven losers who just happen to be NBA blue bloods. The NBA is a joke right now, and it's owner greed that caused it. Spread out the draft lottery more, increase the salary cap to an appropriate level, get rid of max contracts and predetermined contract levels, and put in realistic salary floor levels and this is no longer a problem. It's harder to tank and there's less incentive to do so when you have better talent distribution. But right now? Why on earth would any smart FO try to compete with the super teams? You can't. On the other hand, if the players could actually make what they are worth, super teams wouldn't exist.

[usnspecialist]

The thing with how the NBA butchered the 76er situation is that I really like the majority of what silver has done and think he is miles away the best commish of the big 4 sports.

[Ted]

The thing with how the NBA butchered the 76er situation is that I really like the majority of what silver has done and think he is miles away the best commish of the big 4 sports.

I agree. So yeah that stands out as weird. I think it comes down to them not being ready for a team to just flat out say they were trying to lose to get better picks and players. I bet you if you shifted the whole thing forward a couple years to now it would have been fine. But again, if your system lets a team do something you think is not in the spirit of the game, fix the system. Don't punish the team.

[StormZ_23]

Interesting question. I would say the Padres winning a World Series and then hopefully winning a Landis one day.

[agrudez]

While the transparency of the situation was perhaps alarming to some, so many other teams have tried the same without simply stating the obvious or without being so successful. I do think the 76ers tried to lose on purpose maybe a year longer than necessary. But the solution is to have rules that enforce better competition and prevent tanking. Not to kick out a GM and replace them with proven losers who just happen to be NBA blue bloods.

Honestly, I really think the 'tried to lose on purpose' narrative fits the Process 76ers way worse than most teams that tank - they were actually notorious for trying really hard in every game unlike many other teams that have tanked in the past (Lakers and Knicks come to mind as grossly blatant in recent past). To me, the Process Sixers (at a management level) weren't trying to lose - they just weren't trying to win. They weren't getting #1 overalls (even after the Process started) so they chose to draft high upside players like Noel, Embiid and Saric that couldn't play right away instead of reaching for lesser potential talents that weren't injured/overseas to try to get butts in seats. They were rotating fringe players through the roster instead of signing mediocre veterans because they were trying to find diamonds in the rough (like Roco, TJ and Jerami Grant) and also because they wanted to keep payroll flexibility so that they could take advantage of other teams that didn't (like the Sacromento heist). They weren't afraid to trade away players that they didn't see as a long term fit even off good seasons - pretty much a non-starter for most management teams - to try to maximize return (successful with MCW, not successful with Okafor - but we tried... and had Jerry not come in halfway through that season and started doing shortsighted things - trading 2 2nds for Ish Smith is largely considered the inflection point of the Process - I think we would've succeeded). And you can say we lost for a season more than necessary (though, really, a 3 season bottom out is pretty damn quick all things considered), but if we would've gotten ping pong "luck" and gotten a bunch of #1's we would've taken Wiggins and Towns and tried to "be better" quicker. Which would've resulted in us being the Bucks. Thank god we aren't the Bucks.

Spread out the draft lottery more, increase the salary cap to an appropriate level, get rid of max contracts and predetermined contract levels, and put in realistic salary floor levels and this is no longer a problem.

I think dropping max contracts would end up forcing everyone to only have one star (because they'd all command 90% of the cap because the value of their contract far exceeds their on court performance - the teams need stars to market) then I feel like the best star would just always win. The league would even more become the (Insert City Here) Lebrons vs. the (Insert City Here) Durants because those guys would be surrounded by 9 scrubs on min salary. It's not like Kemba Walker is going to hit FA and think "Oh, I'm not worth 90% of the cap like Lebron/Durant/Curry is". Of course he is... because there is going to be a team out there without a star that is going to be willing to give it to him.

Why on earth would any smart FO try to compete with the super teams? You can't.

I know this isn't your point, but I'm starting to re-think the 'super team' vs. 'balanced team' debate after seeing how poor depth has killed the Sixers thus far this season. It's a hot debate right now because if we jettison Markelle Fultz we end up having another max slot this offseason to pursue Middleton, Klay, etc. even after extending Butler, but then we'd have basically nothing but min salary guys filling the rest of the roster (even losing Reddick in that scenario, IIRC). Simmons-Middleton-Butler-(scrub)-Embiid is a mind blowing starting 5, but it won't be out there that long together. You'd probably end up staggering Simmons+Butler (your "small ball" lineup) and Middleton+Embiid (more of a traditional PnR lineup) pairs so you really end up with like 12 minutes of them together and then 18 minutes of the pairs out there with 3 scrubs. I look at a team like Toronto and they have 1 legitimate superstar, 1 fringe all-star (all of Embiid, Butler and Simmons are better than Lowry in a vacuum, imho) and then a really, really solid and deep 3-10 roster and they have eaten our lunch twice now and are skating to a #1 seed. Boston was similar last year after Kyrie/Hayward went down. 1 allstar in Horford followed by a 2-10 full of solid, long wing-spanned, athletic wings and they wrecked us in the playoffs, too, even though we had the 2 best players on the floor. Those seem like pretty good models from where I'm sitting.

[Zeggo]

Twenty years ago my answers would have been completely different, but as a Massachusetts resident I have been able to see a string of success lately. That being said as a big NBA guy I would love to see this current group winning it all. Secondly I would choose the Landis. Even though most of the work would have been my predecessors, it would still be my championship and an accomplishment.

[Rubaboo]

Landis is #1 for me at the moment. Been fortunate enough to see my teams all win in my life time, Packers twice, Penguins 5 times, Bayern Munich has won a ton of Bundesliga titles and a Champions' League since I started following, but Omaha/Mexico City has never seen the top of the Brewster mountain.

[usnspecialist]

Landis is #1 for me at the moment. Been fortunate enough to see my teams all win in my life time, Packers twice, Penguins 5 times, Bayern Munich has won a ton of Bundesliga titles and a Champions' League since I started following, but Omaha/Mexico City has never seen the top of the Brewster mountain.

Maybe you can hire mike McCarthy to be the Aztec manager, he surely can't be worse at baseball than he was at football.

[RonCo]

I'm always leery of conversation about folks being more concerned with watching the process than actually winning. Yes, I agree that you have to allow for the fact that winning is not guaranteed (don't I know it)...but I read into the idea that a fan wants the process to be right to be more about feeling like their team is smart rather than look stupid by being daring. Sometimes teams need to be daring...and, especially in leagues where there's disparity on resources, being daring and having it crash and burn becomes humiliating. Fans hate being humiliated.

I don't know. I guess.

To me there's a difference between "taking joy in the process," and being able to handle it when your team takes chances and loses.

I'm perfectly happy with all the decisions I've made in Yellow Springs--though some don't work out--but I want to win, and I don't think I've done enough when we come up empty. It's a weird thing, I guess. Maybe tied to the difference between always wanting to make the right mathematical bet in poker, and being able to read the opposition to win even when you don't have the cards.

Maybe I'm just rambling.

[RonCo]

That said, "the process" is the narrative story. Which is always fun. And so, to me, the idea of difference in approach is what makes watching teams work the most interesting. Where are they taking chances? How do those chances work out? Those are the stories of sports franchises.

But, still, for my teams, I want to win.