Winning Isn’t Everything, but to Some It Isn’t Anything

Larry Tye, of the Boston Globe, writing about all-time losers in sports:

“But when it comes to getting off on the wrong foot, and staying there, it’s tough to top Shiaway Moses. From 1978 to 1989, the harness horse ran 161 races and never won.

“Then, there’s the Washington Generals, who annually lose to the Harlem Globetrotters, more than 220 times a year.

“Red Klotz, the Generals’ founder and owner, insists that the defeats haven’t affected his team’s attitude, adding: ‘We’re not quite the losers people think we are.’ ”

Add losers: The 1962 Oakland Raiders came close to becoming the first team to go winless in a 14-game regular season. They were 0-13 until beating the Boston Patriots, 20-0, in their final game.

Tampa Bay, an expansion team, made it all the way in 1976, 0-14.

Trivia time: Who holds the modern Pacific 10 record for most points scored in a football game?

Ice cold: From Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle: “ ‘Headline: U.S. Bobsled Team Faces Big Financial Cuts.’ Just when it looked like our boys would break into the top 84 at the next Winter Games.”

Heaven can wait: When the Sacramento Kings ended a 43-game losing streak at the Forum on Nov. 8 by beating the Lakers, 124-114, King forward Wayman Tisdale was ecstatic.

“Do you know how many times I have been humiliated in this building? Other than the day I go to heaven, this may be the greatest day of my life.”

F.Y.I.: John C. Mitchell of Penn State won the World Open solo baton twirling championship in a recent competition at Notre Dame.

Name game: Gary Cole, writing on college basketball in Playboy, came up with his All-Name team:

Adonis Jordan, Kansas; Anfernee Hardaway, Memphis State; Cherokee Parks, Duke; Parrish Casebier, Evansville; Charles Outlaw, Houston; Dondi Flemister, Mississippi; Booker T. Washington, San Francisco; Papillon Pino Pipes, North Carolina Charlotte; Gym Bice, Texas El Paso; Casey Arena, Maine, and Roy Rogers, Alabama.

Voodoo? The Detroit Lions had a 2-8 record before they beat Cincinnati on Sunday. Said Detroit linebacker Chris Spielman: “I read that a Haitian priest put a curse on President Bush. Maybe he got us, too.”

Creeping along: Rick Mahorn has returned to the NBA with the New Jersey Nets after playing in Italy. Mahorn, who played with the Washington Bullets, Detroit Pistons and Philadelphia 76ers, said he was willing to play for anybody to get back in the league.

“Even Boston,” Mahorn told the Boston Globe. “But they weren’t one of the teams that contacted me. Are you kidding? I’m 34. I would have made them older. Do you want their whole front line to be a walking graveyard?”

Trivia answer: USC’s Anthony Davis, with 36 points against Notre Dame in 1972.

Add Davis: The Times’ headline after that game read: Davis, Davis, Davis, Davis, Davis, Davis.

Quotebook: New Jersey Devil Coach Herb Brooks, after a recent victory: “It was a dog of a game, but at least we got the bone.”