Winning is the essence of why most of us watch sports in the first place. We all have our home teams that we root for, and seeing them go on a streak makes watching even more entertaining. One of my favorite memories from being younger was watching the Penguins go on a 17 game winning streak, and the high drama that was attached to each and every shot, save, and goal. The streak really felt special. When they lost it officially in a tie of all things, I was disheartened. And while this streak was impressive, it doesnt top the list for me.
There are so many ways to go here, and so many moments to pick from. I just referenced the high drama of the Penguins winning streak, which still stands 17 years later in hockey. Other great ones of note include the Patriots 23 game winning streak in 2003-2004, as well as the recent UConn women's basketball team winning 90 straight. Regardless of how I feel about women's basketball, my hat's off to these women.
I say all of this not to ramble, but to make a point. Team victories, winning streaks, and achievements are important, but to me, its the individuals that accomplish winning streaks of some kind that are most impressive. In most major sports, its considered a team game. Generally speaking however, a team streak is generally ended by a screw up not by an entire team, but by an individual player. As much as we hear about wins being "team wins" and losses being "team losses", its generally not true with the best. Its usually because one player makes the difference. Even though its not a winning streak, its Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak that began the coining of the phrase "streak" to this day that we use. I think LJL, Crock, and Baller are on the right track by listing individuals rather then teams. I will do the same, but i first want to comment on a few of the other posts.
Originally posted by HateHabsForever>
In the end, though, especially at this time of the year as they prepare to flex their muscles yet again after a decade of dominance, I decided to give the nod for the greatest streak in professional team sports to the New England Patriots. A win streak of 21 games, spanning 10/03/03 to 10/31/04, more than a full calendar year, this in my mind equates to the greatest winning streak of all time.
Not a bad choice, but not one I would put at Number 1. For one, their own league doesn't even recognize the streak as being 21 games, its considered to be 18. Furthermore, the Colts broke the "official" record last year when they won 23 regular season games in a row. Its hard to consider this the greatest streak ever when it doesn't even earn top dog within its own organization. My other minor quibble is with how this came about, and ended. They fell in the regular season to my Steelers, then came back in the AFC Championship Game and smoked the Steelers 41-27 in a game that wasn't even that close. There was no parity whatsoever, so it takes a little bit of shine off the streak for me.
Originally posted by Megatron
UConn had trailed all of 134 minutes during the entire winning streak, including only 13 minutes in the second half. That is a whopping 1:29.3 seconds PER GAME. Out of 40 minutes, they averaged of being down less then 2 minutes of that.
-And many people bash this streak because of their lack of competition, which is also false. In fact, 30 of their 90 wins (an even 33.33%) were against ranked opponents. That is a hell of a lot of ranked teams.
-There were only 2 games out of the 90 where they won by single digits. Yes, 2 of 90, a shockingly low 2% of their games. And, like I mentioned, they played 30 ranked teams during the streak. Only 2 of them (Baylor and Stanford) managed to keep it within 9 points. That's remarkable.
-To continue on this single digit stat, the women won all of their first 77 games by double digits. I don't care who you are, if you can win 77 straight games in a row by double digits, you're pretty damn good.
-There was not one team that lead even a complete half of basketball during the streak. Stanford came close in the 2010 National Championship game, leading for 19:05. The only other team that surpassed 15 minutes was Notre Dame (who had 16:53) on February 22, 2009 (which UConn ended up winning by 10).
These are incredible stats, but the exact reason why I would argue this isn't the most impressive streak in history. The lack of competitiveness in these games is alarming. Say what you will for the dominance, but it takes away from the competiteness of the sport. If the game isn't competitive, it loses alot of luster. Without competition, its hard to be considered the most impressive.
Let me give you an example to further make my point. Lets say youre the #1 ranked tennis player in the world, and Im #2. You go on to defeat me in straight sets 6-1, 6-0, 6-1. Not a whole lot of competition there, and I dont really look like a credible opponent for you to make your name off of, do I? This is the same problem I see with the UConn's Women Basketball team. They've trailed less then 2 minutes per game, on average. Of the 90 wins, only 2 have been in single digits. Geno Auerioma can spin it however he likes, but there's UConn and everyone else in Women's Basketball. There's a lack of real competition that detracts from the impressiveness of the streak. Dont get me wrong: Winning 90 games in a row is an impressive feat. But the way they've done it on a consistent basis? Not so much.
Originally posted by LittleJerryLawler
Byron Nelson's 11 Consecutive PGA Tour Wins
When one is playing golf, he or she is playing against maybe around 100 other golfers in the span of 4 days. That in and of itself makes even winning one tournament hard let alone 11 in a row. The course is an obstacle as well as Mother Nature. One day, it will be all sunny and not a trouble in the world. The next day, gusts of wind can affect even a chip shot. One hole can make or break a golfer such as the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass. You have to be on your game for 4 days as opposed to 60 minutes of football or 48 minutes of basketball.
Dude, I am almost with you here, I really am. Not only do golfers have to battle the course and the elements, but golf is the most psychologically taxing game there is. The idea of sustaining one's game throughout 4 days as compared to 60 minutes in football or 9 innings in baseball as you said is far more difficult. Not only did Nelson do this once, but he did it eleven times. He's received universal praise from other golf legends such as Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods for this achievement. But.....
We were at war at the time, and it certainly watered down the field. The tour was significantly weakened as a result. Some of the top challengers were there, but its quite often in golf that the top players dont win the tournaments, as its the second tier that tend to capture alot of championships as well. One has to wonder if that would be the case here. While he impressively won two Master's before this streak, he never approached this streak again. This would leave me to believe that the war and the resulting watered down field did indeed play a bigger part then you would think. Couple that with the fact that he won only one major during the year, and that also leads me to believe that this is not the most impressive streak of all time. Its close, darn close, but its not number one in my mind.
So, as much as it pains me as a die-hard Steeler fan to say it.....
Tom Brady's ongoing 28 game winning streak at home is the greatest streak of all time.
Unlike so many of the other streaks mentioned and with all due respect toward them, they lacked the competiveness that Brady sees on a weekly basis. Despite his streak, he's not considered by some to even be the best QB in the NFL. This streak began in 2006, and has lasted through the current day in 2011. That's over four years of not losing a single football game at home folks. That's excellence in every way, and for several reasons.
Parity: Unlike an Edwin Moses or the UConn women, Brady plays in a league chalk full of excellent QB's. Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, and Aaron Rodgers are listed in the same breath as Tom Brady as the best QB'd right now in the game. But unlike Brady, none of these QB's have come close to this streak. The man whose streak he broke when he hit 26? None other then perhaps the greatest QB of all time, Brett Favre. A great achievement indeed.
Value to team: As I stated earlier, a player, especially a QB, can be the difference between whether or not a team wins or loses a game. When Tom Brady injured his knee against the Kansas City Chiefs in the first game of 2008, the Patriots lost 3 games at home this year. So in one year with a pretty good QB in Matt Cassell, they couldnt maintain the team streak. But three and a half years strong, Tom Brady's personal streak is still intact. Anyone need further proof of how this streak is all about him? The average margain of victory with Brady at home in full seasons since the streak began is
20(2007),
16(2009), and
15(2010). Those numbers are mind boggling when you really consider them. The average margain of victory when Brady missed the 2008 season at home?
4. The numbers there speak for themselves. He also has averaged .65 interceptions per home game during the streak, and 2.7 TD passes. Both are tops in the league in home games from any QB from 2007 and on.
Beating good teams: Look, this isn't the UConn women or the UCLA men. In 2010 alone, New England with Brady at home has defeated Green Bay, Baltimore, the Jets, and Indianapolis. The average margain of victory against these playoff teams was 13(15 overall), which is mind boggling in showing Brady really has been consistent when playing the good teams and the bad at home. Its not just 2010 either, as Brady's margain of victory against playoff teams at home in 2009 was 12(16 overall), and 16(20 overall) in 2007. So Brady's performance hasn't wavered regardless of the competition.
Bouncing back from injury: When Brady injured his knee in 2008, there were thoughts that his career could possibly be over, or that he wouldn't be the same player anymore(ask Carson Palmer about that one.). Instead, he responded by winning the Offensive Player of the Week 3 times that year, all games at home. He also was named the Comeback player of the Year. This year, he averaged 2.4 TD's at home this year, and only .3 interceptions while being named Offensive Player of the Month for December. 3 of those games were, you guessed it, at home.
The times, they are a changing: Its easy to argue that The Patriots went 16-0 in 2007, and those 8 home wins there didn't hurt the streak. But alot of changes have taken place since then. Brady is no longer throwing to the 2007 corps of Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Dante' Stallworth, and Jabar Gaffney. Their former feature back in Laurence Maroney is gone. All of those players, including Randy Moss and his 98 catches and 23 TD's. The only remaining receiver is Welker, whose catches have dropped drastically by 27 from that season compared to this one. Brady is now throwing to Brandon Tate, Danny Woodhead, Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski, and Aaron Hernandez. While all of them are talented, theyre young and raw, but Brady has made each of them look like seasoned veterans. His ability to do so has been a huge part of the reason Ben-Jarvis Green Ellis has had such a successful season rushing the football.
Final Thoughts:I really dislike Tom Brady, alot. He's broken my heart many a time as a die-hard Steelers fan. But there's no denying the incredible nature of having a home winning streak of over four years, after bouncing back from knee surgery. The statistics don't lie, and there's no luck involved. There's no possible way to attribute this to Bill Bellicheck, his teammates, or luck because they lost 3 home games during the season he missed, and failed to make the playoffs. Brady will enter the 2011/2012 season with a chance to expand on this winning streak, and theres no reason to think that he wont based upon the 31 point win he and the Patriots put up in their last game of the season, at home. For these reasons, I submit that
Tom Brady's 28 game home winning streak is the greatest winning streak of all time.