Worst Job in Sports

[IrishCanadian25]

Is there a worse job in sports (pro OR college) then head coach of the Oakland Raiders?

As former Oakland Raiders coach Tom Cable was attempting to lead his team to the playoffs this season, owner Al Davis began deducting $20,000 from each of his head coach's paychecks until he had withheld $120,000 in fines, according to team sources.

In turn, Cable filed a grievance against his owner with the NFL, becoming the latest Raiders head coach to be embroiled in a financial dispute with his owner.

...what few players in the locker room realized was that, as Oakland was registering its best season since its AFC championship in 2002, the Raiders' owner and head coach were barely communicating -- other than through legal channels.

Davis was said to be upset with Cable over the fact that Oakland lost two days of organized team activities (OTAs) in June 2010, among other things. The Raiders also lost a week of their offseason program in 2007 because of the intensity of practices under then coach Lane Kiffin, whom Davis also battled.

Kiffin filed a grievance against the Raiders after he was fired when he felt that Davis owed him money, but the arbitrator ruled in Oakland's favor. Davis has a history of financial disputes with his head coaches dating back to Mike Shanahan. The NFL has had to help settle financial disputes with four of Davis' past five head coaches, according to a source.

It's not atypical for teams and coaches to have financial disputes. But usually they come after termination, not before.

After watching how Al Davis climbed on his soapbox looking like Christopher Walken after kidney dialysis and going off on the recently fire Lane Kiffin, it becomes quite clear that there may be no worse job in sports than being the head coach who has to deal with this jerk-off. The organization is poorly run, the owner often dictates who the team drafts based on foolish whims (JaMarcus Russel, anyone), and issues are aired out in public often to the humilitation of many. The Giants, Steelers, Packers, and Patriots would never be caught dead doing this stuff, which is why they are organizations with stable, storied histories.

Can anyone think of a worse job in sports?

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I wouldn't touch the Los Angeles Clippers job with a 100-foot pole as long as Donald Sterling is the owner. The Clippers have had some decent talent in the past five years but Sterling has been notorious for refusing to pay players and that results in the position they're currently in. They've been a laughingstock for decades and their futility is just epic. Always being in the shadow of the Lakers (including playing in the same arena which is something I think they need to change) and Sterling still being the owner results in a terrible job for any coach to partake in.

 

[hatehabsforever]

Probably no job that's worse, in terms of job satisfaction, performance, and of course interaction with the crazy owner. However, it's likely no walk in the park to be the coach of the LA Clippers. Such consistent futility, it must be terribly frustrating to be virtually out of playoff contention one month into the season, every single year.

 

[Big Sexy]

I'm not going to argue against the Raiders be a horrible job but there is another job right up there and that would be the Head Coach of the LA Clippers. Donald Sterling is right up there with Al Davis as one of the worst owners in all of sports. Sterling has owned the Clippers for 29 full seasons and the team has only had 2 winning seasons.

On top of all the losing Sterling has also been accused of racism against players and executives. He also been known to heckle his own players if they are having an off night. Not exactly what you want from an owner.

 

[daCode2123]

This may be a "left-field" suggestion, but I present the Chicago Cubs' managerial position as the worst job in sports. This is not only because I am a Cardinals' fan, however (I will admit, though, it did assist in my selection...). My reasoning, you ask? The team can NEVER get over the hump. No matter the pre-season projections or the team's payroll, there is always something (or a slew of things, in some years) that prevents the Cubs from either reaching their potential or having a successful season. It must be a dismal thing to know that every year you manage the team, something... ANYTHING that can go wrong will and ultimately derail your hopes and dreams of a good season. Heck, there have only been three managers that had winning records in their tenure since Charlie Grimm left the Cubs in 1960 (Jim Frey, Don Zimmer, and Lou Piniella) and they only had three playoff game wins between them!

The futility that the Chicago Cubs display on a season-to-season basis, coupled with their inability to reach and/or succeed in the playoffs makes it a job that I would never want to take.

 

[LSN80]

Id argue that the worst job in professional sports is manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates. When Clint Hurdle signed on for 3 years at a million per, it would seemingly be a cause for celebration. Pertaining to the Pirates, it may be a case where condolences are necessary. Not only were the Pirates the worst team in the big leagues during the 2010 season they have not enjoyed a winning season since 1992. Hurdle had just accepted the worst job in America. It's a job even Mike Rowe wouldn't want.

In 2010, no Pirates starting pitcher won in double digits. The closest thing the Pirates had to an "ace" was Paul Maholm, who went 9-15 with a career high 5.10 ERA. With the fewest saves in the National League, the Pirates bullpen provides little relief. Not surprisingly, the Bucs pitching staff had the NL's highest ERA. Their offense wasn't much better. No Pirate batter hit over .300 and Pittsburgh's team batting average of .242 was the worst in the NL. They drew the second fewest walks in the NL and had the second worst on base percentage. The Pirates didn't hit for much power either. Only one player (Garrett Jones) hit more than 20 homeruns while the team hit the third fewest home runs overall in the NL.

But the biggest reason the Pirates job is the worst in sports isn't their on he field woes. The biggest problem lies within their ownership, specifically Bob Nutting. Due to reports that came out in September of 2010, the Pirates have the lowest payroll in all of baseball by over $5 million dollars. Despite receiving 35 million dollars in revenue sharing, the Pirates payroll for 2011 currently stands at 34.9 million. Instead of trying to build a team that will break the team's 18 year losing streak, the longest in professional sports history, Nutting uses the money on Firework nights, Bobbleheads for All, and Rascal Flatts concerts after games. With no end in sight of the losing, and the unwillingness of the owner to spend money to make the team competitive, the job of manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates is truly the worst in sports.

 

[Goliath Uterus]

The head coach or manager of any professional or high level college team is absolutely not the worst job in sports. Making millions of dollars just to coach, even on an awful team is a dream job....

edit: missed the pro or college part..... gonna have to say coaching for some shitty school like Northwestern or Ohio would be the worst job in sports, nobody knows or cares about your team, and you don't get paid nearly as much as other coaches.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

This may be a "left-field" suggestion, but I present the Chicago Cubs' managerial position as the worst job in sports. This is not only because I am a Cardinals' fan, however (I will admit, though, it did assist in my selection...). My reasoning, you ask? The team can NEVER get over the hump. No matter the pre-season projections or the team's payroll, there is always something (or a slew of things, in some years) that prevents the Cubs from either reaching their potential or having a successful season. It must be a dismal thing to know that every year you manage the team, something... ANYTHING that can go wrong will and ultimately derail your hopes and dreams of a good season. Heck, there have only been three managers that had winning records in their tenure since Charlie Grimm left the Cubs in 1960 (Jim Frey, Don Zimmer, and Lou Piniella) and they only had three playoff game wins between them!

The futility that the Chicago Cubs display on a season-to-season basis, coupled with their inability to reach and/or succeed in the playoffs makes it a job that I would never want to take.

Your sports bias is obviously on display here as you apparently know nothing about Chicago or it's fans. The Chicago Cubs are more beloved than most pro sports teams. I say most because anything like that is "arguable" and teams like the Packers, Lakers, etc could easily compete. Though the Cubs have been losers for over 100 years (I use the term losers in regard to World Series wins) there's still way, waaaay more Cubs fans than White Sox fans in Chicago. And the White Sox just won the series less than 10 years ago. In fact, the manager position for the Cubs is never hard to fill when they look because many consider it a dream job. It's a chance to end the slump of all slumps. The manager that pulls that World Series out of their ass will forever be remembered. That's not even a question. It's a fact. It's the reason jobs like Notre Dame football coach and coach of the Dallas Cowboys are such big deals. They're high profile.

As far as the OP, I would definitely pick the Raider's job as worse than the Clippers. Basketball at least is a sport where you still can get lucky now and then since it's no longer that much of a team sport. But Al Davis controls every little aspect of his team including the crappy players they draft. When you need so many people to work together in order for a team to be coherent, that's just never gonna end up good.

 

[HiddenInPlainView]

I have to agree with the Pirates job. No winning seasons in 20 years is bad.

The Cincinnati Bengals job is a pretty bad one too. Mike Brown refuses to hire a GM or any kind of scouting department. He continually undermines Marvin Lewis on personnel decisions, much like Al Davis. If the Bengals had a more successful past i think that Mike Brown would be more maligned like Al Davis.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Can anyone think of a worse job in sports? Yes, being an enforcer for a National Hockey Leauge team.

Your job is literally to step onto the ice night-after-night, drop your gloves and bare-knuckle box (the only place in the United States where bare-knuckle boxing is actually legal) your opponent as a means to take home a pay-check.

A significant portion of the punches you throw will not land on skin or bone, though neither is all that great to hit anyway, but instead will hit a plastic helmet or visor, both of which can break bones in your hand or at the very least lacerate the skin on your hand.

You're essentially paid to both deliver and receive bare-knuckle shots to the head and face at least 10 times a season (Zenon Konopka [2009-10] and Peter Worrell [2001-02] both fought 33 times in a single season).

 

[dodge199NWO]

I wouldn't just narrow it to one team, I would expand it to a whole city! That would be Cleveland! Just look the Cavs- without Lebron James they have lost 25 straight games, the most in NBA history. When they did have James they still couldn't win a tittle. The Browns- have been a complete joke, since they came back into the league, they have consistently picked in the 10 in the draft, logic would say that by now, your team would at least made 1 playoff appearance. The Indians- hasn't done anything since 2007, since then they have finished 3rd or 4th in the American League Central.

 

[ThePeoplesChampion]

I honestly don't know how anyone has not mentioned this team. I give you the DETROIT LIONS!!!

This is easy...come on the first team and only team to go perfect in the NFL for LOSING!! 0-16!! and how many Super Bowls have they won? 0! Wait there one of only 4 teams in the NFL to never even MAKE the Super Bowl (and of those other three, two are newer expansion teams) When has the Lions even made the Playoffs for that point? The Detroit Lions are by far the worst job in sports. You go there coach 3 maybe 4 years if your lucky enough to crack .500 one season and your fired. For pete sakes they had Barry Sanders and didnt make the Super Bowl!! That job is mission impossible...hell the team is mission impossible. By Far the worst job in sports