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Sports Dynasties and the days they all came crashing down
By Dutch | November 20, 2009
All good things must be come to an end. Here is a look at some of the great sports dynasties of the modern era and the days that ended each of them.
New York Islanders 1980-1984
The Islanders’ magnificent run started in the Stanley Cup Final of the 1979-1980 season, a season in which they defeated a potent Philadelphia Flyers team that had won 25 straight regular season games. This great team’s top line consisted of players like Bryan Trottier, Ken Morrow, and Mike Bossy, who had one of the great finishing touches of any player that ever skated during the Cup run that season.
The Islanders proceeded to win hockey’s Holy Grail for three straight years and then found themselves playing the upstart, uptempo Edmonton Oilers.
The Oilers were lead by young Wayne Gretsky who was busy setting records en route to playing in his first Final. The veteran-laden Islanders team proved too much for the inexperienced Oilers, however, and Gretsky was held without a goal as his team was swept in four games. New York celebrated for a fourth straight year.
The series that ended it all > 1983-1984 Final rematch against the Edmonton Oilers
The Islanders could not hold off the young guns from Edmonton two straight years. They lost Games 3, 4, and 5 by a combined score of 19-6. The Oilers finally proved that an uptempo, high-scoring team could win a Stanley Cup. They became the first team to lead the regular season in scoring and lift the Cup.
New York was never the same after this. While they remained a competitive team in subsequent seasons, they would begin to lose many of their top players from their championship years. Still, by winning 19 straight playoff series leading up to the loss against Edmonton, they made their mark as one of the all-time great NHL dynasties.
Dallas Cowboys 1990-1997
The Cowboys of the early to mid 90’s won three Super Bowls in four years. They were lead by their three-headed monster of quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith, and wide receiver Michael Irvin. They had, arguably, the best offensive line in the history of the National Football League. The Cowboys also had to pass plenty of tests in the NFC en route to those Super Bowls. They routinely found themselves having to beat a great 49ers team to get to the big game.
The game the ended it all > November 23, 1997 – Green Bay 45, Dallas 17
The Cowboys could no longer hold off a young Brett Favre. The Packers were a team against which this era of Dallas Cowboys always won. But on November 23, 1997, Troy Aikman only completed 12 passes for 130 yards, and Emmitt Smith could only manage 59 yards rushing.
The Cowboys got blown out of Lambeau Field that afternoon and never recovered. The ‘Boys went on to lose their final five games that season and haven’t won a playoff game since.
Pittsburgh Penguins 1990-2001
Throughout the early 1990s Pittsburgh Penguin fans were not just expecting their team to win. They were expecting to see domination.
They had a collection of offensive talent that rivaled that of the Edmonton Oilers of the mid 1980’s. Names like Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Kevin Stevens and Ron Francis circled the ice and gave fans their money’s worth. They would win Stanley Cups during the 1990-1991 and 1991-1992 seasons.
While they fell short of a third straight championship the following year, the Penguins remained one of the more heavily favored teams through the rest of decade.
The game that ended it all > May 19, 2001 – New Jersey 5, Pittsburgh 0
After splitting the first two games on the road during the Eastern Conference Finals, the Penguins returned home and were unable to find the back of the net for two straight games. The Devils’ 3-0 win in Game 3 was abruptly followed by a 5-0 smack down in Game 4.
Jersey’s domination was so complete that it prompted Mario Lemieux to say that the Devils were the best team he had ever played against. Jagr said it was the most frustrated he had ever been playing hockey. The Devils had total control of the ice and Penguins could only muster 21 shots in the must-win Game 4. The Pens would go on to lose Game 5 of the series back in New Jersey, and the franchise began to slip into darkness.
Superstar Jagr left the team for the New York Rangers after the season. Aging Lemieux would only play in 24 games the following season. The Penguins would finish dead last in their division the next four years.
Pittsburgh Steelers 1974-1981
The Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s won four Super Bowls in six years. They won the first two when rushing the football ruled the game, then won their next two when the league opened up the passing game with rule changes.
The Steelers had to beat great teams like the Oakland Raiders and Cowboys along the way. They also got plenty of competition from their own division in the late 1970s, namely the Houston Oilers. In fact, it was a game against the Oilers during the 1980 season that ended their run.
The game that ended it all > December 4, 1980 – Houston 6, Pittsburgh 0
The Steelers entered this game with a record of 8-5 and faced a critical showdown in Houston against the Oilers. But the Steelers were unable to crack the scoreboard in their 6-0 loss.
Quarterback Terry Bradshaw’s passer rating didn’t eclipse 25 as he only completed ten passes in 26 attempts. Bradshaw turned the football over five times, throwing three interceptions and fumbling twice. Running back Franco Harris had a modest 54 yards rushing.
The Steelers were never the same after this loss. They would lose the final game of the season to the San Diego Chargers and finish out of the playoff race with a 9-7 record.
The following season, they would finish 8-8, and the aging stars and future Hall of Famers would begin leaving the team. Over the next decade or so, the Steelers would be reduced to mediocrity as they never reattained the level of greatness their fans had come to expect.
Los Angeles Lakers 1999-2004
You would be hard-pressed to find a duo in basketball better than Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls. But if there is a pair that could enter the argument, it would have to be Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers between 1999 and 2004.
Bryant and O’Neal won three consecutive titles together and, at times, seemed unbeatable. The NBA is an inside-outside game, and this might have been the greatest inside-outside duo that ever laced them up. The Lakers would make the NBA Finals four out of the five years.
The day it all came crashing down > NBA Finals Game 5 – June 15, 2004 – Detroit 100, Los Angeles 87
The heavily-favored Lakers were shocked in five games by the tough Detroit Pistons.
The Pistons were able to stick Tayshaun Prince on Kobe Bryant. Prince had an enormous wing span that gave Bryant fits and made it clear that the shooting guard was not ready for what Prince had to offer. Kobe’s missed two shots for every three he took in Game 5 and never seemed comfortable the entire series.
The Lakers were also not getting much production from aging players such as Gary Payton, who was a defensive liability, and a banged up Karl Malone. The following season saw a major change as the Lakers lost O’Neal to the Miami Heat, a result of the infighting between Kobe and Shaq that got to be a bit too much.
The Lake Show finished below .500 the next year with only 34 wins. They would have three sub-par seasons before things would turn around.
San Francisco 49ers 1982-1998
Eddie DeBartolo took over as owner of the San Francisco 49ers in 1979, and, in just a couple of years, his team had won its first Super Bowl.
This was the start of a virtually unprecedented run of 16 great years of football for the Bay Area. Superstar quarterback Joe Montana gave way Steve Young and the 49ers never skipped a beat. But all good things, even an era that saw five Super Bowl championships, must come to an end.
The game that ended it all > October 10, 1999 – St. Louis 42, San Francisco 20
During the 49ers glory years, their divisional match-ups had almost always gone their way.
But on October 10, 1999, the NFC West took a different turn as the high-flying Greatest Show on Turf, a.k.a. the St. Louis Rams, blew the doors off of the Red and Gold. The Rams, with Kurt Warner at quarterback, poured 21 first quarter points on their arch-rivals.
San Francisco never recovered, losing 42-20.
Their season spiraled out of control as they lost ten of their next eleven games and finished the season at 4-12. This would usher in the John York era who took ownership of the 49ers. The 49ers would only average 6 wins per year between 1999-2008.
2004 -2009 Pittsburgh Steelers
A rookie quarterback showed up in 2004 and took the league by storm, instantly turning the Steelers into legitimate Super Bowl contenders. The Steelers would win an average of 11 games per season over the five years that followed Ben Roethlisberger’s arrival.
They would win two Super Bowls, the most of any team during that five-year period. This was a major accomplishment considering that quarterbacks Tom Brady of the New England Patriots and Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts were in the primes of their respective careers.
The day it all ended > November 15, 2009 – Cincinnati 18, Pittsburgh 12
The Bengals had already defeated the Steelers in the Queen City earlier in the season. In fact, the Bengals had gone undefeated in the AFC North division by the time these teams met again on November 15. But, to the surprise of many, the Steelers would lose to the Bengals the second time around.
Unlike the first game in Cincinnati, the Steelers didn’t give this game away. They were beaten and bewildered by the Bengals. The Bengals beat the Steelers at their own game by being more physical.
Oh, c’mon, let’s not carried away now….the Steeler dynasty isn’t over….but everyone else is overreacting after the loss last week so I thought I’d join in.
Topics: Baseball, Basketball, NFL, NHL, Sports, Steelers | 5 Comments »
November 20th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Ha! Nice Dutch!
November 21st, 2009 at 12:29 am
Thanks Steelhead. Glad you enjoyed the read!
November 21st, 2009 at 5:18 am
Man i'm glad you put that little bit in at the end. I was like WTF? LOL.
November 21st, 2009 at 7:10 am
lol
November 21st, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Actually, Jagr left the Penguins in 2001 to go to the Capitals. That’s ok though, because he sucked and admitted he didn’t try to play hard in Washington. He didn’t bother to actually try again until the 2003-2004 season when he was traded to New York.