What is the most North club of other sports?

[Firebat]

Spurs are very St Kilda like. Won **** all in 60 years.

We’re more like Everton. The Spurs at least attract some talent occasionally and win a few games.

 

[The Warlord]

My 7 year old and I have been playing a lot of FC24 lately. I'm starting to think that I should diversify the monopoly North have on the sports zone of my brain and find a soccer team to follow.

Which one taps into the North mindset the best? My first instinct is Leicester, just for the underdog thing. But truthfully, I know bugger all about the histories to have an informed opinion.

And while you're here... are there obvious similarities between North and teams in the NBA, NHL, MLB, and so on?

Hibs

 

[Gorman2Geister]

We've had a thread like this before I recall.

I still reckon it's Renault (now Alpine) in F1.

Never had the profile of the bandwagon teams like Ferrari or McLaren but have had a track record of punching above their weight in terms of innovation (e.g. turbos in the Prost era), consistently had the best livery and fluctuated wildly in performance from the heights of about 20 years ago to sucking badly now (very much like North) with ongoing instability/uncertainty about their future.

 

[Ether]

Geez, this thread is going in unexpected ways. I thought OP was after the team with the best looking, most charming and erudite fan base.

 

[Wild Kangaroo]

Serie A: Roma ( promise so much, but same sh!t every year)

NFL: Detroit Lions ( They've been going well the last few years, Pumped Dallas Cowboys today) but historically tear your hair out kind of stuff

 

[Uncle_Leo]

I think that we're the Detroit Pistons in the NBA.

Historical reputations of playing hard and tough.
Had successful teams a little while ago (Carey era roos and the early 00s Pistons), but followed it up with long stretches of mediocrity, then attempts to knock down and rebuild that have led to being stuck on the bottom.

The Pistons had the biggest losing streak in NBA history last season. They've finished bottom 2 in the east in the last 4 seasons.

I've never thought about it but the similarities regarding performance are really there, almost scary

The Pistons struggled terribly when they came into the league for a few decades - same as North

The Bad Boys era in the 80's comparable to our success in the 70s

The early 2000's Pistons (made Conference Finals 2003 - 2008) similar to the 90's team for north, a lot of characters too

2015-2017 - made the playoffs, similar to our 2014-2016 run

Since 2020 have been a complete basket case and can't get near it. Sounds awfully familiar

 

[King Corey]

Hibs

East Stirling.

 

[pooley]

Seattle Mariners

 

[Frank Thring]

In Basketball we're the Washington Generals and in baseball the Springfield Isotopes

 

[KingNorth23]

Honestly not a terrible shout.

My basic criteria for finding a comparable team to NMFC in another league is;

• Won championship/s 20~ years ago but been a bit no-mans-land ever since
• Proud club but can't be one of the top tier/rich clubs (no ManU/Dallas Cowboys/Yankees etc)
• Have had some incredible individual talent
• Have been crucial in furthering the sport in some way (ala Friday Night Footy, or a specific type of playstyle such as Pagan's Paddock)

Detroit fits all these criteria reasonably well.

My nominee was gonna be the Toronto Blue Jays - they won the World Series 2x in the 90s, aren't the biggest club, have had some incredibly talented and important players etc

Yep and also have a very good rebuilding squad and are smashing teams by over 30 plus points in the Preseason so they are gaining some confidence

 

[RobZombie]

While the parallels aren’t exact, deciding to become a Blackpool fan sat pretty easily with me. Boutique club in the northwest with a rich history, glory days in the ‘50s with the best player in the game (Stanley Matthews) including an FA Cup win and a Ballon D’Or, occasional stints in the top flight including a memorable 2010-11 in the premier league when they were doomed by underinvestment but played swashbuckling football and were everyone’s second team, on the bones of their arse in living memory but somewhat recovered.

And the best colours in the league.

 

[RobZombie]

The likeness is uncanny.

 

[Orange Paradox]

I'll add my two cents and say the Sacramento Kings in the NBA

• Smallest team in California and constantly overshadowed by bigger teams. (Much like us in Vic)
• Has consistently flirted with or been told to relocate/fold.
• A perennial underachiever for numerous years.
• Poor drafting/list management

Yet despite all that, the fans have stuck fat and love their team dearly. It's a small yet passionate fanbase.

 

[rickety]

Toronto “Make Believes”.

Used to work opposite this Canadian fella yonks ago. I'd be reading the soccer scores and he'd ask how the "make believes" went. Except he was actually saying Maple Leafs and I was only half listening ... Nice colours too

 

[rickety]

Sheffield Wednesday. They too sport the gorgeous royal blue and white stripes, were up and about in the 90's, but since the end of 1999 have been quite stink. Recently got a new manager, some cool younger players and things are on the up.

 

[fnarr fnarr]

I've followed West Ham in the EPL since the early 90s and saw a lot of similarities until we hit our garbage patch. Play attractive and fair footy, always competitive but never win anything. Inconsistent as ****, beat the good teams, lose to rubbish teams. Have genuine guns but they're never selected in representative games because they're not from big clubs.
When it came to tennis, Henri Leconte was the equivalent. Looked great, won **** all.

 

[Woolly Mammoth]

Sheff Wednesday, Kilmarnock, FC Porto, Pescara Calcio, Hertha b.s.c, Real Sociedad, Grenoble

 

[kirbonavich]

The Spanish announcement table in the WWF era.

 

[Sphynx]

Sheffield Wednesday. They too sport the gorgeous royal blue and white stripes, were up and about in the 90's, but since the end of 1999 have been quite stink. Recently got a new manager, some cool younger players and things are on the up.

The Wendies have quite a big following, just a bit of an inbred delusional one. More like *.

I’d compare North more to someone like Blackburn from a 90’s perspective and maybe Forest from a 70’s perspective.

Blackburn had an amazing patch in the 90’s, rarely sell out Ewood park, been in the wilderness for ages.

 

[Nutjob]

Following Orlando Magic has felt like a very similar ride over the past 30 odd years.

• Low supporter base
• Not a lot of prime time viewing
  * Largely forgotten about in the media. Banchero has been phenomenal in his first 2 years, but it has been really undervalued.
• Good team in the 90’s
• Apart from a few patches of success, we have largely been a mid table team in the 00’s
• Finally did a proper rebuild in recent years, building from the ground up
• The last few years is the first time since the 90’s they have got their high picks right and you can see some hope.

Last season Orlando finally started to see some results from their rebuild by making the Playoffs. Hopefully it’s a sign of things to come with us.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[showusyacunningt]

Definitely Wednesday in soccer. Been my FIFA choice for years and am a casual observer of their fortunes in real life.

Also their main cross-town rival wears red & black (and white).