Top 10 most embarrassing sports records

Records are set in every sport around the world. All the professional athletes aspire to get their name in the record books for achieving what no other peer has done in their respective sports. While that is a very noble endeavour, there are times when some of the athletes are saddled with records that they would be embarrassed to have beside their name, and would want nothing to do with it.Here, we take a look at 10 such embarrassing records.

#1 Lowest batting average in cricket

Granted, there are a lot of other batsmen that have lower averages, but we are looking at players who have scored at least 6000 runs in Test Cricket. The ones and twos from bowlers or cricketers who only played a couple of Test matches cannot legitimately be counted in this one.

For players who did score a minimum of 6000 runs, Michael Atherton has the dubious distinction of having the least average, with a paltry 37.69 after retirement. He also shares the most ducks in Test matches with Monty Panesar and Steve Harmison. Even here, he is only recognised batsman, and considering he was England captain for a good period of time, you can see why they weren’t exactly giving competition to Australia in the Ashes series.

#2 Longest duration in bottom division of league football

One of the excitements and glamour of club football is the chance for teams to move to higher leagues by way of promotion based on their league standings at the end of the season. It motivates the team and the players to do well as promotion means more exposure and more money to be earned.

However, Rochdale AFC have the dubious distinction of being the longest in the bottom division without gaining promotion. They were in the bottom division for 36 continuous seasons, from 1974 to 2010, before they finally achieved promotion.

#3 Most consecutive losses in the NBA

For a change, this embarassing record is shared by two teams, rather than one solitary entrant. The Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers lost 26 straight games in two different seasons, setting the record for the longest losing streak. The Cavaliers achieved this ignominy in the 2010-2011 season, while the 76ers had their claim to infamy in the 2013-2014 season.

However, it isn’t the first time that either team has set such losing streaks. Both teams held previous records before breaking them, with the 76ers holding the original record of 20 straight losses, which was bettered, or should we say worsened, by the Cavaliers with a 24 game losing streak record. Now both teams proudly share the perch on this one.

#4 Most consecutive losses in football

Another sport that saw a losing streak being achieved for a long duration is football. With international games played few and far between, having a losing streak is a particular shame. But that lasted for 30 consecutive games for American Samoa over a period of 17 years. Remember, this is also the team that holds the record for the largest defeat in an international football match when they lost 31-0 to Australia.

They finally broke their jinx by beating Tonga in a pre-qualifying game for the recently concluded 2014 FIFA World Cup.

#5 Largest defeat in Ice Hockey

If you thought that the American Samoa being beaten 31-0 in an international football match was insulting, you should probably brace yourself for this one. The NHL recorded the worst defeat when the New York Rangers lost 15-0 to Detroit Red Wings in 1944. But that is nothing compared to what Thailand had to go through. In the 1998 IIHF Asia Oceanic Junior U18 Championships, South Korea beat Thailand with a whopping scoreline of 92-0. Beat that if you can.

#6 Most red cards in a football career

Football being a physical sport, there are enough fouls committed on the field on a regular basis. Players being issued yellow cards and red cards is part and parcel of the game. But one player made getting red carded a complete career, and this player was Czech international Tomas Repka.

He recieved a record total of 19 red cards in his career, spanning 5 clubs and the international games. At Fiorentina, he recieved as many as 5 while he notched 4 red cards during his stint with West Ham.

#7 Shortest English Premier League Career

By now, everyone may have heard about the fraud that was Ali Dia, who faked his way into signing for Southampton and lasted all but 53 minutes in a game before he was thrown out to never play again. But in reality, the shortest Premier League career goes to Joe Sheerin, who came on as a substitute for Gianfranco Zola in the dying seconds of the game against Wimbledon in 1997.

While Chelsea did win 1-0, Sheerin barely had any time to even talk with his teammates as the whistle blew almost as soon as he came on. He didn’t appear for Chelsea again and left the club in 2002, giving him the unwanted distinction of having the shortest Premier League career.

#8 Longest championship drought

Playing in the World Series is a matter of great pride and joy for baseball fans, and winning the series sends them into delirium. When the Chicago Cubs won the title in 1908, fans were certainly expecting great things to come from the team. Sadly, it wasn’t to be so. While the Cubs have some distinctive and proud records to their name, they are unfortunately also the holders of the record for the longest championship drought not only in baseball, but any North American professional sport

#9 Fastest to be knocked out

Boxing is a sport that is about punching each other and trying to knock one off their feet. If anyone gets into the sport, you would expect them to be reasonably strong to be able to take a few punches when they get into the ring. That did not seem to be the case with Des Sowden, who has the honour of being the fastest to get knocked out. This was in a 2000 fight with undefeated Russell Rees. When the fight got underway, Sowden got knocked out with the very first punch he received, lasting all of 4 seconds.

#10 Most races without a win

When you have a team in Nascar, you more or less do so with the hope that you will win a few races if not championships. And if you do not win for a considerable period of time, the sane thing to do would be to withdraw your team and find some other hobby to spend your money on. But owner/driver J.D.McDuffie thought otherwise. From 1963 to 1991, when he got killed in a race, McDuffie could not win a single race and has the unwanted distinction of being the driver that has gone most races without registering a win.